E-tools: Dragon casting level

[Masterburrfoot]

I have a question for anyone who can answer. This may be a rookie question, but anyway...

I am trying to create a dragon here and I can't figure out how the levels work concerning the dragon spell casting while putting it into e-tools.

When entering info for the older dragons (ie--Green, Very old), when they have spellcasting abilities, I go into Special>Special Attacks>click Spell-Like Abilities....now what level would I put in here? Would I put in the Caster level?--in the MM is 11th for Green, Very old. I don't think that is right, but not sure where to find out what is right.

Anyway, sorry if this a stupid question, but it has me somewhat baffled.

Thanx!

 

[EricNoah]

For spells -- use the Caster Level column in the Dragon Abilities by Age chart for the particular dragon.

For spell-like abilities -- Dragons use either their age category OR their caster level as given in their chart, whichever is better, unless otherwise stated. (See p. 62 under spell-like abilities, and then refer to the Dragon Age Categories chart on p. 61).

 

[Masterburrfoot]

Dragon casting

Eric, thanks for your speedy reply.

So, I was doing it right. The only reason I was wondering, is that I had downloaded your Black Dragon files (thanks by the way ) and I noticed on the Black, Mature Adult that it has a Darkness (7) and its caster level is Sorcerer (5). That is why I had the question.

Is this a mistake or am I still missing something?

Thanks again!

 

[EricNoah]

Re: Dragon casting

Eric, thanks for your speedy reply.

So, I was doing it right. The only reason I was wondering, is that I had downloaded your Black Dragon files (thanks by the way ) and I noticed on the Black, Mature Adult that it has a Darkness (7) and its caster level is Sorcerer (5). That is why I had the question.

Is this a mistake or am I still missing something?

Thanks again!

Yep, you're still missing something. Or I'm not explaining it well.

This dragon has Spells and Spell-Like Abilities.

For its Spells, just refer to the chart. Mature Adult Black Dragons are 5th level sorcerers. Like any 5th level sorcerer you'll need to pick a bunch of spells for it to know (do that in the Monster Generator).

Darkness is a spell-like ability. So you use the caster level (5) as given on p. 64, or its age category (7) as given on the Dragon Age Categories chart on p. 61, whichever is higher. So I used 7, as it was higher.

So we've got a dragon that can cast a bunch of sorcerer spells as a 5th level sorcerer, plus it can cast that darkness spell-like ability as a 7th level sorcerer.

 

[Masterburrfoot]

I got it

Okay....I got it. Wow, I feel kinda stupid for even wasting your time now.

Kewl, thanx!

 

[EricNoah]

No problem, this has all been a learning experience for me.

For instance, I didn't know that if a creature has a Swim movement speed listed it gets a +8 racial bonus to swim. I didn't factor that into my black dragon stats. Same deal with Climb. I'm finding all sorts of little doohickies like that in the rules, and they're frickin' SCATTERED through the MM.

I'm also finding creature stats in Silver Marches that just aren't right in terms of numbers of feats, skill points, they seem to forget the -1 penalty to hit for Large creatures, etc. So it's been interesting entering those!