jmucchiello
Hero
Actually, this is just like the multiclassing problem. A character with two equal level spellcasting classes is generally not as effective as a character with full levels in either class. I've often thought the non-associative rule should be used when determining party EL. A party of 4 10th level characters (1 ftr, 1 wiz, 1 clr and 1 rog) would have a Effective Party Level of 10. A party of 4 5/5 level characters 1 ftr/wiz, 1 ftr/clr, 1 wiz/rog and 1 clr/rog) would have an Effective Party Level of 7.5 because all of them have 5 non-associative levels.
IMO to determine if something is non-associative, if the character is a fighter-type, any of the non-fighter classes (ftr, brb, rgr, pal) are non-associative. If the character has one primary spellcasting class, other classes are non-associative. IOW, only the 4 classes above are truly associative (as well as straight HD for damage racial monsters).
IMO to determine if something is non-associative, if the character is a fighter-type, any of the non-fighter classes (ftr, brb, rgr, pal) are non-associative. If the character has one primary spellcasting class, other classes are non-associative. IOW, only the 4 classes above are truly associative (as well as straight HD for damage racial monsters).