7RED7
2010-11-10, 11:46 PM
I'm having a little trouble finding out how homebrew level adjustments work.
I'm trying to do my due diligence and look through any mention of LA mechanics in the 3.5 core books and various homebrew sites, but the easy answers are all to questions that are slightly different then mine, it seems.
What I'm trying to figure out is the generally acceptable, and balanced (relatively) definition of what constitutes a level adjustment, the standards by which they are judged, and the differences between them (LA+0, LA+1, and LA+2 mostly).
Almost all information I'm finding is related to the operation or exploitation of an existing level adjustment. I haven't yet found good guidelines for what the LA should be, given a list of abilities, or what options would be available (and somewhat balanced against other monster LA's) at a certain LA without exceeding it.
If I just want to play a new race of my own creation and I know what LA I'm willing to go up to (lets assume I don't want to go any higher than LA+1), then what attributes or features might I be able to choose and combine without exceeding LA +1?
Is there a good method of looking at a pool of options such as Stat Bonuses, Size bonuses, Extra Arms (or Legs, Wings, Tails), Defenses, Ex./Sp. abilities, etc. and saying I can get this, that, and those without exceeding LA+X?
It might be more easy to look at things like attributes and say "well, if +2 DEX,+2 CHA is LA+1, then I should be able to make an LA+2 with +4 DEX,+4 CHA", but how would that work if I want to look at the difference between +2 to two stats and a size modifier vs. just +4 to two stats without a size modifier?
What are the impacts that various features have on LA, and how can I pick the features I want without exceeding a certain LA?
I'm trying to do my due diligence and look through any mention of LA mechanics in the 3.5 core books and various homebrew sites, but the easy answers are all to questions that are slightly different then mine, it seems.
What I'm trying to figure out is the generally acceptable, and balanced (relatively) definition of what constitutes a level adjustment, the standards by which they are judged, and the differences between them (LA+0, LA+1, and LA+2 mostly).
Almost all information I'm finding is related to the operation or exploitation of an existing level adjustment. I haven't yet found good guidelines for what the LA should be, given a list of abilities, or what options would be available (and somewhat balanced against other monster LA's) at a certain LA without exceeding it.
If I just want to play a new race of my own creation and I know what LA I'm willing to go up to (lets assume I don't want to go any higher than LA+1), then what attributes or features might I be able to choose and combine without exceeding LA +1?
Is there a good method of looking at a pool of options such as Stat Bonuses, Size bonuses, Extra Arms (or Legs, Wings, Tails), Defenses, Ex./Sp. abilities, etc. and saying I can get this, that, and those without exceeding LA+X?
It might be more easy to look at things like attributes and say "well, if +2 DEX,+2 CHA is LA+1, then I should be able to make an LA+2 with +4 DEX,+4 CHA", but how would that work if I want to look at the difference between +2 to two stats and a size modifier vs. just +4 to two stats without a size modifier?
What are the impacts that various features have on LA, and how can I pick the features I want without exceeding a certain LA?