Scion, I see you've grown more unreasonable and rude in your responses, and folks just keep responding to your rudeness in kind. Try not to treat other peoples' opinions like crap, okay? Even those of us who aren't fundamentally opposed to the race you posted still acknowledge that you need to increase the Kri'Loroth's racial hit dice or Level Adjustment to make it fair. Or weaken the race instead. It's not like we aren't doing the math before we post. You seem to have even disregarded my post altogether, even though I posted a direct comparison of your race to the Half-Giants of the Expanded Psionics Handbook. You don't seem to want any changes to your race, so why do you post and ask for opinions or whatnot if you won't take the advice or at least acknowledge it? Some of the posters may be responding purely on opinion and conjecture, but I assure you that many of us are not baseless in our conclusions. I have played and DMed characters possessing Level Adjustments, and I have spent a lot of time going over the 3rd Edition rules and how things ought to balance out. I am sure that some or many of the others who have responded likewise possess actual experience and study in such matters.
In any case, to try and help steer this towards some useful close...... I will waste much more of my time producing an even more extensive and concrete comparison and analysis for you, this once. Firstly, to debunk some stuff. Psionic feats are generally more powerful than normal feats, so gaining bonus psionic feats is more useful than bonus general feats, even though the selection is smaller, it's still much more potent, and since the race is geared towards psionics, it is much more likely to get the most out of its bonus psionic feats; only the uncommon Kri'Loroth wizard or fighter is going to be less than ecstatic about them. Secondly, the ability scores are not quite balanced against eachother but there will always be some that are great for one class but useless to another, and it will vary between classes. In general, Strength and Dexterity are slightly greater than the rest, while Wisdom and Charisma are the weakest by just a bit. To warriors this is more exaggerated, to spellcasters it's generally reversed. Overall, though, the above is true for most characters. Str/Dex simply affect more stuff of significance for most PCs/NPCs. But a huge bonus to one ability score is not exponentially better than a small bonus, though it is slightly better than what it would have been if divided amongst all ability scores. Thirdly, yes, many official creatures/races in the PH, MM, XPH, and SRD are weak for their Level Adjustment, but that doesn't mean that they're abysmal for it, and it doesn't mean that they can just be wholly disregarded balance-wise when devising a new race. It also doesn't mean that all of them suck for their LA, some are quite good despite it.
Fourthly, it would be mind-numbingly stupid to only compare ECL+ races at low levels, because low levels are the only time when their Level Adjustment is going to be crippling. At upper levels a mere 2-4 HD lost, especially if they would have been meager d4 HD from Wizard or Psion levels, is almost nothing compared to the 12+ or 16+ HD accumulated. Paper tigers grow into their niche and out of their fragility eventually, and their ECL is not based purely on their low-level usefulness, but also on their high-level munchkining capacity. The few manifester levels or caster levels sacrificed in some cases is more nasty, but not be a great deal. I.E. a 17th-level wizard with a +3 LA still has at least one 9th-level spell per day. Are you trying to keep your race down to a +2 ECL just to ensure that they gain access to 9th-level spells or powers by the time their group reaches 20th-level, even if the Kri'Loroth is a sorcerer or psion or whatever?
Now then, on to a quick rundown of how I estimate your race's viability and potency, so you have something to think about or refute if you must. After this, I'll post some sample characters to compare actual, complete stats with.
Fighter: For comparison's sake. 1 level of fighter is worth.... d10 HD = 2-3 Toughness feats, though Toughness is a bit weak. 2+Int mod SP = 1 Skill Focus feat, roughly, as ranks are generally a bit better to have than mere bonuses. Bonus feat = 1 feat of course. +1 BAB = 2 feats generally, as in Weapon Focus with one melee weapon and WF with one ranged weapon, generally speaking. +2 Fortitude = 1 feat of course. The proficiencies are only gained at 1st-level and not really important for this particular comparison. So, 1 level of fighter is generally worth 7-8 feats. Fighter's a kinda weak choice of class though (albeit still quite playable and useful), all things considered, so 1 level worth of stuff should be more like 10-12 feats in value.
