A few comments from a playtester

[Rechan]

General question.

At level 10 in 3e, that fighter is likely in a party with a wizard or a sorcerer. And at level 10, that wizard or sorcerer likely has 1st level spells to spare - all their attention is on their 3-5th level spells.

So why would a fighter even bother taking level 1 in wizard? The more experienced wizard can clearly cast those spells for him, with longer durations.

The level 9 fighter/wizard is no better than a level 10 fighter with a level 1 wizard cohort.

Meanwhile, the 4e level 10 fighter with the level 10 spell may be picking a spell his wizard friend didn't bother to pick up, or the spell can only be cast once an encounter or once a day by his wizard friend. So he's increased the effectiveness of his party, at least with dealing with things that a wizard is good with dealing with.

 

[MindWanderer]

The level 9 fighter/wizard is no better than a level 10 fighter with a level 1 wizard cohort.

Not necessarily. I play a dragon disciple with only 1 level of Sorcerer. The ability to use scrolls and wands like See Invisibility, Mirror Image, and Shield is great. He can also use True Strike with a rod of Metamagic Quicken (and Power Attack) to great effect. None of which is made possible by having another arcanist in the party.

 

[Rechan]

Not necessarily. I play a dragon disciple with only 1 level of Sorcerer. The ability to use scrolls and wands like See Invisibility, Mirror Image, and Shield is great. He can also use True Strike with a rod of Metamagic Quicken (and Power Attack) to great effect. None of which is made possible by having another arcanist in the party.

But that's becuase he's high level. 1st level wizards could use all that stuff (well, except for the Power attack) if they had access to quicken metamagic rods, high powered scrolls, et al.

 

[Fifth Element]

Not necessarily. I play a dragon disciple with only 1 level of Sorcerer. The ability to use scrolls and wands like See Invisibility, Mirror Image, and Shield is great. He can also use True Strike with a rod of Metamagic Quicken (and Power Attack) to great effect. None of which is made possible by having another arcanist in the party.

Yes, class abilities can have an effect as well (though I wouldn't call class dipping a feature of 3E, but a bug). But the ability to use scrolls doesn't affect our fighter, since ASF still applies, and if the spell is of a higher level than your arcane class level allows you to use, you need a caster level check to use it.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

"Look guys! I just began as an apprentice, but I can already hurl Delayed Blast Fireballs and Prismatic Sprays! Isn't it *awesome* how simple magic is to learn... uh, what? 1st-level powers? No, no, no.... I can take 7th level powers right from the book, so I just skipped learning that 'weakling' stuff!"

If that's true, then any character in my group that does that is going to be immediately renamed as "Eragon" and laughed at by the rest of the party.

Seriously though, as a DM, I would keep multiclassing as a "sup-par" option to allow players some role flexibility...
Now if a player wants to be a very specific class hybrid since day one... well, I'm sure the DMG (or the new System Reference Document) will have class creation guidelines... The player may have to bring pizza for the next few sessions, to justify the extra work though.

 

[Blackeagle]

Seriously though, as a DM, I would keep multiclassing as a "sup-par" option to allow players some role flexibility...

Keep in mind that a multiclasser is already paying a feat and a power for every power he gets in the new class. I'd say that's already sub-par.

 

[HerntheHunted]

Yep, and unless the 2nd class uses the same primary abillity as the base class his newfound powers won´t be at their best either...

 

[MindWanderer]

But that's becuase he's high level. 1st level wizards could use all that stuff (well, except for the Power attack) if they had access to quicken metamagic rods, high powered scrolls, et al.

Yes, but the point is that he's a front-line character with that stuff. Mirror Image and Shield are very handy when you're taking all the hits, and See Invis is great when you're the one dishing them out (and typically tripping). Those are all low-level scrolls. The Metamagic Quicken is the only high-level option of the bunch.

As for ASF, you can have bracers of armor, Mage Armor (probably from an ally), twilight mithral chain shirt, or in my case, the UA Battle Sorcerer variant.

The point is that if I could swap out that one sorcerer level for another level of dragon disciple, I wouldn't do it. I get way too much use out of it.

 

[Staffan]

He can also use True Strike with a rod of Metamagic Quicken (and Power Attack) to great effect. None of which is made possible by having another arcanist in the party.

I'm assuming he uses a one-handed weapon without a shield. Otherwise, what does he use to hold the rod?

 

[MindWanderer]

I'm assuming he uses a one-handed weapon without a shield. Otherwise, what does he use to hold the rod?

No, two-handed weapon. Draw the rod (it's weapon-like, so you can draw it as part of a move) while holding (but not wielding) the weapon in one hand, use and drop the rod, switch grip to both hands, and attack.

This is off-topic, though.