| Effective character level is determined by the amount of experience you have. Unlike the actual level of the character, ECL is homogeneous for all races/classes.
There are a few races that could make your actual level different from your ECL, and all of these are listed in the manual - however I will provide a brief summary just to be complete.
Aasimar: +1
Tiefling: +1
Duergar (Gray Dwarf): +2
Drow (Dark Elf): +2
Svirfneblin (Deep Gnome): +3
What the (+) indicates is that the experience they need to advance to the next (actual not effective) level is higher by the listed factor.
For example, if you have an Aasimar paladin, to get to level 2 he/she would need 3,000 xp compared to a Human Paladin who would need 1,000 xp.
So, when the Aasimar paladin reaches (actual) level 2, he/she has an ECL of 3, whereas the Human Paladin would have an ECL of 2. In simple terms: the Human will level up faster than the Aasimar.
The level penalties are supposed to offset the natural racial bonuses that your characters get. In other words, if they didn't apply these penalties the above races would be overpowered.
With regard to multi-class ECL, you compute it by summing up the character levels. For example, if you had a Human Level 3 Fighter/Level 1 Paladin, his/her ECL would be 4. If you had an Aasimar 3/1 Fighter/Paladin, his/her ECL would be 5.
Last edited by lightningpig; 06-23-2003 at 01:16 PM.
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