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Thread: The LA-assignment thread
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2016-06-13, 09:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
It's true that the gaze is free, which grants action advantage, but it's barely compensation for the lack of further useful abilities. You can't hide if you want to use your gaze, because your gaze doesn't work if people can't see you, and you don't have the native toughness to go into melee. Your only real option is to become an Ur-Priest or some sort of tricky evasion tank (swordsage/master of nine?).
The most obvious optimization for a bodak's racial abilities is probably bodak 9/lurking terror 1/legacy champion 10, using the Lurking Terror's first-level ability to add your LT class level to your death gaze save DC - up to 23+CHA at level 20 - while getting Hide in Plain Sight as your only useful class feature (which, again, precludes the use of your gaze).
Overall, the LA should be fairly low, and zero is fine for higher-power games (it may be a bit strong next to tier 5s).Last edited by ExLibrisMortis; 2016-06-13 at 09:54 AM.
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2016-06-13, 09:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Aaaaand that was me mixing up FoD and Slay Living. Ah well, the point still stands: just replace 'sorcerer' with 'favored soul'.
Death Gaze indeed requires no action. However, in any kind of practical combat, chances are your allies will be within 30 feet of you. Remember, you have a move rate of 20 feet and a moderate dexterity score: chances are you'll need Narrowed Gaze to not be useless.
You raise a good point on the immunity, though. How about I raise the LA to +1?Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-13, 03:08 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
I actually think +0 is fair, I just disagree with the reasoning. (Although I honestly prefer LA —. Some monsters are just not suited for PCs, and I think a bodak would not result in good gameplay.)
Rhymes with "Protracted."
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2016-06-13, 03:14 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
I think Dire_Stirge should allow for LA -- monsters (what LA are we going to give to the blue whale?) but possibly include a small writeup on the minimum changes required to make them playable (and thus LA-able).
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2016-06-14, 12:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Part of the fun here is figuring out how to balance creatures previously considered unbalanceable. I don't think I'll ever assign LA's of —, though. If a creature's actual playability is questionable, though, I will suggest only allowing it after careful deliberation.
Still, I don't think all creatures are unplayable in all situations. Your whale example may actually work in an aquatic campaign, for one.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-14, 06:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Bugbear
Fun fact: WotC hates goblinoids. The bugbear and its current +1 LA are a fine example of that.
Bugbears already have 3 humanoid HD, which is about the worst kind of HD one could have. In return for this they get decent ability bonuses, a small skill bonus, scent and natural armor. Pretty much all of these are done better by other creatures. Even the few goblinoid-centric feats aren't a reason to become a bugbear, because they could be just as easily taken by a goblin or hobgoblin.
Bottomline: sometimes you don't need a lengthy explanation to justify your decisions. Bugbears are weak, but giving them -0 LA is all I can do here.Last edited by Inevitability; 2016-11-14 at 11:39 AM.
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-14, 06:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Several years back, someone on these forums was promoting SHELA - Society for Hobgoblin Equality in Level Adjustments. :)
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2016-06-14, 07:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-14, 01:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Why can't you do more than +0 LA? Negative LA is a thing.
Rhymes with "Protracted."
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2016-06-14, 01:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Have a look at my complete list of wizard spells, last updated 07/08/2015.
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2016-06-14, 01:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-14, 01:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-14, 01:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-14, 01:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
The problem with negative LA is that things get broken real fast. Let's say the bugbear is given -1 LA, for one.
Someone plays a bugbear (an ECL 2 creature now), and chooses to take levels in cleric. He puts some skill ranks in Knowledge (religion) and Spellcraft: nothing too special.
At ECL 19, the PC has 3 bugbear RHD and 17 cleric levels. He takes another level in cleric, gaining his 21st HD (at ECL 20), and takes Epic Spellcasting. Oops.
You could argue this is an example of ES being unbalanced rather than negative LA itself, but there's so much epic feats you'd need to houserule out to balance this situation that I seriously question the viability of negative LA. Even without epic cheese, having more HD than the game expects can lead to some seriously weird situations.
There's also a list of monsters in the ELH with a given ECL. While technically no negative LA is directly given, several of the listed creatures have ECL's lower than their HD. The Chichimec, for example, has ECL 23 but 27 HD.Last edited by Inevitability; 2016-06-14 at 01:43 PM.
