Yuan-Ti with lower level Adjustment?

[Nightmarenny]

I'm DMing a campaign and I've become interested in using a variation of the Yuan-Ti as a major player race. The +2 LA for the pureblood's is something I would like to get ride of. Are there any similar creatures or variants that offer a lesser LA?

[Gabe the Bard]

There are lesser aasimars and tieflings from Players Guide to Faerun, which have 0 LA compared to the +1 LA of standard aasimars and tieflings.

Alternatively, you could make a lower HD version of the yuan-ti as per the rules in Savage Species.

Also, there are several sub-breeds of Yuan-ti, including Tainted Ones, which can be found in Serpent Kingdoms.

[iDesu]

I believe Psionics Unleashed from pathfinder has the ophiduans. Just make some slight changes and they should be fit for play in 3.5. You can find them on the pathfinder srd.

Edit: They're not yuan-ti, but they are snake people so a slight fluff change can cover it.

[Kuulvheysoon]

There are lesser aasimars and tieflings from Players Guide to Faerun, which have 0 LA compared to the +1 LA of standard aasimars and tieflings.

Alternatively, you could make a lower HD version of the yuan-ti as per the rules in Savage Species.

Also, there are several sub-breeds of Yuan-ti, including Tainted Ones, which can be found in Serpent Kingdoms.

Ironically enough, I'm reading through my copy of SK right now, trying to come up with a (higher) level campaign for a party that involves awakening Sseth (I reject 4e's supposed FR canon).

The LA on Tainted Ones is brutal - it's LA+3 for arguably less benefits.

Regardless, I'm keeping an eye on this thread in case someone DOES come up with a reduced LA/RHD version of the yuan-ti. Especially the Halfbloods. Because legs are completely overrated.

[Tvtyrant]

...If you remove their natural attacks they should have an LA of only 0.
Medium Humanoid
Stats: +2 Int, -2 Con
20 ft. movement
Climb is equal to movement
Gain a +2 racial grapple bonus
Preferred class: Wizard

[TroubleBrewing]

I dunno... It's really, really challenging to find a LA +0 race that gives a bonus to mental ability scores. I mean, there's... I think two for Cha, one of which is out of Dragon Magazine (the same issue that produced the half-minotaur, unless I'm very much mistaken). Wis has... I can't think of any except for Anthropomorphic Animals, but those are SS, which is 3.0 material. Int gets Gray Elf, which is nice, except for the whole "You're an Elf now" thing. Ugh.

Physical ability scores, on the other hand, are given out like candy at a parade.

My point is that if you make it a +0 LA template, there's no reason not to take it as a Wizard, much like Magic-Blooded (Which, if your GM allows Dragon material, TAKE THIS ALL THE TIME. +2 Cha, -2 Wis? Yes please I will have five.) for Sorcerers. Heck, that's even their favored class. It becomes almost a "template tax", in the same way that Natural Spell is a 'feat tax' for Druids.

[Tvtyrant]

+2 Int, -2 con, -2 dex then. Make it as bad as a half-orc and then add all of the darkvision and low level buffs other races get.

Then you can make a Yuan-ti Paragon class that gives a tail attack, constrict and another +2 bonus to Int.

[Person_Man]

The splatbook Serpent Kingdoms has a bunch of Yaan-Ti and other "serpentfolk" related content, some of it quite potent. Not sure if there is a level adjusted version in there, but you might want to check it out regardless.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

If Humans and Dwarves are the standard (thank you PHB...) then you are going to find but a precious handful of races worth their ECL in all of DnD 3.5. The problem is therefore ECL calculations (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8578981#post8578981). Over at BG I

[Kuulvheysoon]

First off,

Person_Man, I've been reading through SK recently anyways, and I can assure you that there is no lowered ECL version of the Yuan-ti.

Gray McBannert, there's more mental stat raisers than you think. Off the top of my head (for LA +0)...

Hellbred (Spirit), +2 Cha, -2 Con (FCII)
Spellscale, +2 Cha, -2 Con (RoD)
Gray Elf (as mentioned already by you)
Deep Imaskari, +2 Int, -2 Dex (Und) <- Favored class? WIZARD

If the OP is still looking, I've discovered a possible solution: In Champions of Ruin, there's a race (LA+0) called the Extaminar. It's a FR race that's made up of humans with traces of yuan-ti blood in them. They get -2 Str, +2 Dex, among other things.

[TroubleBrewing]

I'm pretty sure the Underdark supplement is 3.0 material, and the other two raise Cha, which (I certainly meant to include this, but totally forgot to) is the easiest mental stat to raise.

Again, for every +0 LA race/template that gets mental bonuses, there are three that get physical ones. I'm not saying they're impossible to find, but they aren't easy.

[Kuulvheysoon]

My google-fu indicates that Underdark is a 3.5 FR book, although apparently one of the first (both it and DnD 3.5 where released in 2003).

You know, I had never noticed how relatively rare they are (the mental stat raising races).

Also, more mental stat raisers: the cheese know as Jermalaines and lesser planetouched.