Level Adjustments & Monster Hit Dice vs. Inherent Bonuses & Feats Gained: How?

[AFGNCAAP]

Okay, I have a question about an issue which I'm not too clear on:

When determining ECL for a monster character, I understand that it's Level Adjustment + Monster Hit Dice + Class Levels.

Now, I know that in the monster's description, any feats gained due to its number of Hit Dice are listed (for example, an ogre mage has 5 HD in giant; thus, it gains 2 feats). What about any inherent bonuses? Are those already calaculated in to the monster's ability score modifiers, or do they have to be added in afterward?

Also, when it comes to Level Adjustment, how does that work for a character? I know that a character with a LA automatically starts off with XP (for example, a deep gnome, which has a +3 LA, starts off with 6,000 XP & needs to gain 10,000 to reach 2nd level in his/her class). Would the aforementioned deep gnome need 4 levels in his/her class before gaining his/her 1st inherent ability score bonus, or would he/she start off play with the inherent bonus, though he/she only has 1 level in a class?

How does this work for characters with both? Would an ogre mage, with 5 HD in giant, and a +7 LA, gain 3 inherent ability score bonuses right off the bat, or would the ogre mage have to wait until it gained 4 levels in a class?

Also, how would this work for template characters, like liches? Since a lich has a +4 Level Adjustment, would it gain an inherent ability score bonus just by gaining the lich template, or is that already considered added in?

I'd appreciate any info/comments/link/opinions/etc. that you could provide.

 

[CyberSpyder]

Feats and ability increases are, to my understanding, based on hit dice, and nothing else.

So, in your examples:

Would the aforementioned deep gnome need 4 levels in his/her class before gaining his/her 1st inherent ability score bonus, or would he/she start off play with the inherent bonus, though he/she only has 1 level in a class?

The gnome would need to get 4 class levels before he could increase an attribute.

How does this work for characters with both? Would an ogre mage, with 5 HD in giant, and a +7 LA, gain 3 inherent ability score bonuses right off the bat, or would the ogre mage have to wait until it gained 4 levels in a class?

With 5 HD, it would start with 2 feats and 1 ability score bonus - upon getting a single class level, it would get another feat.

Also, how would this work for template characters, like liches? Since a lich has a +4 Level Adjustment, would it gain an inherent ability score bonus just by gaining the lich template, or is that already considered added in?

Templates don't grant hit dice, so it would give no ability score increases nor feats.

 

[Chronosome]

Ability score increases are all about the Hit Dice. If I'm building a character from a monster that already has 4 HD, I just assume the extra point's already been added in. Then, when that character hits 8 (12, 16, etc) HD/level, I up an ability score.

Hope that helps.