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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kae'Yoss" data-source="post: 1997823" data-attributes="member: 4134">The "pay more XP" was in 2e. In some ways it still is "he pays more", but not a flat "+25%" or something.For awarding XP/ determining how difficult an encounter will be, and for character wealth, that drow is treated as if he had two levels more. So a drow figher 1 can, in theory, take on the same enemies as a human fighter 3, and he does have the same starting money. For everything else (additional feats, max skill ranks, ability increases, and so on) he's a fighter 1.Now, it is not recommended to let a drow (or other character with level adjustment) into a party of 1st level characters. At first, he would be too strong (as he'd start with one level, like everyone else, but with all those nice features that are worth two levels), but then, when they'd get additional hit points and spell levels, he'd get none. A drow fighter 1 is no match for a human fighter 3, since the other has about twice as many hit points (not to speak of all the other stuff).Generally, at least half of a character's effective level (2/3 is better) should be actual hit dice/levels, or he's too frail for the party (not enough HP).So you either don't allow that drow, or you use a monster class: At first, that drow would only get some of his abilities (so he's the equal of another 1st-level character). He could then take more levels of his class as usual, OR he could take a "level" in the drow "class". This level doesn't give a Hit die or associated stuff (BAB, Saves, skills, feats, etc), but gives him more of his racial features. This way he could play a "drow light" for the first 2 or 3 levels, until he'd have a little buffer of HP, and then take one, and a little later the other, level of drow, setting him behind in HD (but now it's not nearly crippling any more) and granting him his drow abilities.The Drow "class" can be found <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a" target="_blank">here</a></blockquote>

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