Ability scores: +2 Str = 3-4 feats in value (Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Skill Focus, and Endurance, so to speak, in that it helps with melee attack rolls and most PCs will use 1-2 different melee weapons/attack types, and Str helps melee damage, plus three skills, and determines carrying capacities and such, plus it affects the numerous Str checks such as grapple checks, trip attempts, etc.). +2 Dex = 3-4 feats in value (Weapon Focus, Dodge, Skill Focus, Lightning Reflexes, and Improved Initiative, but weaker in the latter two; Dex helps many skills, plus ranged attacks, of which most characters use 1 or 2, and it helps AC, Reflex, and Initiative too). +2 Con = 2-3 feats in value (Toughness, Great Fortitude, and Skill Focus, though weaker with the latter two, as Con helps HP, Fortitude, and Concentration, plus it's important for holding breath, long marches, running after an enemy, and surviving deadly Con-damage poisons/diseases). +2 Int = 2-3 feats in value (Skill Focus mostly, in that Int affects many skills slightly, and it also grants extra skill points making it at least doubly valuable skills-wise, plus it's important in some prerequisites and important to wizards). +2 Wis = 2 feats in value (Iron Will and Alertness; Wis helps a fair number of skills but not so much as Dex or Int, and it helps Will saves, plus it's important for monks/divine casters, but otherwise it's pretty limited). +2 Cha = 2 feats in value (Skill Focus mostly, it helps with a decent number of skills like Wis does, but even less combat relevance, and it's important to a few classes but otherwise extremely limited). Considering how spread-out these benefits are, and that any given character may only really utilize half of them effectively or significantly, the Kri'Loroth's ability score adjustments strike me as being worth roughly 10 feats or so in value. There's a +1 Level Adjustment.
2 Aberration Hit Dice: In total, these grant: 2d8 HD, counting them as 2nd-level characters as a base for purposes of spells, effects, gaining feats and ability increases, etc., worth some paltry amount less than a feat; an average of 9hp, worth 3 Toughness feats or 2-1/2 better-balanced HP-giving feats; +1 BAB, worth 2 Weapon Focus feats; +3 Will, worth 1-1/2 Iron Will feats; 10+(5 x Int mod) skill points, worth 4-1/2 or so Skill Focus feats for the Kri'Loroth with their tendency to have good Int; Darkvision 60 ft., but Kri'Loroth get low-light vision instead, so worth maybe almost 1 feat; proficiency in all simple weapons, worth 1 feat of course; the need to eat, sleep, and breathe; and immunity to the tiny percentage of spells and effects that only work on Humanoids, worth maybe 1/2 a feat at the very, very most. Total: 13-14 feats in value. Worth a +1 LA for sure. This makes for a total of ECL 2 effectively; the racial hit dice's inferiority to normal class levels makes up for the Kri'Loroth's all-around good ability scores, more or less; actually worth a bit more than that, though.
2 bonus psionic feats: worth 2+ feats in value, probably worth 3-4 normal feats since Kri'Loroth are naturally psionic and possess some power points, thus able to use these feats regardless of class; as psionic feats are usually stronger than normal, more than compensating for the relatively modest number of feats to choose from for these bonus feats. Combined with the above, that puts the Kri'Loroth at a very good but acceptable total ECL value of +2 ,considering their lack of a human's racial traits (though the Kri'Loroth actually gets similar stuff through their racial benefits, it's not quite the same, and I already considered that stuff's value above).
Other stuff: Obviously the Kri'Loroth's further benefits demand another racial hit die or a +1 Level Adjustment, at least. +1 Power Point per hit die means they start with a number of PP equal to their HD, at least....this is worth roughly 3 feats IMHO, since early on it's only worth 1 feat or so but after just a few levels it becomes worth 2 feats, then near the middle levels it's worth 3 or so, and the gradual accumulation means that 3 feats is probably about fair for judging it. Psychic Voice is of minimal consequence, though it has some tiny advantages and disadvantages. Weak Build negates the primary benefits of being size Large, but not all of them; their Large size incurs -1 AC, -1 attack, -4 Hide, 10 feet of natural reach, greater carrying capacities, and the ability to wield larger, more damaging weapons. That last point makes up for the -1 attack penalty for the most part, but not fully, and the reach more than makes up for the rest, so at best, Large size and Weak Build balance out. Psi Ability is a sort of limited, but immediate and free rather than painful, Overchannel. I'd say it's worth 2 feats roughly, given that, but that might be a bit harsh or a bit cheap, though not by a lot.
So Kri'Loroth have around 5 feats or so worth of excess power beyond what they should for an ECL 2 race. Give them 3 racial hit dice instead of 2, and they should be fine. I've been fairly accomodating and generous in these estimations of the total worth of the race, so it's possible the Kri'Loroth are actually even better for some builds, but they could also be a bit worse for some other builds. Now, the opportunity cost of losing out on 2 or 3 manifester levels for a while hasn't been taken into account, but I don't think it's enough to make them worth only 2 racial HD in cost. So, on to the sample character comparisons, using your race as-is for these comparisons, to demonstrate.
