Adding class levels to monsters and retaining monster hit dice

Pooji Dung · April 16th, 2019, 07:27 AM

I want to add class levels to some monster races. I am converting old 1e modules to Pathfinder 1 and I want to make a sahuagin with 7 levels of fighter.

I was able to add 1 level of Warrior to a sahuagin and retain the monster hit dice. But if I add class levels, the monster hit dice disappear.

Is there a way to do this in Hero Lab?

Mathias · April 16th, 2019, 07:40 AM

I don't understand how that could happen. Warrior is a class, same as fighter, so why would it act differently than any other class?

There are at least two Sahuagin races available to select from in the Background tab. Please be precise about what the name is, so that we can try to reproduce this, and make sure that the same version of Sahuagin is being used in both the case where you're adding warrior levels and where you've adding fighter levels.

Pooji Dung · April 16th, 2019, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathias

I don't understand how that could happen. Warrior is a class, same as fighter, so why would it act differently than any other class?

I don’t know if HL treats NPC classes (like Warrior) differently from core/base classes (like Fighter).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mathias

There are at least two Sahuagin races available to select from in the Background tab. Please be precise about what the name is, so that we can try to reproduce this, and make sure that the same version of Sahuagin is being used in both the case where you're adding warrior levels and where you've adding fighter levels.

I will double check which sahuagin I am using when I get home. The stat blocks do show “Advanced Races Compendium 240” for the ones losing the monster hit dice but Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 239” for those retaining monster hit dice. Not sure how I missed that!

Mathias · April 16th, 2019, 08:59 AM

The one from the ARC is a 0 hit die race, designed to be on par with other PC races. The one from the bestiary is the standard Sahuagin, with racial hit dice. So whether you've added warrior or fighter, the bestiary sahuagin will always have racial hit dice, and the ARC one will never have them.

Pooji Dung · April 16th, 2019, 10:28 AM

Thanks

Ualaa · April 16th, 2019, 07:33 PM

By default, any 1 HD monster (including humans and elves) has their racial hit dice replaced with their first class level, once they take class levels.

If the monster type has more than one racial hit dice, then class levels are tacked onto that instead of replacing the one hit die with the first level in Fighter (or whatever class).

Mathias Senior Member Lone Wolf Staff Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 13,213 April 16th, 2019, 08:59 AM	The one from the ARC is a 0 hit die race, designed to be on par with other PC races. The one from the bestiary is the standard Sahuagin, with racial hit dice. So whether you've added warrior or fighter, the bestiary sahuagin will always have racial hit dice, and the ARC one will never have them.
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Pooji Dung Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 11 April 16th, 2019, 10:28 AM	Thanks LA CONDESA (Alarmed): Pooji Dung? MADELEINE: I see the name is familiar.
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Ualaa Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Vancouver, Canada. Posts: 813 April 16th, 2019, 07:33 PM	By default, any 1 HD monster (including humans and elves) has their racial hit dice replaced with their first class level, once they take class levels. If the monster type has more than one racial hit dice, then class levels are tacked onto that instead of replacing the one hit die with the first level in Fighter (or whatever class).
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