How feasible is this idea?

[AFGNCAAP]

In this thread and in this thread, the possibility/idea of NPC classes for PC classes was discussed, with all of its merits/problems.

Well, something I read recently made me wonder of a possible option for allowing PC races with Level Adjustments (LA only; not neceassarily HD & LA) to be used as PCs, but not necessarily as higher Character-Level PCs.

IIRC, (for example) the LA/CR for a duergar with an NPC class is equal to his HD in the class. However, the LA/CR for a duergar with a PC is equal to his HD +1. This generally holds true for other races such as drow, svirneblin, etc.

So, would a 1st-level duergar character with an NPC class only be equal to any of the "core" PHB races as 1st-level characters with PC classes?

The duergar's merely 1 example (the only one I could think of off the top of my head with a +1 LA). But, would this be a viable option overall? I know that I've restricted players from selecting races with any sort of LA above 0 for their 1st-level, 0-XP starting PCs. However, I figure that this is a possible option for a player to select a race with a LA of +1 (maybe higher) and be relatively on-par with other PCs with LA +0 character races.

What to do y'all think?

 

[Voadam]

It's a neat idea but I would expect to see people only considering noble, warrior and experts to start. Perhaps multiple NPC only levels for higher LA races ie drow would need to be nobles for 2 levels or something similar. A level one warrior is basically a level one fighter minus only one feat and two hit points so that is a balance point to consider.

I wouldn't expect any commoners or adepts because commoners have no redeeming class features and spellcasting generally needs to be stuck with to be worthwhile and nobody wants to dedicate themselves to suboptimal spellcasting only.