Construct Challenge Rating

JimAde

First Post
I'm working on a new critter for my game and can't decide the Challenge Rating.

The thing is a construct very similar to a Shield Guardian, with the following modifications:

Medium size
Only 10 Hit Dice
DR 5/Adamantine
SR 18
Dispel Magic at will (Caster level 10)
Can use Dispel Magic to counterspell
Can detect spellcasters as a Standard Action
No Amulet (tied to a family/blood line instead)
CR ??

A Shield Guardian is CR 8. This thing has fewer Hit Dice, but the anti-magic abilities should make it a terror for spellcasters. I'm leaning toward CR 9 or 10. Opinions?
 

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JimAde said:
I'm working on a new critter for my game and can't decide the Challenge Rating.

The thing is a construct very similar to a Shield Guardian, with the following modifications:

Medium size
Only 10 Hit Dice
DR 5/Adamantine
SR 18
Dispel Magic at will (Caster level 10)
Can use Dispel Magic to counterspell
Can detect spellcasters as a Standard Action
No Amulet (tied to a family/blood line instead)
CR ??

A Shield Guardian is CR 8. This thing has fewer Hit Dice, but the anti-magic abilities should make it a terror for spellcasters. I'm leaning toward CR 9 or 10. Opinions?

OK, I'll bite.
it has about 2/3 the HD of the Shield Guardian, right? I wouldn't decrease it by much. Maybe 1 level. But the additional benifits are not just going to terrorize spellcasters, the Dispel Magic is going to ruin a lot of gear as well. Determine its CR as a lesser Shield Guardian first. Increase by 2 for the Dispel Magic. The "detect spellcasters" I am not sure about. How about a permanent Arcane Sight instead? That way you have ready made rules for it. I'd increase the CR by 1 for that.

So CR 10 maybe?
 

Stormborn said:
OK, I'll bite.
it has about 2/3 the HD of the Shield Guardian, right? I wouldn't decrease it by much. Maybe 1 level. But the additional benifits are not just going to terrorize spellcasters, the Dispel Magic is going to ruin a lot of gear as well. Determine its CR as a lesser Shield Guardian first. Increase by 2 for the Dispel Magic. The "detect spellcasters" I am not sure about. How about a permanent Arcane Sight instead? That way you have ready made rules for it. I'd increase the CR by 1 for that.

So CR 10 maybe?
That sounds about right.

The "detect spellcasters" bit is actually a spell-like ability using a homebrew spell from my game. I didn't want to clutter up the post with it.

Thanks for the input Stormborn. I think CR10 it shall be.
 


rrealm said:
How many attacks, what bonus, and how much damage does this creature do compared to a Shield Guardian?
Thanks for asking. Here's a partial stat block:

Medium Construct
Hit Dice 10d10 + 20 (75hp)
Initiative +4
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class 24 (+10 natural, +4 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple +8/+13
Attack Slam +13 melee (1d8+5)
Full Attack 2 slams +13 melee (1d8+5)
Saves Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities Str 20, Dex 18, Int --, Con --, Wis 10, Cha 1

And the Shield Guardian is:

Hit Dice: 15d10+30 (112 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 24 (–1 size, +15 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 24
Base Attack/Grapple: +11/+21
Attack: Slam +16 melee (1d8+6)
Full Attack: 2 slams +16 melee (1d8+6)

Basically it is less dangerous in melee, but faster and more dextrous. For the full write-up you can look here:

http://home.comcast.net/~jim.ade/ilium/creatures/BloodGuardian.htm

But that includes some campaign-specific references that aren't really relevant (I think). Note that this write up doesn't have the changed CR yet.
 

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