Avariel and Level Adjustment

[Talath]

I noticed something odd and found out why. The Avariel from Races of Faerun have a level adjustment of +3. All well and dandy, until you notice that the Winged template from Savage Species has a level adjustment of +2.

If you look at the Avariel vs. an elf with the Winged Template, the Winged Elf has one less level adjustment, 2 more Dex, and 2 less Intelligence. They also don't receive a +4 bonus to jump checks. Ignoring different weapon proficiencies and such, it is clear that an Elf with the Winged template is better than the Avariel. Therefore, the Avariel should be level adjustment +2 to balance this. Any thoughts?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Or the Winged template should be +3. I've pretty much banned templated PCs from my world. Too much munchkiny goodness. Fun for smackdowns, but a pain in the butt for 'real' games.

Plus, by most accounts, SS has some balance issues. It seems to work Ok compared to itself, but not with other, especially core, material.

Don't have Races o Faerun in front of me, and I don't recall the specifics of the Avariel too well to know if there are other considerations. Although an airborne spellcaster whose wings can't be clipped with a dispel magic is pretty nice.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Don't have Races o Faerun in front of me, and I don't recall the specifics of the Avariel too well to know if there are other considerations. Although an airborne spellcaster whose wings can't be clipped with a dispel magic is pretty nice.

Though with a 12' wingspan and poor maneuverability, their flying skills are a little tough to emply in most indoor settings.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Though with a 12' wingspan and poor maneuverability, their flying skills are a little tough to emply in most indoor settings.

True. That's one of the problems with ECLs, although I think it was an interesting approach to the problem of non-human PC races. Too often an ability can be overpowering in one circumstance and useless in another. A +2 ECL for flight in an outdoor campaign is probably more than worth it, but not in a dungeon crawl. Kinda like a half-fish in a high-seas swashbuckling campaign vs. Al Qadim.

I suppose you could always treat them as ECL0 and penalize them XP for encounters when they fly.

 

[Caspiar]

The Avariel's From races of Faerun also get a juicy +6 to ability scores....
that in of itself might account for the +1 additional Level adjustment