Help with creating a half-celestrial elf

[De Arco]

Hello all!

I allowed one of my players the option to create a half-celestrial elf character. However, she and I are confused by the rules as they seem contadictory in regards to starting level and the number of feats. We are using the 3.0 rules out of the PHB, DMG, and MM. Could someone here please talk me through this and give an example. Assume the first class chosen is Fighter. I really appreciate any help you can give.

 

[Magic Slim]

The Half-Celestial Template has an ECL of +5 (from Dragon magazine #293, I don't know if it has changed in Savage Species). A 1st-level Half-Celestial Elven Fighter is a 6th level character, has 15,000XP and needs 6,000XP to reach his "7th" level (ie his 2nd Fighter level).

He gains skills and feats from his CLASS LEVEL and not his Effective Character Level. He'll get a feat when he reaches his 3rd level of FIGHTER (assuming that's his only class). He'll get a stat adjustment when he reaches his 4th level of Fighter.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

Slim

 

[Camarath]

In 3.5 and Savage Species the LA is +4.

 

[De Arco]

Thank you both for your replies. However, I was hoping for for a walk-thru using the three basic books. Money's kind of tight so I can't go out and get Savage Species.

 

[Magic Slim]

Well you don'T really need Savage Species for a half-celestial (or for any template, in fact), you just need the ECL. Seems the official ECL is 4. This means that a first level Half Celestial Elven Fighter = 5th level character.

a) Take your 1st level elven fighter
b) determine if he has wings (75% chance)
c) He gets +1 to his natural armor
d) he gets Light at will
e) If his int or wis is 8 or higher, he will have special powers (see page 213 of the MM)
f) He gains low-light vision (which doesn't do him any good since an elf already has LLV)
g) He gains immunity to Acid, Cold, Disease and Electricity.
h) He gains a +4 racial bonus to Fortitude saves against Poison
i) His saves do not change (ie he has the saves of a 1st level fighter)
j) His abilities increase as such:
Str +4
Dex +2
Con +4
Int +2
Wis +4
Cha +4
k) His skills don't change. He has the skills of a first level fighter (ie (2 + int mod)X4 skill points)
l) He gets the normal feats for a 1st level elven fighter, ie feat for level 1 and feat for fighter level 1.
m) his type changes to Outsider, which means some spells don't affect him (charm / hold person) but some do (protection from good). Also, he can't be raised.

Now, this 1st level half-celestial elven fighter has 10,000XP and needs 5,000XP to attain level 2. He only has 10+Con mod HP, He only has a BAB of +1 and his base saves are +2 +0 +0.

If you needed to make a 9th level character, you can raise this character to Fighter level 5 (Level 5 + ECL 4 = 9th level character). By raising this character to 5th Fighter level, he'll gain:
Skill points for levels 2, 3, 4 and 5
Fighter feat for level 2 and 4
Normal feat for level 3
Stat increase for level 4
BAB for a 5th level fighter
Saves for a 5th level fighter
etc.

Hope this is clear.

Slim

 

[De Arco]

That's pretty clear. Thanks!

We got tripped up because we thought character got skill points and feats from being an outsider prior to the fighter class level.

 

[Camarath]

If playing 3.5 add class levels to this composite. Note the character's ECL (effective character level) is 4 + his class levels. Feats and ability score increases are based on his actual class level while his experience is based on his ECL.

HALF-CELESTIAL ELF
Type: Native Outsider
Medium: As Medium creatures, elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Speed: Elf base land speed is 30 feet. A half-celestial has feathered wings and can fly at 60 ft(good maneuverability).
Natural Armor +1
Special Attacks:
Daylight (Su): Half-celestials can use a daylight effect (as the spell) at will.
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day a half-celestial can make a normal melee attack to deal extra damage equal to its HD (maximum of +20) against an evil foe.
Spell-Like Abilities: A half-celestial with an Intelligence or Wisdom score of 8 or higher has two or more spell-like abilities, depending on its Hit Dice, as indicated on the table below. The abilities are cumulative
Unless otherwise noted, an ability is usable once per day. Caster level equals the creature’s HD, and the save DC is Charisma-based.
HD Abilities
1-2 Protection from evil 3/day, bless
3-4 Aid, detect evil
5-6 Cure serious wounds, neutralize poison
7-8 Holy smite, remove disease
9-10 Dispel evil
11-12 Holy word
13-14 Holy aura 3/day, hallow
15-16 Mass charm monster
17-18 Summon monster IX (celestials only)
19-20 Resurrection
Special Qualities: A half-celestial has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.
-Darkvision out to 60 feet. Low-Light Vision: An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
-Immunity to disease
-Immunity to magic sleep effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.
-Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and electricity 10.
-Damage reduction: 5/magic (if HD 11 or less) or 10/magic (if HD 12 or more).
-A half-celestial’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
-Spell resistance equal to creature’s HD + 10 (maximum 35).
- +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves against poison.
- +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.
- Weapon Proficiency: Elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, rapier, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats.
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +4.
Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass elf ’s wizard class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Alignment: Always good (any).
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +4.