airwalkrr
Adventurer
First of all, this thread is not here to debate whether or not the core mechanics of multiclass rules need fixing. If that were the case I would have put this in the Rules forum instead. I have placed this thread here because I have personally decided that I do not like the core multiclass rules and wish to develop a house rule to make them more to my liking. The following is my latest incarnation of the rules for multiclass characters (adapted from the SRD). You might notice a few references to other house rules I use in my campaign (such as clerics receiving only one domain and gnomes having illusionist as a favored class). I would like feedback on whether or not you think this will work and suggestions for things that I might have made an oversight on or could use improving. I agree that these rules are a bit more complicated than the existing rules, but I simply do not like the existing rules and never have. I felt AD&D did a much better job handling multiclass characters overall and I am seeking to amalgamate the two. Multiclassing is easier in my system than it was in AD&D, but a bit more difficult than in 3e. As an aside I have worked out the numbers on how a two-classed character would work alongside single-classed characters. The self-correcting XP system eventually stabilizes the levels so that the two-classed character is about 2 levels behind everyone else. I haven't worked out a three-classed character, but such characters should be rare anyway. Enjoy. 
MULTICLASS CHARACTERS
A character may add new classes as he or she progresses in level, thus becoming a multiclass character. The class abilities from a character’s different classes combine to determine a multiclass character’s overall abilities. Multiclassing improves a character’s versatility at the expense of focus.
CLASS AND LEVEL FEATURES
As a general rule, the abilities of a multiclass character are the sum of the abilities of each of the character’s classes.
Level: “Character level” is a character’s class level in his highest level class. It is used to determine when feats and ability score boosts are gained.
“Class level” is a character’s level in a particular class. For a character whose levels are all in the same class, character level and class level are the same.
Hit Points: A character gains the hit points from the class with the highest Hit Die roll at each level, adding the new hit points to the previous total. Thus a fighter/wizard who rolls a 2 for his wizard Hit Die and a 6 for his fighter Hit Die gains 6 hit points (plus his Con modifier).
Base Attack Bonus: Use the base attack bonus from the class with the highest base attack bonus class to get the character’s base attack bonus. A resulting value of +6 or higher provides the character with multiple attacks. For example, a fighter/wizard would typically use the fighter’s base attack bonus. However if the character every acquired more levels in wizard than in fighter, his wizard base attack bonus may eventually exceed his fighter base attack bonus, and therefore he would use his wizard base attack bonus.
Saving Throws: Use the base save bonus from the class with the highest base save bonus to get the character’s base save bonus.
Skills: If a skill is a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, then character level determines a skill’s maximum rank. (The maximum rank for a class skill is 3 + character level.)
If a skill is not a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, the maximum rank for that skill is one-half the maximum for a class skill.
A character gains a number of skill points at each level based on the class that grants the highest number of skill points. A character may not spend any more skill points per level from one class than that class would normally grant to a single class character unless that character is using cross-class ranks. For example, a fighter/rogue would gain 8 skill points per level, plus an additional skill points for a high intelligence, but at least 6 of those skill points per level (or 18 at 1st level) must be spent on rogue class skills or cross-class skills for a rogue (which still cost 2 skill points per rank). So a rogue/wizard who spends more than 2 skill points per level (plus the character’s Int modifier) on ranks in Spellcraft must purchase cross-class ranks to improve that skill any further.
Class Features: A multiclass character gets all the class features of all his or her classes but must also suffer the consequences of the special restrictions of all his or her classes. (Exception: A character who acquires the barbarian class does not become illiterate.)
In the special case of turning undead, both clerics and experienced paladins have the same ability. Use the higher effective turning level of the two.
In the special case of improved uncanny dodge, both experienced barbarians and experienced rogues have the same ability. Use the higher effective level of the two for purposes of determining whether or not the character can be flanked.
In the special case of obtaining a familiar, both wizards and sorcerers have the same ability. Use the higher effective caster level of the two.
Feats: A multiclass character gains feats based on character level, regardless of individual class level.
Ability Increases: A multiclass character gains ability score increases based on character level, regardless of individual class level.
Spells: The character gains spells from all of his or her spellcasting classes and keeps a separate spell list for each class. If a spell’s effect is based on the class level of the caster, the player must keep track of which class’ spell list the character is casting the spell from.
ADDING A SECOND CLASS
At any time, a character may decide to expend 1,000 experience points to pick up a new class at 1st level. These experience points are lost and cannot be restored in any manner. (A character can’t gain 1st level in the same class more than once, even if this would allow him or her to select different class features, such as a different domain for a cleric.)
