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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Johnny Angel" data-source="post: 3633299" data-attributes="member: 13334">I'm putting together a spreadsheet to help facilitate using the Creature Factory rules from d20 Modern (216-231) to stat out creatures.  My own goal is to stat out d20 equivalents to the Star*Drive Alien Compendia, but hopefully others will find their own uses.  I'd like the spreadsheet to be able to provide at least guidance to assigning CR modifiers for abilities added to the base creature.  The problem is that the d20 Modern book itself doesn't give any guidelines as to how to make adjustments to a creature's Challenge Rating according to the abilities you pile on it.  Looking around at other sources, there doesn't seem to be any consistent notion of how much special qualities of creatures are worth.d20 Future, for example, has a short list of alien abilities in the Xenobiology chapter (page 212) and the suggested CR modifiers.  But these CR modifiers are very different from what you get in d20 Future Tech's suggested list of robot Level Adjustments (d20FT 83-84).  The Mutation Point cost for abilities that have an equivalent on the lists of mutations might be a clue, but how much of a level is a Mutation Point worth?  The official WotC line would seem to be 8 MP per level using the Mutant template (d20A 42).  The Future Player's Companion suggests 4 MP per ECL for abilities gained through genetic modification (FPC2 4), but then suggest what amounts to 10 MP per ECL for the same abilities assigned to a newly designed alien species (FPC 42, 43).  I don't think I'm comparing apples and oranges here.  As I understand it a level is supposed to be roughly equivalent to a CR, and they should be roughly equal in power independent of whether we're talking about a template or a genmod or an inherent ability.  But the answer to what a given ability is worth varies wildly in these disparate sources.  Just a couple of examples:Defense BonusBuilt-in Robot Armor (d20FT 83) - LA 1 for each +5 equipment bonus to defenseExtraterrestrial Natural Armor (d20F 212) - CR +1/3 for +3 Natural Armor bonusThick Hide Mutation (d20A 44) by FPC2 p. 4 rules - +2 Natural Armor bonus for 3/4 ECLThick Hide Mutation (d20A 44) by FPC2 pp. 42-43 rules - +2 Natural Armor bonus for 3/10 levelThick Hide Mutation (d20A 44) by d20A 42 rules - +2 Natural Armor bonus for 3/8 levelOf course, stackability means that not all bonuses are equivalent.  But even for bonuses with the Natural Armor descriptor the sources available to me give me disparate effective level values.  Damage ResistanceDR for robot heroes (d20FT 83) - 1 LA for the first 5/-, +2 for each additional 5DR for Extraterrestrial template (d20F 212) - 1/3 CR for 5/-Armor Plates mutation (FPC2 23) - DR 2/- for ECL +0.75 (FPC2 4), ECL +0.3 (FPC2 42, 43), LA +0.375 (FPC2 23)Which level equivalencies should I rely on?</blockquote>

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