Maximum Negative LA

[WorthingSon]

Ok, so I was reading through the Crystal Keep indexes, and I noticed a creature with a negative Level Adjustment (Xvart from DR339 p64). It has a -2 LA, which raises the question how does a negative LA work? I believe that it means that you can take other templates to balance out your LA back to 0, but I have no RAW to support that at this time.
What I really want to know, is how can I maximize my negative LA? I have come up with a Incarnet Construct Effigy Xvart, which yields a -4 LA. Can you come up witha way to get more? and how can we abuse this?

[RandomFellow]

Ok, so I was reading through the Crystal Keep indexes, and I noticed a creature with a negative Level Adjustment (Xvart from DR339 p64). It has a -2 LA, which raises the question how does a negative LA work? I believe that it means that you can take other templates to balance out your LA back to 0, but I have no RAW to support that at this time.
What I really want to know, is how can I maximize my negative LA? I have come up with a Incarnet Construct Effigy Xvart, which yields a -4 LA. Can you come up witha way to get more? and how can we abuse this?

This is Crystal Keep we are talking about. When you see such a massive oddity, it is almost 100% certainly a typo rather than RAW.

[WorthingSon]

This is Crystal Keep we are talking about. When you see such a massive oddity, it is almost 100% certainly a typo rather than RAW.

Point taken, but my question still stands... you could just make a Incarnet Construct Effigy Human and get a -2 LA... so how would that work? and can you come up with a way to increase/abuse that?

[Dark Tira]

Well considering incarnate construct doesn't let you reduce your level adjustment below 0 I'd say it's pretty hard to abuse.

[WorthingSon]

Well considering incarnate construct doesn't let you reduce your level adjustment below 0 I'd say it's pretty hard to abuse.

Not really, it's all in the order in which you apply the tmeplates. Lets use winged for example (+2 LA). Ok, start with human (0 LA), add winged (2 LA), add effigy (0 LA), and then incarnate construct (-2 LA). Which brings us back to 0 LA... TaDa!

[Dark Tira]

Not really, it's all in the order in which you apply the tmeplates. Lets use winged for example (+2 LA). Ok, start with human (0 LA), add winged (2 LA), add effigy (0 LA), and then incarnate construct (-2 LA). Which brings us back to 0 LA... TaDa!

Except that effigies have LA - not LA 0, so that doesn't work either.

[WorthingSon]

Except that effigies have LA - not LA 0, so that doesn't work either.

Says what? The entry in Complete Arcane is listed as "-"...

I see what you are saying now. But LA - mean no change unless I am mistaken...

[Lemur]

Says what? The entry in Complete Arcane is listed as "-"...

I see what you are saying now. But LA - mean no change unless I am mistaken...

You are mistaken. LA - means the creature or template is not suitable for PCs, and thus no LA is provided for it.

[The_Snark]

Right. LA - means unplayable, like beholders and the Tarrasque. Occasionally, a monster that would be playable if it didn't have such high HD is given LA - (a lot of MM outsiders are perfectly viable, but would have ECL well over 20, so they don't give a level adjustment), but the later books tend to give level adjustments for whatever's playable.