Each character class has its own separate experience point total that must be tracked separately. Every character class begins at 0 experience points, reaching 2nd level in that class at 1,000 experience points, 3rd level at 3,000 experience points, and so on.
The character gains the 1st level base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and hit points of the appropriate Hit Die type only if these are better than those of the previous class. These bonuses overlap (do not stack) with each other. For example, a wizard who becomes 1st level in the fighter class would only use the hit points rolled for the fighter class if they were higher than the wizard’s hit point roll at 1st level.
Picking up a new class is not exactly the same as starting a new character in that class. Some of the benefits a 1st-level character gains (such as four times the usual number of skill points) represent the advantage of training while the character was young and fresh, with lots of time to practice. When picking up a new class, a character does not receive the following starting benefits given to characters who begin their careers in that class.
• Maximum hit points from the first Hit Die.
• Quadruple the per-level skill points.
• Starting equipment.
• Starting gold.
ADVANCING A LEVEL
A character must declare the character classes he is working towards each time he levels up and distribute his experience points evenly between these classes. After a character has gained a level in a class, the character may decide not to pursue that class any longer, although if he returns to that class later, he will suffer and XP penalty (see below). However, if a character wishes to return to that class later, he may only do so after gaining a level in one of his other classes. For example, a wizard decides to spend 1,000 experience points to pick up a level of cleric. Thereafter he decides to level as a cleric/wizard. After gaining his 3rd level in cleric, he decides he does not wish to continue leveling as a cleric and returns to leveling as a wizard. Later on, he decides he would like to start leveling up as a cleric again, but he may not begin doing so until he reaches his next level of wizard.
When a multiclass character advances a level in a current class, he or she gets a number of the standard benefits that a character normally receives for attaining that level in that class, possible bonuses on attack rolls, Armor Class, and saving throws (depending on the class, the new level, and the character’s previous highest value in these items), possible new class features (as defined by the class), and possible new spells.
A character’s base attack bonus and base saving throw bonuses increase only if the value for the current class is greater than the value of the character’s other classes. For example a 5th-level wizard who gains a level of fighter would get the 1st-level fighter’s base Fortitude saving throw of +2 since it is higher than the 5th-level wizard’s base Fortitude saving throw of +1. However, the wizard would not gain the fighter’s base attack bonus of +1 because his base attack bonus is already +2, which is higher.
A character gains more hit points only if the Hit Die roll is higher than the character’s roll for other classes at the same level. For example, a 3rd-level fighter/4th-level rogue/4th-level wizard gains a new level of fighter and rolls a d10 for his fighter level. He only keeps the roll if it is higher than his rolls for his 4th-level in his rogue and wizard classes.
A character gains new skill points only if the current class is the highest level class that character possesses or if the current class grants more skill points than any previous classes at that level (in which case the character earns the difference of these skill points). Otherwise, that character may re-allocate a number of skill points from other skills equal to the number of skill points the current class would grant the character. For example, a 6th-level bard/5th-level sorcerer gains a new level of sorcerer. Because his bard class level was higher than his sorcerer class level, he does not gain any new skill points. However, he may re-allocate up to 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) into sorcerer class skills (or cross-class skills). If he later gains another level of sorcerer making him a 6th-level bard/7th-level sorcerer, he would gain 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) to spend on sorcerer class skills (or cross-class skills). If he later gains another level of bard making him a 7th-level bard/7th-level sorcerer, he would gain 4 skill points since a bard gains 4 more skill points than a sorcerer, plus he could re-allocate 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) into bard class skills (or cross-class skills).
XP FOR MULTICLASS CHARACTERS
Developing and maintaining skills and abilities in more than one class is a demanding process. Depending on a character’s class levels and race, he or she might not take an XP penalty. However, leaving your skills dormant for a while and going back to practice them later leaves you a bit rusty, and you are put at a disadvantage for a while by an XP penalty.
For each class gained beyond the first, a character takes a -20% penalty to all XP earned for that class unless that class is a favored class (see below). If a character has several classes that are not favored, the highest of these receives no penalty, the second highest a -20% penalty, the third highest a 40% penalty and so on. If any classes are equal in levels, the character chooses which receives the penalty. Additionally, any time a character returns to leveling in a class that he had previously stopped leveling in, he takes a -20% penalty to all XP earned for that class until he has gained a new level in that class. This represents that the character must catch up on his abilities that had gone unpracticed.
