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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeff Wilder" data-source="post: 4746265" data-attributes="member: 5122">A character is of an Effective Character Level (ECL) equal to its class level, plus its Level Adjustment (LA), plus its Racial Hit Dice (RHD).Note that many humanoid races (and almost all PC races) have no RHD.  These races must have at least one class level, even if it's only Commoner.Okay, some examples:Drow -- LA +2, 0 RHD.  A 5th level drow wizard has an ECL of 7.  He or she has 5d4 hit dice.  In a group of 7th level adventurers, a 5th level drow would work, in theory.Gnoll -- LA +1, 2 RHD.  A 5th level gnoll barbarian has an ECL of 8.  He or she has 2d8 plus 5d12 hit dice.  In a group of 8th level adveturers, a 5th level gnoll barbarian would work, in theory.Hill Giant -- LA +4, 12 RHD.  A classless hill giant has an ECL of 16.  He or she has 12d8 hit dice.  In a group of 16th level adveturers, a stock classless hill giant would work, in theory.It's easy to confuse Challenge Rating and Level Adjustment, BTW.  Challenge Rating is a DM's tool, not a player's tool.  The drow above has a CR of 6, but a ECL of 7.The difference primarily has to do with the usefulness of abilities, as compared over the long term (as a PC would use them) and the short term (as a DM would use them).  A drow's abilities get much, much more use over the life of a PC than in the (typically short) life of an NPC, so LA "costs more."Finally, the importance of LA tends to diminish as PCs rise in level.  Unearthed Arcana has rules to "buy off" LA with experience points.  Because of the way experience points work, buying off the LA eventually results in (for example) a 10th level gnoll barbarian who has slightly fewer XP than his 10th level adventuring companions, but is otherwise equivalent.I could quibble with where UA sets the buy-off points, but the intent is good, and the theory behind it is sound.  A gnoll's racial abilities are much less important, relatively speaking, as the gnoll's level increases.  In fact, monsters with big RHD and LA usually are waaaay too weak at their "appropriate" level unless this variant is used.</blockquote>

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