good +4ish ECL character templates

[trentonjoe]

I am running a last minute game and would like to run a nonPHB NPC.

I am looking for a race or template I can throw on a 1st level character that will allow him to survive (and thrive) in a 6th level party.

Thanks!

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

A half-dragon drow elf is worth about +5.

But you won't have great saving throws and I shudder to think of your hit points.

 

[trentonjoe]

How would a 1/2 dragon work?

Say a 1/2 dragon 1/2 human cleric.

Does it get d12 for hit points?

I know you get the attribute bonuses and naturalarmor but what else do you really get?

 

[ruleslawyer]

Depends: Are you using the DMG ECLs or the Dragon 298 ECLs?

If the former, play an ogre. ECL +5 nets you 4d8 HD, +10 Strength, +4 Con, +5 natural armor, and reach. With the equipment of a 6th-level PC and a fighter or barbarian level, you'll be able to keep up. Just barely, but still...

I would NOT take any ECL race that does not grant extra Hit Dice for a 1st level character. Think of it this way: A 6th-level half-dragon in a 10th-level party has just over half the base HD of the non-ECL party members. When he adds in the HD type increase and butch Con bonus granted by the template, it just about evens out. A 1st-level half-dragon in a 5th-level party has a mere 20% of the base HD of the non-ECL party members. No template is going to multiply the hp from those HD by anything near the factor of 5 needed to ensure parity with other party members.

If you're using the Dragon 298 ECLs: I'd forget about doing the ECL thing at all. If you insist on doing so, ignore the advice I gave above and play a half-celestial (with wings) 1st-level paladin. You'll have great save bonuses and be able to avoid most magical attacks; make sure to stay in the rear of the party and attack with missile weapons only. Still, a single lucky hit by a CR 5 opponent is likely to take you out, so be careful.

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

From the SRD (slightly trimmed because the table had weird formatting and you don't need it all)

Half-Dragon

"Half-dragon" is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the "base creature"). The creature’s type becomes "dragon." It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Increase by one die type, to a maximum of d12.

Speed: Half-dragons of Large or larger size have wings and can fly at their normal speed (average maneuverability). Smaller specimens have wings only if the base creature does.

AC: Natural armor improves by +4.

Damage: Half-dragons have bite and claw attacks. If the base creature does not have these attack forms, use the damage values in the table below. Otherwise, use the values below or the base creature’s damage, whichever is greater.

Bite Claw
Size Damage Damage
---- ------ ------
Fine 1 -
Diminutive 1d2 1
Tiny 1d3 1d2
Small 1d4 1d3
Medium-size 1d6 1d4
Large 1d8 1d6
Special Attacks: A half-dragon retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains a breath weapon based on the dragon variety, usable only once per day. Use all rules for dragon breath (see the Dragon entry) except as specified in the table below.

Dragon Variety Breath Weapon Damage (DC)
-------------- ------------- ------ ----
Black Line* of acid 6d4 (17)
Blue Line of lightning 6d8 (18)
Green Cone** of gas 6d6 (17)
Red Cone of fire 6d10 (19)
White Cone of cold 3d6 (16)
Brass Line of fire 3d6 (17)
Bronze Line of lightning 6d6 (18)
Copper Line of acid 6d4 (17)
Gold Cone of fire 6d10 (20)
Silver Cone of cold 6d8 (18)

*A line is always 5 ft. high, 5 ft. wide, and 60 ft. long.
**A cone is always 30 ft. long.

Special Qualities: A half-dragon has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus low-light vision and darkvision with a range of 60 feet. Half-dragons are immune to sleep and paralysis effects, and have additional immunities based on their dragon variety.

Dragon Variety Immunity
-------------- --------
Black Acid
Blue Electricity
Green Acid
Red Fire
White Cold
Brass Fire
Bronze Electricity
Copper Acid
Gold Fire
Silver Cold

Saves: Same as the base creature

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +8, Dex +0, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +0, Cha +2.

Skills: A half-dragon has 6 skill points, plus its Intelligence modifier, per Hit Die. Treat skills from the base creature’s list as class skills and other skills as cross-class. If the creature has a class, it gains skills for class levels normally.
Feats: Half-dragons have one feat for every four levels or the base creature’s total of feats, whichever is greater. Half-dragons have access to, and usually favor, the dragon feats.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature + 2
Alignment: Same as the dragon variety

 

[trentonjoe]

whats the ECL of 1/2 dragons?

+4?

 

[trentonjoe]

If you insist on doing so, ignore the advice I gave above and play a half-celestial (with wings) 1st-level paladin. You'll have great save bonuses and be able to avoid most magical attacks; make sure to stay in the rear of the party and attack with missile weapons only. [/B]

I just looked at these guys, wow are the good!

THe MM doesn't give an ECL what is it?

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[ruleslawyer]

Half-celestials are either ECL +3 (using the DMG rules) or ECL +5 (using the Dragon 298 rules). IMHO, they should be ECL +3, or ECL +4 with wings. (I am not a fan of awarding wings purely on a random basis, which is currently how the template works.)

There is some minor controversy as to how the half-dragon template HD increase works. The Sage has stated that the HD increase affects only the base creature's HD, and not class levels; Monte has said the opposite. Personally, I side with Monte. It simply doesn't make sense for the half-dragon template NOT to increase HD from class levels, especially since monster HD will advance as a dragon's in any case, due to the type change imposed by the template. WotC's Fight Club feature has examples of both readings, though; there's a half-dragon/minotaur sorc that doesn't get the HD increase for class levels, and a half-dragon/kobold sorc who does.

 

[Forrester]

Depends: Are you using the DMG ECLs or the Dragon 298 ECLs?

If the former, play an ogre. ECL +5 nets you 4d8 HD, +10 Strength, +4 Con, +5 natural armor, and reach. With the equipment of a 6th-level PC and a fighter or barbarian level, you'll be able to keep up. Just barely, but still...

You'll do a lot more than keep up "just barely". The +5 natural armor, reach, +10 to strength, and +4 to Con more than make up for the 5 lost levels. You won't be down on hp, you'll be up on damage, up on to-hit bonus (though slightly slightly down on BAB -- only two points) -- trust me, you'll kick one helluva lot of ass.

IMHO, ogre fighter-types should be +6 or +7 ECL.

EDIT: I believe that the MM errata clarifies that all Large size giants have a movement rate of 40', sans armor. Yet another goody.

 

[Nightfall]

How no core are you willing to go Trenton?