Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Vorpal Tribble 09-11-05, 02:31 PM	I have a player wanting to play a doppleganger, and this is a Level 7 game. I'm not going to allow it on principal, however, I noticed something strange. It has an LA of +4 and four levels of monsterous humanoid. This would give it an ECL of 8... yet the original doppleganger is a CR 3. I 'really' don't get this :confused:
cmrscorpio 09-11-05, 03:28 PM	CR and ECL are not directly related to each other. CR represents the average level that a party would need to be in order to defeat the creature using 1/4 of their resources. ECL represents its power level if it were in a party of PCs. The reason the ECL is so much higher than its CR is that, as a PC, the doppelganger's abilties are being use a whole lot more than a single encounter. Doppelgangers have detect thoughts (a 2nd level spell) as an "at will" supernatural ability. They have Change Shape (which is similar to the 2nd level spell Alter Self) as a continual supernatural ability. They have bonuses to *every* ability score. Now, in a single encounter, these abilities aren't too big of a deal. Chances are the doppelganger isn't going to be able to take full advantage of these abilities very many times before the encounter is over. However, as a PC, these abilities will see almost constant use.
The Vorpal Tribble 09-11-05, 03:45 PM	Oh duh, gaaaah. Talk about a brain fart. I've explained this very thing to others. The CR 3 can take on 4-5 level 3 creatures. Got it. *sighs and sticks his head in a vat of custard*
General_Ridley 09-11-05, 08:45 PM	Races of Destiny has Monster advancement for the doppleganger, if the doppleganger would be an option then.