Level Adjustment (5e Variant Rule)
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Level Adjustment
As you may or may not know, 5e has largely tried to rid itself of things like level adjustment, for what I feel is a good enough reason. However, due to the prevalence of monstrous races on the wiki, and the demand that everything must be reasonably balanced, some have been gutted in the process, like the slaad and others. While level adjustment is in no way, shape, or form a perfect solution, I believe it could be utilized in order to make certain races more accurate to their source material.
The feature would be worded as such:
Level Adjustment +X. After gaining your first level, you must gain X amount of experience before being capable of gaining experience and leveling up normally.
| Level Adjustment +? | Experience Required |
|---|---|
| +1 | 300 |
| +2 | 1,200 |
| +3 | 3,900 |
This goes to a maximum of +3, as by that time another character is 4th level. In doing this, you have some catchup time before you enter the next tier of gameplay.
While I have no good way of knowing, a guess as to the musicus score on this would be -1 for +1, -2.5 for +2, and -4 for +3. This is still the first draft of this rule, and needs further testing.
Design Concerns
When making a race with level adjustment, you must consider the fact that they essentially lose player levels in order to take the race. Measures should be taken accordingly, but don't simply give them class features to compensate, since eventually they may regain these levels. Keep them as strong options but do not overcorrect.
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