+x ECL races and lack of HP, is there anyway to balance this?

[Nightfall]

I fear no lawyers. I made damn sure to toss them in a oil tanker at the bottom of Nessus and let Asmodeus have fun with them.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

You could always just give everyone a hp boost - maybe 10 or 20 extra hp. If everyone gets the same bonus, nobody will feel cheated.

 

[AnthonyJ]

You could reduce the ECL of a lot of races; an across the board -1 would give everyone a few extra hit points.

 

[AeroDm]

You could always just give everyone a hp boost - maybe 10 or 20 extra hp. If everyone gets the same bonus, nobody will feel cheated.

Meh- no need to arbitrarily add HP if you use the templates correctly. Using a +4 ecl in a camp starting at 5th level is not smart. The player knew they would have 1 HD at lvl 5 so it isn't like the wool was over their eyes. People should know to use ecl races/templates that are less than 1/2 their total level.

In the long run they balance out. You have to recall that con bonuses equate directly into HP. An increased armor class is basically like more HP since both represent the ability to dodge/soak/whatever in reference to damage, and the ability to deal more damage will mean less damage taken because enemies die sooner.

But now I must go because I live in Minnesota and it is -18 before windchill and my hands hurt because I was outside.

 

[Ferret]

When you say equal CR slaad do you mean Levels + ecl=CR or Levels + CR=CR

 

[the Jester]

One of the problems with +x ecl pcs is that an ECL 10 pc is not the same as a CR 10 pc... the disparity leads to trouble. I had similar experiences with a half-dragon in a low/mid level party a while back.

 

[Pax]

The best rule of thumb I can think of -- from experience with GMing "paper tiger" +ECL race PCs -- is to forbid anyone form making a character whose HD are less than half their total ECL.

So in a 4th-level game, noone shoud be playing a race with a level adjustment of more than +2. If you want to allow +3 level adjustment races and templates ... start the game at 6th level, at least.

 

[korasukage]

I was playing in a group that had the exact same problem, in later levels it seemed to even out, however. I am currently running a campaign and I have approached ecl in a slightly different manner. Instead of suffering a level adjustment I have instead imposed a -10% to XP for every +1 ecl. This has been working extremely well and everyone likes it( I have a mixed party of normal pcs and +ecl pcs). The only problem is that this method falls apart when you get into the +5 or higher range. But for +1-3 ecl races it works really well.

 

[Allanon]

When you say equal CR slaad do you mean Levels + ecl=CR or Levels + CR=CR

Level + ECL = CR.
This normally worked, but it seems that the general idea is that +x ECL races should be counted as somewhat lower... So CR -1 as a standard rule of the thumb?

btw. They're 5th level and the highest ECL is that of the Drow players with +2.

 

[Scion]

Most races just arent worth the LA that is tacked on unfortunately ;/

First make sure that the total ecl is appropriate for your campaign, I would suggest a lot of acid tests across various levels and character types.. 20 would be a minimum, but I would suggest more than 50 total acid tests easy. Each dont take terribly long.

While doing this try converting some of their LA into racial HD. This will fix some problems and not fix others.

When you are all done you will have a creature that has been modified in some way but fits in your campaign for where you want it.

It is a huge hassle, and a long term project.. but fairly necissary unfortunately