Savage Species (D&D class)

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Unofficial rules compendium

Monsters from Savage Species have to be judged on a case-by-case basis. Each monster must fit each campaign. That said, the rules seem playable enough.

In a game with one feat each level, monsters fall behind as they only get feats for the levels at which they get hit dice. On the opther hand, it is much easier to get the feats you actually do need, and this is a great benefit for monsters.

Rules

Monsters are allowed to take levels in non-monster classes before finishing their monster class. Creatures living in society will tend to develop their "monstrous" traits later. This helps monsters at low levels, where they are generally at their weakest.

Monsters who have an effective spellcasting ability equal to a certain level in some class (usually cleric or sorcerer) who gain levels in this class have their spellcasting abilities stack.

Monsters who have only one racial hit die can fore go this and go directly to a class level. They then purchase a mix of monster ECL levels and regular levels. The DM can judge some of their abilities to be a function of their hit dice, using this as an excuse to get rid of undesirable qualities like damage resistance. These qualities are still available, but at the price of delayed class progression.