Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Serge_P 04-10-07, 07:56 AM	How does the pixie greater invisability work? is it cast at will or does it have a number cast per day? Has it a caster level? How long is its duration?:confused:
penchant 04-10-07, 08:06 AM	essentially they are invisible as much as they want to. It does not expire and only takes a free action to reactivate. Since it is Supernatural and not Spell like, it can't be dispelled. It does not work in antimagic though. Expect the pixie to not be visible ever.
Serge_P 04-10-07, 08:19 AM	:w00t: :evillaugh :plotting: and a :cookie: for you.
DEMONisbest 04-10-07, 10:51 AM	go Pixie ninjas go!!! other than in anti-magic field, they realy do their job perfectly all you need is tons of poisoned shurikens :P
YabaTheWhat 04-10-07, 01:21 PM	Pixies hit their power pinnacle when using ranged sneak attacks. Improved invisibility means that every hit deals sneak attack damage. Because they fly, their opponents have an extremely hard time targeting a pixie from more than 5 ft away; so as long as the pixie stays out of melee range, it might never take a hit from a weapon or spell. Though they're a bit shy on hitpoints (on the rare occasion they do take a hit), the SR and DR pick up a lot of the slack. Outside of combat, the pixie makes an amazing scout (the role, not just the class). A pixie can move into and out of most places undetected, and their dexterity bonus really helps with reflex saves against traps. Pixies also get bonuses to all three mental stats, so their skills don't suffer from being a few levels behind. Top that off with a handy selection of illusion and utility spells which, if used correctly, give the pixie an unparalleled strategic advantage. It has enough tactical abilities to warrant LA+8, but was reduced to LA+4 to make it viable for less strategic players. Even with all their advantages, however, pixies make lousy sorcerers (their favored class). Any level adjustment hurts a spellcaster, and LA+4 leaves a pixie throwing magic missiles when other casters would haul out fireballs and webs.
Serge_P 04-10-07, 01:51 PM	I'm quite new, so how does this LA work? And where is it written and in what rulebook. (And I was thinking of playing a gestalt Warmage/sorcerer pixie)
penchant 04-10-07, 05:16 PM	I'm quite new, so how does this LA work? And where is it written and in what rulebook. (And I was thinking of playing a gestalt Warmage/sorcerer pixie) Level Adjustment is detailed in the Monstrous Manual. Essentially when playing a race you will have two things, monstrous hit dice and level adjustment. The pixie has one monstrous hit dice and a level adjustment of +4 (if I remeber correctly). Unlike most creatures the one hit die is replaced by the first character level, but normally you would have to add this to the level adjustment to get the total character level of the monster. So the level adjustment by itself indicates the approximate value of the creatures abilities beyond basic stats (BAB, saves, Hit die etc.) as compared to character levels.
DEMONisbest 04-10-07, 05:20 PM	Lvl 1 Pixie sorcerer is considered an ECL 5 character. 1 lvl and the +4 LA.
