Removing Racial Hitdie?

[LiL KiNG]

So there are quite a few awesome monstrous races that would be fun to play as a PC but between the LA and the Racial Hitdie they just don't work to include in most parties, especially if you start in the low levels.

How do you feel about removing the Racial Hitdie (to include attack bonus, saves, or anything else gained by having racial hitdie), Skill Points (keep skill bonuses though), and Feats from a monstrous race and just playing the LA of it? Or has anyone tried something like this before? How did it balance in play if so?

Example would be the Minotaur; +2LA, and 6 Racial Hitdie (overall +8, so a 1st level Fighter is effectively an ECL 9).
If you lose the Hitdie and associated Skill Points and Feats you are left with;
-Attribute Bonuses/Penalties
-Large Size/10' Reach
-Darkvision
-Natural Armor Bonus
-Weapon Proficiencies
-Skill bonuses
-Scent
-Gore Attack/Special Charging Gore Attack
-Natural Cunning
-Favored Class: Barbarian
all for a +2LA. That is pretty decent for a +2 and I think balances well with say the Half-Fey template(plus errata that added in DR).
I know the +8 Str is considered huge, but the Goliath gets a +4 Str bonus among other things and he is only a +1LA, so I find the +2LA is still fitting.
Looking at it, it seems like a lot, but look at how much the Aasimar/Tiefling get for +1LA (or +0 if using that FR variant).

 

[frankthedm]

Compare the half ogre which was made LA+2 in the most recent printed version.

 

[Empirate]

I'd totally play a Black Ethergaunt Wizard (16 HD, LA+4). At ECL 5, I'd be a Black Ethergaunt Wizard 1. Sure, I'd only have 4+Con HP, but I'd have the casting of an 18th level Wizard...


To put it more bluntly, it'd be a horrible idea in very many cases, and you'd have to heavily monitor each and every individual case. Take a look at Frank & K's ideas for a quick and easy way of adjusting monsters to be playable as PCs, and for a more complicated way. The rest of their work is... thought-provoking as well. A whole lot of homebrew and houserules to drastically change your D&D experience. And in many cases, to make it more consistent at the least.

 

[Severion]

My solution to Savage species "glass jaw" is to give the monster PC a racial hit die at each level and ignore the LA. That could work as a solution to your hitdie/la problem. Another could be to allow the Monster PC to take just the first level in the monster class then advance in whatever class they want (forever denying them the opportunity to return to the monster class)

Just some thoughts