Got Urban Arcana! Summary & your questions answered!

[Dalamar]

1) Add the extra Hit Die into the ECL.

This is what I'd suspect to be the correct answer, whe using information from Savage Species. It defines characters with three terms: Level Adjustment (LA), Equivalent Character Level (ECL) and Character Level (CL).
CL is equal to your HD (from both monster race and classes)
Level Adjustments is a number which tells you how much more powerful the race is compared to its racial HD
ECL is equal to CL+LA, this tells you how strong the character actually is.

In the case of the bugbear, a bugbear 1st level Strong (or any other for that matter) is equal to a 6th level human Strong. That means that he gives up 3 talents and 2 bonus feats (from class levels) compared to the human.
The natural armor makes up for the fact it won't gain class bonus to defense (and natural armor is actually worse than the class bonus).
Does it gain skills and/or feats based on its HD?

 

[teitan]

I think a very important point is being missed in this debate on the bugbear... this isn't DnD. DnD does not have guns readily available that essentially do damage like a repeating fireball spell. In DnD a Bugbear is definitely a +3, but try playtesting the rules first, then make the changes based on that. Reminds me of the huge debate my gaming group got into over the Wealth modifier because they are so used to how it's done in DnD and can not grasp the concept in D20 Modern.

Another aside on this one, ECL and Level Adjustment are the same thing. WOTC changed the terminology they used in their products for some reason and with little notice (I think a Dragon article made the first mention of the terms being interchangeable).

I don't have the book yet, but I understand shadow races also get less skill points etc.

Jason

 

[Felon]

Originally posted by Dalamar
In the case of the bugbear, a bugbear 1st level Strong (or any other for that matter) is equal to a 6th level human Strong. That means that he gives up 3 talents and 2 bonus feats (from class levels) compared to the human.

Nope, as I've already said, that's not how it works in Urban Arcanna. The bugbear only gives up two levels. It gets the hit dice thrown in as part of its racial package. It even gets a +2 to attacks to ameliorate the lost BAB bonuses.

In DnD a Bugbear is definitely a +3, but try playtesting the rules first, then make the changes based on that.

I don't need to playtest to know that 3 hit dice for 2 levels is sporked. It's not that abstract or subjective. I also don't see what bearing the D20M setting has when comparing a bugbear's package to what a LA +0 race gets out of the two character levels. For instance, I know that a +4 STR bonus alone outclasses a 1st-level Strong Hero's Melee Smash I Talent. I can then look over the rest of the bugbear's features and weigh all the extra stuff he gets versus the feat, skill points, and saving throw bonuses that a 2nd-level Strong Hero would have.

 

[MThibault]

Third impression: I knew going into the Incantations section that they took a lot of time and effort to cast, but I thought they'd use the traditional laws of sympathy and contagion (that D&D pretty much abandoned) to target a creature with a harmful effect. I mean, if Baleful Polymorph only has a range of touch, then how do you actually use it against an opponent? Hand him a magazine and ask him to to kindly sit and down and wait 70 minutes? Maybe I just missed something...

Nah, it means that you have to tie the leading lady to the altar before you start the incantation. You end up with the hero racing against time to interupt the incantation before she is turned into a toad. Very B movie, very suspenseful.

Yes, it weakens the Incantations a lot, but these are powerful effects compared to the Spells. You can houserule them. Raise the DCs to add a longer range to the spells. I would add 2 to the DC for every increment the range is increased (Personal - Touch - Short - Medium - Long - Unlimited) so just add +8 to the DC for Baleful Polymorph and move on.


Cheers

 

[MinscFan]

Anyone know if UA is a d20 Modern core book in the sense that material will be added to the SRD?

-- M

 

[Davelozzi]

I'm pretty sure that it won't be. Wizards generally doesn't add anything from campaign setting specific books to the SRD.

 

[Felon]

Which is annoying, since that means the rules for incantations is not open content. Third-party publishers can't use'em.

 

[Knight Otu]

Another aside on this one, ECL and Level Adjustment are the same thing. WOTC changed the terminology they used in their products for some reason and with little notice (I think a Dragon article made the first mention of the terms being interchangeable).

They are NOT the same thing. They have just incorrectly been used interchangebly (is that a word?) ever since both terms have been introduced in the FRCS. To repeat what has been said earlier: The Effective Character Level (ECL) is equal to class levels plus racial Hit Dice (excluding 1 HD creatures, like most humanoids) plus the Level Adjustment. I suspect it is not different in UA.

 

[Felon]

The Effective Character Level (ECL) is equal to class levels plus racial Hit Dice (excluding 1 HD creatures, like most humanoids) plus the Level Adjustment. I suspect it is not different in UA.

You suspect? Do you not actually have the book? I have the book and have read the section on shadowkind species. It works just as I've outlined. Accept that.

 

[Felon]

OK, I've received a reply from Charles Ryan on the WotC messageboard. Here it is:

Originally posted by Charles Ryan:

Originally posted by Felon:
In previous products, Monstrous PC's with more than one hit die had to use character levels to account for those extra hit dice. In UA, all that counts as levels is their Level Adjustment modifier, which ranges from +1 to +3. Why is Urban Arcanna's approach towards level-adjustment for more powerful PC races so much more generous?

Put simply, d20 Modern is a different system. It allows characters to be more powerful in some ways than D&D does, and weaker in other ways.

The Urban Arcana system doesn't simply eliminate Hit Dice from the equation. If you look at the level adjustments for creatures with more than 1 Hit Die, you'll see that they're all higher than the same creatures' level adjustments in D&D. Not so much that they completely balance the creatures compared with their D&D ECL, but enough to close the gap a bit.

That said, there is one error in the Urban Arcana system. Ignore the use of the term Challenge Rating (or CR) everywhere it appears on page 25. The term should be Effective Character Level (ECL). [Why does it matter? Because if you use the formula on page 25 to determine a creature's CR, you can get a different result than if you use the standard method. Since it's a different number, it shouldn't be called by the same name.]

How are incantations intended to be used offensively? If Baleful Polymorph has a range of touch, and a casting time of 70 rounds, then how does one actually use it against an opponent?

I don't think an incantation generally makes a good offensive spell, unless you very carefully tailor the circumstances to its use. That's where player creativity comes in.

Also, keep in mind that many spells that might traditionally be used primarily as combat spells in D&D can still have utility as non-combat spells. The baleful polymorph incantation may be hard to use in combat, but that doesn't mean it isn't ever useful. . .