Keenath 04-10-07, 05:53 PM	Demon has this one right; I just want to clarify a few points that I thought Penchant stated confusingly (though correctly). Any creature that has one or fewer natural hit dice (such as goblins, humans, or pixies) replaces that natural hit die (and all its associated elements, like saves and BAB) with their first class level. Creatures with 2 or more HD stack a class level on TOP of those HD. So, for example, a 2 HD creature with no LA (level adjustment) could take a level of Rogue; he is now a 3 HD creature (two racial plus one class). A 1 HD creature who takes that same level is only a 1 HD creature, the Rogue level replacing his normal racial stats. Note that there is no such thing as a creature with no racial hit dice. EVERYTHING has at least a fractional racial hit die. When people talk about "no racial hit dice", they're referring to that 1-or-less group that don't have any racial hit dice after they take a class level. Some races have a level adjustment, which describes how much extra benefit they have in a party over and above their racial hit dice (if more than 1). A creature with 2 racial HD and a +1 LA is equivalent to a level 3 character right out of the box. Add a class level, and he's equivalent to a 4th level character. The sum of LA and racial HD is called "ECL", or "Effective Character Level"; thus a Centaur (LA +2 and 4 HD) has ECL 6, and acts as a 6th level character. Likewise, a Pixie has a single racial HD -- replaced by his first level -- but an LA of +4. Thus, a 1st level Sorcerer pixie is actually a 5th level character, but with some unique weaknesses. There are some interesting effects of LA. First, it greatly hurts casters, as Yaba pointed out. Racial HD hurt just as much; any race with ECL 1 or greater is a sub-optimal choice for a caster of any sort.* Some people say LA +1 with no racial HD is okay, others dislike getting their spells a level later. In any case, the nature of casting is that it grows geometrically in power. A level adjustment means you have fewer levels in the casting class, and your spellcasting is laughable to on-level creatures. You can get away with it by using a small number of uniquely useful spells and combining them with a different class, but you'll still be less effective than a full caster. There is an exception for creatures that already cast as if they had class levels, if they take levels of that class -- like a Nymph Druid, a Dragon Sorcerer, or a Titan Cleric. In those cases, the creature's natural casting ability stacks with its levels, so a 1st level Druid Nymph casts like an 8th level druid. Warrior type character suffer less from LA, and are often just fine with racial hit dice. A Centaur Ranger 1 has a BAB of 5, compared to a BAB of 7 for a human ranger of the same ECL -- which is more than offset by the centaur's massive strength bonus. A high LA is still painful, though; a creature with no HD and a +4 LA is going to be pretty far behind other warriors of his level. Rogue-types probably fare the best with a big level adjustment. Bards do suffer somewhat, but not as badly as other casters. Rogues give up some sneak attack power when they take on an LA, but most high LA races have lots of interesting abilities that can often help. So, back to the pixie; I agree with an earlier poster who commented that pixies do best as sneak-attackers. Ninja or Rogue are equally good, though ninjas tend to overlap somewhat with the first Ki power granting the invisibility you already have. Ki Dodge could be useful, though, if you run into enemies that have See Invisibility. Scout is another good choice, using your fly speed to keep moving freely while you drop ranged attacks. If you're looking at a gestalt build, I'd probably suggest rogue-ranger, ninja-fighter, or some other combination of classes that gives you sneak-attack-like powers combined with a bigger HD and higher attack bonuses than your standard rogue.
Serge_P 04-11-07, 10:57 AM	So if I play with my Pixie gestalt sorcerer/warmage, and he's level 1, does it meen that he counts as being a lvl5 char when looking at how difficult he's to beat, I.E He = 5 lvl1 humen chars? And if he's a pixie, he can cast polymorph, can he therefor turn himself into some kind of super creature, I.E shadow vampire Great wyrm Gold dragon/Half something else dragon with alot of templates and still be invisable? If so, then he's much better then 5+ human lvl 1 chars.
DEMONisbest 04-11-07, 11:02 AM	lvl 5 char doest equal 5 lvl 1 characters. And it doesnt matter what race they belong to.
Serge_P 04-11-07, 11:19 AM	I didn't understand one thing. The LA, gives it him some penalties, or is it like a thing to show how good he is for a fair duel? :fight!: :duel:
DEMONisbest 04-11-07, 11:23 AM	I didn't understand one thing. The LA, gives it him some penalties, or is it like a thing to show how good he is for a fair duel? :fight!: :duel: In fact...both. Look at him like at a lvl 5 character when deciding what challenges to put against him.
northern_bear 04-11-07, 11:24 AM	As other posters have mentioned, having a level adjustment is a huge drawback for spell casting characters. So a sorceror or warmage are not great choices for your character. Better to focus on what you do well. Which is sneaking around (scouting), skills (lots of skills, plus huge bonuses on many skills), plus ranged combat.
northern_bear 04-11-07, 11:28 AM	I'm quite new, so how does this LA work? And where is it written and in what rulebook. (And I was thinking of playing a gestalt Warmage/sorcerer pixie) If you are new to D&D, I would strongly recomend against this character. Spell caster = complicated Gessalt character = complicated Level adjustment = complicated Invisibility = complicated Making good use of spell like abilities = complicated Positioniong of character to maximize potential = complicated Add it all together, and you have got one extremely complicated character here. In the hands of an experienced character, pixies are exceptionally useful characters. But if you aren't very experienced, then it will be difficult for you to make the most of this character's potential. Every round, you will need to make a number of important decisions, from out of a very wide range of possible options. If you aren't well familiarized with your abilities, and all those options you have available, then you run the risk of making some really bad choices and/or slowing down the game a lot as you try to figure stuff out. If you really want to try it, then go for it. But know what you're getting yourself into.
