Vanguard Slayer - Lookout Ability

[Fearspect]

Vanguard Slayers gain the following ability at first level:

Lookout(Ex):

At 1st level, a vanguard adds 1/2 his level (minimum 1) to initiative checks.

Normally abilities like this read something along the lines of "adds 1/2 his slayer level".

In contrast, you see a similar ability granted by the Divination School for Wizards:

Forewarned(Su):

You can always act in the surprise round even if you fail to make a Perception roll to notice a foe, but you are still considered flat-footed until you take an action. In addition, you receive a bonus on initiative checks equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum +1). At 20th level, anytime you roll initiative, assume the roll resulted in a natural 20.

Does this wording make a one level dip in Vanguard extremely favourable as all characters would gain 1/2 character level added to initiative?

[Claxon]

sigh Technically yes but not really. It seems obvious that they meant Slayer level, not total level.

Generally, most abilities are written with the assumption that they reference class level not character level, even when neither is stated.

For instance:

Quote:

Armor Training (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a fighter learns to be more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever he is wearing armor, he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0) and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), these bonuses increase by +1 each time, to a maximum –4 reduction of the armor check penalty and a +4 increase of the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.

The way this reads you could interpret it to mean that if you have a level in fighter that at 3rd character level you gain Armor Training, despite maybe having only 1 level in fighter. But this is absolutely wrong.

While the Slayer's ability could be revised to be more clear, in general any mention of level defaults to class level of the associated class ability unless it dilberately specifies character level.