Phaerlin Giant CR?

[Sammael]

This creature appears in Monsters of Faerûn. It is a huge giant with 8 HD, frightful presence, scent, and SR 14. And a CR of three. WTF? There is no way that this is a challenging encounter for a party of 4 3rd level adventurers, as this guy would absolutely slaughter them. My guesstimate of its real CR is 5-6; Its AC of 17, while not particularly high, may drag the CR down a bit. But it has 15 ft. reach!

The CR is not mentioned in the official MoF 3.5 update. However, an EL of +5 is given, which means that a phaerlin giant with no class levels is the equivalent of a 13th level character (when in the party). Granted, there is no set relation between CR and ECL, but 3 vs. 13? Come on...

Can someone offer some insight as to what the phaerlin giant's true CR should be?

 

[Caeleddin]

CR 5-6?


It is definitely higher than an Ogre, and they are CR 4. It looks like it maybe on par or even more powerful than a Troll and they are CR 5.

 

[Tzarevitch]

This creature appears in Monsters of Faerûn. It is a huge giant with 8 HD, frightful presence, scent, and SR 14. And a CR of three. WTF? There is no way that this is a challenging encounter for a party of 4 3rd level adventurers, as this guy would absolutely slaughter them. My guesstimate of its real CR is 5-6; Its AC of 17, while not particularly high, may drag the CR down a bit. But it has 15 ft. reach!

The CR is not mentioned in the official MoF 3.5 update. However, an EL of +5 is given, which means that a phaerlin giant with no class levels is the equivalent of a 13th level character (when in the party). Granted, there is no set relation between CR and ECL, but 3 vs. 13? Come on...

Can someone offer some insight as to what the phaerlin giant's true CR should be?

I'd noticed that one too. The CR is a bit low. It should be at least 5. It is certainly more powerful than an oger but I disagree that it is more powerful than a troll.

If you are really interested in a CR that makes no sense, look at the Ibrandlin in the same book. It is a 10HD dragon with about 130HP a 4d6+12 bite, an SR of about 20, and it is CR 5 or something to boot. Its breath weapon is poor (2d6) but it doesn't really need it. A full bite/claw/claw routine will kill a 5th level fighter per round on average and with a strength of 35 it won't miss (+22 to hit).

Tzarevitch