Serge_P 04-11-07, 11:31 AM	In fact...both. Look at him like at a lvl 5 character when deciding what challenges to put against him. Nor seem to be a drawback, just more fun.* As other posters have mentioned, having a level adjustment is a huge drawback for spell casting characters. So a sorceror or warmage are not great choices for your character. Better to focus on what you do well. Which is sneaking around (scouting), skills (lots of skills, plus huge bonuses on many skills), plus ranged combat. so what. I like Pixie warmage/sorceror, they are fun and cool, all other things feel lame.* ----------- *I'm a notoriuos and somewhat (in)famous Inq. player, so I like char.s who are/look cool above char.s who have super rules and sky-high stats and have everything but the kitchen sink with them. --------- Well, I like great difficult challenges, othervise it gets boring to soon. That's why I love Metal Slug.:D
northern_bear 04-11-07, 11:32 AM	One other note on level adjustments, the LAs are calculated in comparison with regular class levels. For instance, a pixie is considered equivalent in power to a character that is 4 levels higher. But that is four REGULAR levels. Gesalt characters are a lot more powerful then regular characters. In many ways, a gesalt character gets the benefits of two different classes, for every one character level. If a pixie is equivalent in power level to someone who is four regular class levels higher, then that means they would be weaker than someone who is four gesalt character levels higher than them. So if you do decide to play the pixie, and your running a gesalt game, then the DM might consider reducing the pixies LA to +3.
RobbyPants 04-11-07, 11:35 AM	As other posters have mentioned, having a level adjustment is a huge drawback for spell casting characters. So a sorceror or warmage are not great choices for your character. Better to focus on what you do well. Which is sneaking around (scouting), skills (lots of skills, plus huge bonuses on many skills), plus ranged combat. Exactly. If you want to end up dealing lots of damage, focus on classes that give you bonus precision damage when the target is deined their dexterity bonus to AC. A fighter/rogue gestalt will give you a full BAB (nice for hitting) and 1d6 sneak attack every odd level. A rogue/ninja gestalt will give you 1d6 sneak attack and 1d6 sudden attack every odd level. So when you're level 1, you'll do +2d6 damage when invisible. This will increase to 4d6 at 3rd, 6d6 at 5th, etc... Just remember that this precision-based damage does not apply to things immune to critical hits (undead, elementals, contructs, oozes, and the like).
DEMONisbest 04-11-07, 11:45 AM	so what. I like Pixie warmage/sorceror, they are fun and cool, all other things feel lame.* We are not taking it away from you, nor discouraging you to play it. Just warning you that it will be realy hard to play a caster so far behind on spells and race with such complicated game mechanics. :)
Keenath 04-11-07, 12:00 PM	A pixie is considered equivalent in power to a character that is 4 levels higher. But that is four REGULAR levels. Gesalt characters are a lot more powerful then regular characters. In many ways, a gesalt character gets the benefits of two different classes, for every one character level. ooh, good point. I hadn't thought of that. Yes, just to be entirely clear: A first level pixie is treated IN ALL WAYS as a 5th level character. You have to gain the same XP to level up as a 5th level character would need; you are calculated in encounters as if you were a 5th level character; and so on. However, note that a 5th level character is not equivalent to 5 1st level characters. There's a chart in the DMG that tells you how groups of weak monsters stack up; I think it was something like doubling the number increases CR by 2. But anyway. There's one other twist to LA; the book Unearthed Arcana has a great concept, the LA Buyoff. Basically, you pay some XP every couple of levels to buy off the level adjustment you started with. This helps adjust for the fact that racial powers drop in value as you level up. If you can turn invisible at will, that's worth a lot of LA because it's a big benefit early in the game. Later on, See Invisible is common and Greater Invisibility spells are cheap -- and that racial power is worth a much smaller fraction of your power. This also allows LA creatures to maintain full caster progression; you just start out weaker.
