Playing Icewind Dale, and our PC with the owlbear whisperer secret found and befriended an owlbear that has now basically joined the party. I cant seem to find any way to add monsters as allies in the encounter builder, so I was thinking about just adding a fighter PC to the campaign to represent the owlbear, so that encounter difficulty would include it, but I dont know what level I should make the fighter to properly represent an owlbear.
Previous editions used number of Hit Dice as the standard for the level of the creature. Statblock for your new companion shows 7d10, so I would guess that it would be a 7th level creature. However, the Proficiency Bonus, and if I dig into it probably damage dice, aren't going to fall in line with what a PC is capable of at 7th level.
Creature has the proficiency bonus (which drives the "to-hit" bonus) of a 4th level PC with the HP of a 7th level PC and the AC of a 1st level PC wearing studded leather. I can understand why you want to add this creature as an ally to the party to balance your encounters as it does change the dynamic of the party quite a bit. Overall, I'd have to put this one at a Level 5 Fighter just because of Extra Attack.
Have you considered borrowing the *don't hit me* Beastmaster companion rules and lowering the CR of the base creature to fit the requirements, then give them the level appropriate increases from the "Beastmaster" that befriended the Snowy-Hoots-Magoots. Sounds like a lot of back and forth with creature math, I know, but the side effect is less impact on your party dynamic and prevents the companion from becoming the star of the show. Meh, just a thought.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
When calculating the CR for an NPC, I go with 1/2 their class level (rounded down), so I'd make a CR 3 Owlbear the equivalent of a Level 6 character. It deals slightly more damage than we'd expect of a fighter at that level, but doesn't have all the class abilities, so seems about right.
Using the gladiator statblock the CR of an NPC is about equal to twice their character level as they have three attacks and fighters get it at level 11
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Playing Icewind Dale, and our PC with the owlbear whisperer secret found and befriended an owlbear that has now basically joined the party. I cant seem to find any way to add monsters as allies in the encounter builder, so I was thinking about just adding a fighter PC to the campaign to represent the owlbear, so that encounter difficulty would include it, but I dont know what level I should make the fighter to properly represent an owlbear.
I calculate my players Challenge Ratings just for a bit of fun. My players Fighter Battlemaster became CR 3 at around level 6.
Previous editions used number of Hit Dice as the standard for the level of the creature. Statblock for your new companion shows 7d10, so I would guess that it would be a 7th level creature. However, the Proficiency Bonus, and if I dig into it probably damage dice, aren't going to fall in line with what a PC is capable of at 7th level.
Creature has the proficiency bonus (which drives the "to-hit" bonus) of a 4th level PC with the HP of a 7th level PC and the AC of a 1st level PC wearing studded leather. I can understand why you want to add this creature as an ally to the party to balance your encounters as it does change the dynamic of the party quite a bit. Overall, I'd have to put this one at a Level 5 Fighter just because of Extra Attack.
Have you considered borrowing the *don't hit me* Beastmaster companion rules and lowering the CR of the base creature to fit the requirements, then give them the level appropriate increases from the "Beastmaster" that befriended the Snowy-Hoots-Magoots. Sounds like a lot of back and forth with creature math, I know, but the side effect is less impact on your party dynamic and prevents the companion from becoming the star of the show. Meh, just a thought.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
When calculating the CR for an NPC, I go with 1/2 their class level (rounded down), so I'd make a CR 3 Owlbear the equivalent of a Level 6 character. It deals slightly more damage than we'd expect of a fighter at that level, but doesn't have all the class abilities, so seems about right.
Using the gladiator statblock the CR of an NPC is about equal to twice their character level as they have three attacks and fighters get it at level 11