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Zovc
2009-12-08, 12:26 PM
Reducing Level Adjustments (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingleveladjustments.htm).

The rules here don't quite make sense to me.

Why not just say, "Every 3 class levels, reduce your LA by 1?" I don't get it.

dsmiles
2009-12-08, 12:33 PM
This is the buying-off of LA's. If you just reduce it by 1 for every three levels, it's like giving the LA'd character a free level.

Example: A 3rd level gnoll (ECL 4) must pay 3,000 xp to reduce his ECL from 4 to 3. He will get those xp back faster at the lower level and go back to balancing the party. If you just give him a reduced LA, he has done nothing to balance that, and is now gaining XP as a 3rd level character just 'cuz. It's all about earning that reduced LA, IMO.

If you want to homebrew this rule to the one you have suggested, go ahead (if you're the DM), I'm not gonna try to tell you how to run your game.

Zovc
2009-12-08, 01:00 PM
I'm just not quite sure why you have to wait longer to reduce your LA by one with a higher LA.

a LA +6 character (A), for example, is a Level 2 Fighter. A LA +1 character (B) is also a level 2 Fighter.

Let's say they both become level 3 Fighters at the same time. Instead of becoming a Level 3 Fighter, B just reduces his LA to 0, so now he's just considered a level 2 Fighter. Character A is carrying his entire LA all the way until level 18, then he can reduce it?

Why not let Character A reduce his LA to +5 and stay a level 2 Fighter, then let him reduce it to +4 instead of getting 6, then let him reduce it to +3 instead of getting 9.

I probably didn't put enough wording into my summary, but the above example is more in line with what I'm talking about.

dsmiles
2009-12-08, 01:07 PM
As a DM myself, I wouldn't have a problem with that, as long as they were still paying the xp to buy-off their LA. 18th level is a long time to wait, but I can't think that playing anything with a +6 LA in a low-level campaign would be even close to balanced with the rest of the party.

Duke of URL
2009-12-08, 01:12 PM
It's the math restriction, honestly.

The LA buyoff for the Fighter 3 / LA +1 is (ECL - 1) x 1000 = 3,000, which is pretty much exactly enough to drop him back to the minimum for Fighter 3 if using the standard XP charts.

But the LA +6 creature in the same situation has a buyoff "price" of 8,000, which is more XP than the character actually has in total.

In order to make it work, you'd have to adjust what the buyoff cost is, but the rules as written make it impossible to do what you're suggesting.

In that light, simply reducing the LA by 1 at every three class levels, and docking the XP necessary to be at the minimum for your new ECL (essentially, lose 1 level's worth of XP) might actually make some kind of sense.

tyckspoon
2009-12-08, 01:13 PM
As a DM myself, I wouldn't have a problem with that, as long as they were still paying the xp to buy-off their LA. 18th level is a long time to wait, but I can't think that playing anything with a +6 LA in a low-level campaign would be even close to balanced with the rest of the party.

No, it wouldn't be.. especially since all the LA+6 things I can think of also have a significant package of racial HD, making them ECL 10+ or so characters before you ever get into class levels.

I do agree that "you may buy off 1 LA every 3rd class level" would be a much simpler and probably fairer way to do it than the stretched-out chart in the current form of the rule.

Duke of URL
2009-12-08, 01:29 PM
No, it wouldn't be.. especially since all the LA+6 things I can think of also have a significant package of racial HD, making them ECL 10+ or so characters before you ever get into class levels.

I do agree that "you may buy off 1 LA every 3rd class level" would be a much simpler and probably fairer way to do it than the stretched-out chart in the current form of the rule.

Actually a Pixie with irresistible dance is LA +6, 0 RHD.

dsmiles
2009-12-08, 01:49 PM
Actually a Pixie with irresistible dance is LA +6, 0 RHD.

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!! Otto's Irresistable Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00)!!!

Mongoose87
2009-12-08, 02:09 PM
WHEEEEEEEEEE!!! Otto's Irresistable Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00)!!!

I can't tell if that's win or fail.

Zovc
2009-12-08, 02:11 PM
I can't tell if that's win or fail.

I don't know, but I'm afraid of my peers seeing me watch it at work. XD

dsmiles
2009-12-08, 02:19 PM
I can't tell if that's win or fail.

I think win. For him at least, he got everybody else to do it, right?

Starbuck_II
2009-12-08, 02:20 PM
No, I think that is song that plays in your head if hit with the spell.