Degtermining the LA of a Corpse/Skeleton Creatures

[Tough_Tonka]

I believe resurrections, including raise dead, should be very difficult to come by, but I also believe there's more than one way to skin a cat and still use him as a PC. I thought an interesting alternative to resurrections would be undeath. The problem is I don't like most of the Undead in the MM so I desided to look for weaker intellegent undead, and I think I found the answer in the Book of Vile Darkness.

I noticed the the Skeletal and Corpse Creature Template in the Book of Vile Darkness has a challenge rating adjustment of 1 but no stated LA. I know they should have one, but I'm not sure whether it deserves a LA of +1 or +2.
What do you think?

[Arceliar]

Well, look at it this way:

Libris Mortis has a table for undead followers. In such cases, a skeleton or zombie's "level equivilent" turns out to be lower than its hit dice, because...they suck.

If you go by the 1-2 hit dice an undead has naturally, then I'd say 0 LA. If they retain intelligence and can pursue class levels, then just make sure those count for the purposes of turn/rebuke resistance. Otherwise...having no con score and immunity to cold is a pretty big deal, but lack of HP compensates in many ways. So I myself wouldn't give them a level adjustment at all, or a very low one (probably +2, to keep them on par with the turning resistance they receive form Awaken Undead, if that's the way you go about giving them intelligence).

[fallensavior]

if you want it to be balanced then you would need - several LA. probly just best to go 0 though.

[Thomas]

Arceliar & fallensavior: Skeletons and zombies have nothing to do with corpse creatures and skeletal creatures, which are far more formidable (since it's a template that adds to their abilities, doesn't take away their HD, etc.

Tough_Tonka: LA +1, Being undead is worth +1, for sure (see the Necropolitan; practically no abilities, yet you sort of have LA +1 - it's just offset to +0 by the fact you lose a level in the process).

[AtomicKitKat]

Tough_Tonka: LA +1, Being undead is worth +1, for sure (see the Necropolitan; practically no abilities, yet you sort of have LA +1 - it's just offset to +0 by the fact you lose a level in the process).

If the OP is planning on using the templates to replace Raise/Ressurect(or be a sort of stop-gap between levels 1-6 when you can't Raise/Reincarnate the Dead yet), then that would be the route to go. Lose 1 class level, gain the template, no LA.

[JellyPooga]

Personally I prefer the 'Reincarnation of Randomness' method of returning from the dead...none of this 3.5 "I get reincarnated as something similar to what I was" non-sense...I want to roll a d300 and flick through the MM and be reincarnated as that...even if is is a squirrel or 'weirdo-freak-beast-of-uselessness'...much more entertaining .

[BCOVertigo]

Personally I prefer the 'Reincarnation of Randomness' method of returning from the dead...none of this 3.5 "I get reincarnated as something similar to what I was" non-sense...I want to roll a d300 and flick through the MM and be reincarnated as that...even if is is a squirrel or 'weirdo-freak-beast-of-uselessness'...much more entertaining .

You REALLY don't want me coming back as a Choker.... I swear to you before whatever foul gods of house-ruling you worship I would make even the most stalwart 2e/3.0 loving DM stop using that variant and cry.

(Note: This poster has no idea where said variant came from and has expressed a massive amount of disinterest. If you attempt to educate him against his will you assume all fault for the various forms of psychological anguish that could result. Thank you for your time.)

[JellyPooga]

You REALLY don't want me coming back as a Choker.... I swear to you before whatever foul gods of house-ruling you worship I would make even the most stalwart 2e/3.0 loving DM stop using that variant and cry.

(Note: This poster has no idea where said variant came from and has expressed a massive amount of disinterest. If you attempt to educate him against his will you assume all fault for the various forms of psychological anguish that could result. Thank you for your time.)

Why? What's wrong with being a Choker?

'Said varient' was made up on the spur of the moment when I wrote that post, just for your information. If I were ever to use it in a game (and I only use varients in games I run, generally), there would obviously be many, many , many things from the MM that would be excluded from the possibles...including any outsider, elementals and dragons...oh and probably a lot of extraplanar stuff too (like those weird ethereal filchers or whatever they're called)...oh and some aberrations (notably Illithids and Aboleths).

[AtomicKitKat]

Chokers have "3.0 Haste", or one free standard action per round. You can probably safely drop them from the list, I think they're Aberrations.

[Arceliar]

Ah, I misread.

Even so, any undead has the inherent weakness of being turnable. As a rule of thumb, I'd avoid having a LA higher than any turn resistance granted (see: lich) unless it also grants a bunch of other bonuses (see: vampire).

Edit: Hyperlinks added for convenience.