# Serpent Kingdoms - Sarrukh. CR 21?



## Avouz (Jul 27, 2004)

Did I miss something? The Sarrukh are potent adversaries, but they don't look anywhere near a CR 21 creature.

HP: 133
AC: 30
Attack: +23
F/R/W: 9/11/13
SR 20
Fear (DC 21)
Poison (DC 22)
A few Spell-like abilities, none over 4th level except teleport and wall of force (which are only 1/day.)

With stats like that, they might be a CR 10 or 12, but not a 21.

Anyone else notice this?


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## Sammael (Jul 27, 2004)

Perhaps it's a misprint and it's supposed to be CR 11 (that's what it sounds like)?


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## Arnwyn (Jul 27, 2004)

I'm at the office (thus I don't have my book with me), but what's the HD? Maybe the large number of feats have something to do with it.

But, yeah, I agree with you. CR 21 seems way too high.


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## Avouz (Jul 27, 2004)

Sammael said:
			
		

> Perhaps it's a misprint and it's supposed to be CR 11 (that's what it sounds like)?




I'd agree, except that they make the same "misprint" three times. Once in the Sarruhk monster entry, once in the "Monsters by CR" table, and one of the Sarruhk NPCs is a cleric15 with a CR of 36 (i.e. 15+21)




			
				arnwyn said:
			
		

> I'm at the office (thus I don't have my book with me), but what's the HD? Maybe the large number of feats have something to do with it.
> 
> But, yeah, I agree with you. CR 21 seems way too high.




14d8, with 5 feats (no bonus.)


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## Gez (Jul 27, 2004)

Avouz said:
			
		

> I'd agree, except that they make the same "misprint" three times. Once in the Sarruhk monster entry, once in the "Monsters by CR" table, and one of the Sarruhk NPCs is a cleric15 with a CR of 36 (i.e. 15+21)




You know, assuming they have some sort of, say, software that helps them generate the stats and sort stuff, like, maybe, a database; then you just need to do a typo once to affect everything.


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## ruleslawyer (Jul 27, 2004)

I certainly hope that's what it is. I'd say the sarrukh is a reasonably balanced CR 11. It's worth noting that the CR for the sarrukh sample NPC is wrong anyway, since cleric levels are not associated class levels for the sarrukh and thus the CR should be 29 even given the (wrong) sarrukh base CR.


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## Kae'Yoss (Jul 27, 2004)

Does seem weak for 21. But 11 sounds to low, IMO: It can deal quite a bit of damage (including a nasty poisonous bite!) , are well protected (big DR, immune to fire, fear aura.


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## kuje31 (Jul 28, 2004)

KaeYoss, in case you missed it over on the WOTC boards Rich answered you.

Yeah, that 21 sure isn't right. It's my belief that 11 is the right answer. The sarrukh's got a good AC for 11, but its SR and spell-like abilities are about right on for CR 11.

quote:
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Originally posted by KaeYoss 
The Sarrukh from Serpent Kingdoms are labeled with CR 21, but that seems fairly high. IMO, 11 would be closer to the spot but a little too low. Was it a typo or if not, what is the reasoning behind that 21? 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
__________________
Rich Baker
Senior Designer
Roleplaying R&D
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.


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## ruleslawyer (Jul 28, 2004)

KaeYoss: I think that you could make as good an argument for CR 12 as CR 11, but that CR 13+ would be a reach. Compare this thing to the glabrezu demon (CR 13), for instance:

AC: 30 (sarrukh) vs. 27 (glabrezu)
Advantage sarrukh, but:
hp: 133 (sarrukh) vs. 174 (glabrezu)
I'd say that balances it AND gives the advantage back to the glabrezu.

Atk: +23 (sarrukh) vs. +20 (glabrezu)
BUT:
Dmg: 1d8+12 x3 (max) +1d6+3 vs. 2d8+10 x2 +1d6+5 x2 +1d8+5

SA: poison DC 22 (sarrukh) vs. improved grab (glabrezu)
The sarrukh's poison is weaker than that of the bebilith (CR 10), whereas the glabrezu's improved grab is likely to lead to a serious CR 13-worthy damage beatdown.

