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Excerpt: Multiclassing (merged)
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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4196650" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>Whew. I finished the entire thread. Do I get a level now? </p><p></p><p>Here is my point on multi-classing. </p><p></p><p>In third (forget 1e/2e for a moment, they just strapped a second PC on your back and made you share hp between them), multi-classing had only two options.</p><p></p><p>1.) Uber-build that does your job better than a single class.</p><p>2.) Watered-down nerf-sticked PCs who can't do their job. </p><p></p><p>The first was the area of munchkins, CharOp boards, and finding the PERFECT combination of cherry-picked levels, prestige classes, and such that created horrible synergies. It also made some classes nothing more than "grab a level of" for others. (Swashbuckler was ripe pickings for rogues, as was ranger. And what fighter didn't benefit from one level of barbarian?) If you were going for a very specific build, you could really work miracles with cherry-picking (so much so, ranger, paladin and bard all got heavy revision in 3.5 to combat it). </p><p></p><p>The second came if you actually tried to fill two roles, rather than cherry-pick. Fighter/wizards lacked the caster level to beat spell resistance. Rogue/Monks lagged in disable device, making trap rolls impossible. A fighter/cleric lacked true healing power to make him a primary healer. So onward came the "patch" prestige classes (eldrich knight, mystic theurge) and soon enough, almost every conceivable class combo (primarily those with spellcasting or similar) got its own gestalt prc. Often times, a multi-classed PC trying to actually fill two roles fell behind in both, creating a less than optimal character.</p><p></p><p>(As an aside: I love the fact paragon paths are welded to classes for this reason as well. We all know you could theoretically get into any PrC with nearly any class combo, but in practice, most PrCs were built for one or two classes, and everyone else gained nothing for it. If you made the pre-reqs too loose, it lost value. If you made the bennies too good, there was no reason not to take it. In essence, PrCs became what paragon paths are now (extra cool abilities that make you different from one rogue to the next) without having to make them "balance" against the core classes nor dilute them from their primary roles to take them)</p><p></p><p>So, all this brings me back to 4e and multi-classing. Clearly, WotC would rather have a controlled version of type 1 and chuck part 2 altogether. IMHO, that's good. Any multi-class rules that made a hybrid class combo equal to his peers in either profession was too good, and any that made you hopelessly ineffective was just the opposite. Maybe this isn't quite "goldi-locks" level yet, but the fact I can still have elven warriors cast some spells without overshadowing actual wizards or failing at being actual warriors, thats a big plus in my book.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 4196650, member: 7635"] Whew. I finished the entire thread. Do I get a level now? Here is my point on multi-classing. In third (forget 1e/2e for a moment, they just strapped a second PC on your back and made you share hp between them), multi-classing had only two options. 1.) Uber-build that does your job better than a single class. 2.) Watered-down nerf-sticked PCs who can't do their job. The first was the area of munchkins, CharOp boards, and finding the PERFECT combination of cherry-picked levels, prestige classes, and such that created horrible synergies. It also made some classes nothing more than "grab a level of" for others. (Swashbuckler was ripe pickings for rogues, as was ranger. And what fighter didn't benefit from one level of barbarian?) If you were going for a very specific build, you could really work miracles with cherry-picking (so much so, ranger, paladin and bard all got heavy revision in 3.5 to combat it). The second came if you actually tried to fill two roles, rather than cherry-pick. Fighter/wizards lacked the caster level to beat spell resistance. Rogue/Monks lagged in disable device, making trap rolls impossible. A fighter/cleric lacked true healing power to make him a primary healer. So onward came the "patch" prestige classes (eldrich knight, mystic theurge) and soon enough, almost every conceivable class combo (primarily those with spellcasting or similar) got its own gestalt prc. Often times, a multi-classed PC trying to actually fill two roles fell behind in both, creating a less than optimal character. (As an aside: I love the fact paragon paths are welded to classes for this reason as well. We all know you could theoretically get into any PrC with nearly any class combo, but in practice, most PrCs were built for one or two classes, and everyone else gained nothing for it. If you made the pre-reqs too loose, it lost value. If you made the bennies too good, there was no reason not to take it. In essence, PrCs became what paragon paths are now (extra cool abilities that make you different from one rogue to the next) without having to make them "balance" against the core classes nor dilute them from their primary roles to take them) So, all this brings me back to 4e and multi-classing. Clearly, WotC would rather have a controlled version of type 1 and chuck part 2 altogether. IMHO, that's good. Any multi-class rules that made a hybrid class combo equal to his peers in either profession was too good, and any that made you hopelessly ineffective was just the opposite. Maybe this isn't quite "goldi-locks" level yet, but the fact I can still have elven warriors cast some spells without overshadowing actual wizards or failing at being actual warriors, thats a big plus in my book. [/QUOTE]
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