Beheaded CR

[Mark Hoover 330]

By RAW there's no CR adjustment to Beheaded if I only add ONE power right? Except if I add Swarming which automatically counts as 2 powers. Looking to make a low level encounter where undead monsters' heads come off and to add another phase of the combat.

[Diego Rossi]

Low level and swarm don't mesh well. The swarm would be made of tiny creatures, so it can be damaged by weapons, and that makes it less problematic.

Considering that you have been on these boards for years, I suppose you know what you are doing, but be careful. The difficulty of handling swarm for low-level characters has surprised me more than once.

[DeathlessOne]

First off, awesome idea.

Second, sort of. If you look at the Flaming Skull at the bottom of the entry, it lists it as a CR 1/2 which is technically a CR increase. It is literally a Beheaded with the 'Flaming' ability added.

So, if the ability adds a single HD, that is going to increase the effective CR to about 1/2 because it is raising HP, Saves, and BAB. Adding another power on top of that might be enough to bump it up to a full CR 1 encounter.

I'd hazard a guess (and I've been running PF for a long while now) that any ability you add is going to make the Beheaded a CR 1/2 each, except for swarm of course.

If it helps any, check out the chart for Monster Creation to see where you end up on CR equivalency.

[Azothath]

don't forget the headers = Beheaded Families which gives CR adjustments.

Advice
in the same vein of parts iz parts
Crawling Hand which you could reflavor as intestines(slam) w trip bonus, feet(slam{kick}), etc... having your foe fall apart and attack can be quite disconcerting.

[TxSam88]

IIRC correctly there's an encounter in Carrion Crown that's pretty similar to this. Skeletons that turn into floating skull when destroyed.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Thanks for the "heads up" on all of this as well as the advice for parts iz parts A to the Z. I'm off to research the crawling hand, see what else I can reskin that as!