LA and starting gold for NPC's problem

[Zarnam]

Greetings !!

Recently I started wondering if perhaps I'm not designing my drow npc's the way they should be...
A drow has +1 CR and +2 LA, which normally means that he gets the starting gold of his level +2, but so far I used this mechanic strictly with my PC's.
Should this work for NPC's as well ?? I'm beginning to think YES, but some confirmation would be really nice

 

[irdeggman]

It is your call. There is nothing that states that NPCs get the same equipment as do PCs.

Normally I reserve the NPC = PC for only those significant NPCs and not the fodder.

It depends on whether or not they are "elite" or "average".

Pg 112+ on in the DMG suplies tables of NPCs by class and level with typical equipment. If you look closely you'll notice that this equipment is less than that you'd get from using Table 5-1.

 

[Zarnam]

Hmmm...you didn't exactly grasp my question

In the DMG there is a table (4-23: NPC Gear Value) which "guides" us to what gold an NPC of a certain level should have available. Now in the 'Characters' section on page 172 it is stated:" Also use ECL (Effective Character Level) with table 5-1: Character Wealth by Level to determine starting wealth for a monster character". So what I would like to know, or rather have confirmed, is whether I should use the same method with NPC's - calculate their ECL's and use that value when checking table 4-23 ??

 

[irdeggman]

In that case yes I would use the LA to adjust the level in order to use the "appropriate" gear table (either the PC one or the NPC one).