The sidebar on page 75 of savage species makes no sense to me. Here is the relevant parts of the sidebar(If I am not allowed to type in here than please tell me and I will remove it).
"If an undead spawn's creator is destroyed, the spawn is no longer controlled by that creature. If the freed spawn was a player character when alive, it can now adventure like a character with an ECL equivalent to the creator's. For instance, a freed ghoul spawn has an ECL of 5, and a freed shadow spawn's ECL is 10...
... A freed spawn can gain experience points through adventuring, adding them to the XP total the character had when alive. When it becomes eligible to advance a level, it can add class levels as normal or pursue the emancipated spawn prestige class..."
Does this mean that I can play a monster that doesn't have an LA as long as its an undead spawn? It also says that a freed spawn has the same ECL as its creator but as far as I can see a shadow has an ECL of 3 (3 hit dice and no LA) not 10. Could someone help clear this up for me?
Thanks in advance