Lixith 04-11-07, 12:56 PM	sorcerer/warmage? That's great for a pixie with greater invis, i would think. ALL THOSE SPELLS.... with greater invis... You can still sneak around.... learn the silent spell :D and boom.... scout city.
Serge_P 04-11-07, 01:39 PM	Yes, just to be entirely clear: A first level pixie is treated IN ALL WAYS as a 5th level character. So he do count as a lvl5 caster? And he need more XP to increase in level? Well, when he's lvl20, he'll wreak a hell lot of havoc. He could probably annihilate dargons and armies! :mage: :fight!: :dragon: :behold: :headexplo And must a pixie always be neutral good? Can he become something else (I.E. Chaotic neutral.)?
penchant 04-11-07, 01:41 PM	I would still recommend gestalting warmage with something else. If you still wanted another caster class, then favored soul, shugenja or even bard would be a good choice so that you get healing and buffers to help out an otherwise physically weak character.
RobbyPants 04-11-07, 01:42 PM	So he do count as a lvl5 caster? No. His character abilities will be level 1. His effective character level (ECL) is level 5. This means that a level 1 pixie is roughly a good fit with a 5th level group. All of your abilities will lag 4 levels behind your group. Those 4 levels are made up for by your invisibility, flight, and other abilities.
Serge_P 04-11-07, 01:47 PM	No. His character abilities will be level 1. His effective character level (ECL) is level 5. This means that a level 1 pixie is roughly a good fit with a 5th level group. All of your abilities will lag 4 levels behind your group. Those 4 levels are made up for by your invisibility, flight, and other abilities. OK, I begin to understand.
Keenath 04-11-07, 01:58 PM	OK, I begin to understand. Right, you're a fifth level CHARACTER, but a 1st level SORCERER. You could get the same effect by taking four levels of Fighter, and then one level of Sorcerer. You cast 1st level spells at caster level 1, but you are a 5th level character, require the same XP to level up as a 5th level character, and so on and so forth. You can think of LA as "having four levels of Pixie", but you don't get HD, BAB, saves, etc, for those "levels". Note that creatures with LA have significantly fewer HP than their non-LA counterparts, are easier to affect with HD-related spells like Sleep or Dictum, and gain less effect from templates with HD-based powers (like Celestial). You have only a single HD, but your LA dictates that the game treats you like a 5th level character. But you still only get the abilities that are listed for your actual class level (in addition to your racial powers that earned you that LA in the first place). Again, I would echo the sentiment that you should get familiar with the system before you try to tackle anything with a level adjustment. I'd suggest starting out with a Gnome Wizard before you jump in with both feet on the pixie. Wizards are a good "trainer" for spellcasting. They get more spells and can write new ones for a moderate gold cost, whereas a sorc is stuck with his spell choices even if they stink. A wizard is a good way to get a handle on what various spells are really worth in the game without the chance of screwing yourself over. Likewise, Gnomes are a good trainer for races with special abilities. They're ECL +0, which makes them good casters, and they have a set of racial spell-like abilities that will help you work out how those things operate. They also have a sort of similar flavor to the pixies, though not the free invisibility and so on, if you're enamored of the forest races (though gnomes are humanoid, not fae).
Serge_P 04-11-07, 04:03 PM	..can write new ones for a moderate gold cost,.. :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! Can they make own spells?
DEMONisbest 04-11-07, 04:08 PM	They can learn. But I believe, that, at least on epic lvls, they can even make their own.
