Level Adjustment Q

[Zanthy1]

So I am making a level 20 character, and I want to make it a Rakshasa. They have level adjustment +7. Does that mean I could be one and take 13 class levels of something?

They are on page 211 of the Monster Manual 1

Thanks!

[SowZ]

Nope, just six levels. They also have seven RHD, which basically means you take 7 levels in the 'Outsider' class, (which as racial hit dice go is very good, d8 HD, 8+Int SP, full BAB, all good saves,) and then lose seven class levels. Racial hit dice forces you to take so many 'monster' levels, is the easiest way to explain it. Ask your DM about LA buyoff, though, and you can get more class levels.

[Medic!]

because of racial hit die

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So I am making a level 20 character, and I want to make it a Rakshasa. They have level adjustment +7. Does that mean I could be one and take 13 class levels of something?

They are on page 211 of the Monster Manual 1

Thanks!

There's two things involved here that keeps this from working.

First, there's the Level Adjustment of +7. As you surmise, these count as 'levels' for purposes of needing to count them against your total levels.

Second, there's also RHD or Racial Hit Dice. Raksasha also have seven Outsider Racial Hit Dice.

This means an ECL 20 Raksasha would only have 6 character levels, 7 racial hit dice, and a +7 LA.

On the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/rakshasa.htm), it is somewhat better explained.

[Tvtyrant]

You also have to take into account the number of HD that a monster has. The Equivalent Character Level of a monster is Level Adjustment plus Hit Dice.

You would have to start your 15th level to play a Rakshasa by rules as written, as you have to have at least one character level ontop of the ECL.

EDIT: So many ninjas!

[Medic!]

We all got time stop'd

[SowZ]

LA buyoff won't affect you until epic, (20+ levels,) I should probably mention. ever matter to you since RHD don't count towards it. If I am speaking Greek to you with my LA buyoff talk, ignore it as it is irrelevant anyway.

[Zanthy1]

What is the LA buyoff?

[SowZ]

What is the LA buyoff?

Oh, I could explain it anyway, I suppose. Eventually, you can lessen your LA. But you have to have class levels tripling your LA. So, with +7 LA, you would have to have 21 class levels, (outsider levels don't count,) to reduce it to +6 LA. At least I am pretty sure that is how it works, I've never done it.

[Zanthy1]

Oh alright thanks!

On another note, any ideas for a cool 20th level dude? (its for a fight against the Tarrasque probably, or an equally powerful critter)

[SowZ]

Oh alright thanks!

On another note, any ideas for a cool 20th level dude? (its for a fight against the Tarrasque probably, or an equally powerful critter)

If it is a Tarrasque, something with Wish will be needed. If ya'll aren't too high op and you don't want toooo much bookkeeping a straight sorcerer with whatever race you want works. If you like zany races and are allowed LA buyoff, you could even be something that has an ECL of 4 or 5 and still get ninth level spells, (which is what wish is.)

Great thing about a sorcerer or druid or somesuch is they are playable out of the box, as it were. So your race/gear/feats can all be what is cool to you since they aren't necessary for the build to be effective. Your power is in your spells.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The Tarrasque really isn't that difficult to take down. Your typical Warlock 20 can handle the task, with Fell Flight and Vitriolic Blast. Basically, you stay out of reach, and blow it up with acid damage that ignores SR. They can also use the Wish scroll necessary to put Big T to bed for good.

[Pilo]

Many types of Rakshasa exist.
If you want to be a sorcerer, regular Rakshasa levels stack with sorcerer levels, ie if you take 6 levels of sorcerer, you will be equivalent to a level 13 sorcerer.

If you want to be a rogue or a fighter character, you should try Rakshasa naztharune (Monster manual 3) who gets 11 HDs of outsider and only +5 LA.

[Zanthy1]

Alright well sorcerer is my favorite class, so i'll go 20 levels in sorcerer. Any recommendations on feats, spells, alternative class features, items?

I plan on taking immediate metamagic, forfeiting the familiar to be able to apply metamagic on a as needed basis

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Alright well sorcerer is my favorite class, so i'll go 20 levels in sorcerer. Any recommendations on feats, spells, alternative class features, items?

I plan on taking immediate metamagic, forfeiting the familiar to be able to apply metamagic on a as needed basis

You have three criteria:

1) You need to be able to NOT die. This means staying out of reach. This means Flight. Either Overland Flight or Phantom Steed.

2) You need to be able to kill it. It has over 850 hit points. It also has Regeneration 40. This means that the longer you take to kill it, the less efficient you will be at it.

3) You need to Wish it dead.

Now, as far as trying to kill it, you need to deal with the following:

immunity to fire, poison, disease, energy drain, and ability damage, regeneration 40, scent, spell resistance 32

And, let's not forget its iconic ability: Carapace. Basically, don't use Rays, Lines, or Cones.

