D&D 5E How to handle attack bonuses in multiclassing

[Li Shenron]

I'm not sure, but the first draft of multiclassing rules could come with the next packet. We already know that we'll have 3e-style multiclassing, therefore a multiclass PC will be built adding levels in two or more classes one by one. Yesterday I was wondering how attack bonuses from 2 classes would interact, and how they can work with bounded accuracy, so I made some calculations. (I hope these are readable and understandable, if not please just ask!)

These are the attack bonus progressions for most classes:

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 -> Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Cleric, Rogue
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -> Wizard

I considered 3 different ways of adding attack bonuses from 2 classes:

1) Stacking: you simply add the attack bonus from each class.

E.g. a Fighter 2 has +1, a Cleric 2 has +1, thus a Fighter 2 / Cleric 2 has +2

This is how it worked in 3e. However, check out what happens if you do that in 5e...

Take any 2 martial classes, assume you spread the levels evenly, this is the result:

1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 -> you are always 1 or 2 points better than a single-class martial PC

Check out also these other class combinations:

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Fighter/Wizard, max deviation is -2 from Ftr, +3 from Wiz
1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 -> Fighter/Cleric, max deviation is +1 from Ftr, + 2 from Cle
1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 -> Cleric/Rogue, max deviation is +2 from Cle, +2 from Rog

Since Wizard has no progression, Cleric/Wizard and Rogue/Wizard have same attack bonus as Cle or Rog.

Overall this seems to work pretty much as expected only for Fighter/Wizard, while in other combinations, the multiclassed PC has actually better attack bonuses than what a single class has.

Let's try one 3-class combo, and pick the worst case i.e. 3 martial classes:

1 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 -> at 20th you're only +1 to single class, but at levels 9 to 12 you are at +3

It's easy to see that the more classes you have, the better your attack bonus.

 

[Li Shenron]

2) Overlapping: you take the best attack bonus of the two classes.

E.g. E.g. a Fighter 3 has +2, a Cleric 2 has +1, thus a Fighter 3 / Cleric 2 has +2.

Let's check the same combos as in the previous case:

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Ftr/Brb is -1/-2 than single-class

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Ftr/Wiz is max -2 than Ftr, max +3 than Wiz

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Ftr/Cle or Ftr/Rog is max -2 than Ftr (this is exact same progression as Cle or Rog)

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 -> Cle/Rog is max -1 than single-class

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 -> Cle/Wiz or Rog/Wiz is max -1 than Cle or Rog, and max +2 than Wiz

So now we have the opposite problem... multiclassing martial classes means to definitely lose attack bonus, but can also happen to other classes as well (the only class which gains is Wiz, because it didn't have any attack bonus at all).

 

[Li Shenron]

3) Best equivalent: take the best attack bonus that the character would have if it were single-class in each of the two classes.

E.g. a Fighter 4 has +2, a Cleric 4 has +1, thus a Fighter 2 / Cleric 2 has +2.

Let's check those combos with this alternative:

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 -> Ftr/Brb has same progression as single-class

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 -> Ftr/Wiz has same progression as single-class Ftr

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 -> Ftr/Cle or Ftr/Rog has same progression as single-class Ftr

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Cle/Rog has same progression as single-class

1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 -> Cle/Wiz or Rog/Wiz has same progression as single-class Cle or Rog

In other words, you get the best progression of the two classes, as if you were single-class (so if you have X levels in one class and Y levels in another, you get the best attack bonus that they get at level X+Y).

This fixes martial classes and in general multiclassing similar classes, but it might be questionable how fair it is for combos of 2 very different classes... is it fair for a Fighter to gain Wizard's spells in exchange for Fighter's special abilities, without losing attack bonus at all, for example? Maybe...

Overall this one might be actually the best option of the three (although others can be suggested!), but is a bit odd. What do you think?

 

[1of3]

I can imagine at least one other possibility:

- Stack, but secondary classes have there bonus reduced by 1.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

How about you use method (1), with a tweak that says you get 1 less from any secondary class (minimum 0 of course)?
Method (2) seems to be quite middle of the road, but bad for similar class mixing.
Method (3) means you only need 1 level of a class to benefit enormously.

Another idea would be to use method (1) again, but add up all class levels that are 'good', all class levels that are 'ok' and all that are 'bad' before calculating your total. Mixing the same kind of classes (with respect to attack modifier) then doesn't matter, though you might still need a -1 modifier if you stack good and ok classes.

 

[Li Shenron]

Method (3) means you only need 1 level of a class to benefit enormously.

This is true... we should try similar calculations with uneven level spread between the classes, particularly extreme level spread like ClassA 1 / ClassB X.

I think WotC should strive for simplicity, but at the moment all these basic and simple methods have some significant problems.

 

[1of3]

Level by Level Multiclassing, if it is meant to work, will require several precautions. A similar problem to the one you describe here, is combining spell-casting ability. Should spell slots from diffferent classes be combined into one pool?

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

It would help a lot if the progressions were regular.. but they are awkward.

 

[delericho]

In general, multiclass characters should have a narrower range of powers from each of their classes, but should be about as good at using them as a single class character.

That is, if a 6th level Fighter has two 'good' martial options, each at +5 to hit and 2d6 damage, and a 6th level Wizard has two 'good' spell options, each at +5 to hit and 2d6 damage, then a 6th (3/3) level Fighter/Wizard should have one 'good' martial option and one 'good' spell option... each at +5 to hit and 2d6 damage.

That way, the multiclass character can contribute to the well-being of the group, without overshadowing the individual members of that group.

(Compare with the 3e Fighter/Wizard, which probably has a BAB too low to hit most of the high level monsters and has sacrificed his ability to get good spells in return for a load-out of dross. And so, unless the player has built his character exceptionally well, he gets to suck in two ways.)

 

[Li Shenron]

It would help a lot if the progressions were regular.. but they are awkward.

I am not sure how much that would help... It's just that the progressions are affected by bounded accuracy and go up only to +5 through 20 levels. OTOH they must relatively quickly create some difference between martial characters and semi-martials like clerics and rogues.

Non-martial characters aren't that important when they are single class: Druids get a very low progression because they are supposed to wildshape for melee or otherwise use spells, Wizards don't even get a progression because they are supposed to never need to fight with weapons. But these can be changed exactly to fix whatever multiclassing problem, if their single-class characters are supposed to almost never use the attack bonus (and when they do, it's max -5 from martials anyway, so it's still not as far away as in 3e).

One thing that needs to be decided, is if want to we want multiclass characters to give up (if anything). Clearly, they are giving up special abilities that are granted at fixed, specific levels, so if you multiclass Fighter/Barbarian you get some features from the first and some from the second.

However, all that a Wizard gets is practically spells, and we have the old problem that delaying your spell acquisition is painful, to the point that being half-Wiz half-something-else makes you always a lot behind a single-class Wiz.

Losing two points of attack bonus (the worst case in all three examples of mine above) might be a lot if compared to the max +5, but it doesn't necessarily make the PC unplayable. However, it certainly would be unexpected to lose even a point of attack bonus when multiclassing two martial classes!