Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Khatoblepas 03-15-07, 08:39 AM	I like playing Monstrous Races very, very much, and the more exotic, the better. But one thing has always stumped me: An advanced monster that doesn't gain a size catagory... is the LA the same, more, or less? I'm of the belief that 2RHD = +1LA. (As seen with prestige classes that give you templates - Walker in the Waste 10 Levels = LA+5 etc, and racial hit die mitigating LA). But does it take into account other stuff, as well? Take the Marrash from the MMII (one of my favourites.). 7RHD, +6LA (ECL13). It can be advanced to 12HD, but does that mean that a player character playing an advanced Marrash is ECL18 before class levels? Or is the LA reduced accordingly? (Instead of +6LA, the 5 extra hit die reduce it to +4LA.) Or is the LA increased from the raised save DCs? Another problem would be the Sylph. It casts, as far as I know, as a Sorcerer of it's Hit Die +1 (I don't have the book on me...). Someone in another thread said that it could be advanced. How would this affect its LA? I haven't personally found a solution. But if it's written somewhere, please tell me. =)
runestar 03-15-07, 09:46 AM	Extra racial HD would actually serve to lower what would otherwise have been a higher LA, since racial HD is usually deemed as inferior to class lvs, and as such, taking them would actually constitute a penalty, since the opportunity cost is the extra class lvs you could have been taking in its stead. There is no hard and fast rule for reducing LA for extra racial HD taken so far, since different types of racial HD possess varying degrees of "quality". For example, outsider or dragon HD is far superior to undead or plant HD, and the LA reduction for taking more of the former would likely accrue at a slower rate than the latter. In the very least, rest assured that with the exception of dragons, your LA will not increase.:)
Armoracia Rusticana 03-15-07, 05:28 PM	Special case to consider is Ibexian (goatfolk, MMIII) and some other creatures alike. Ibexian has advancement by HDs OR by class levels. And it grows Large at certain point. Gaining not only reach of 10, but STR +8 and lots of stuff. That is not magical increase of size, but typical enlargement due to HDs, and thus will bring certain benefits and drawbacks, described in Improving by HD (and size) section of MM. That definetly have its cost, as I tend to believe. Increasing the size typically adds +1 to CR, and that at least equals increasing LA by +1. As PC must take about 2-4 levels of monstrous humanoid, I'd say that is enough LA increase. But... Things are, your player isn't asking about this special case, is he?
Thomar_of_Uointer 03-15-07, 05:42 PM	Creatures that advance by Hit Dice are typically not playable. Normally only creatures that advance by class have listed level adjustments. Advancing a playable monster by Hit Dice will change its Level Adjustment, though no rules are given in the DMG or MM as to how exactly this affects the monster. You'd probably have to figure it out on a creature-by-creature basis.
Finfreeze 03-15-07, 11:03 PM	Another thing to consider is the line of playable/attractable mounts that can grow to large or huge size with only a few more hit dice. Of particular note are... Blink Dogs <- Really, really, really good Giant Eagles Giant Owls Nightmares <- Also nice Worgs Winter Wolves All of these species except for nightmares are specifically noted as being able to understand and speak "language", as opposed to things like griffons and pegasi, which are stated as being unable to speak. I wouldn't change the LA upon a size change. The additional hit dice and the initial level adjustment should be more than enough to cover for it. If the additional HD don't count towards a size change, it might make sense to lower the LA after a while, but I think the amount varies wildly on HD type and whether or not the race has innate spellcasting or not.