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View Full Version : An Alternative to Level Adjustment [3.5] [PEACH]



Baalthazaq
2010-09-28, 07:52 AM
There are two things here.

First, I noticed something. I want opinions on how valid it is.

Second, this thing I noticed. I want opinions on how broken it is irrespective of whether it is RAW or RAI.

So, first of all, I was looking at the savage progressions for templates. Specifically ghost because I've always wanted to play a ghost. They are found here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a).

I then looked at "buying off LA" found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingleveladjustments.htm).

So to point 1, would it be possible to take 3 levels of a class. Then proceed to buy up all the levels of ghost using the rules for buying the levels?

So bard, bard, bard, ghost.
I'm already level 3, my LA is +1, I can buy it after I take it as a class.
My "LA" never goes above 1.
I do another at 6, then 9, then 12, then 15 to buy off the full set.

Total cost 45K XP to my peers. I have the full ghost template. I'm not 5 levels behind my companions.

To me, this seems like a balanced way of dealing with level adjustment. Eventually the player will catch up on XP and then be better than their peers. I agree with this argument, but I don't agree it is more than what can be achieved through simple item crafting.

Hell you can make your own 3240 ft plane of existence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/genesis.htm), or craft >1.1 million GP worth of stuff (profit of 550k GP), or just have 6 Greater Stone Golems (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/golem.htm#greaterStoneGolem) follow you around for that kind of XP spend. Way more if you're an artificer with a few feats. (Even more if you don't read the erratta...)

This is actually good because it gives us something to compare to. What are the Ghost abilities, and what would they cost to put on items?
Permanent etherealness: 728K.
Permanent telekinesis: 360K.
Malevolence: 540K.
Cha + 4: 16K

So roughly 1.6m gp worth, not counting the drawbacks. (You cannot turn off etherealness. You can be turned. Healing damages you. You can't use all your items. Telekinesis is every D4 rounds, I set the cost as permanent. Etc. Though you're immune to crits and stuff too for being undead.)

Alternatively... a ring of permanent shapechange might get you all of this for 460K if you just pick "ghost X" (all the abilities are Su, which means they're yours), which stacks well vs my cost estimations above.

So, the only cool way of doing LA, or horribly broken afterbirth of an idea?