Published by Anonymous on 3/11/2003 10:58:00 PM
It's simple. Sort of. ECL is the total effective level of the character. It includes all class levels, all monster hit dice and level adjustment. It's what level your character "really" is. Level Adjustment is a sort of "virtual levels". They are added to your characters class levels and monster hit dice (if any) to get the ECL. Starting ECL is the ECL for a character of that race with one class level, the point at which they "Start" as relatively normal PC's and can multiclass normally. Savage Species introduces a way to parcel out a creatures powers over their levels from both HD and LA, allowing them to be viable characters before this Starting Point. Hope this helps.