Please save my game. Explanation of Racial Hit Dice? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Please save my game. Explanation of Racial Hit Dice? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
gravitywell
02-14-08, 11:01 PM Ok, long story short. We have a disagreement at the table about Racial Hit dice on racial templates.

Do racial Hit Dice from "Monsterous Humanoid levels" actually mean they are using up their introductory levels?

IE: Gnoll: +1 level adjustment, and 2 levels of humanoid. If we started a game at 5th level. Would the Gnoll be: 2 Fighter / 2 Humanoid? or 4 Fighter with extra hit-dice?

Thank you for assisting, and if you can point me towards a better description of racial levels, Monster Manual isn't helping too much.
Reyemile
02-14-08, 11:35 PM Racial hit dice do count. He would be a Gnoll2/Fighter2 in a level 5 party
jaelis
02-14-08, 11:44 PM Thank you for assisting, and if you can point me towards a better description of racial levels, Monster Manual isn't helping too much.

From the FAQ:

Character Level: The total number of class levels you have in all your classes, plus any racial Hit Dice you have. A human 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard has 10 character levels. An ogre 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard has 14 character levels (because it has 4 racial Hit Dice). Character levels determine when you gain feats and ability score increases (see Table 3–2: Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits in the Player’s Handbook). Any feat you get by virtue of your character level is in addition to any bonus feats from your class levels.

Effective Character Level (ECL): Effective character level is character level plus the level adjustment for the character’s race. Races that are more powerful than the standard races in the Player’s Handbook have level adjustments to help promote some equity among the player characters in a campaign, and to help DMs decide how much danger a party containing members of those races can handle. For example, a drow has a level adjustment of +2. Many people (and even one or two rulebooks) say “ECL” when they really mean “level adjustment.”

Use the character’s ECL to determine starting equipment and how the character earns and benefits from experience (including when he gains an epic attack and save bonus; DMG p. 209), as noted on page 5 of Savage Species. Use the actual character level for everything else.
Majick
02-16-08, 10:43 PM Basically as a 1st level character (the Gnoll you mentioned) you would have:

The 1st level of monsterous humanoid with the +1 LA

Then at lvl 3 worth of experience (6000xp) you would attan your second level worth of monsterous humanoid

Beyond that point (lvl 4 and above) you would simply level up as a character that had a +1 LA

That's... pretty much it
calronmoonflower
02-17-08, 12:01 AM Just think of racial hit dice as mandatory class levels without the multiclassing penalty.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gravitywell 02-14-08, 11:01 PM	Ok, long story short. We have a disagreement at the table about Racial Hit dice on racial templates. Do racial Hit Dice from "Monsterous Humanoid levels" actually mean they are using up their introductory levels? IE: Gnoll: +1 level adjustment, and 2 levels of humanoid. If we started a game at 5th level. Would the Gnoll be: 2 Fighter / 2 Humanoid? or 4 Fighter with extra hit-dice? Thank you for assisting, and if you can point me towards a better description of racial levels, Monster Manual isn't helping too much.
Reyemile 02-14-08, 11:35 PM	Racial hit dice do count. He would be a Gnoll2/Fighter2 in a level 5 party
jaelis 02-14-08, 11:44 PM	Thank you for assisting, and if you can point me towards a better description of racial levels, Monster Manual isn't helping too much. From the FAQ: Character Level: The total number of class levels you have in all your classes, plus any racial Hit Dice you have. A human 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard has 10 character levels. An ogre 5th-level fighter/5th-level wizard has 14 character levels (because it has 4 racial Hit Dice). Character levels determine when you gain feats and ability score increases (see Table 3–2: Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits in the Player’s Handbook). Any feat you get by virtue of your character level is in addition to any bonus feats from your class levels. Effective Character Level (ECL): Effective character level is character level plus the level adjustment for the character’s race. Races that are more powerful than the standard races in the Player’s Handbook have level adjustments to help promote some equity among the player characters in a campaign, and to help DMs decide how much danger a party containing members of those races can handle. For example, a drow has a level adjustment of +2. Many people (and even one or two rulebooks) say “ECL” when they really mean “level adjustment.” Use the character’s ECL to determine starting equipment and how the character earns and benefits from experience (including when he gains an epic attack and save bonus; DMG p. 209), as noted on page 5 of Savage Species. Use the actual character level for everything else.
Majick 02-16-08, 10:43 PM	Basically as a 1st level character (the Gnoll you mentioned) you would have: The 1st level of monsterous humanoid with the +1 LA Then at lvl 3 worth of experience (6000xp) you would attan your second level worth of monsterous humanoid Beyond that point (lvl 4 and above) you would simply level up as a character that had a +1 LA That's... pretty much it
calronmoonflower 02-17-08, 12:01 AM	Just think of racial hit dice as mandatory class levels without the multiclassing penalty.