Races and Multiclass XP: A favored class does not count against the character for purposes of the -20% penalty to XP. In such cases, calculate the XP penalty as if the character did not have that class. For instance, Bergwin is a 9th-level character (a 9th-level rogue/2nd-level illusionist). He takes no penalty to his XP because he has only one nonfavored class. (Illusionist is favored for gnoms.) Suppose he then adds 1st level as a fighter to his classes. He then takes a -20% penalty on future XP he earns for that class unless it becomes his highest level class (not counted his illusionist class levels).
A human’s or half-elf’s highest class level is always considered his or her favored class.
MULTICLASS CHARACTERS
A character may add new classes as he or she progresses in level, thus becoming a multiclass character. The class abilities from a character’s different classes combine to determine a multiclass character’s overall abilities. Multiclassing improves a character’s versatility at the expense of focus.
CLASS AND LEVEL FEATURES
As a general rule, the abilities of a multiclass character are the sum of the abilities of each of the character’s classes.
Level: “Character level” is a character’s class level in his highest level class. It is used to determine when feats and ability score boosts are gained.
“Class level” is a character’s level in a particular class. For a character whose levels are all in the same class, character level and class level are the same.
Hit Points: A character gains the hit points from the class with the highest Hit Die roll at each level, adding the new hit points to the previous total. Thus a fighter/wizard who rolls a 2 for his wizard Hit Die and a 6 for his fighter Hit Die gains 6 hit points (plus his Con modifier).
Base Attack Bonus: Use the base attack bonus from the class with the highest base attack bonus class to get the character’s base attack bonus. A resulting value of +6 or higher provides the character with multiple attacks. For example, a fighter/wizard would typically use the fighter’s base attack bonus. However if the character every acquired more levels in wizard than in fighter, his wizard base attack bonus may eventually exceed his fighter base attack bonus, and therefore he would use his wizard base attack bonus.
Saving Throws: Use the base save bonus from the class with the highest base save bonus to get the character’s base save bonus.
Skills: If a skill is a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, then character level determines a skill’s maximum rank. (The maximum rank for a class skill is 3 + character level.)
If a skill is not a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, the maximum rank for that skill is one-half the maximum for a class skill.
A character gains a number of skill points at each level based on the class that grants the highest number of skill points. A character may not spend any more skill points per level from one class than that class would normally grant to a single class character unless that character is using cross-class ranks. For example, a fighter/rogue would gain 8 skill points per level, plus an additional skill points for a high intelligence, but at least 6 of those skill points per level (or 18 at 1st level) must be spent on rogue class skills or cross-class skills for a rogue (which still cost 2 skill points per rank). So a rogue/wizard who spends more than 2 skill points per level (plus the character’s Int modifier) on ranks in Spellcraft must purchase cross-class ranks to improve that skill any further.
Class Features: A multiclass character gets all the class features of all his or her classes but must also suffer the consequences of the special restrictions of all his or her classes. (Exception: A character who acquires the barbarian class does not become illiterate.)
In the special case of turning undead, both clerics and experienced paladins have the same ability. Use the higher effective turning level of the two.
In the special case of improved uncanny dodge, both experienced barbarians and experienced rogues have the same ability. Use the higher effective level of the two for purposes of determining whether or not the character can be flanked.
In the special case of obtaining a familiar, both wizards and sorcerers have the same ability. Use the higher effective caster level of the two.
Feats: A multiclass character gains feats based on character level, regardless of individual class level.
Ability Increases: A multiclass character gains ability score increases based on character level, regardless of individual class level.
Spells: The character gains spells from all of his or her spellcasting classes and keeps a separate spell list for each class. If a spell’s effect is based on the class level of the caster, the player must keep track of which class’ spell list the character is casting the spell from.
ADDING A SECOND CLASS
At any time, a character may decide to expend 1,000 experience points to pick up a new class at 1st level. These experience points are lost and cannot be restored in any manner. (A character can’t gain 1st level in the same class more than once, even if this would allow him or her to select different class features, such as a different domain for a cleric.)
Each character class has its own separate experience point total that must be tracked separately. Every character class begins at 0 experience points, reaching 2nd level in that class at 1,000 experience points, 3rd level at 3,000 experience points, and so on.
The character gains the 1st level base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and hit points of the appropriate Hit Die type only if these are better than those of the previous class. These bonuses overlap (do not stack) with each other. For example, a wizard who becomes 1st level in the fighter class would only use the hit points rolled for the fighter class if they were higher than the wizard’s hit point roll at 1st level.
Picking up a new class is not exactly the same as starting a new character in that class. Some of the benefits a 1st-level character gains (such as four times the usual number of skill points) represent the advantage of training while the character was young and fresh, with lots of time to practice. When picking up a new class, a character does not receive the following starting benefits given to characters who begin their careers in that class.
• Maximum hit points from the first Hit Die.
• Quadruple the per-level skill points.
• Starting equipment.
• Starting gold.
ADVANCING A LEVEL
A character must declare the character classes he is working towards each time he levels up and distribute his experience points evenly between these classes. After a character has gained a level in a class, the character may decide not to pursue that class any longer, although if he returns to that class later, he will suffer and XP penalty (see below). However, if a character wishes to return to that class later, he may only do so after gaining a level in one of his other classes. For example, a wizard decides to spend 1,000 experience points to pick up a level of cleric. Thereafter he decides to level as a cleric/wizard. After gaining his 3rd level in cleric, he decides he does not wish to continue leveling as a cleric and returns to leveling as a wizard. Later on, he decides he would like to start leveling up as a cleric again, but he may not begin doing so until he reaches his next level of wizard.
When a multiclass character advances a level in a current class, he or she gets a number of the standard benefits that a character normally receives for attaining that level in that class, possible bonuses on attack rolls, Armor Class, and saving throws (depending on the class, the new level, and the character’s previous highest value in these items), possible new class features (as defined by the class), and possible new spells.
A character’s base attack bonus and base saving throw bonuses increase only if the value for the current class is greater than the value of the character’s other classes. For example a 5th-level wizard who gains a level of fighter would get the 1st-level fighter’s base Fortitude saving throw of +2 since it is higher than the 5th-level wizard’s base Fortitude saving throw of +1. However, the wizard would not gain the fighter’s base attack bonus of +1 because his base attack bonus is already +2, which is higher.
A character gains more hit points only if the Hit Die roll is higher than the character’s roll for other classes at the same level. For example, a 3rd-level fighter/4th-level rogue/4th-level wizard gains a new level of fighter and rolls a d10 for his fighter level. He only keeps the roll if it is higher than his rolls for his 4th-level in his rogue and wizard classes.
A character gains new skill points only if the current class is the highest level class that character possesses or if the current class grants more skill points than any previous classes at that level (in which case the character earns the difference of these skill points). Otherwise, that character may re-allocate a number of skill points from other skills equal to the number of skill points the current class would grant the character. For example, a 6th-level bard/5th-level sorcerer gains a new level of sorcerer. Because his bard class level was higher than his sorcerer class level, he does not gain any new skill points. However, he may re-allocate up to 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) into sorcerer class skills (or cross-class skills). If he later gains another level of sorcerer making him a 6th-level bard/7th-level sorcerer, he would gain 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) to spend on sorcerer class skills (or cross-class skills). If he later gains another level of bard making him a 7th-level bard/7th-level sorcerer, he would gain 4 skill points since a bard gains 4 more skill points than a sorcerer, plus he could re-allocate 2 skill points (plus his Int modifier) into bard class skills (or cross-class skills).
XP FOR MULTICLASS CHARACTERS
Developing and maintaining skills and abilities in more than one class is a demanding process. Depending on a character’s class levels and race, he or she might not take an XP penalty. However, leaving your skills dormant for a while and going back to practice them later leaves you a bit rusty, and you are put at a disadvantage for a while by an XP penalty.
For each class gained beyond the first, a character takes a -20% penalty to all XP earned for that class unless that class is a favored class (see below). If a character has several classes that are not favored, the highest of these receives no penalty, the second highest a -20% penalty, the third highest a 40% penalty and so on. If any classes are equal in levels, the character chooses which receives the penalty. Additionally, any time a character returns to leveling in a class that he had previously stopped leveling in, he takes a -20% penalty to all XP earned for that class until he has gained a new level in that class. This represents that the character must catch up on his abilities that had gone unpracticed.
Races and Multiclass XP: A favored class does not count against the character for purposes of the -20% penalty to XP. In such cases, calculate the XP penalty as if the character did not have that class. For instance, Bergwin is a 9th-level character (a 9th-level rogue/2nd-level illusionist). He takes no penalty to his XP because he has only one nonfavored class. (Illusionist is favored for gnoms.) Suppose he then adds 1st level as a fighter to his classes. He then takes a -20% penalty on future XP he earns for that class unless it becomes his highest level class (not counted his illusionist class levels).
A human’s or half-elf’s highest class level is always considered his or her favored class.
