How do you handle players gaining a template through gameplay?

[Malificus]

What do you do when a player turns into something like a vampire, werewolf, or even lich, through their actions in game?

Do they continue to progress as normal, does their progression stall until they catch up with the LA, or perhaps they just become NPCs? In the case of the lich, does the buy in cost make up for the benefits?

[LichPrinceAlim]

Well, being a PC myself, I only advise PCs to Gain Lycanthrope in-progress.

Plus, two BCs have Lich as their capstone (Death Master and Dread Necro), in which its paid off via levels.

as per others, it's ur call dude...

[Yuki Akuma]

Their ECL has gone up, so they'd get less experience points than everyone else. It'll balance out through play normally.

[DragoonWraith]

Or it would, if any of those templates had balanced LA's. Which they don't.

[Runestar]

You can consider using the savage progression rules for templates.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a

Basically breaks them down into class-lvs which you can take one at a time, so your power lv is more or less consistent with the rest of your party. :smallsmile:

[awa]

The problem that was sorta mentioned is that take the vampire it's a bad template it gives you a huge level adjustment distinctly not worth the relatively minor benefits it gives (depending on optimization) and then on top of that it loads you down with large number of penalties. For similarly bad templates you should only force them on players with great care.