Help creating a monsterous character

[bluerocker]

So, I'm taking a foray into creating my first monstrous charter. It will be a lizard-folk with ranger class levels for a (currently) level 4 party. How would I go about it, aside from the racial stats/skill modifiers? That is to say, do I just roll up the stats and allocate skill points as usual? Or is there anything more to worry about. Alongside that, how does racial adjustment work? It says +1, but a friend of mine said that because it has 2 hit die, it would (technically) be a level 3 character, thus starting me in the party as level 1 instead of 3 as per a usual backup... Can someone do some explaining? :smalleek:

[Keld Denar]

Look up Ur-Priest's Monsterous Guide to Monsters. It has all of the information and details about what you want to do.

Lizardfolk have 2 RHD, which means you don't get to exchange any of them. You will have +1 LA, 2 RHD, and 1 class level at ECL 4.

Check out Poisondusk Lizardfolk in the MMIII, you might find it more enjoyable.

[Particle_Man]

Yeah you are effectively a 3rd level character, multiclassed as "Lizard Man" 2/Ranger 1. If you use UA (actually more importantly, if your DM allows this part of UA) you can buy off your +1 LA by spending xp at some point. You are stuck with the two racial hd levels (which give you some of the same things as regular levels (save bonuses, BAB, skill points, etc.) but are generally never as good as class levels). The Monster Manual entry should list the "Lizard Man as PC" blurb.

Also, your first two levels have to be in "Lizard folk" which effects you hit points and skill points.

Are you going TWF or Archery? And what is your INT?

From the SRD:

Lizardfolk As Characters
Lizardfolk characters possess the following racial traits.

+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence.
Medium size.
A lizardfolk’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Racial Hit Dice: A lizardfolk begins with two levels of humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +0.
Racial Skills: A lizardfolk’s humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1). Its class skills are Balance, Jump, and Swim. Lizardfolk have a +4 racial bonus on Balance, Jump, and Swim checks.
Racial Feats: A lizardfolk’s humanoid levels give it one feat.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A lizardfolk is automatically proficient with simple weapons and shields.
+5 natural armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: 2 claws (1d4) and bite (1d4).
Special Qualities (see above): Hold breath.
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Goblin, Gnoll, Orc.
Favored Class: Druid.
Level adjustment +1.

[bluerocker]

Umm... What's UA?

Also, I plan on having the character go into two handed, and thanks for showing me Ur Priest's guide!

[KillianHawkeye]

Umm... What's UA?

Also, I plan on having the character go into two handed.

Unearthed Arcana, a book filled with alternate systems and variant rules.

[bluerocker]

With Unearthed Arcana, our DM allows certain varients; but he also rules out some other ones. It's a case by case basis really. I noticed a few things he talked about all the time, like the specialist wizards. I don't know if he does this "buying off levels" business. The is the second campaign I'm in and the party I'm in is composed of several newbies; I think (for the most part) he'll stick to core ruling.

[Augulus]

I know that in my group, if someone wants to play a monster with Racial HD, sometimes my DM allows the player to drop the racial HD (along with its benefits) which helps you out a bit. That way, you could be a Ranger 3 with +1 level adjustment. Probably help you keep up a bit with everyone else (as they're level 4 :smallsmile:

[bluerocker]

I know that in my group, if someone wants to play a monster with Racial HD, sometimes my DM allows the player to drop the racial HD (along with its benefits) which helps you out a bit. That way, you could be a Ranger 3 with +1 level adjustment. Probably help you keep up a bit with everyone else (as they're level 4 :smallsmile:

That's an idea. I don't really care that much for the modifiers. I just wanted to be a lizardfolk for the fluff more than anything else...

[Thurbane]

I'm going to second a vote for Keld Denar's suggestion of Poison Dusk Lizardfolk (MM3) - they have the Lizardfolk flavour, but no RHD.

[Particle_Man]

Umm... What's UA?

Also, I plan on having the character go into two handed, and thanks for showing me Ur Priest's guide!

If you mean Two Weapon Fighting (one in each hand), the lizardfolk claws feature is a nice touch if you are ever disarmed. :)

By the way, all the Unearthed ARcana stuff is online too - google "SRD d20" and look at the variant rules section. Here is the stuff on buying off LA.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm

[Keld Denar]

TWFing and attacking with 2 natural attacks are two completely different beasts. One is feat taxing, the other is pretty much free. One can be improved with BAB, the other is pretty much forever stuck at 2 attacks. One uses the rules for manufactured weapons, one uses the rules for natural weapons. For more details, check out my miniguide. It's linked in Ur-Priest's guide, or just search for Natural Attacks and You: A Miniguide.

[Duke of URL]

I'm personally fond of the idea of allowing ALL races, not just 1 HD (or less) humanoids, to exchange 1 RHD for their first class level. That takes some of the suck out of playing monstrous creatures, but still keeps the minimum playable level concept in force. In this case, it would be Lizardfolk 1 / Ranger 2 / LA +1, which is a lot better than Lizardfolk 2 / Ranger 1 / LA +1, and certainly not game-breaking in any way.