racial lvl vs class level ?,s

[kwilly69]

ok so i want to start as a goliath lvl 1 racial
does this mean no class level until enough enough XP for level 2?

also it appears i can buyoff at lvl 3 ? for 3000 or 6000 xp? (dm said we could buyoff)

is buyoff at class level or character?

[John Longarrow]

I believe you are referring to the races "Level Adjustment (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm)".

For level adjustment buy off look here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm)

Your 1st level will be in a class. Your character is treated as being a 2nd level character though because they have a Level Adjustment (LA) of +1. This is not a racial HD.

[rrwoods]

By the book, you can't have a character with LA +1 in a game starting at ECL 1. If you are starting such a game and wish to play a Goliath, you have two options:

1. Say "screw the book" and do it anyway. You won't get your second level until 3,000 XP, when the other party members are getting their third.

2. Take a "negative level adjustment", as described in Player's Guide to Faerun on page 190. At the start of the game, you apply -1 to your d20 rolls (and other things I'm leaving out to not plagiarize copyrighted material). At 1,000 XP, when other party members are getting their second level, you shed these penalties and stay level 1 (ECL 2). Then, as above, you get your second level at 3,000 XP.

IMO, in the case of Goliath specifically, your game is safe with the first option. However if you're at a particularly low op table you may want to go ahead and use the PGtF rules.

In either case, you should also inquire about buying off your level adjustment as described in the SRD. This comes at ECL 4 (level 3), and allows you to shed your level adjustment entirely and eventually catch up on XP. If that sounds unfair to the other party members, it's not; the benefits covered by the level adjustments are overshadowed by the benefits of class levels in the mid and late levels, and buying off the level adjustment in this way lets you not lag behind the party in relevant abilities.

[kwilly69]

Thank you
buy offs already approve no racials over +1

[kwilly69]

Also do you get health for 1 racial level?

[Rhyltran]

Also do you get health for 1 racial level?

If I understand the question the answer is no. It's not a HD. LA+1 doesn't impart any extra hit dice. For example. A Drow would have the same starting hit point as any other race of his level (constitution modifier not withstanding.)

[Firest Kathon]

You have to differentiate between two things: Racial Hit Dice and Level Adjustment.

Racial Hit Dice (RHD) work just like class levels, except that you get "levels" in a creature type. For example, an Ogre (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ogre.htm) has 4 racial hit dice, giving it 4 "levels" in the "Giant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#giantType) class" (it is not a class, I am just calling it that for comparison). Racial Hit Dice give the same benefits as class levels, i.e. hp (4d8), Base Attack Bonus (+3 for a giant with 4 RHD), skill points (2+Int per RHD, x4 for the first RHD, so 7x(2+Int) for 4 RHD), saves (+4/+1/+1) and feats (2).
Normal class levels are just added on top, so an Ogre with 4 levels of Barbarian is an 8th-level character in most regards (but: see Level Adjustment). Special case: Classes with just 1 RHD (e.g. human, orc, goliath, any PHB race, and many more) replace that racial hit dice with their first class level, losing any benefits that RHD granted.

Level Adjustment is only relevant for XP calculation and level-up. It is added to the character level (RHD + class levels) to calculate the XP gained and when to level up. Ogres get a +2 Level adjustment, so our Ogre barbarian from before counts as a level 10 character when it comes to getting XP for an encounter (4 RHD + 4 class levels + 2 level adjustment). It will get its next level as soon as it has enough XP to reach level 11. Level adjustment grants no further benefits: No hp, no base attack bonus, nothing. It is also not considered when determining spell effects based on Hit Dice (e.g. Holy Word (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/holyWord.htm)), the Ogre barbarian has just 8 Hit Dice for that calculation.