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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edena_of_Neith" data-source="post: 4715783" data-attributes="member: 2020">It's an over the top concept, obviously.    You won't find Double Characters running around (if they aren't in anyone's campaigns - LOL - then NPCs probably don't exist, meaning ... they are rather rare critters ...) but then again, maybe during certain ancient times, and amongst infamous peoples, they exist.  For example, perhaps they existed during the Arcane Age, or during the time of the Suel Imperium and Baklunish Empire, or the Reign of Istar or the Time of Huma.  Perhaps, some (horrific!) insanely devoted drow or illithid city has found the secret of awesome power, and Double Characters are common there (in which case, the Gods help everyone else.)  Perhaps the true secret of the phaerimm is that they, being a race of highly motivated supergeniuses, figured out the secrets of Double Characters (thus, your so called 7th level phaerimm wizard is actually ... well, bad news.)  Anyways ...  In normal 1st and 2nd edition multiclassing, and in the 3.5 gestalt rules (I believe ...) you have the 'best of' rulesset.  The multiclassed character has two classes.  She gets the 'best of' each classes THAC0 (or BAB), saves, number of attacks, and so on.  Where class powers are different, the character gets both sets of powers, such as a cleric and a wizard, or even a sorcerer and a wizard.  But where class powers overlap, they *do not* stack.  BAB does not stack (it can never be higher than your level), saves do not stack (although they can be complimentary), spells do not stack (a wizard 1 / wizard 1 normally, would still only get 1 1st level spell per day, plus any standard Intelligence bonuses), and so on.  Thus, it would make absolutely no sense to 'double' your class.  Under the standard rules, a fighter/fighter would still receive only +1 BAB per 'level'.  A wizard still only progress in spells at the 'normal' rate.  A monk, bard, druid, barbarian, and the others still gain class powers at the standard rate.  So nobody would do such a thing.  That's a given.  It makes no sense, under the RAW, to do this.  The Double Class simply stacks standard class abilities in a x2 fashion (violating about a hundred rules in doing so, but that's acknowledged already.)  BAB becomes +2 per level if you're a fighter, and the rate at which you can make multiple attacks increases drastically faster (I put a limit of 8 attacks there, simply because it was x2 the normal limit.)  Feats would double (2 fighter feats at level 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, etc., 2 metamagic feats at 5th, 10th, etc.) and you'd start with 2 feats (or 4 if human) as the x2 factor kicks in.  You'd gain 2 feats at 3rd level, 2 at 6th, 2 at 9th, and so on.  (If you were allowing more than this for 'standard' characters, then these extra allowed feats would double for 'Double' characters.)  (What I put down - those 22 feats + 6 per level, was based on another thread in this forum, based on a house rule.)  Skill points would be at x2.  Fighters/wizards/clerics 4 points, 4 point classes doubling to 8, 6 point classes doubling to 12, and rogues doubling to 16.  (Again, I was using a house rule, where skill points were already quadrupled, and then the x2 kicked in.  I always thought the classes deserved more skill points ...)  I allowed that you could have 6 ranks above your level in skills, rather than 3 ranks, as a part of the x2.  For wizards, they gain x2 the spells, and they also gain higher level spells twice as fast, rounding levels down.  Thus, normally, at 9th level they gain 5th level spells, and this is halved to 4 1/2, rounded down to 4th level.    Other classes with special powers, simply gain them at half the level, rounded down.  You *could* allow multiclassing using Double Characters.  But such a thing would be a daunting bookkeeping task.  If, for example, a Gestalt character progressed as a Double Fighter for 5 levels, then as a fighter/wizard (this counting as 'one' class, because of the Gestalt rule) for 5 levels, you'd have a Fighter 10 / Wizard 5.  Under normal rules, you'd use the 'best of' rules.  But this assumes the 'everything stacks' rule, so you have a bookkeeping nightmare:  As a Double Fighter, the character's BAB went to +10 when he reached 5th level.  (Why?  Because he was a Double Fighter, using the special Double Fighter rules, +2 BAB per level.)  However, for the next 5 levels, he advanced as a mere 'ordinary' fighter, gaining +1 BAB per level, or +5 BAB.  This 'stacks' (in this special, rulesbreaking case) with the +10, so he's up to +15 BAB.  Then, because we *are* using the rulesbreaking 'everything stacks' rule here (we have to, for consistency's sake - lol ... he started as a Double Character, so the 'Double' Rules should apply to him through the adventurer's whole career) he gains another +2 to BAB because that's what you get for 5 levels of wizard (that is, a 5th level wizard has a BAB of +2.)  His total BAB is thus +10 and +5 and +2, or +17.  Now, go through the same numerical mess for the three kinds of saves.  Spells?  He has the standard spells of a 5th level wizard.  No Double Wizard advantages.    Why?  Because he was never a Double Wizard.  He was a fighter/wizard for 5 levels.  He never spent even one level as a wizard/wizard.   Let's say he spent his next Gestalt level as a wizard/wizard, or a Double Wizard.  He'd gain another +1 to BAB (for 6th level wizard), more to his saves (I think ...), and he'd gain double the normal number of spells, that he could memorize, compared to what he would have gained as a normal wizard.    I believe that translates to that, instead of gaining one 2nd and one 3rd level spell, he'd gain 2 2nd and 2 3rd level spells.  With one level of Double Wizard, he'd count as a 7th level wizard for the purpose of what spells he could memorize (5th level, plus 2 levels for 1 level of Double Wizard), so now he would also gain 2 4th level spells (the normally number of spells possible when you first acquire 4th level spells, then doubled.)  Obviously, the bookkeeping would be complex.  The Doubling would work entirely in the player's favor here (it *is* supposed to be an overpowered situation, creating extremely powerful player characters) so rulings would mostly go the player's way.  -  What would be the point of these rules?  If you had a game where you ONLY expected low level play (1st through 3rd, or 1st through 5th at the most), and you wanted the absolute MOST POSSIBLE versatility and power there could be, out of low level characters, then this is one way to do it.    For roleplaying purposes ... I will only say, that a Double Character would be considered very rare and very special by those around him or her, and the training regiment that produced him or her would be very special indeed, involving tapping a lot of hidden potential, or involving great magic or psionics, or deep secrets known only to the civilization or race in question;  in which case everyone else would very much love to get their hands on these secrets (or capture the character's mentor and force the secrets out of him.)  Perhaps great and ancient martial schools and academies of magic, venerable bardic and druidic colleges, and entire small psionic communities putting their thoughts together to find solutions, are the genesis of Double Characters?</blockquote>

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