Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Arguments and assumptions against multi classing
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 7495311" data-attributes="member: 6799649"><p>I have another point of view to that bolded part: no it bloody well isn't!</p><p></p><p>As I mentioned when I first posted in this thread some 600 pages ago, DMs have control over everything in their world EXCEPT the PCs!</p><p></p><p>The PC's fluff is the prerogative of the <u>player</u>, <strong>not</strong> the DM, where 'prerogative' = 'final word'. The player (ideally) knows enough about the DMs world in order to make sensible decisions (so no cyberware fluff in a world without cyberware, no werewolf fluff in a world with no lycanthropy), and the player has to obey the game RULES set down by the books and modified by the DM (so if the DM says the barbarian CLASS is not available, then that's the way it is).</p><p></p><p>But fluff = backstory here. That's up to the player, within the realms of possibility. For barbarian culture <em>fluff</em>, the only thing required is that there exists people with that culture in the DM's world. If the DM says that there are no barbarian <em>cultures</em> in the world, then that's the way it is. But the lack of any barbarian <em>culture</em> (which is a bit strange, bit this IS within the DM's purview) in no way prevents the use of the game mechanics of the barbarian CLASS, in and of itself. I could fluff my Bar 1 with (to take a popular example!) the urchin background. Certainly, not ALL urchins would use the barbarian class mechanic to represent them, but some would. Mine definitely does, and I know that because my fluff is up to me!</p><p></p><p>The only way a DM could prevent this is to ban the class AND the culture. But as long as the class is available, I can fluff it in any way that makes sense in the world. I could not fluff it as cyberware/lycanthropy without those things being in the world, but I have infinite idea space available to think of something that would apply.</p><p></p><p>Being raised on the mean streets is available, unless the DM's world has no mean streets on his world anywhere. Okay, no mean streets, no barbarian culture, but the class mechanics ARE available? Okay, I will steal my idea from the Deathstalker books, where Owen Deathstalker and the rest of his noble family have special organs which supply a special cocktail of adrenaline and other battle drugs at will, but they can only produce a limited amount per day. Maybe two lots at 1st level, three lots at 4th, you get the picture.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Rubbish! Not every single person in the 'culturally barbarian' tribe will have levels in the barbarian <em>class!</em> Some will be rangers, some druids, some fighters, maybe even a paladin (vengeance?), while most will be NPCs without a specific class. The idea that a player creating a PC from this culture without any levels in the barbarian <em>class</em> is somehow being dishonest is an unmerited slur.</p><p></p><p>Other unmerited slurs include: if you play a MC PC then you <u>must</u> be:-</p><p></p><p>* powergaming, </p><p></p><p>* trying to spoil MY fun</p><p></p><p>* trying to change MY world</p><p></p><p>* forcing the DM to make ALL urchins have levels in the barbarian class</p><p></p><p>* etc. etc. <em>ad nauseum</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arial Black, post: 7495311, member: 6799649"] I have another point of view to that bolded part: no it bloody well isn't! As I mentioned when I first posted in this thread some 600 pages ago, DMs have control over everything in their world EXCEPT the PCs! The PC's fluff is the prerogative of the [U]player[/U], [B]not[/B] the DM, where 'prerogative' = 'final word'. The player (ideally) knows enough about the DMs world in order to make sensible decisions (so no cyberware fluff in a world without cyberware, no werewolf fluff in a world with no lycanthropy), and the player has to obey the game RULES set down by the books and modified by the DM (so if the DM says the barbarian CLASS is not available, then that's the way it is). But fluff = backstory here. That's up to the player, within the realms of possibility. For barbarian culture [I]fluff[/I], the only thing required is that there exists people with that culture in the DM's world. If the DM says that there are no barbarian [I]cultures[/I] in the world, then that's the way it is. But the lack of any barbarian [I]culture[/I] (which is a bit strange, bit this IS within the DM's purview) in no way prevents the use of the game mechanics of the barbarian CLASS, in and of itself. I could fluff my Bar 1 with (to take a popular example!) the urchin background. Certainly, not ALL urchins would use the barbarian class mechanic to represent them, but some would. Mine definitely does, and I know that because my fluff is up to me! The only way a DM could prevent this is to ban the class AND the culture. But as long as the class is available, I can fluff it in any way that makes sense in the world. I could not fluff it as cyberware/lycanthropy without those things being in the world, but I have infinite idea space available to think of something that would apply. Being raised on the mean streets is available, unless the DM's world has no mean streets on his world anywhere. Okay, no mean streets, no barbarian culture, but the class mechanics ARE available? Okay, I will steal my idea from the Deathstalker books, where Owen Deathstalker and the rest of his noble family have special organs which supply a special cocktail of adrenaline and other battle drugs at will, but they can only produce a limited amount per day. Maybe two lots at 1st level, three lots at 4th, you get the picture. Rubbish! Not every single person in the 'culturally barbarian' tribe will have levels in the barbarian [I]class![/I] Some will be rangers, some druids, some fighters, maybe even a paladin (vengeance?), while most will be NPCs without a specific class. The idea that a player creating a PC from this culture without any levels in the barbarian [I]class[/I] is somehow being dishonest is an unmerited slur. Other unmerited slurs include: if you play a MC PC then you [U]must[/U] be:- * powergaming, * trying to spoil MY fun * trying to change MY world * forcing the DM to make ALL urchins have levels in the barbarian class * etc. etc. [I]ad nauseum[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Arguments and assumptions against multi classing
Top