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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 3733948" data-attributes="member: 4722">Mouse is right. HD=CR is great for creatures with few or no SLA or Su abilities, but once you start stacking those on, its CR is going to exceed its HD by quite a bit.That's why turn undead should've been based on CR, not HD. The designers failed to realize that undead's HD are generally WAY higher than their CR (especially skeletons and zombies), and they were lazy - instead of looking at whether or not the system worked, they just ported the old one over, made it work with the new mechanics, and let it go at that. So we ended up with a system that requires you to look up your result on a chart, is totally different than the normal resolution mechanic (making a roll vs. a DC), and is horribly unbalanced.But would if be balanced? Would it be fun for the other players? I mean, come on - look at the above list, and tell us exactly how many of those are balanced.While I agree that unifying mechanics are the way to go, the examples you use above DON'T work, precisely because they're HD-based checks. This goes back to my argument that HD != CR (take note here, Klaus - this is another reason why it can't be done).Finally! Thank you - I'm glad someone is willing to point out the DM's role as arbiter of "What's good in the campaign". The designers can't cover every single loophole - all they can do is design it the best they can, close the most obvious ones, make sure their mechanics work with the core and with any other systems they're including in that book (like if you're using PrC X from book Y), and ship it. If JoeBob the player find some loophole that he can exploit by combining PrC X from a WotC book and PrC Y from some third-party book, it's not the designer's fault - he couldn't possibly have foreseen it. OTOH, the designers DO let badly designed crap through; but it's still the DM's job as arbiter to say "Sure, this is okay," or "Oh HELL no."Why not just do LA like NWN does - it ignores racial HD (I, personally, assumed their were already factored into the LA calculation) and adds the LA to your character level. So, a mind flayer Sor 9 would be ECL 16 (though technically, it should be at least 17, since LA, IMO, should never be less than CR).You can do that already - Toughness feats (which I hope they're going to make worthwhile, BTW...). Or, like Klaus said, just boost the Con score (which is a more elegant solution.</blockquote>

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