According to the Monster Manual, elementals don't have level adjustments. Because of this, according to the Dungeon Master's Guide, they aren't prime candidates for cohorts or followers. Fine.
But I want to design an option for my players so that they can have an elemental cohort. That said, would any of you help me take a stab at an appropriate LA for elementals, assuming they were allowed as cohorts?
I've been toying with the information given for the Air Elemental - using it as a test case for this question of Level Adjustments (mostly b/c the AoW AP has the whole Wind Duke thing going on...). This is what I came up with...
Monster Manual, page 96. Small-size Air Elemental (2 HD - 3 HD). Medium-size Air Elemental (4 HD - 7 HD). They are given Level Adjustment '-'.
Savage Species, page 152. Comparing the advancement table to the examples given in the Monster Manual, note that an Air Elemental is Small-sized from 1st level thru 3rd level. They become Medium-sized at 4th level, which is exactly what the Monster Manual says. So, is there a Level Adjustment? To determine that, you need to take the difference between the Level and Hit Dice column:
* Level 1 - HD 1 = 0 Level Adjustment
* Level 2 - HD 2 = 0 Level Adjustment
* Level 3 - HD 3 = 0 Level Adjustment
* Level 4 - HD 4 = 0 Level Adjustment
At 4th level, the Air Elemental becomes Medium-sized, per both the Monster Manual and Savage Species. However, there is no Level Adjustment up to this point. It is only when you go beyond 4th level that one appears. In fact, in order to get to a HD 5 Air Elemental, you have to take Level Adjustment +2.
Unfortunately, while both sources mostly jive up until 4th level / 4 HD, they go their separate ways fairly quickly. That's not the topic of this thread, but I thought I'd point out that you can't build the examples from the Monster Manual using the progression table in Savage Species. I'd like to get a true match from WotC on the issue, but they're likely too busy to bother. That said, however, it appears that as long as you stay with an Air Elemental of 4 HD or less, there is no LA.
I guess the answer to my question would be... If you have the Leadership feat, you could have a 4 HD Air Elemental (no Level Adjustment) as a cohort. Of course, moving up from there might be a problem, if the player wanted that cohort to continue progressing as an Elemental, instead of taking class levels. The two sources don't agree on very much after the 4th level / 4 HD point, so I'd have to do some massive tinkering to make a racial level progression that fits with the Monster Manual.
Am I missing anything?
is there a problem with giving them a class? it does make advancing a tad easier
Or if you do not want to give them a class, allow Element creatures, or half-elementals as cohorts using the templates from THE MANUAL OF THE PLANES. I use these templates all the time and I think they are really keen.
is there a problem with giving them a class? it does make advancing a tad easier
Nope. None at all. I just wanted to make sure that, if I allowed a PC to have a 4 HD Air Elemental as a cohort, I was calculating the ECL correctly.
Someone asked me if I was willing to deviate from a standard elemental, how about a half-elemental, level adjustment +3 ([/i]DRAGON 326[/i])? Alternatively, how about a Wind Warrior (DUNGEON 124)?
I looked at the Wind Warrior. It's pretty cool - but as a 6 HD creature, and what I'd assume is a +3 or +4 LA, it might not be as good a bargain as a straight Air Elemental. Of course, it would have to be up to the player - so I'll try to figure out how a Wind Warrior would be as a cohort.
I just read the info on the Wind Warrior again. It says that the few surviving Wind Warriors are guardians to the tombs of the Wind Dukes. Unless the PC is a Cleric with the Air domain, speaks Auran, and really really plays the situation well --- I don't think a Wind Warrior would even consider them as a potential leader. Besides... who's going to guard the tomb?
Well, maybe the players want to use the WC as a base of operations... That wouldn't be a bad idea, actually... Hmmmmmmmmm.