ECL after chracter creation

[kreynolds]

(you'll be down a lot of equipment if you become a lich which balances it as is)

If you play in the FRCS, only temporarily. Your ECL (not CL) determines your character wealth.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I don't think, as a DM, I'd allow any race or template with "Always" in its alignment as a PC.

Orcs - "Usually Chaotic Evil". No problem.

Werebear - "Always Lawful Good". Sorry. To me, this says that a werebear actually lacks the free will to behave in a non-lawful-good fashion. A paladin must be lawful good, but he can perform a neutral or evil act if he so chooses. A werebear doesn't have that choice. As a DM, I'd feel compelled to tell a player "No, actually, you don't do that," every time they suggested a non-lawful-good course of action.

Same goes for half-dragons (a half-red dragon's alignment is "Same as the dragon variety"; a red dragon's alignment is "Always Chaotic Evil"), half-fiends (Always Evil), Vampires (always Chaotic Evil), etc.

Some DMs may feel that's too restrictive. As long as the alignment says "Usually", I have no problem with it being a PC. But "Always" takes it out of a player's hands.

-Hyp.

 

[kreynolds]

Werebear - "Always Lawful Good". Sorry. To me, this says that a werebear actually lacks the free will to behave in a non-lawful-good fashion.

Well...

This entry gives the alignment that the creature is most likely to have. Every entry includes a qualifier that indicates how broadly that alignment applies to the species as a whole.

Always: The creature is born with the listed alignment. The creature may have a hereditary predisposition to the alignment or come from a plane that predetermines it. It is possible for individuals to change alignment, but such individuals are either unique or one-in-a-million exceptions.

...its possible for the alignment to be different, even if it says always, so at least a DM isn't totally helpless.

 

[Caliber]

I don't like giving ECL in game and making the players "buy" off the extra levels that just gained. But what about this ...

You give a player an ECL modifier as appropriate for his new race and/or template. But instead of making him pay a backlog of XP, you let everything slide.

The trick is using the FRCS XP award system. ie, when you are awarding XP, he'll get XP as a 10th level character while everyone else is getting XP as a 7th level (or whatever)

That should slow him down somewhat, and as long as he keeps gaining XP as a few levels higher than the rest of the party, he should level slower right? Eventually the party would pass him by until they get to about equal with his ECL. In theory.

I haven't run any numbers so I am not sure how well that actually works but it sounds goods.

 

[Hypersmurf]

...its possible for the alignment to be different, even if it says always, so at least a DM isn't totally helpless.

Yup. But in my experience, when it comes to PCs, "one-in-a-million exceptions" are the norm.

How many misunderstood, good-aligned vampires have I seen?

Not in my game, thanks If as a DM, I choose to include a good-aligned vampire, that's fine, but I won't allow it as a PC.

-Hyp.

 

[Hawkeye]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. If it is up to me, the PC would have aply the ECL, just to keep things balanced with the rest of the party. It hasn't happened and may not, but it is always a possibility.

Hawkeye

 

[kreynolds]

But in my experience, when it comes to PCs, "one-in-a-million exceptions" are the norm.

Exactly my point. PCs are already one-in-a-million. They're a cut above the rest. If they weren't, you'd see a lot more tough-as-nails commoners out there.

If as a DM, I choose to include a good-aligned vampire, that's fine, but I won't allow it as a PC.

Out of curiousity, why not?

 

[Forrester]

Infecting a LG character with werebear lycanthropy is only good for him.

Well, except for that part about becoming a ravenous beast when there's a full moon, or when he's mad, and turning into a bear (so much for the armor) and attacking everyone close to him.

This arose in another thread . . . PCs of any alignment who think that lycanthropy is a boon have another thing coming. Natural lycanthropy gives a ton of advantages . . . unnatural lycanthropy that comes about from becoming infected is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

 

[LokiDR]

Well, except for that part about becoming a ravenous beast when there's a full moon, or when he's mad, and turning into a bear (so much for the armor) and attacking everyone close to him.

This arose in another thread . . . PCs of any alignment who think that lycanthropy is a boon have another thing coming. Natural lycanthropy gives a ton of advantages . . . unnatural lycanthropy that comes about from becoming infected is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

That is one reason why I don't think it right to make the person buy off the whole ECL.

As for the were-bear becoming ravenous beast, I don't think so. The alignment is "always lawful good". Attacking everyone that is close to him is not LG. Perhaps the first time they change, when they are uncontrollable, but not after that.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Exactly my point. PCs are already one-in-a-million. They're a cut above the rest. If they weren't, you'd see a lot more tough-as-nails commoners out there.

Yup. So the odds of a PC being a creature that breaks the mold alignment-wise are one in a million-squared, or 10^12.

Which I'm happy to round off to zero.

-Hyp.