D&D 5E Full classes and Half classes

Minigiant · Sep 27, 2012

At one point, Mike Mearls said there is an idea to make a list of separate class of classes made for muticlassing.

I was wondering if that is possible.

Let's look at the Rogue. What if you halve the sneak attack to 1d6 and push Rogue Scheme and Skill mastery back to level 2. Knack and the first scheme benefit go to level 3.

Then the Half Fighter starts with only one maneuver. Maybe start with a lower expertise die of 1d4.

Then you can have a full Fighter5 with 2d8 CS dice, a full Rogue5 with 6d6, a full Fighter4 and half Rogue1 with 1d8 CS and 1d6 sneak attack, and a half Fighter5 and half Rogue5 with 1d6 CS and 3d6 sneak attack.

Do you think this could work?

Chris_Nightwing · Sep 27, 2012

Well, to be honest, no, it's a mess, but I think Mike's proposal will result in a mess anyway.

Mattachine · Sep 27, 2012

The "half-class" idea has been done: 4e hybrids.

triqui · Sep 27, 2012

Chris_Nightwing said:
Well, to be honest, no, it's a mess, but I think Mike's proposal will result in a mess anyway.

Multiclassing is a mess anyways in every edition. It's either overpowered, underpowered, or both at same time, depending the edition and the classes. A third edition Ranger/Barbarian/Fighter might work, but try a Druid/cleric of nature/wizard enchanter. It blows. Hard.

I'd just forget about it, and made a full class for hibrids (like Spellblade for fighter/wizard, or Theurge for Wizard/cleric, or whatever). But let's see what does Mike Mearls invent. Maybe he is lucky and hit with the philosopher stone formulae.

Umbran · Sep 27, 2012

Minigiant said:
Do you think this could work?

Whether it works or not, people won't like it, and will call it a half-classed attempt...

tuxgeo · Sep 27, 2012

Whether it works or not, people won't like it, and will say the class is half full.

Tony Vargas · Sep 27, 2012

Minigiant said:
At one point, Mike Mearls said there is an idea to make a list of separate class of classes made for muticlassing.

I was wondering if that is possible.

Of course it's possible. 4e did it with Hybrids and classic-D&D multi-classing effectively did the same thing, by splitting (averaging) what you got from each class, and bringing levels nearly equal with its rapidly scaling exp charts.

Possible and 'good idea' may not be the same thing, though.

The 3e-style multi-classing that 5e is seeking to emulate was a fantastic idea, but it was predicated on the assumption that class-levels were fungible. That is, that the 1st level Theif and the 5th level fighter and 17the level of Cleric were all equally good. They weren't. Classes were front-loaded, and upper-level caster classes were vastly more potent than lower-level.

3e got one thing right in the way it handled 1st-level skill ranks and hit point. 5e is going to have to make that sort of adjustment accross the board to every level of every class. Even though each class that has it's own unique mechanics and progression. That's a tall order.

Jester David · Sep 27, 2012

Given the very 4e design of classes (front loaded with class features that just get better as you gain levels) it is hard to multiclass without it being a taste of another class (like 4e's feats) or only gaining partial benefits. The first level is the most powerful level, essentially making every class a front-loaded class in 3e terms.
A partial level is the best solution, spelling out the benefits for a level. It's tricky to balance, but good thing they have 85,000 ready to test.

Mattachine · Sep 27, 2012

Many folks won't like it, because it is straight from 4e.

UngeheuerLich · Sep 28, 2012

I would like "adept" levels. Levels that are not only written for multiclassing, but levels that break up level one into pieces.
That way, you could stop worrying about alienating old schoolers, because of to many hp at level 1, or alienating 4e players, because level 1 has not enough hp and is too swingy.

In those adept levels (lets say 2 or 3) yu build up your level 1 character. Lets take the wizard, he has 3 spells at level 1. So in those adept levels, he could just get 1 spell slot and 1d4 hp. The 1 spell slot could be of level 1, or maybe even of 1/3 of his maximum level.