SQ: The demon has DR, the sarrukh none. The demon also has better SR and immunities, and some neat abilities (telepathy, resistances).

Feats/Skills: About even.

Special abilities: The demon has _true seeing_ and _greater teleport_ at will, plus monstrous SLAs like chaos hammer, unholy blight, and reverse gravity. The sarrukh has some low-level, 1-3/day SLAs with DCs substantially inferior to the demon's. Massive advantage: glabrezu.

In short, KaeYoss, you may be right that CR 11 is too low, but then it's CR 12, really.


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## Kae'Yoss (Jul 29, 2004)

ruleslawyer said:
			
		

> KaeYoss: I think that you could make as good an argument for CR 12 as CR 11, but that CR 13+ would be a reach.




Haven't argued for more than 12. It just seemed that they should be a bit better than 11 (partly based on the Savage Species formula, where their effective HD alone would get them to 11 AFAIK, and they do have some special abilities beyond that).


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## Benben (Jul 31, 2004)

KaeYoss,  I think what helped bump them up are their stat adjustments: +12 Str, +4 Dex, +10 Con, +20 Int, +8 Wis, +8 Cha.  Their CR is still ridiculously high, but that +20 to Int is a bit off the scale for anything else we've really seen before for a CR 11-12.


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## ruleslawyer (Jul 31, 2004)

Um, not really. The hezrou has a +18 to Con (which is a much more important stat than Int for monster encounter raw power) but it's only CR 11. The sarrukh may have a +20 Int bonus, but how important is Int for a monster that doesn't cast wizard spells? Compare with the glabrezu I cited:

Glabrezu: +20 Str, +20 Con, +6 Int, +6 Wis, +10 Cha 
Sarrukh: +12 Str, +4 Dex, +10 Con, +20 Int, +8 Wis, +8 Cha

So the sarrukh has a great Int, but lags in the scores that have an actual combat impact.

Anyway, looks from this thread that Rich Baker will flag that CR as an errata item.


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## Benben (Jul 31, 2004)

WotC has always weighed Mental bonuses higher than physical bonuses.  But I'm happy for the erratta.


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## Rihatsu (Aug 5, 2012)

Look at the entry again, they are a Progenitor Race, they have an ability called Manipulate Form, this allows them to essentially use the Alter Reality Salient Divine Ability, but only on scaled ones.  That is the primary reason for the CR of 21.

Manipulate Form
At will, a sarrukh can modify the form of any Scaled One native to Toril, except for aquatic and undead creatures. With a successful touch attack, it can cause one alteration of its choice in the target creature's body. The target falls unconscious for 2d4 rounds due to the shock of changing form. A successful DC 22 Fortitude save negates both the change and the unconsciousness. Sarrukh are immune to this effect.
A sarrukh may use this ability to change a minor aspect of the target creature, such as the shape of its head or the color of its scales. It may also choose to make a much more significant alteration, such as converting limbs into tentacles, changing the overall body shape (snake to humanoid, for example), or adding or removing an appendage. Any ability score may be decreased to a minimum of 1 or increased to a maximum equal to the sarrukh's corresponding score. A sarrukh may also grant the target an extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like ability or remove one from it.
The change bestowed takes effect immediately and is permanent. Furthermore, the alterations are automatically passed on to all the creature's offspring when it breeds with another of its unmodified kind.


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## Naoki00_ (Aug 6, 2012)

Personally as someone who's used a Sarrukh in such a campaign level (all party members were level 10) I can safetly say that just raw it's only a threat. However as with any real villain or fight one with class levels in their prefered (wizard) becomes an ungodly monster completly capable of a TPK. it's innate spells and massive stat bonuses make anyone playing it smartly as a very dangerous adversary especially when found with assistants or more sarrukhs. Add in terrain for an extra hard fight as the party tries to find where it keeps ducking under only to fall into trap after trap and illusions.


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## Nezkrul (Aug 7, 2012)

/facepalm

The CR 21 is the base creature.  You will never find a REAL sarrukh that only has that puny of a CR.  Seriously.  Read Manipulate Form again real carefully... Sarrukh aren't immune to manipulating themselves... they are only immune to the unconciousness part of manipulation .

/rantover


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## Empirate (Aug 7, 2012)




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