3.5 Monster Campaign and Level Adjustments

[LoyalPaladin]

Howdy ya'll. My friend is looking into hosting a D&D campaign in the epic levels and wanted to give everyone the opportunity to play things they wouldn't normal consider because of the LA, such as an Illithid. He is looking into disregarding a certain amount of adjustment levels for the players. Since I am going to be a player in this campaign and I looooove the big LG. Does anyone know what the LA for a Solar would be? Another questions we would need answered would be:

What is an appropriate LA buyoff for an epic campaign?
Would races get their standard racial equipment?
Would you let players use their WBL to outfit their PCs before the campaign or make them buy it in the campaign?

Thank you, playground!

[Karl Aegis]

Are you sure you want to be playing an outsider? They tend to be immortal when on the material plane and don't really bother with most things.

[Flickerdart]

Howdy ya'll. My friend is looking into hosting a D&D campaign in the epic levels and wanted to give everyone the opportunity to play things they wouldn't normal consider because of the LA, such as an Illithid. He is looking into disregarding a certain amount of adjustment levels for the players. Since I am going to be a player in this campaign and I looooove the big LG. Does anyone know what the LA for a Solar would be? Another questions we would need answered would be:

What is an appropriate LA buyoff for an epic campaign?
Would races get their standard racial equipment?
Would you let players use their WBL to outfit their PCs before the campaign or make them buy it in the campaign?

Thank you, playground!
How epic are we talking here? I would say that shaving off LA should really be based on the optimization level of the game and the race in question. Specifically for a Solar, taking a look at what abilities it has, I'd give it an LA of about +4 (post-buyoff, since official LA is almost always absurdly inflated). Compared to a 26th level cleric, they don't exactly shine, but it's hard to argue against the potency of their SLAs and natural bonuses. Epic gets so incredibly ridiculous that

Creatures do not get the equipment they normally carry when they are played as PCs, unless you want to spend your WBL on it. The whole point of WBL is that it represents wealth already gained and spent, so of course you'd let the PCs buy things beforehand. It's an Epic campaign so excuses like "no magic items are available" are flimsy when you can pop over to Sigil any time you want.


Are you sure you want to be playing an outsider? They tend to be immortal when on the material plane and don't really bother with most things.
That's not at all the case - most Outsiders travel to the material plane only for a reason, such as demons collecting souls or inevitables pursuing law-breakers.

[LoyalPaladin]

Are you sure you want to be playing an outsider? They tend to be immortal when on the material plane and don't really bother with most things.
I'm a big fan of outsiders. I play one right now haha.


How epic are we talking here? I would say that shaving off LA should really be based on the optimization level of the game and the race in question. Specifically for a Solar, taking a look at what abilities it has, I'd give it an LA of about +4 (post-buyoff, since official LA is almost always absurdly inflated). Compared to a 26th level cleric, they don't exactly shine, but it's hard to argue against the potency of their SLAs and natural bonuses. Epic gets so incredibly ridiculous that

Creatures do not get the equipment they normally carry when they are played as PCs, unless you want to spend your WBL on it. The whole point of WBL is that it represents wealth already gained and spent, so of course you'd let the PCs buy things beforehand. It's an Epic campaign so excuses like "no magic items are available" are flimsy when you can pop over to Sigil any time you want.
Awesome. I'll run this by my soon to be DM. I'm more in love with the fluff of Solar than the actual power level. But then again... I wasn't willing to put lesser Aasimar on my character sheet... its just... lesser...

[Flickerdart]

Awesome. I'll run this by my soon to be DM. I'm more in love with the fluff of Solar than the actual power level. But then again... I wasn't willing to put lesser Aasimar on my character sheet... its just... lesser...
Haha, I just realized that I never finished writing the middle of that post. I was going to say "Epic is so ridiculous that the only thing that matters is how many feats you can get, so the solar is behind from the start."

[LoyalPaladin]

Haha, I just realized that I never finished writing the middle of that post. I was going to say "Epic is so ridiculous that the only thing that matters is how many feats you can get, so the solar is behind from the start."
Ah. The ever present feat problem. Suppose I could play a 10 Fighter/10 Cleric. Haha.

[Flickerdart]

Nah, sub-epic feats don't really matter. I mean things like extra quickened spells per round, all of Epic magic, Infinite Deflection...

[LoyalPaladin]

Nah, sub-epic feats don't really matter. I mean things like extra quickened spells per round, all of Epic magic, Infinite Deflection...
How would a Solar Paladin/Crusader/Cleric/Ruby Knight Vindicator work? I'm following the other thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?397668-The-Dashing-Hero-Handbook-Use-Your-Overwhelming-Personality-As-A-Weapon) and a Cha based character would be great.

[Flickerdart]

How would a Solar Paladin/Crusader/Cleric/Ruby Knight Vindicator work? I'm following the other thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?397668-The-Dashing-Hero-Handbook-Use-Your-Overwhelming-Personality-As-A-Weapon) and a Cha based character would be great.

You would be crushing a lot of faces - in Epic, where everyone and their mum has 500 SR and immunities to everything, damage is one of the most reliable ways to get things dead. However, melee is not the best way to deal that damage, since all the big nasties have auras and poisons and free-action SLAs that make your brain leak out of your butt. As a character who has powerful spells to fall back on, knowing which enemy needs punching and which should be approached at range is going to be your recipe for success.

[LoyalPaladin]

You would be crushing a lot of faces - in Epic, where everyone and their mum has 500 SR and immunities to everything, damage is one of the most reliable ways to get things dead. However, melee is not the best way to deal that damage, since all the big nasties have auras and poisons and free-action SLAs that make your brain leak out of your butt. As a character who has powerful spells to fall back on, knowing which enemy needs punching and which should be approached at range is going to be your recipe for success.
Sooooo.... Paladin 5/ Crusader 1 / Fist of Raziel 10 / Ranger 2 / RKV 10? I'll just pick up a bow of the Solars? Is there any way to get that fort save up?

[atemu1234]

Sooooo.... Paladin 5/ Crusader 1 / Fist of Raziel 10 / Ranger 2 / RKV 10? I'll just pick up a bow of the Solars? Is there any way to get that fort save up?

That build sounds fun, at least.

[LoyalPaladin]

That build sounds fun, at least.
Can you even use martial stances with a ranged weapon?

[atemu1234]

Can you even use martial stances with a ranged weapon?

I doubt it. ToB paid about as much attention to ranged attacks during production as 4e did to 3.5 fans.

[Flickerdart]

Can you even use martial stances with a ranged weapon?
Yes. Unless it says "melee weapon" or "melee attack" nothing stops a melee stance from applying to ranged attacks. Unfortunately, many do specify, but there are a couple that work equally well for both.

[Troacctid]

Martial stances can totally work with ranged weapons. Like half of the stances are defensive anyway, and of the ones that aren't, you've still got stuff like Assassin's Stance and Aura of Perfect Order that don't care what type of attacks you're making.

It's the strikes that tend to be melee only.

[LoyalPaladin]

Hmm... interesting... I've always wanted to play a one-shot wonder archer. But I've never been able to figure it out. I think having a good Archer/Fighter would be great. But it looks like I'll be filling the divine shoes again. Which is cool with me. I must do research. (http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj69lv4AK91qfppuq.png)