Kri'Loroth Aberration 2, Psion (Kineticist) 18
HD: 2d8+18d4+60+20 (134 hp), AC 10, Initiative +1, BAB +10/+5, Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +16
Size Large, speed 30 feet, space/reach 10 ft./10 ft., grapple +10/+5
Str 10, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 22, Wis 15, Cha 14
Full Attack: Large shortspear +9/+4 melee (1d10/x3); or 2 Large clubs +10/+5 ranged (1d8)
Manifester level 18, 431 power points, 33 powers known, maximum power level 9
Feats: 13, 7 any plus 6 psionic; Psionic Body, Body Fuel, Empower Power, Psionic Meditation, Narrow Mind, Overchannel, Talented, Quicken Power, Mind Over Body, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent
Skills: 25 skill points from Aberration hit dice, 115 skill points from Psion levels, 140 total; I don't know the Kri'Loroth's racial class skills, so I'm leaving out those 25 SP for now; Autohypnosis +23, Concentration +24, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (Local) +16, Knowledge (Psionics) +27, Psicraft +27
Kri'Loroth traits factored in (weak build, psychic voice, low-light vision, psi ability, +1 power point per hit die, 2 bonus psionic feats, favored class = any psionic class)
Human Psion (Kineticist) 20
HD: 20d4+40+20 (110 hp), AC 10, Initiative +0, BAB +10/+5, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +13
Size Medium, speed 30 feet, space/reach 5 ft./5 ft., grapple +9/+4
Str 8, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 12
Full Attack: Shortspear +9/+4 melee (1d8-1/x3); or 2 clubs +10/+5 ranged (1d6-1)
Manifester level 20, 407 power points, 36 powers known, maximum power level 9
Feats: 13, 8 any plus 5 psionic; Psionic Body, Body Fuel, Empower Power, Psionic Meditation, Narrow Mind, Overchannel, Talented, Quicken Power, Mind Over Body, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent, Psionic Talent
Skills: 140 skill points from Psion levels; Autohypnosis +24, Concentration +25, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (Local) +28, Knowledge (The Planes) +7, Knowledge (Psionics) +28, Psicraft +28
Human traits factored in (+1 skill point per level, bonus feat, favored class = highest-level class)
Differences: Kri'Loroth has 24 more HP, +1 greater Initiative, +1 more Fortitude, +1 more Reflex, +3 more Will. Kri'Loroth has a 10-foot reach. Kri'Loroth has +1 more on grapple checks. Kir'Loroth has 24 more power points, but 2 fewer actual manifester levels and 3 fewer powers known. Kri'Loroth wields bigger weapons, generally deals 1-2 more damage per hit. Kri'Loroth has to spend its initial 25 skill points a bit differently, but the difference in skill totals and the usefulness of the skills is minimal. The save and Init benefits are about 2 feats extra, the HP is like 5 feats extra, the other stuff is maybe 1 feat or so extra. Plus the Kri'loroth's Psi Ability, and low-light vision, which make for another 2-3 feats worth of power. And the miscellaneous benefits from the Large size and the +2 on all ability scores (the somewhat minor stuff not detailed above, like the occasional need to resist a trip, carry a heavy load around, having an extra language known, getting +1 on charisma-type stuff to interact with NPCs, +1 on various skill checks like Balance or Spot when needed, etc.).
Altogether, this is very close to a +1 Level Adjustment worth of extra stuff for the Kri'Loroth, despite the 2 missing manifester levels (which only really cost them a few meager powers known, and a minor reduction in the maximum number of power points the Kri'Loroth can spend on augmentations and metapsionics). The Kri'Loroth's Psi Ability combined with the Overchannel feat and such allow them to pretty significantly boost their manifester level and powers through augmentation and stuff, so the loss of 2 manifester levels is laughable in how little it will ever be noticed, and I doubt it would ever really weaken the Kri'Loroth at such levels.
Some have said, 'I wouldnt use that in my campaign' or 'BROKEN!' or 'anytime I see X I dismiss it entirely'. When they have said, 'at higher levels it breaks down' I have asked them to prove it.
But I can only use comparisons that I feel are at least somewhat valid, I dont feel that with the feat conversion way.
