Do the Epic rules nerf multiclassed combat types?

[Quartz]

Once you go Epic, your AB increases regularly, no matter your class. But spellcasters still get +1 level of spellcating ability per level. This bites when it comes to prestige classes and feats. A combat-oriented Epic prestige class will typically have an entry requirement of BAB +21 or whatever whereas spellcasting feats will have 'can cast 9th level spells' as a prerequisite.

Consider a Ftr 5 / Wiz 5 / EK10. BAB +17, 7th level spells. To hit the magic BAB +21 requires waiting to 27th level - regardless of the classes chosen - but 9th level spells will come at 23rd level if progressing as a wizard.

To take a more practical example, consider a Pal 4 / Kt 4 / Mk 2 / Divine Crusader 10. The obvious Prestige Class is Divine Emissary. But that requires a BAB of +23 and the character has a BAB of +16. Under the current rules the character can't enter the class until 34th level! There's no way to make this up.

Plus, of course, spellcasters get 9th level spells well before fighters get BAB +21.

A simple solution would be to reduce or waive the BAB requirements through roleplay, but I'm wondering about balance issues (q.v. Legendary Dreadnaught).

Or we could allow the Epic Prowess feat to be taken as a Fighter feat to increase the EAB.

Or we could allow an Inherent Bonus, but how would that apply at non-epic levels?

 

[UltimaGabe]

It's true, there's quite a bit of wonkiness as far as epic levels and attack bonuses are concerned. The way it's written, a Fighter20/Wizard20 will be FAR better off than a Wizard20/Fighter20. (+10 BAB difference, specifically.) They did this for simplicity's sake (as epic levels would allow the Fighters to get ridiculously good at attacking very quickly, whereas Wizards would just keep getting farther and farther behind- which may or may not be a good thing)- however, it causes some problems, as you've pointed out.

Here's my suggestion- prerequisites for prestige classes, specifically BAB and Spellcasting prerequisites, are usually there to limit what at which level you can take them. In other words, they don't want someone below level 26 taking that Divine Emissary prestige class, and they don't want anyone without 17 levels of a straight caster class taking any of those caster PrCs. Well, I say talk to your DM about it- and completely re-work the prerequisites. Show him that obviously it's not overpowered for a 26th-level character to be a Divine Emissary, as the prerequisites gear it that way- so see if he'll waive the BAB prereq for you. Maybe require some roleplaying to balance it out, or even a feat or two, as you suggested. In the end, people are people, and the game is made for people.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Actually, if the req is BAB +23, that means they don't want someone taking it until level 26 at earliest.

I suggest using my rules hack to fix the idiotic Fighter20/Wizard20 thing. It's a bit more complicated, but if you're playing at epic, you'll have to deal with worse. Basically, the idea is that the character picks her best 20 levels (instead of just picking the first 20 levels) to count for regular BAB and then adds 1 more for every 2 others. So if a Paladin4/Knight4/Monk2/Divine Crusader10 wants Divine Emissary, and she takes 4 levels of Paladin, she can replace the 2 Monk levels and the last 2 DC levels for purposes of regular BAB (gaining 2 BAB from that), and then gain 2 more epic bonus from the 4 levels she replaced, bringing her total effective BAB to 20. 4 more Paladin levels (replacing DC levels for BAB) gives an increase of 1 BAB again and 2 more epic bonus, for 23 total at level 29. By level 33, if she takes all Paladin levels (or any full BAB class), she has the same BAB as someone who started with Paladin 20 and took 13 levels of other stuff after epic. This also allows epic characters who take full BAB classes after epic to make up for the missing attacks, while those who continue in casting classes all the while are still stuck at a lower number.

 

[UltimaGabe]

Actually, if the req is BAB +23, that means they don't want someone taking it until level 26 at earliest.

Er...

...Ahem. That's, uh, what I said.

*runs to edit his post*

 

[Jack Simth]

Edit: Nevermind. Me missed a segment of text.