In D@W it offers the possibility of humans gaining experience through combat and leveling up to become 1st level Fighters, making them Veteran troops. In general it seems fairly straightforward to extend this process to demihumans (though it does raise the question of whether an elf with 100 xp from combat becomes a Ranger or something else?), except in the case of HD. Humans go from 1-1 HD to 1 HD, just like for a human PC. Elves however would already have 1+1 HD, and it seems nonsensical that they should lose the +1 when they level up (though apparently most elf PCs do just that . . .). Should veteran elves go up to 2 HD? Should veteran dwarves go up to 2 HD or 1+1?
I've been operating on the assumption that the elves and dwarves in the monsters section aren't level zero elves and dwarves, but have some unique warrior classes possessed only by NPCs of their respective races.
It sounds kind of silly, now that I say it out loud.
Huh, okay. An "Elven Fighter" with HD 3, Fighting 2 would work. d10 HD = d8+1; d6+1 FDB = d8; shield and chain; takes the Single Weapon Fighting Style as 1st level class proficiency. "Dwarf fighter" would be HD 2, Fighting 2, Dwarven Brewing or some such. Notably, that would imply that (1) elves would need 2625 xp to be veterans and dwarves 2200 xp (instead of the 100 xp needed to get to first), and (2) a veteran elf would actually have 2+2 HD.
I think this has the most plausible explanation for HD. I'd previously considered letting all demihuman NPCs start at 1st level, and that was actually what prompted this question--I wanted to see the impacts of giving all elves and dwarves a class level. If that's already the case, that actually makes a lot of sense. It will have significant impacts to the Demographics of Leveled Characters that I might try to spreadsheet up at some point.
[quote="Arbrethil"]
I'd previously considered letting all demihuman NPCs start at 1st level, and that was actually what prompted this question--I wanted to see the impacts of giving all elves and dwarves a class level. If that's already the case, that actually makes a lot of sense. It will have significant impacts to the Demographics of Leveled Characters that I might try to spreadsheet up at some point.
[/quote]
Bear in mind, the elves and dwarves listed in the monsters chapter don't necessarily represent all evles and dwarves - just the ones who end up in combat with the PCs. Probably professional warriors, in other words. I imagine there's level 0 elf farmers and level 0 dwarf goatherds, for instance, who probably don't come equipped with weapons, armour, and class levels as standard.