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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jmucchiello" data-source="post: 2434170" data-attributes="member: 813">I was wrong, you didn't quite get what I was saying. I'll try again. I used the words penalty and deficit interchangably but meant deficit each time. As in, character X with +4 ECLs has 10,000 fewer XP than character Y who does not. (10,000 xp comes straight from the XP chart.)So if I want to play an Aasimar in a game where everyone starts at 4th level, everyone has 10,000 xp to start with and I spend 1,000 xp on my LA+1. So I have 9,000 xp. When each player earns 5,000 xp, those with 15,000 xp gain their 5th level, but I'm still 1,000 xp short.With HD in the mix, the deficit is the levels after the hit dice so an ogre losses 11,000 xp for the LA+2 levels after 4th level (21,000 xp - 10,000 xp). So in an 8th level game he would have 25,000 xp vs the normal characters' 36,000 xp. So that gives him 2 class levels and leaves him 3,000 xp away from his 3rd class level. Still weaker than the 8th level party but at 20th level he is only 1/2 a level behind.The generalized formula would be:[code]Deficit = SUM(racial HD, racial HD + LA) * 1,000 xp.[/code]When you need to know the party's strength, add the deficit back in to determine true effective character level. So while the Ogre has 6 HD, he is still an 8th level character for encounter level and xp award purposes.I think this works much better than ECLs (and certainly better than percentage penalties). It stops punishing the character over time.And for those few who've read Character Customization (yeah, it's still 3.0 based.) , I admit that I used percentage penalties for my "playing monsters" section (released before Savage Species). But those penalties ONLY applied while earning racial hit dice. I chose the percentage based on the LA of the creature so that one would lose an amount xp based on the formula above over the course of earning its racial hit dice/levels. I've since seen that while that equates to the system proposed above, it fails to take into account games that start above 1st level. The update (eventually) will contain the above system written better and with helpful examples. (And the d20 logo will go away in the process...)</blockquote>

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