Adding a Template to an Existing PC

[orion90000]

Lets say that a lvl 5 fighter contracts lycanthropy and becomes a werewolf.

He starts with 5 HD and 10,000 XP

When he contracts the disease/curse he gains 2 HD (from wolf) and +2 LA

Now the part where I'm a bit lost.

I assume he now has 7 HD with 10,000 XP and needs 7,000 more to level up.

is this correct? or does he get free xp to make him lvl 7 from the 2 bonus HD?

 

[Melanos]

My understanding is that he would need 18,000 to go from 5th to 8th. In getting the template, he gets the power of two levels, but not the experience. This is why Level Adjustment is a deterrent for PCs. If I want to play a Drow, I can. But I start with 3rd level powers at level 1. I need enough experience to get to 3rd level before I start leveling with the rest of the party. Of course, that's only how I've DMed it, but I may be wrong.

 

[Greenfield]

Actually, he's effectively a Level 9 PC now. To calculate the ECL adjustment for any creature or template, take the hit dice it starts with and add the LA. Werewolves start with 2 Hit Dice, and have a +2 LA on top of that.

So he gains two actual hit dice, complete with hit points, BAB adjustments, saves, skills and possibly feats, right away.

And as far as I know, the only Exp he gets for it is whatever he earned in surviving the original Werewolf attack.

It's a great kick in the pants, power wise, but a kick at something located in the pants when it comes to career advancement. As it, it stops for a long time.

Advice: Use as many of the skill points gains as the DM will allow in the Control Shape skill.

His or her next chance to learn that skill won't come for another 35,000 Exp. (You specified 10,000 exp, the very beginning of 5th level. So he'll need to earn 5,000 + 6,000 to pay for the two hit dice, then 7,000 and 8,000 to pay for the +2 LA. That will place him at the very start of 9th level, so he'll need to earn another 9,000 to actually add any more levels.)

Some DM's allow certain templates to be treated as if they were a special PRC, with the character earning levels in it, and gaining the benefits gradually as they do so.

Afflicted Lycanthropy usually isn't a template that works that way, which is one reason it's considered an affliction, a curse.

 

[Tomn]

Actually, I think that the hit dice are included in the level adjustment, otherwise the system would make no sense; why would two extra hit dice and an increase in BAB and a few other things be equal to a level in a character class? The level adjustment means that the whole template is the power equivalent of 2 levels in an actual class. So, the character's effective level is only affected by the level adjustment, meaning that he now has an effective level of 7 (if he was level 5 before).

Any experience he gains would be calculated as if he were 7th level. I'm not sure exactly what this means as far as how much XP you'd need to gain another class level, but that's just because I've never really had to deal with this in my campaigns. The idea of paying XP for the virtual levels that the template granted seems like a perfectly reasonable idea, though. Another way is to calculate the amount of XP he needs to gain a level based on his effective level. In this case, you would have to gain as much XP as a level 7 character would need to get to level 8 before you would gain another level in your character class. What this ends up doing is making your character's progression continue without a long pause, but it slows down your progression in the long run.

 

[Spatula]

Greenfield is right. It says so right in the template.

Lycanthrope :: d20srd.org

Level Adjustment

Same as the base creature +2 (afflicted) or +3 (natural). In addition, a lycanthrope’s character level is increased by the number of racial Hit Dice the base animal has.

As for what the character is getting for all of those levels,

Str +2, Dex +4, Con +4, Wis +2
DR 5/silver
Natural Armor +2
+2 HD
Iron Will
plus the shapeshifting.

Technically the character can't spend any ranks in Control Shape until he or she learns of the affliction, which happens after the first transformation (at the earliest).

 

[Greenfield]

It also explains it quite clearly in the SRD.

Level Adjustment
This line is included in the entries of creatures suitable for use as player characters or as cohorts (usually creatures with Intelligence scores of at least 3 and possessing opposable thumbs). Add this number to the creature’s total Hit Dice, including class levels, to get the creature’s effective character level (ECL). A character’s ECL affects the experience the character earns, the amount of experience the character must have before gaining a new level, and the character’s starting equipment.

 

[orion90000]

Ok, lets continue this. He gains enough XP to make it to level 10, and then gets his curse broken. He removes his 2 HD from wolf and +2 LA making him a level 6 Fighter, but with 45000 xp. Hmmm... Could he instantly trade the xp for 4 levels of fighter? or does he take an XP penalty to make him 1 point away from level 7?

 

[oscarisamazing]

Savage Progressions is another option; in this case, you would have a Savage Species-style monster class for a character who has become a lycanthrope (or a vampire, or a couple of other templates). From what I can tell, it would work reasonably well, though I haven't tried it.

In this case, if the curse of lycanthropy were broken, he would lose any levels he had in the template class.

 

[NEXxREX]

unearthed arcana has rues for sacrificing experience to decrease level adjustments. and as spatula stated you get those, except the dr only applies in hybrid/animal form. and the physical ability modifiers only apply in hybrid/animal form as well. and you recieve the feats the animal has as bonus feats.

and the extra hit dice apply towards your total for feats and ability increases. in addition to bab increases, save increases, and skill points.

 

[Greenfield]

Savage Progressions is another option; in this case, you would have a Savage Species-style monster class for a character who has become a lycanthrope (or a vampire, or a couple of other templates). From what I can tell, it would work reasonably well, though I haven't tried it.

In this case, if the curse of lycanthropy were broken, he would lose any levels he had in the template class.

I don't know if Savage Progression is appropriate for Afflicted Lycanthropy. The affliction says that it comes on with the next full moon, not gradually over several levels.

In answer to the question of what happens when you lose the template by getting the affliction cured: You earned that Exp, I don't see why you wouldn't get to keep it.

Now I know that you aren't supposed to be able to advance multiple levels at once, but in this case you aren't. You earned those levels, one at a time, and that's what the rules want. All you're doing in this case is trading monster levels for class levels.

I'd convert the levels straight across, taking away bonus feats and skills from the template, but leaving all earned ones in place.

Now that may be a penalty in an of itself, since you may now have skill ranks in Control Shape, or might have taken feats to improve scent tracking, and you're now stuck with them, but actually stripping you of the Exp?

Only if you had been given the Exp for free when you were first afflicted.