Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Brother MacLaren" data-source="post: 3525348" data-attributes="member: 15999">Generally speaking, the LA/ECL mechanic is just used for calculations involving PCs.  I don't think factoring in the ECL is appropriate for determining an NPC's loot.  The CR calculation is never used for PCs, only NPCs, but is it right for determining NPC loot?  I'd suggest doing it as the DMG p. 51 says: add the base monster treasure and the gear generated by the class levels (not the CR, not the ECL, not the HD, the "class levels").  Is there anything in the MM that explicitly contradicts this?  If you want, give him crafting feats so he can make his own magic items using the gold and gems in his hoard.  Gear is a fairly minor issue for a rakshasa.  He's a manipulator, a behind-the-scenes schemer, and his inherent abilities allow him to excel in that role.  If forced into combat, he doesn't need magic weapons, armor, or save-boosting items (his SR is so good).  Still, even a relatively inexpensive Staff of Fire will increase his power level quite a bit over the MM rakshasa. Gear is a major issue for melee monsters.  A Hill Giant Ftr1 (Class level 1, CR 8, HD 13, ECL 17) is already quite a bit stronger than a basic Hill Giant due to the class level and elite array.  Without even postulating ANY treasure, he's easily 1 CR above what he was before.  900 GP gives him Banded Mail armor (500 gp) and a Masterwork Greatsword (400 gp).  So I think that in general the DMG guidelines work well.</blockquote>

Verification