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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 2514022" data-attributes="member: 3051">Ignore the Savage Species rules, they stink.&nbsp; An extra +2 to one stat isn't nearly enough to bump up LA by 1.&nbsp; I personally like Soldarin's ECL system (you can Google it) much better, although he never updated it to 3.5E AFAIK.That being said, no, I wouldn't give it to him as ECL +0 as is.&nbsp; It's just far, far too much.&nbsp; Compare to the Half-Orc, for instance; better stats, bigger weapons, more special abilities... sure, some people argue the Half-Orc's a bit underpowered, but this is still just too much.&nbsp; ECL 0 races tend to be balanced stats with a few minor abilities tacked on.&nbsp; Powerful Build isn't a minor ability (I'd call it half of an LA), and unbalanced stats can't just be ignored.&nbsp; The Stomp, resistance, and power point bonuses are just too minor to be worth anything.&nbsp; A 1/day low-level power and 2 bonus power points is nearly worthless even if you DO have psionics in your campaign.If you want an ECL 0 race it's got to have some drawbacks to offset any good abilities you give.&nbsp; This is especially true if you're making a race biased towards a single profession, like Fighter.&nbsp; And the Half-Giant just doesn't; it has no real drawbacks at all.&nbsp; The immunity to spells like hold person isn't a minor perk, and Powerful Build is a big plus.&nbsp; Other than those, all the race has going for it is the unbalanced stats and the free Feat you're giving.&nbsp; If you were to remove Powerful Build, there'd be nothing left of the original race.Since this is the House Rules forum, I'll give you the ECL 0 Half-Ogre race we added to my campaign well before we ever saw the official 3E version, based on a discussion we had on this board.&nbsp; The stats were like this:&gt; Medium, speed 30'.&gt; STR +4, DEX -2, CON +2, INT -2, WIS -2, CHA -4.&nbsp; (By the book definitions, these are balanced stats.)&gt; Gets the Endurance feat for free.&gt; Natural Armor +2&gt; Darkvision 60'&gt; Ogrish Blood: anything that affects creature type &quot;giant&quot; (or Ogres specifically) also affects the Half-Ogre, but you are still also vulnerable to anything that affects Humans (like Charm person)&gt; Mundane armor and equipment is 50% larger.&nbsp; In general, this requires the items to be custom-made, which costs more (DM's call, usually double).&gt; Can wield all the &quot;half-size&quot; weapons (Bastard Sword, Fullblade, Dwarven Waraxe, etc.) as if one size larger.&nbsp; Other weapons are unaffected.&gt; +4 to any CHA-based skill checks that take advantage of the frightful appearance (Intimidate, or certain Bluff or Gather Information checks), but -2 to all other interaction-based CHA skills.&gt; Favored Class: NONE.&nbsp; (That's right, if you want to multiclass, keep it balanced.)And in our experience, this has worked well as an ECL 0 race.&nbsp; Looking back, we probably should have given bonuses to Bull Rush, Grapple, etc., but it's worked well as-is.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 2514022, member: 3051"] Ignore the Savage Species rules, they stink. An extra +2 to one stat isn't nearly enough to bump up LA by 1. I personally like Soldarin's ECL system (you can Google it) much better, although he never updated it to 3.5E AFAIK. That being said, no, I wouldn't give it to him as ECL +0 as is. It's just far, far too much. Compare to the Half-Orc, for instance; better stats, bigger weapons, more special abilities... sure, some people argue the Half-Orc's a bit underpowered, but this is still just too much. ECL 0 races tend to be balanced stats with a few minor abilities tacked on. Powerful Build isn't a minor ability (I'd call it half of an LA), and unbalanced stats can't just be ignored. The Stomp, resistance, and power point bonuses are just too minor to be worth anything. A 1/day low-level power and 2 bonus power points is nearly worthless even if you DO have psionics in your campaign. If you want an ECL 0 race it's got to have some drawbacks to offset any good abilities you give. This is especially true if you're making a race biased towards a single profession, like Fighter. And the Half-Giant just doesn't; it has no real drawbacks at all. The immunity to spells like [i]hold person[/i] isn't a minor perk, and Powerful Build is a big plus. Other than those, all the race has going for it is the unbalanced stats and the free Feat you're giving. If you were to remove Powerful Build, there'd be nothing left of the original race. Since this is the House Rules forum, I'll give you the ECL 0 Half-Ogre race we added to my campaign well before we ever saw the official 3E version, based on a discussion we had on this board. The stats were like this: > Medium, speed 30'. > STR +4, DEX -2, CON +2, INT -2, WIS -2, CHA -4. (By the book definitions, these are balanced stats.) > Gets the Endurance feat for free. > Natural Armor +2 > Darkvision 60' > Ogrish Blood: anything that affects creature type "giant" (or Ogres specifically) also affects the Half-Ogre, but you are still also vulnerable to anything that affects Humans (like [i]Charm person[/i]) > Mundane armor and equipment is 50% larger. In general, this requires the items to be custom-made, which costs more (DM's call, usually double). > Can wield all the "half-size" weapons (Bastard Sword, Fullblade, Dwarven Waraxe, etc.) as if one size larger. Other weapons are unaffected. > +4 to any CHA-based skill checks that take advantage of the frightful appearance (Intimidate, or certain Bluff or Gather Information checks), but -2 to all other interaction-based CHA skills. > Favored Class: NONE. (That's right, if you want to multiclass, keep it balanced.) And in our experience, this has worked well as an ECL 0 race. Looking back, we probably should have given bonuses to Bull Rush, Grapple, etc., but it's worked well as-is. [/QUOTE]

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