My picks:
Barbarian
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Half-giant; Expanded Psionics Handbook, +1 LA. Is there a better +1 LA race for warrior classes? If so, I can't find it*. Bonuses to Str and Con without eliminating combat expertise as an option, large weapons, good at grappling, no
hold person - if they've not "got it all" then they've "got most of it."
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Warforged; MM3, +0 LA. Immune to things a fighting class should be immune to, good Con, and generally made to be a warrior. Healing sucks, but you can't have it all for +0 LA, right?
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Ogre; MM, +4 HD and +2 LA. Well, if you wanna upgrade from the half-giant, why not go all out? 6 lost levels is a bunch, but the warrior classes can handle it easier. Plus, this is one of the lower cost creatures for the "massive boost to Str and Con, large size, and +lots of natural armor" shtick. (And trolls are ECL 11.)
Bard
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Pixie; MM, +4 LA. Ok, so bards suck at everything, right?
Well, having a +4 LA isn't going to make them suck that much worse, and the massive Cha boost will keep your save DCs on spells almost up to where they should be, and the Str hit doesn't matter for a class that can't melee anyway. But here's the real kicker: YOU WILL NEVER DIE. Constantly invisible, good DR, amazing SR, small, flying creature with some extra AC thrown in to boot means that if you don't want the enemy to hurt you, they never will. Perfect for the "5th character" or anyone who does almost exclusively support actions.
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0 LA Feytouched; Savage Progressions article on WotC, +0 LA. Bonuses to two bard attributes and a negative to Con, low-light vision, strong against enchantments, and no
hold person. That's all you get, but it's not a bad deal for a bard with +0 LA. The +1 LA version isn't really worth the extra level.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a
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Forest Gnome; MM, +0 LA. Eh. At least you're harder to hit and your illusion spells won't suck as badly. Not a horrid caster-bard, and one of the few races worth trying a bard with. Plus, WotC made it their favored class, so why not give it a whirl? The "forest" variety gnomes get extra hide and pass without trace for low-low cost of one fewer automatic languages and "can't talk to some crappy animals," so why not pick it up?
Cleric
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. Iconic, simple, but still worth it. Casters need low LAs and clerics are starved for feats and skill points as it is. Not spectacular, but very solid.
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Aasamar; MM, +1 LA. If you're gonna get a +1 LA, you might as well benefit from every piece of it. Pluses to the main mental stats clerics need and a couple of other minor abilities that don't hurt make this an acceptable solution, if not the best. The +0 LA aasamar from the Savage Progressions article might also be a good idea here.
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Lumi; MM3, +2 HD and +2 LA. Well, if you're already going to sacrifice several caster levels, why not gain good stats and immunity to death effects? Probably not worth it in the long run, but the most viable greater-than-1 LA for clerics I've come across. Tons of extra perks and abilities, plus no fear of vorpal weapons!
Dragon Shaman (PHB 2)
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Silverbrow human; Dragon Magic, +0 LA. Keep your bonus feat -and- gain the dragonblood subtype, which unlocks even more of the goodies in that same book (Dragon Magic). Win-win.
Druid
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. Yeah, elves are better a low levels for the Dex boost and "ability to use actual weapons," but once you start to shapechange all that really matters are feats and skill points. Plus the 0 LA helps for any caster. Overall a simple, but still good, choice.
Duskblade (PHB 2)
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Half-giant; Expanded Psionics Handbook, +1 LA. Low LA cost, no Int penalty - one of the best warrior class races, and still good for a melee caster. Dex penalty hurts, but your primary function is still hitting things with weapons - and half-giants are darn good at that.
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. All-around characters need all-around races. Not many races boost Str and Int, and while a LA wouldn't hurt this class as much as other casting classes, not having one helps, too. At least humans don't have any negatives and an extra feat can never hurt.
Fighter
> See barbarian. Yeah, I know the fighter needs more Int on average and they really are a different class, but the barbarian picks are great here, too.
Monk
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Githzerai; MM, +2 LA. Monks are like casters with their LA stinginess, but the githzerai are a solid choice. +4 AC when awake, bonus to primary monk stats (a.k.a. anything but Cha), and you're already an outsider. Nice combination.
