Locathah LA?

[Scio]

Why does the Locathah have an LA? I mean, Monstrous Humanoid and a swim speed are kind of offset by the 10' land speed, y'know? I want to play a Locathah fisherman in a game, but I'm not sure what's so great about them. Can someone help me out?

[The-Mage-King]

Why does the Locathah have an LA? I mean, Monstrous Humanoid and a swim speed are kind of offset by the 10' land speed, y'know? I want to play a Locathah fisherman in a game, but I'm not sure what's so great about them. Can someone help me out?

I... have no clue. Looking at them, they're really nothing special, just an aquatic humanoid with two RHD, a faster swim speed than most other creatures, +3 NA, and bonuses to Dex, Int, and Wis.


I can think of somethings that I could do with them, but not much.

[Kuma Kode]

+2 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Wis. That's why. Total +6 modifier to ability scores.

And in a largely aquatic campaign, the 60 ft. swim speed is quite powerful.

[Greenish]

Because the designers don't want you to play monsters, when you could play pretty races.

[Edit]:

+2 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Wis. That's why. Total +6 modifier to ability scores.

But they're already saddled with 2 RHD in humanoid. Besides, stat mods aren't so powerful.

[Lhurgyof]

Yeah, it's probably because of the Unbalanced Stat Mods.

[Kuma Kode]

But they're already saddled with 2 RHD in humanoid. Besides, stat mods aren't so powerful.

I didn't say it was reasonable. I said that was why.

Unbalanced stat modifications are automatically worth a +1 level adjustment. See Hobgoblin.

[LOTRfan]

Plus, it seems that WotC thought that anything with more than one racial Hit Die deserved at least +1 to Level Adjustment.

[awa]

I don't think that wizards considered racial hit dice a penalty

[Lhurgyof]

That's why we just ignore RHD in our game for Monster PC's.

[Gorgondantess]

This is an injustice that must be rectified. To the Improved Monster Classes cave!

EDIT: and, lo and behold, a semi-playable Locathah.

[KillianHawkeye]

Well consider that Locathahs are pretty much unplayable outside of an underwater campaign (lacking the amphibious special quality means they can't breathe air).

So, if it's a given that the game will be highly aquatic, then having a 60-foot swim speed and +3 natural armor, combined with the good stat mods, probably is worth a +1 Level Adjustment (at least in the eyes of the designers). It definitely would be worth it if the RHD were removed, I think.

[AtomicKitKat]

Plus, it seems that WotC thought that anything with more than one racial Hit Die deserved at least +1 to Level Adjustment.

That right there is the biggest problem with WotC design. The way I see it, every racial HD over 1 should already be counted as +1 Level Adjustment(or rather, off-set something worth +1 LA on a 1RHD creature). Also, they hyperinflated the value of Strength.

For ability score balancing purposes, I'd say the following should probably be about the right ratio:

1.5 Int=1.5 Wis=2 Con=2 Dex=2.5 Charisma=3 Strength

[sreservoir]

That right there is the biggest problem with WotC design. The way I see it, every racial HD over 1 should already be counted as +1 Level Adjustment(or rather, off-set something worth +1 LA on a 1RHD creature). Also, they hyperinflated the value of Strength.

For ability score balancing purposes, I'd say the following should probably be about the right ratio:

1.5 Int=1.5 Wis=2 Con=2 Dex=2.5 Charisma=3 Strength

I think you're overvaluing mental stats. charisma can be a dump stat for basically anyone who doesn't have abilities based on it.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

Mental stats give good things. His ratios are close enough. Ahem ratio

Also hobgoblins are not the pinnacle of balanced races. See my BG's Optimized Races Compendium for some perspective.