[3.5]Monster Campaign PC help

[skellig]

What would be a good monster to play, with only 5 LA/HD combined? Can have class levels if able. Meet stat requirements for a fighter or warlock etc.. No alignment restrictions.

[Jack_Simth]

What would be a good monster to play, with only 5 LA/HD combined? Can have class levels if able. Meet stat requirements for a fighter or warlock etc.. No alignment restrictions.

Depends on a number of things.

1) Will your ECL 5 monster be expected to deal with CR 5+ challenges, or are these extra LA/HD 'free' and don't count for such purposes? If you're expected to deal with challenges as though you're a 5th level character, you're best off going with as little LA/RHD as you can manage, and pushing class levels. If they're 'free', then there's lots you could do.
2) What role do you want to play in the party? Tinderbox, bandage box, skillmonkey, meatshield? Different things are better or worse at different roles.
3) What's the optimization level of your table? This is important. You're asking the forum at large, and individual responses will vary from results that'll mean you'll have trouble taking on housecats to responses that'll let you take on all the CR 20's in the Monster Manual, at once, solo, and win.

[skellig]

They are not free unfortunately. I must have HD and EL. Seems like having HD is better because of health and attack bonus. Sometimes bonus feats as well.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There aren't many options for an ECL 5 monster race that must have both racial HD and a level adjustment. I would recommend a nonpsionic Thri-Kreen (MM2, Shining South), which is just like the XPH Thri-Kreen but it loses the bonus powerpoints and psi-like abilities, and has 2 HD and only a +1 LA. Those are Monstrous Humanoid (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#monstrousHumanoidType) HD, which give Fighter BAB and two good saving throws. Take Fighter levels and pick up Power Attack and Leap Attack, it has four arms so use a two-handed weapon with a shield and keep one hand free for your Deflect Arrows racial bonus feat.

[skellig]

Thri-Kreen sounds like an excellent one for this as a fighter anyway.

[BowStreetRunner]

Thri-Kreen sounds like an excellent one for this as a fighter anyway.

Does your character have to be explicitly a Fighter class, or just fill the role of one? Because the non-psionic Thri-Kreen makes one heck of a Warblade. Between their multiple limbs and Leap ability, they were made for the Tiger Claw discipline.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

If you want a Rogue-type character, a Marrulurk from Sandstorm is a small size, jackal-headed person with three racial HD and a +1 LA, which gets 2d6 sneak attack, poison use, death attack, huge racial skill bonuses, great ability score bonuses, bonus feats, and many other benefits. Give it one level of the Half-Fiend template class (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031010a) (you never have to gain more levels of that than you want (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a)), for a total +2 LA. Use this Half-Fiend variant (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060630a) and say your ancestor was a Babau (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/demon.htm#babau), Half-Fiend makes your three racial HD give Outsider base skill points, and you'll get all of the Babau's listed skills as class skills for your racial HD. That's a total ECL 5, but it's just as good as having five levels of Rogue on a +0 LA race.

For a Warlock, you should probably go with some kind of Primordial Giant build, that's a +0 LA template in Secrets of Xen'drik, but it can only be applied to a creature of the Giant type. Generally you would put it on a Half-Giant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicRaces.htm#halfGiants) (+1 LA) or an Eneko in Secrets of Sarlona (+1 LA) or maybe even a Half-Ogre in Races of Destiny (+2 LA), but none of those has any racial HD. I don't think there's even a creature of the Giant type that has any racial HD that's within your ECL 5 limit, an Ogre is probably the lowest at ECL 6. Maybe start with large size construct with few racial HD, add Incarnate Construct in Savage Species (LA -2) to change it to the Giant type, and then make it a Primordial Giant. That can't work by the rules though, since Primordial Giant is an inherited (i.e. born with) template and Incarnate Construct is an acquired template, and you can't apply an acquired template before an inherited template. Half-Troll in the Fiend Folio changes your type to Giant, but it has a +4 LA. If a creature only has one racial HD it gets replaced by your first class level, so you would need to apply it to a 2+ HD race and be above ECL 5.

There are really just no good monster race choices for a Warlock if you're forced to pick something that has racial HD. That's often enough to make any primary spellcaster unplayable, but anything that has a racial spellcasting ability will improve that with class levels of the same spellcasting class, such as an Aranea (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aranea.htm) or a Dragon taking Sorcerer levels, or an Unbodied (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm) taking Psion levels, etc.

[skellig]

Thank you everyone I think I have decided that Thri-Keen or the Dog Rogue thing right before this post fit the best for me. Thanks again!