Scaling Level Adjustments (3.5e Variant Rule)
 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
 | |||||||||
|
Rate this article Discuss this article | |||||||||
Contents
Scaling Level Adjustments[edit]
Level Adjustments are often a hard pill to swallow and often what you get for them becomes less valuable as your level increases. LA buyoff exists but is not a solution to the real issue, which is to say that it does not fix the problem of level adjustment becoming increasingly burdensome as one gains levels. The reason is quite simple really, level adjustment are not doing what they are supposed to do. My fix is simple and to the point, make level adjustments be based on a character's "level".
Determining Level Adjustment[edit]
The first part of this variant rule is determining what the level adjustment of a race/template/etc.. should be. To do this, we first look at what is giving us a LA. Look at all the abilities of that creature and determine at what level a creature should be at the bare minimum to have that ability. The one that has the highest minimum level(mlv) is the one that determines the mlv. If the race/template/whatever grants many abilities near the highest mlv (within 2 points), increase the mlv by 1 for the first and an additional 1 per 3 thereafter.
The second part is determining actual level adjustment. Take the creature's current ECL (not HD, ECL) and compare it to the mlv of the race/template/whatever. LA is equal to the difference between the creatures ECL and the mlv of the race/template/whatever plus one. This calculation should be performed again whenever a creature levels up (not in the middle of a session)
Creatures with multiple level adjustments[edit]
For creatures with multiple race/template/whatevers that incur LA (because you wanted to play a troll werewolf?), treat all of them as belonging to the same race/template/whatever. this part needs work
ECL Matters[edit]
ECL, or extra character level, is your actual level as a character. Anything based on HD or character level now uses your ECL instead. This means that high LA characters have level appropriate save DCs on their abilities. LA levels are treated as having poor BAB(+1 per 2 LA), poor saves, 2+Int bonus skill points, a d0 HD(+1 or Con hp per LA). This might also matter for some effects (how you are effected by Holy Word/Blasphemy/etc...)
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Variant Rules