However, the immunities it doesn't have is even more striking. It's not immune to Save or Die, assuming you can punch through the +38 Fort save and the Spell Resistance 32. It's not immune to mind affecting, and it's will save is only a +20. Assuming you can penetrate the Spell Resistance, this may be the easiest way to bring it to bay... simply use Dominate Monster.

If you want to blow it up, Orb of Sound or Acid would be a good idea as the chassis. It ignores SR, and deals respectable single-target damage, which can get Metamagic'd well. It's not a Ray, it's just a ranged touch attack, so Carapace doesn't give it a chance of returning to sender with postage due. But you're going to want a LOT of damage output.

Since we are dealing with an Instantaneous spell, you can't use Incantatrix to use a Spellcraft check to bypass level adjustment, however you CAN take advantage of the capstone, which simply reduces metamagic adjustment by 1.

Arcane Thesis is also going to reduce metamagic adjustment by 1 per metamagic feat applied, which is going to be absolutely huge. This, plus a bunch of +0 metamagic feats, can help offset much larger metamagic adjustment feats like Quicken, Twin Spell, Empower, and Maximize.

Even so, you're looking at dealing nearly nine hundred damage as quickly as possible. That's quite a feat, considering 10d6 isn't even going to scratch Tarrasque's nose. On average, that's only 35 damage, which is less than the Regeneration 40. And you have limited spell slots, you can't 'Spray and Pray' like a Warlock can. Which means you need to be pushing a couple hundred damage a shot, minimum.

[Cranthis]

Don't just use spells, use spell effects. If you can summon large amounts of stone or metal, very high above the turrasque, you will be good.

[Andezzar]

Bah, get any class that can cast Summon Undead IV and some way to get away quickly.
There is nothing the Tarrasque can do against an Allip and his Wisdom drain. Once the Tarrasque is at WIS 0, anyone so inclined can wish it dead. Unless someone is stupid enough to restore the WIS drain, the Tarrasque will no longer cause problems, even if no one kills it. Even better, since it is not dead a new one cannot spawn.

Then get on with a more interesting story.

[Zanthy1]

Can't the Tarrasque just kill the Allip though?

[Andezzar]

Nope, the allip is incorporeal and the Tarrasque's attacks are only considered epic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Incorporeal creatures require real magic weapons to be affected.

[Urpriest]

The main question of the thread has already been answered, but just to supplement: Monster Handbook. Link in sig. Read it.

[ericgrau]

As far as melee goes rakshasas aren't the worst thing in the world. They have enough bonus constitution to make up for the 7 levels oh lost hp, ridiculous spell resistance, ridiculous AC and ridiculous DR. But they have a mediocre attack bonus. You can partially fix that with your bite attack and your sorcerer casting for spells like heroism. The many skills and +14 to +18 on disguise aren't bad either. Try to take advantage of your crazy tankiness with some kind of lockdown ability such as reach tripping.

Get attack bonus buffs and a weapon with a nice enhancement bonus (preferably from a buff) if you can. Get boots of speed for haste. Spread out your AC magic items 5 ways and get mithril full plate to make sure your AC is untouchable. About 50 should be attainable without any cheese thanks to your race. A flight magic item doesn't hurt.

If your group has a higher than baseline optimization level then you should beg the DM to reduce the rakshasa LA to keep up. Otherwise if your group isn't too savvy about all the tricks out there it should work fine as-is.

Against a tarrasque the rakshasha's AC to reduce power attack and DR makes even a full attack barely scratch you. Minor healing, even potions or a wand, should keep you up indefinitely if the fight even goes long enough for you to need any healing at all. 200-300 damage per round is pretty typical at level 20 with a nice magic weapon, though your low attack bonus might reduce that. Even so you may be able to beat him at his own game and toe to toe him to death. Carry a ring of freedom of movement so you can't get swallowed. For wish you might try a ring of 3 wishes.

Sorcerer 20 works great too. But rarely do you get a chance to play a high LA race and in this fight it looks like it would work very well. Hopefully you'll get to continue playing past the T since all the disguise & other abilities look fun.

[Rubik]

There are a number of ways to become a fully-fledged rakshasa and ignore all the RHD and LA, rules-as-written. They're somewhat cheesy, but doable.

For instance, go egoist psion and use the fusion (www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/fusion.htm) power on a rakshasa you have Planar Bound, followed by Astral Seed. (www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/astralSeed.htm) Commit suicide, and you'll find that you're now a gestalt between your previous race and rakshasa. If you take human as your original race, the only difference between you and a fully-fledged rakshasa is that you have a bonus feat, bonus skill points, and you count as either humanoid or outsider when it suits you. You also gestalt all the RHD of the rakshasa with your class levels.

Or you could be a ghost with the malevolence ability and possess the heck out of one.