Quote Originally Posted by Zanos View Post
Are the example monsters LA 0? If a monster itself does not have an LA entry it isn't appropriate for use as a PC.
That's a problem if you're trying to play a bodak hydra, but not if you're trying to play a bodak halfling. For Dragon Compendium, in all cases, there is no change between the LA of the base creature and the templated creature, nor is there any change in LA prescribed by the template's text. Just like you said, they use the statistics of the base creature unless otherwise noted.