Monster skills?

[Drammor]

I have never built NPCs before, but I'm giving it a shot right now, and I'm trying to produce 4 of them (with 3 more basic monsters) in the next 12 hours.

Unfortunately, I'm still learning most of the rules of this game. So... are the skills listed in a monster's entry its class skills? I think I read that somewhere... and if they are, there's nothing that stops them from taking cross class skills, right? I mean, pending that they have the wealth of skill points to spend.

I ask because I sort of came up with a problem when I gave an outsider with few skills listed in its entry an elite array, arranged the stats in the best way for the NPC, and thus got rid of its -2 int penalty.

[Jackinthegreen]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#aberrationType has skill points per level listed under each monster's type.

[Drammor]

Finding the skill points was easy. What I'm looking for is information on what a monster's class skills are.

[RedWarlock]

Class skills are typically whatever the monster entry has ranks in, once you subtract and account for racial mods.

Basically, compare the skill list to the racial skill mods listed in the text, if any. Any skill with a racial mod, subtract the mod and see if the listed skill total is different from just the base ability modifier for that skill. Most ones aren't. Anything left over is a class skill.

Most All Almost all animals just have spot and listen, for example. (The medium shark, for instance, has spot, listen, and swim. But swim is a +9, with +8 of that being from the swim speed, and the last +1 from strength mod. Thus, not on the list.)

[ImperatorK]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/intro.htm

[Drammor]

Thanks, guys.

[kitep]

Class skills are typically whatever the monster entry has ranks in, once you subtract and account for racial mods.

Actually, all the skills listed in the monster entry are class skills, whether it has ranks or not.  At least according to the link ImperatorK gave.  (Exception is when the monster has a character class)

[ImperatorK]

I think Drammor knows that.