Justification for favored classes... Is there any?

[MerakSpielman]

Is there any real justification for the favored class rules in the PH? The only effect the favored classes really seem to have is to make humans and half-elves slightly more powerful, but I don't see that it is needed to maintain balance.

Favored classes:
Humans: any
Dwarves: Fighter
Elves: Wizard
Gnomes: Illusionist
Half-Elves: Any
Half Orcs: Barbarian
Halflings: Rogue

Nobody has Bard, Ranger, Paladin, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Sorcerer or any specilist wizard other than Illusionist as a favored class.

It seems to me that the concept is a throwback to the old rules that forbade certain races to take certain classes. They didn't want to strictly forbid class-race combos in 3e, but perhaps the designers were unwilling to part with the concept that certain races do certain things more often because... well.... gosh darn it, that's just the way that race should do things.

so why not: Elves: Wizard, Ranger, Druid, -or- Gnomes: Illusionist, Fighter, Expert -or- Dwarves: Fighter, Cleric, Barbarian?

Why did they pick the classes they did? Why did they limit it to one per race?

This all seems rather arbitrary and campaign-specific. Is this info given because Grayhawk is the "Default" D&D world, and these are the professions the races tend towards in that world?

My group has always ignored the favored class concept and never suffered adversely.

Is there any real reason to enforce the xp penalty for cross-classing into a non-favored class? Do any of you inforce it? Why?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Salutations,

I am not fond of the system, but I like the ideas of it differntiating the other races from human.

If all the races are only different from human due to their physical features, then it just seems silly to me to have them at all.

That being all said- I change the favored class for other races in each campeign.

SD

 

[Crothian]

I've never enforced it. I've had players who wanted to use the rule and I have no problem with that as long as it's the PC's choice.

 

[WayneLigon]

As far as the reason why certain classes were chosen: obvious stereotypes, usually influenced by common fantasy fiction, most of which in turn in influenced by (you guessed it) Tolkien.

Elves in almost every world are very good with magic. Yes, they live in the woods and all, but they're very good with magic.

Halflings: small size + nimbleness = Thief

Half-orcs are part horrible, stupid, uncouth beast: barbarian suits them best.

Dwarves are always known as being good with the axe.

Gnomes already have inate illusion abilities.

Humans get an 'any' because of their versatility. They can do anything well. Half-elves get it because of their human half. Humans have the 'get up and go' mentality that every other race lacks. They are not a race in decline, quietly shuffling off the stage to make room for the more vigorous, expanding race. They ARE the vigorous expanding race.

Yep, I use the XP penalty because it helps keep humans a viable and special race.

 

[MerakSpielman]

So you think it's reasonable for a Elf Fighter/Rogue to get fewer xp than an Halfling Fighter/Rogue?

Even as partners, encountering the same enemies, the Halfling should gain new abilities faster than the Elf? The Halfling would get more xp even if he never had occasion to use his Roguely abilities!

The Halfling would level faster even if all they were doing was sniping enemies with crossbows from the turrets of a castle.

 

[The Halfling]

Hmmm, not quite

So you think it's reasonable for a Elf Fighter/Rogue to get fewer xp than an Halfling Fighter/Rogue?

Even as partners, encountering the same enemies, the Halfling should gain new abilities faster than the Elf? The Halfling would get more xp even if he never had occasion to use his Roguely abilities!

The Halfling would level faster even if all they were doing was sniping enemies with crossbows from the turrets of a castle.

The xp penalty only comes into play if the disparity between the classes taken is greater than one.

In your example, if the elf was Ftr 3/Rog 3, or Ftr 4/Rog 3 or Ftr 3/Rog 4, then there would be no XP penalty. A greater differnce in levels would incur the penalty. A halfling has greater flexiblity in the level gap, and so could be a Ftr 1/Rog 6 or even a Ftr 6/Rog 1 and suffer nothing.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

The Halfling would level faster even if all they were doing was sniping enemies with crossbows from the turrets of a castle.

Well, actions rarely have anything to do with levels. A wizard could spend his low levels never casting spells and only shooting a crossbow, but that does not stop him from taking further levels in the wizard class.

SD

 

[Nightfall]

Merek, well this is why I like SL races. Dwarves get wizard or fighter (mountain dwarf anyway), half-orcs get barbarian or rogue, elves get ranger or druid, and gnome gets illusionist or druid. Course there's more to it...but there you go.

 

[Crothian]

Merek, well this is why I like SL races. Dwarves get wizard or fighter (mountain dwarf anyway), half-orcs get barbarian or rogue, elves get ranger or druid, and gnome gets illusionist or druid. Course there's more to it...but there you go.

Does each character choose one or is it whichever happens to benifit the chartacter at the time?

 

[Nightfall]

Chosen at character creation. Basically that elf says "I choose Ranger as my favored class". Then it is. Another elf might say "I choose Druid." They can't switch but does allow each particular member of that race to have something different. I will note to you that in both the case of the elf and dwarf, I'm talking about the PHB similar race type. They are different but not too different. Also note that subraces of these types have something similiar, such as forsaken dwarves having rogue or fighter and forsaken elves wizard or cleric. (Course those that choose cleric are kind of screwed...but oh well.)