The Saint template

[Matafuego]

One of my players is shortly becoming a Saint but I took a different approach.
He will take the template at 18th level (he's 17th and short of a Feat and he has been nothing but a Saint since day one...). I told him that when he reached 18th level he would be just an 18th level Cleric, and for the next two levels he would have to gain the experience without using it to "advance" in class levels.
When he gets enough XP to be 20th level he would gain the saint template and be considered a "20th" level character.

 

[The Souljourner]

Ahh, ok, so you make him spend the two levels without the template, and then trade them in to become a saint. That sounds a lot more fair.

How are you defining the whole "must act super good all the time" prerequisite?

-The Souljourner

 

[Gort]

I thought the idea with D&D was that you SHOULDN'T balance powers with roleplaying drawbacks. I don't want to have to go out of my way to throw some moral dilemma into the game just because I have an overpowered player.

 

[Voadam]

Level adjustment is +2. This is the text in the book about gaining the template: "<prerequisites including "Must be at least 6th level"> A character who meets these criteria and achieves this pinnacle of sanctification can acquire the saint template.... Upon acquiring the template, ... the character sacrifices her next two levels of advancement in order to "catch up" with the (artificially low) level adjustment of the template. For example, a 7th level paladin who becomes a saint becomes the equivalent of a 9th level character. She must accumulate a total of 45,000xp to gain another level, becoming an 8th level paladin and a 10th level character."

I do agree that the template is too good for +2, that much is obvious... but they're hinting at some mitigating factor here, and I just can't figure out what that is.

-The Souljourner

Well they say right there in the quoted text that the saint's LA is artificially low. So it is a deliberate design decision that saints are more powerful than equivalent ECL characters. I believe a lot of stuff in BoED is that way, unbalanced good power ups balanced slightly by rp requirements.

 

[molonel]

The Saint template is completely, utterly broken with a +2 LA. It works particularly well with clerics and monks, especially because of the stacking AC bonus on the latter (as someone else has already mentioned).

A good rule of thumb is that mechanics balance mechanics. Roleplaying restrictions are generally a poor substitute for a balanced creation, and are often both insufficient and easily overlooked.