D&D 5E (2014) Has anyone ever had a PC take multiple subclasses?

[Clint_L]

Yes. Someone asked and we tried it to see how it would go.

As a strange coincidence, it was almost Clint's example of a Battlemaster/Rune Knight (in this case Edritch Knight). They went EK 1-5, then BM 1-3, then EK 6-... I think 9 or 10 before the campaign petered out. As you can imagine, the delay in getting your third attack (and before that the 3-level delay in your F8 and F8 ASIs) was hugely significant, mathematically (perhaps a little less so because of EK's attack+BB). However, the benefits of both EK and BM abilities (and getting 2 action surges super-early) did eat into that deficit. And it certainly felt like there was a lot more decisions the fighter got to make (in combat, and out, since they took some of the skill-boost BM maneuvers).

It worked really about the same as those builds where you take a martial up two two attacks and then drop into something else (Ranger5/Druid 1-..., Fighter5/Rogue1-..., sorcadins, etc.). By that I mean:

1. The 'build' only really takes off at level 8+. Since you really don't want to wait until level 8 or so for multi-attack as a martial, you likely will power-level whichever you want to take 5+ levels in. This means your first tier looks very much like a single-class advancement.
2. At level 8 (L5/L3), you get all the cool benefits of the second archetype, which certainly feels more significant than what you might otherwise get at levels 6-8 (maybe 7-9 for paladins, who really want that aura).
3. When you hit the upper tiers, those nifty level 11+ abilities classes get seem really delayed.

To clarify, I was suggesting that the sub-class levels would be divided, but not the class levels. So there would be no delay in getting the third attack; the character I described would still be a 10th level fighter, but for subclass features they would just have the 3rd level Battlemaster features and the 3rd and 7th level Rune Knight features.

Is that power gaming? I dunno; it doesn't seem hugely unbalancing on the face of it, but I'm sure someone like ECMO3 could figure out a ridiculously strong combination. They're much more the exception than the rule, though.

 

[Horwath]

it's a good way to buff up bad classes, IE: monk, rogue, ranger.
3 subclasses for monk, 2 subclasses for rogue and ranger, maybe free BM for fighter also(that should have been the base class feature).

 

[Willie the Duck]

Is that power gaming? I dunno; it doesn't seem hugely unbalancing on the face of it, but I'm sure someone like ECMO3 could figure out a ridiculously strong combination. They're much more the exception than the rule, though.

My hot take from a rather limited experiment size is that, in general*, it's powergaming at the same level as any other MC/dip for mechanical advantage. Sure, throwing 3 levels of Battlemaster onto Rune Knight has some real synergy, but so would a 3-level dip into barbarian or ranger or warlock.
*so barring some specific combo ECMO3 or the like might come up with

 

[aco175]

I might allow a 3rd level wizard (diviner) to take 3 levels of wizard to take the necromancer sub-class. He would have a lot of 1st level spells and a few 2nd level, but no 3rd level as I would not let them stack to be a 6th level caster. Kind of the same 3rd level wizard wanting to take 3 levels of cleric or rogue.

 

[Fantasy Maniac]

I might just be the only one who thinks like this, but here's my idea as to how i'd handle multi-subclass:

It would all be on the same level, for instance: if you were to reach Bard level 3, you'd get to chose 2 subclasses at the same time, say, for instance: College of Valor and Collage of Swords. That way, you'd get the benefits of both Subclasses at the same time, both here and in future levels were you'd get subclass features.

I understand that it might be a bit to powerfull for some people, but hey, were all here to have fun right? So why not let our players feel like they are baddasses. Like: A fighter who is a Battlemaster and a Samurai, so that they would feel like a character straight out of a Samurai movie/game. Or a rogue who is a Thief and a Arcane Trickster, so that they would feel like a master of shadows.

Obviostly, this would require some more fine tuning (especially for Paladins and Warlocks), but i believe that this world bring out the best fun out of the game.

And of course, it would be better if you didn't give this option to beginners who are still learning the rules, but instead wait until they acclimate for a bit, then offer them this powerfull homebrew.

 

[Fantasy Maniac]

I might just be the only one who thinks like this, but here's my idea as to how i'd handle multi-subclass:

It would all be on the same level, for instance: if you were to reach Bard level 3, you'd get to chose 2 subclasses at the same time, say, for instance: College of Valor and Collage of Swords. That way, you'd get the benefits of both Subclasses at the same time, both here and in future levels were you'd get subclass features.

I understand that it might be a bit to powerfull for some people, but hey, were all here to have fun right? So why not let our players feel like they are baddasses. Like: A fighter who is a Battlemaster and a Samurai, so that they would feel like a character straight out of a Samurai movie/game. Or a rogue who is a Thief and a Arcane Trickster, so that they would feel like a master of shadows.

Obviostly, this would require some more fine tuning (especially for Paladins and Warlocks), but i believe that this world bring out the best fun out of the game.

And of course, it would be better if you didn't give this option to beginners who are still learning the rules, but instead wait until they acclimate for a bit, then offer them this powerfull homebrew.