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Kuo-Toa; MM, +2 HD and +3 LA. Don't laugh - these guys have some pretty darn good stats and abilities, and could become good monks. A monk makes up for their lost speed and could take advantage of several of their abilities while grappling. 5 lost levels is quite a huge penalty for their positives, however, and I'm just not a big fan of the constantly dazzled thing.
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. See duskblade human reasoning.
Paladin
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. Simple, very vanilla, but then again it works. Palies can't afford many negative stats, and an extra feat and the skill points are just too useful not to pick up.
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+0 LA Aasamar; Savage Progressions article on WotC, +0 LA. Aasamars are iconic paladins, but why boost Wis and resistances and pick up a worthless spell when you can leave all that out for no LA! Palies need all the stats they can get, and the +2 Cha helps boost a 14 to a 16 for minimal point-buy expenditure, and the other perks (darkvision, no
hold person) aren't bad. It's simple, but hey - it works!
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a
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Pixie; MM, +4 LA. I know, I know, but stick with me for a minute: massive boost in almost every stat for a modest -4 Str, good DR, better SR, flying, outrageous saves with the massive Cha boost and the paladin's Cha-for-saves ability, and the massive Dex boost means light armor is a viable option. Plus, with so many stats boosted you can afford to throw everything into Str, and you're just one enlarge person potion away from being a pretty decent damage dealer. And need we forget always-on greater invisibility? What's not to like! Granted, you'll go through potions like a crack addict, but you're still viable. And the +4 LA doesn't hurt the melee class quite as badly, although it is quite a hit. Specialized, but doable.
Ranger
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Elf; PHB, +0 LA. Yeah, I know, very plain - but it works. There's not much about an elf that doesn't work with a ranger, and there's very little to lose.
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Centaur; MM, +4 HD and +2 LA. 6 lost levels is a big hit, but centaurs' strengths mesh really well with the ranger abilities - and with its bonuses, it's one of the few times that you can almost outshine a fighter in two-weapon-fighting. Plus, you've always got movement to spare, and you'll never need a horse. (No wonder it's their favored class.)
Rogue
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Tiefling; MM, +1 LA. Again, iconic, but for a good reason. Bonuses to the most important rogue stats and a negative in the rogue's dump stat, plus extra abilities that can only be described as "rogue-tastic." ("Tiefling" is hard to spell, though.) The +0 LA tiefling from the Savage Progressions article is worth looking at as well.
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Tallfellow Halfing; MM, +0 LA. Fairly vanilla, but being small doesn't hurt and who cares about your primary weapon damage, anyway? Trading +2 to climb, jump, and move silent for +2 to search, spot, and elfy-senses vs. secret doors is a great deal. Add some rogue-friendly other perks and it's a very nice +0 LA.
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Chitine; Underdark, +2 HD and +2 LA. 4 lost levels is a big hit, but these guys are tailor-made to be two-weapon (well, four-weapon) fighting rogues. Great stats, small size, and four arms for lots of sneak attack. The sunlight penalty is annoying and Underdark may also not be 3.5, however.
Sorcerer
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Human; PHB, +0 LA. Plain-jane humans aren't bad for the feat-starved sorc, and skill points don't hurt, either. Most of the +Cha races either suck or aren't worth the LA for the poor sorcerer, who can't really afford anything greater than +0 with an already retarded spell level progression.
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Forest Gnome; MM, +0 LA.
Color spray,
phantasmal killer, and
weird are your new best friends - and no one will cast them better than a gnome. Small size helps with rays and AC. The stat changes don't make any difference, and the random extra abilities are generally pointless, but you might run into some giants at some point, right? ...Right?
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Fire Mephling; Planar Handbook (is this 3.5?), +1 LA. Bonuses to fire spells equal happy sorcerer. Plus, the attribute bonuses are to the only things you care about, and the small size helps AC and rays. The +1 LA is a hard one to swallow, but at least you get a crappy breath weapon that can be used very seldomly. Air mephlings are just barely a step behind; always-on fly is good, but +1 to air spells is not as useful.