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-14, 01:43 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-16, 03:09 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Still causes problems. Several prestige classes can now be entered at a significantly lower level, which can result in some seriously broken builds.
Sure, you could rule RHD don't count for meeting prerequisites either, but at that point I recommend just asking your DM to houserule a few of the RHD away. It's easier than taking an already inelegant system and twisting it to do the opposite it was intended to do.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-16, 03:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Bulette
Before I begin, I'd like to share what is perhaps the greatest quote on bulettes ever, found in the 5e Monster Manual:
"A bulette loves halfling meat the most, and is never happier than when chasing plump halflings across an open field."
Bulettes themselves are just another big melee beasty with a few tricks. They've got Huge size, very good ability scores and full BAB hit dice going for them, as well as a couple of pretty neat natural weapons.
Related to this is their Leap ability, which allows them to replace their bite attack with two more claw attacks. Good to have, but made even more awesome by the specific wording only prohibiting bite attacks. A Mouthpick weapon, for one, can still be used together with the claws.
Taking this into account, the bulette is a potent melee combatant that brings some very big numbers to the table. +1 LA seems about right.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-16, 10:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Last edited by Thurbane; 2016-06-16 at 10:54 PM.
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2016-06-17, 03:57 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-17, 06:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
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2016-06-20, 05:47 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Carrion crawler
Firstly, I'd like to apologize for not being able to post as much in the past few days. RL is taking up most of my time at the moment.
With that being said, let's take a look at this monster. It's a big aberrant centipede that can paralyze you with its many tentacles.
You're Large, but don't get reach (we're off to a good start). The ability scores are kind of lackluster. Having four scores boosted is good, but often a single high stat is preferable to several decent ones. The RHD are pretty bad, too, unless you really like having a good Will. Climb speed and natural armor: no objections there. Scent, darkvision, a weak natural bite and Alertness as a bonus feat don't really add anything either.
There's one thing I haven't covered yet, though: the crawler's tentacles. It's got eight of them, and each can paralyze for 2d4 rounds on a hit. That's huge. Against a creature that isn't paralysis-immune, you'll probably score at least one paralyzing hit on a full attack. When that happens, you can just re-paralyze them at your leisure while your allies kill it.
While there's a large number of creature types that are immune to paralysis, these often don't become a problem until higher levels. By then, you should either have bought off your LA or patched up your lack of versatility with some creative build choices.
Final verdict: either +1 or +2 LA. Keeping the carrion crawler's relative lack of versatility in mind, I'll go with +1 here.Last edited by Inevitability; 2016-12-27 at 04:14 PM.
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-20, 05:54 AM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-20, 09:03 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-20, 09:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-21, 12:51 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
Celestial Creature
The first template is often-maligned Celestial, best known for providing wizards with expendable summons. The tier system for templates lists it as 'tier 5': literally the lowest of the low. I don't completely agree with the rating, but it illustrates how little Celestial adds to your character for +2 LA.
What does it give you? Darkvision, weak spell resistance (an equally-leveled caster will penetrate it 75% of the time), a weaker version of Smite Evil, usable once a day, and scaling energy resistance and damage reduction. Oh, and if you're an animal or vermin you become a sentient magical beast instead, which is a negligible benefit unless you're looking for a cheap way to make your vermin PC playable.
The scaling abilities slightly complicate picking an appropriate LA. If you only have a few HD, you gain nothing but a few uncommon resistances. You then gain DR/magic, which is briefly useful before becoming near-worthless due to enemies with magical gear getting more common. The subsequent increases to both of these abilities don't add much to their overall use.
All things considered, I can't really put this at anything other than +1 LA. At +0, it's simply too strong not to take, whereas +2 would keep it terribly underpowered.Creator of the LA-assignment thread.
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2016-06-21, 01:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
The problem with +1 is that it hurts a ton when the template sucks, and you can buy it off when it gets good. At the early levels (especially 1-3) it barely does anything at all. I would recommend a straight-up XP cost like Necropolitan. Knock people down to halfway to the starting level for getting the template, and then move on.
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2016-06-21, 02:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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2016-06-21, 07:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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Last edited by Thurbane; 2016-06-21 at 07:42 PM.
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2016-06-21, 07:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: The LA-assignment thread
There's a spell in the online archives for that. In absence of houserules like this thread proposes, a cocktail of Aspect of the Wolf/Planar Familiar is the lowest ECL method I know of to get the Magical Beast type on a character.
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