[Pathfinder E6] Balancing LA and Natural Armor

[Goober4473]

I'll be running a Pathfinder E6 game sometime soon, and I'd like to allow LA races by reducing build points by some amount per LA, rather than costing levels. So, a couple questions:

How many build points is an LA worth? Technically, Pathfinder doesn't really have LAs, but assume that I'll adjust any LA race to be as balanced as LA really can be as compared to class levels.

The reduced points for ability scores should offset the fact that LA races often have high ability scores, and special abilities shouldn't usually be huge problems, but what about natural armor? Even a character with low ability scores can still slap on plate armor, take tower shield proficiency, and have monstrous AC as a half-dragon. Should I just adjust the LA races such that they don't have as much natural armor? The biggest issue is a +2 LA/6 level monster progression race that can get up to +8 natural armor. This is fine if it's not wearing armor, but it feels a little weird to entirely deny the race the ability to wear armor at all. Perhaps that's the best solution anyways?

[veven]

There is a table in the E6 rules PDF with exactly the information you seek!

+0 LA = 32 points
+1 LA = 25 points
+2 LA = 18 points
+3 LA = 10 points
+4 LA = 00 points

Edit: also, I think that if a player wants to have stupid high AC you should let him go for it. Thats the way i do things, he's still sure to have plenty of weaknesses. Touch AC, Will Saves, No save spells. The importance of a high AC is often overestimated.

[Cieyrin]

Turtling is usually just an excuse for the DM to up attack bonuses so they can hit the character and utterly smoosh any other players who aren't as AC-optimized. If they want to throw resources at such, its resources they're not using on offense to actually deal with problems they come across.

Plus, monstrous characters often have the problem of finding loot they can actually use, as most armor is sized for medium, normal-shaped characters, not half-dragons with wing slits and overlarge physiques. They'll often have to have stuff custom-made for them, which can both be expensive and sometimes not available, what with finding a smith willing to spend the time to do it when it may be more profitable to mass-produce equipment their more numerous normal patrons can use and purchase.

Let's also not forget about how prejudiced some cultural groups can be, especially if a character is particularly outlandish, like a half-dragon would tend to be. Towns may choose to not even service him/her at all. Really, it's all a matter of making players think about what the circumstances of the play environment is before they start getting all munchkiny about their characters. :smallwink: