ECL for Divnie Rank 0?

[Sollir Furryfoot]

General consensus of the rules lawyer's, munchkins, power gamers, etc... when Deities and Demigods had come out is +4 ECL, assuming the party is at least level 15-20ish for Divine Rank 0 (I won't go into an in-depth analysis but if you want one you can probably do a thread search in the DnD rules forum).

This number may be lowered or increased depending on the encounters the PCs are expected to fight against and depending on the circumstances of the campaign. For instance, if the PCs are going to fight alot of critters that easily bypass their gained stats, like monsters having X/+4 DR or higher all the time that ability is useless, and if you already give PCs maximum hit points per hit die there's another useless trait as well. Seeing as its a reward for the PCs, I'd only boost their ECL up (concerning stuff they're fighting) by only about 3, and then work your way from there.

Edit-by the way, that number is for a fair/balanced value for the ECL-*not* WotC's overpriced kind, which would be around +6 ECL I'd imagine.

 

[Jolly Giant]

+4 you say? Thanks! Anybody wanna second/disagree with that?

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Err, well ECL wasnt included for a reason wasnt it?
I dont have my ELH nearbye, being at work, So i cant break down what it offers.

Though i dont think it should affect their ECL or XP at all. If it should have then that would have been mentioned in the DDG.

Come to think of it, the whole Chosen shtick from FR also doesnt have an ECL, though it has a CR mod. I think that makes sense. Something divine granted such as this shouldnt penalize the PC. Especially when its a plot device or reward.

By your logic gaining a character level as a paladin or cleric shouldn't "penalize" characters by making the XP they get less. Just because you are awarded something divine doesn't mean your ECL doesn't increase. It isn't a penalty it simply means tehy should be fighting stronger challenges. If I'm level 24th level Divine Rank 0 and I'm fighting CR 28 monsters (which you should be able to handle if you are divine rank 0) you're going to get a buttload of XP unless your ECL is increased appropriatley.

I hope that made sense.

A better explanation for why they left out ECL is:
A) PCs aren't meant to get divine rank or the template you mentioned.
-or-
B) They were lazy and didn't put it in.

It doesn't really matter which. We can figure out the ECL ourselves unfortunately I don't have my books with me to gauge the ECL. 4 sounds nice though.

 

[Jolly Giant]

A better explanation for why they left out ECL is:
A) PCs aren't meant to get divine rank or the template you mentioned.
-or-
B) They were lazy and didn't put it in.

My money's on B! After all, both the ELH and D&DG hint at the possibility of PCs gaining divine rank...