Keenath 04-11-07, 04:14 PM	Can they make own spells?Okay, I'm going to strongly suggest that you sit down with the PHB this weekend and read up on the classes before you decide what you want to play. Wizards maintain a spellbook, which contains the instructions for how to prepare all the spells they know. They can only ready a subset of those each day, however, based on class level, intelligence, and so on. When a wizard levels up, he looks through the "Wizard spells" list in the Spells chapter and selects two spells of any level he's capable of casting; those are automatically added to his spellbook. Normally you want to pick spells of the highest level you can cast. For a pretty reasonable cost of 200 GP per spell level, you can write additional spells into your book. Those still have to be off the Wizard spell list, though. If you want to create a spell of your own, it costs a lot of gold, a lot of time, and DM approval -- but that's covered in a section of its own in the Magic chapter. You have three lists of spells: Your class spell list, spells known, and prepared spells. A wizard has a class spell list is all the spells in the Spells chapter that say "Wiz X" where X is a number between 0 and 9. A wizard's Spells Known list is what's in his spellbook and is added to when he levels up or writes a spell into his spellbook (and if he loses his spellbook, he can't prepare those spells that were in it without a new copy). His prepared spells list changes every day. A sorcerer's class spell list is the same, only it's all the spells that say "Sor X". His spells known is based solely on level, and he doesn't have a list of prepared spells -- that's what spontaneous casting is all about. A cleric, by contrast, has no 'spells known' list; he automatically "knows" all the spells on his class list because they're granted by a deity rather than held in his mind. Again, this is all VERY BASIC stuff. If you hadn't gotten a handle on that yet, I strongly suggest you go back to the book and read some more before you start making up a character.
3DJutsu 04-11-07, 08:08 PM	If your still confused a bit about it, think of it like this. You have 4 'levels' in Pixie, those 4 levels give you the amazing repitore of abilities the pixie has (similar to a Fighter4/warmage1 and thus a 1st level caster, you have 4 levels in fighter, but your a 1st level wamage). One of the few good things about having a LA at lower levels is that you start off with more wealth.
Keenath 04-12-07, 09:36 AM	You have 4 'levels' in Pixie, those 4 levels give you the amazing repitore of abilities the pixie has (similar to a Fighter4/warmage1 and thus a 1st level caster, you have 4 levels in fighter, but your a 1st level wamage). How does pixie LA add up to "similar to fighter levels"? Pixies have no BAB to start with, no hit dice, and no particular weapon attack abilities. If you were referring to my "like four levels of fighter" earlier, I wasn't saying the pixie has 4th level fighter-like abilities, just demonstrating that a pixie-sorcerer has massively underpowered magic. One of the few good things about having a LA at lower levels is that you start off with more wealth. I'm not sure what you mean by THAT... you have more wealth than the average 1st level character, but that's not a useful comparison. 1st level pixie is a 5th level character, has the wealth of a 5th level character, and adventures with a party full of 5th level characters -- whom he has the same wealth as.
3DJutsu 04-12-07, 01:45 PM	How does pixie LA add up to "similar to fighter levels"? Pixies have no BAB to start with, no hit dice, and no particular weapon attack abilities. If you were referring to my "like four levels of fighter" earlier, I wasn't saying the pixie has 4th level fighter-like abilities, just demonstrating that a pixie-sorcerer has massively underpowered magic. Oh ye gods, my brain. What I meant by 4 levels in fighter is that you would not get full caster level in the warmage class, it was to be used as an example. I'm quite aware that creatures don't derive any BAB from a LA. I'm not sure what you mean by THAT... you have more wealth than the average 1st level character, but that's not a useful comparison. 1st level pixie is a 5th level character, has the wealth of a 5th level character, and adventures with a party full of 5th level characters -- whom he has the same wealth as. Yes, unless your Pixie starts off in a game lower than 5th level and your DM allows you to have your ECL wealth. Like say a tiefling in a 1st level campaigan, you get 900gp to work with, but the others get the starting package. Some DMs' will not allow you to have that wealth though. What I meant by it was that some LA aren't worth it unless you really like flavor, but the advantage of having more wealth offsets that a bit (i.e. but yourself some cure potions to offset the fact that you have 1HD at 5th level).
3DJutsu 04-12-07, 01:51 PM	So he do count as a lvl5 caster? And he need more XP to increase in level? Well, when he's lvl20, he'll wreak a hell lot of havoc. He could probably annihilate dargons and armies! :mage: :fight!: :dragon: :behold: :headexplo And must a pixie always be neutral good? Can he become something else (I.E. Chaotic neutral.)? And what Keenath meant by this is that is a Pixie is treated as being 5th level for the experience chart only. You start off with 5th level experience, in order to reach 2nd level in a class (say 2nd level Rogue) you need to gain 6th level experience. And unless the chart its alignment says 'Always <insert alignment here>' you can make your character whatever alignment you want him/her/it to be.