help with ECL

[Drake M]

I'm trying to make sure I understand ecl for things with racial hit die AND a level adjustment.

To make sure I understand this correctly:
An Ogre Mage (for example) starts with 5 hit die of giant and has an LA of +7.

Does an ogre mage character start out with ecl 12?

Or does an ogre mage character start out at ecl 7, the 5 racial hit die being included in the +7?

Or (and I read this somewhere though I can't remember if it was homebrew) Do the npc/racial hit die count as half, for an ecl of 9.5?

Either way I'm confused. I always believed that CR and ECL were equal. A level 4 human ranger is a cr4. A level 9 half orc cleric is a CR 9. Etc.

An ogre mage is a challenge rating 8. Can anyone clarify?

 

[Prince Atom]

ECL is the sum of Hit Dice, level adjustment, and class levels.

If I'm going to play an ogre mage, I'd need to select a class, probably wizard, and start at 1st level in that class. So a 1st-level ogre mage wizard would be HD 5 + LA 7 + Wiz1, or ECL 13. He could join a 13th-level party just fine. (I don't know if that one level of wizard would increase his caster level for his spell-like abilities or not).

ECL is the same as CR for that human ranger and half orc cleric you mentioned, because for creatures with PC levels, no racial hit dice, and no level adjustment, CR = level = HD.

 

[Ranes]

I don't know if that one level of wizard would increase his caster level for his spell-like abilities or not.

I believe not. The CL of the SLAs are determined by the creature's racial hit dice. Once the creature takes a class, it is no longer advancing by type. CL checks are d20 + CL in the relevant class (and a creature's racial HD count as a [favoured] class; MM p309). The creature's racial HD therefore determine the CL of its SLAs.

Any saving throw DC against an SLA can change if the creature's class levels enable it to increase its Charisma modifier.

At least, that's always been my understanding.