ECL and Leadership Cohort

[Yogibear41]

I am a 6th level character with a +2 LA, so my ECL is 8th. I took leadership as my 6th level feat. Assuming my leadership score is high enough for the maximum level cohort. Can I attract a 6th level cohort because my ECL is 8? or am I limited to a 4th level cohort because my actual level is 6th?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

First and foremost, you've just hit the first level at which you can reduce your level adjustment (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm). This will mean being one ECL lower due to having your LA reduced, you'll be gaining more experience per encounter and thus you'll be able to catch up to the rest of the party's level.

Regarding your question, it looks like "level" is interchangeable with ECL in the following quote, since the Cohort Level is the cohort's max ECL and the first sentence refers to it as their level. The second sentence refers to the level of your character with regards to the cohort's max level, which given the context would mean your ECL and your cohort's ECL.


Cohort Level
The character can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of a character’s Leadership score, he can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than himself...

[Yogibear41]

Correct regarding the buyoff, was just trying to keep the question simple that's all.

[magic9mushroom]

Regarding your question, it looks like "level" is interchangeable with ECL in the following quote, since the Cohort Level is the cohort's max ECL and the first sentence refers to it as their level. The second sentence refers to the level of your character with regards to the cohort's max level, which given the context would mean your ECL and your cohort's ECL.

No, a PC's ECL only matters for XP. This character is a 6th-level character and can only have a 4th-level cohort.

That said, while the number in the table is ECL (as spelled out later on), technically the "two levels lower than himself" isn't. So this character could have a 4th-level cohort with an LA on top of that, provided he has the Leadership score. For that matter, a L6 ordinary character could have a 4th-level cohort with an LA.

[Crake]

No, a PC's ECL only matters for XP and wealth by level. This character is a 6th-level character and can only have a 4th-level cohort.

That said, while the number in the table is ECL (as spelled out later on), technically the "two levels lower than himself" isn't. So this character could have a 4th-level cohort with an LA on top of that, provided he has the Leadership score. For that matter, a L6 ordinary character could have a 4th-level cohort with an LA.

Fixed that for you :smalltongue:

[magic9mushroom]

Fixed that for you :smalltongue:

It's a fair cop.

[Linearblade]

Fixed that for you :smalltongue:

Does that apply to followers as well? Like can you have 6hd followers with a level adjustment?

[magic9mushroom]

Does that apply to followers as well? Like can you have 6hd followers with a level adjustment?

The specific RAW trick I mentioned refers to the "he can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than himself", and relies on you having enough leadership score to actually hit the cohort's ECL in the table.

Followers are, by default, commoners, experts or warriors; adept and aristocrat have a 2-level penalty, PC classes a 3-level penalty, and prestige classes a 5-level penalty. Not entirely sure what happens if they're a monster, apart from the specific cases given in Libris Mortis (which are honestly pretty OP compared to the default; I think they forgot that followers are NPC-classed when writing that).

[Psychoalpha]

I don't think there's really a solid RAW answer to this. Then again, my table doesn't use XP and everyone is always at the same ECL (so when we played 3.5, a LA buyoff point just exchanged one of the LA for a new PC level at the same time everyone else leveled).

But generally speaking, either answer seems possible.

[Yogibear41]

Followers and Cohorts take LA into account, otherwise dragon cohort would be pointless.