New Level Adjustment system [Archive] - Wizards Community

New Level Adjustment system [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nat_20
12-21-07, 10:12 PM Ok, i came up with this idea a while ago and just needed to see if it seemed balanced to be usable. I came up with it when i read about the Lvl Adj buy off variant in the Unearthed Arcana, so here it is.

Level Adjustment Trade off system.
Pretty much, instead of just cutting character levels for the adjustment, give the character a generic level of sorts. This would include a bad saving throw progression, D6's for Hit Dice, 2/3 Base attack bonus, the PC/NPC will be treated as though having one rank in every skill usable untrained for each point of level adjustment until the character takes its first level in a Character Class, and 1/2 caster level progression (this progression adds the the first spell casting class the character takes.)

I made the system so that the level adjustment the character takes will not hurt spell casting to much(i mean half progression isn't all that great but its better then none) and roles in combat isn't hampered much at low levels. One example would be a Drow Warrior. When a group of 3rd level adventurers runs into a drow warrior, it will have no chance in keeping up with them casting and combat wise being a 1st level character and all. Yeah, it may mess up the CR system a little bit(not by much IMO), but it makes the game more balanced NPC wise, and it doesn't make a Player Character sacrifice to much just to play as a level adjusted race. I also like this system so that my players may play as level adjusted characters at low level, like an Draconic Human, or an Aasimar at 1st level, giving a little more wiggle room for unique characters and variety.

I will be testing it out in my up coming FR campaign and will post how the system faired. Until then i want to see what people think of it. So.... what do YOU think???

P.S. This system was designed for races without racial hit dice. Keep that in mind.
runestar
12-21-07, 10:42 PM LA was originally calculated with the assumption that it grants absolutely nothing.

If you plan on substituting LA with the equivalent of crap racial HD (which is what your variant amounts to), you may need to compensate with a slightly higher LA, to account for the fact that your PC is now at least getting something in return, where he did not get any before.

For example, spellcasters can take practiced spellcaster to benefit from the extra HD. They are more sturdy as they have more bab, hp, saves etc. Fighters for one will benefit the most. Spellcasters less so as it is violating their no.1 tenet: thou shall not give up caster lvs.

When a group of 3rd level adventurers runs into a drow warrior, it will have no chance in keeping up with them casting and combat wise being a 1st level character and all.

That is more a problem with the cr system being inaccurate, rather than LA. The correct solution would be to adjust the cr to a new appropriate figure, to match its supposed challenge. For example, a drow wiz1 is cr2 on paper, but obviously cannot hope to match a lv2 party. So maybe cr1, or maybe even 1/2 might be more apt.

In a way, I acknowledge the problem you mention, but am not sure if your solution is the apt way to go...:confused:
Lord Otaku
12-28-07, 03:29 PM I have been contemplating a similar system myself, inspired by the Racial Paragon levels of UA and the Racial Levels in the World of Warcraft RPG. This sounds very promising. Have you tried it yet? I'm curious about the results.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nat_20 12-21-07, 10:12 PM	Ok, i came up with this idea a while ago and just needed to see if it seemed balanced to be usable. I came up with it when i read about the Lvl Adj buy off variant in the Unearthed Arcana, so here it is. Level Adjustment Trade off system. Pretty much, instead of just cutting character levels for the adjustment, give the character a generic level of sorts. This would include a bad saving throw progression, D6's for Hit Dice, 2/3 Base attack bonus, the PC/NPC will be treated as though having one rank in every skill usable untrained for each point of level adjustment until the character takes its first level in a Character Class, and 1/2 caster level progression (this progression adds the the first spell casting class the character takes.) I made the system so that the level adjustment the character takes will not hurt spell casting to much(i mean half progression isn't all that great but its better then none) and roles in combat isn't hampered much at low levels. One example would be a Drow Warrior. When a group of 3rd level adventurers runs into a drow warrior, it will have no chance in keeping up with them casting and combat wise being a 1st level character and all. Yeah, it may mess up the CR system a little bit(not by much IMO), but it makes the game more balanced NPC wise, and it doesn't make a Player Character sacrifice to much just to play as a level adjusted race. I also like this system so that my players may play as level adjusted characters at low level, like an Draconic Human, or an Aasimar at 1st level, giving a little more wiggle room for unique characters and variety. I will be testing it out in my up coming FR campaign and will post how the system faired. Until then i want to see what people think of it. So.... what do YOU think??? P.S. This system was designed for races without racial hit dice. Keep that in mind.
runestar 12-21-07, 10:42 PM	LA was originally calculated with the assumption that it grants absolutely nothing. If you plan on substituting LA with the equivalent of crap racial HD (which is what your variant amounts to), you may need to compensate with a slightly higher LA, to account for the fact that your PC is now at least getting something in return, where he did not get any before. For example, spellcasters can take practiced spellcaster to benefit from the extra HD. They are more sturdy as they have more bab, hp, saves etc. Fighters for one will benefit the most. Spellcasters less so as it is violating their no.1 tenet: thou shall not give up caster lvs. When a group of 3rd level adventurers runs into a drow warrior, it will have no chance in keeping up with them casting and combat wise being a 1st level character and all. That is more a problem with the cr system being inaccurate, rather than LA. The correct solution would be to adjust the cr to a new appropriate figure, to match its supposed challenge. For example, a drow wiz1 is cr2 on paper, but obviously cannot hope to match a lv2 party. So maybe cr1, or maybe even 1/2 might be more apt. In a way, I acknowledge the problem you mention, but am not sure if your solution is the apt way to go...:confused:
Lord Otaku 12-28-07, 03:29 PM	I have been contemplating a similar system myself, inspired by the Racial Paragon levels of UA and the Racial Levels in the World of Warcraft RPG. This sounds very promising. Have you tried it yet? I'm curious about the results.