Warlock (Complete Arcane)
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Pixie; MM, +4 LA. See bard.
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Dromite; Expanded Psionics Handbook, +1 LA. LA hurts all casters, but the bonuses here are not bad, and can keep this "often close to the action" caster alive for quite some time. The small size doesn't help to hit much (you're always going to hit anyway) but the AC and natural armor together doesn't hurt. Plus it's one of the very few low-LA +Cha races.
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0 LA Feytouched; Savage Progressions article on WotC, +0 LA. See bard.
Wizard
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Gray elf; MM, LA +0. The only +0 LA race I could find with a bonus to Int and Dex, and negatives to non-wizardy attributes. Plus, hey - free elf traits. Being strong against enchantments can't be bad (a dominated wizard equals negative good for party). (Not bad for rogues, either.)
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Human; PHB, LA +0. Sure, wizards get tons of feats and skill points... but what wizard wouldn't want MORE feats and skill points!?
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Lich template; MM, LA +4. Yeah, +4 LA hurts a caster quite a bunch, and yeah there's the whole "unspeakably evil" thing... But you're never gonna die, and no one's gonna be able to kill you, either. Not a bad deal just to come to the dark side.
Races that come close to being useful, but don't quite cut it:
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Half-dragon template; MM, +3 LA. As LA templates go this is one of the few that is almost worth it with a solid round of stat boosts, but it's still only useful if you're already a large creature (wings and bite damage). The breath weapon in particular being 1/day is worthless, and an adjustment that made this more useful or left it out altogether for a lower LA would be a much better design.
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Doppleganger; MM, +4 HD and +4 LA. Too expensive for almost anyone, this race trends toward monk/paly with its across-the-board stat increase, but fails to really come through.
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Minotaur; MM, +6 HD and +2 LA. Why do this when an ogre is better for fewer racial HD?
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Drow; MM, +2 LA. Looks good on paper with the +caster stats and spell resistance, but the LA makes it too prohibitive for casters, and constantly dazzled thing just can't be useful.
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Grimlock; MM, +2 HD and +2 LA. Not a bad deal for a warrior class, really, but the ogre is so much better for only 2 more racial hit die.
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Vampire template; MM, +8 LA. Ok, honestly, this probably does work ok for warrior classes. But the +8 LA is just too much to swallow - you'll have 12 HP at level 9, and that's too little for anyone, no matter how much fast healing and DR and
gaseous form you have.
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Slyth; Underdark, +2 LA. Cool abilities and really close to a good ranger race, but the +2 LA is just a bit high for what you get in regards to how it benefits your class. And is Underdark 3.5?
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Catfolk; Races of the Wild, +1 LA. +4 Dex is nice, but no one who needs that and also needs +2 Cha really needs a +1 LA for basically nothing else. Also, +1 natural armor is a non-ability. Not horrible for a warlock, but not that good, either. And is Races of the Wild 3.5? (Edit: yes it is.)
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Warforged Charger; MM3, +4 HD and +4 LA. Too expensive for what you get. 'Nuff said.
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Gloaming; Underdark, +2 LA. Not bad for a sorcerer, but not good enough for +2 LA and -2 caster levels. Also from the questionably 3.5 Underdark.
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Stonechild; Races of Stone, +2 HD and +4 LA. Why lose 6 levels and have only 2 HD when you can lose 6 levels and have 4 with the ogre? Also, is Races of Stone 3.5? (Edit: yes it is.)
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Dracotaur; MM3, +3 HD and +5 LA. Close to a paladin's goodness with the huge array of stat boosts and melee abilities, even 3 HDs of dragon can't make up for the 5 more lost levels on this one.
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Goliath; Races of Stone, +1 LA. The goliath seems to trade some of the less useful extra half-giant abilities for even more Str. Even better, if you don't consider it horribly broken. Also, the half-ogre seems promising, but apparently there are two versions floating around, so I did not evaluate it.
Pick YOUR favorite creature/race for all the core classes, plus some of the more interesting expanded classes if you so desire. Come on and post, you know you want to - everyone has an opinion!
