Am I adding hit-dice to creatures incorrectly?

[pawsplay]

Fundamentaly, we're talking about something with lots of HD but no ranged attacks. I blame party overconfidence.

 

[Ashardalon]

Why wouldn't Warrior levels add to save DCs? The DCs are based off of HD, and character levels come with HD...

-Stuart

Because in most cases, only racial hit dice add to save DCs. Class levels are rarely racial.


Frank, I have absolutely no idea why, but your sblock forces a side-scrolling bar onto the page as long as it is closed for me (there is no content on the side, though) - it is gone when I open the sblock.

 

[frankthedm]

Frank, I have absolutely no idea why, but your sblock forces a side-scrolling bar onto the page as long as it is closed for me (there is no content on the side, though) - it is gone when I open the sblock.

Did it change after i switched the code to "img" rather than "imageleft"?

 

[Ashardalon]

Did it change after i switched the code to "img" rather than "imageleft"?

Yep, that did the trick, thanks. Odd though that it would happen, regardless...

 

[szilard]

Because in most cases, only racial hit dice add to save DCs. Class levels are rarely racial.

Is that actually the rule?

I didn't think it was and can't find a reference that specifies that the HD have to be creature-type HD rather than HD from class levels.

-Stuart

 

[Knight Otu]

Is that actually the rule?

Yes.

Special Attacks and Special Qualities
Many creatures have unusual abilities. A monster entry breaks these abilities into special attacks and special qualities. The latter category includes defenses, vulnerabilities, and other special abilities that are not modes of attack. A special ability is either extraordinary (Ex), spell-like (Sp), or supernatural (Su). Additional information (when needed) is provided in the creature’s descriptive text.
When a special ability allows a saving throw, the kind of save and the save DC is noted in the descriptive text. Most saving throws against special abilities have DCs calculated as follows: 10 + 1/2 the attacker’s racial Hit Dice + the relevant ability modifier. The save DC is given in the creature’s description along with the ability on which the DC is based.

Also see many of the specific ability descriptions here, among others Breath Weapon and Gaze.
There are cases where all Hit Dice are used (such as vampire), but those tend to be templates.

 

[szilard]

Yes.

Also see many of the specific ability descriptions here, among others Breath Weapon and Gaze.
There are cases where all Hit Dice are used (such as vampire), but those tend to be templates.

Huh.

Okay. I tend to be most familiar with adding class levels to either simple monsters without many special abilities (humanoids, giants, and whatnot) or templated things, which might be why I thought that...

-Stuart