Losing levels for multi-classed characters

[Altamont Ravenard]

Hello all, silly question:

If you have a multi-classed character that loses a level, you lose a level in your highest class, correct?

Does this still apply with Prestige Classes?

Say you have a Rogue7/Shadow dancer1 that loses a level (for whatever reason). Does he become Rog6/Shd1 or Rog7?

If the character in question loses a level in Rogue, could he take a level in Shadowdancer instead the next time he levels? Could he lose most of his rogue levels and "replace" them with shadowdancer levels?

Thanks in advance

AR

 

[Crothian]

I've always done it they lose the last level they gained.

 

[melkoriii]

Last lvl gained is how we have always played it too.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

what if you can't remember??? *gasp*



Thanks for the responses.


AR

 

[Artoomis]

Losing a level is bad enough that I'd allow the player to choose whichever class they wanted, provided it did not disqualify them from a prestige class that they have.

 

[Norfleet]

Losing a level is bad enough that I'd allow the player to choose whichever class they wanted, provided it did not disqualify them from a prestige class that they have.

Yes, but what if losing the level, and all its attendant benefits, still qualifies them for the PrC in a circular logic loop, where abilities gained while in the PrC have become self-sustaining without the externalities of other classes? A Rogue/Shadowdancer, in theory, could have enough that even if he lost a bunch of rogue levels to the point where if you looked at the character normally, he wouldn't have qualified, but during his SD levels, raised his required skill ranks/BAB to become self-sustaining?

 

[Darklone]

Hmm, wasn't there a rule somewhere that said you'd lose a level in your highest class?

 

[billd91]

Hmm, wasn't there a rule somewhere that said you'd lose a level in your highest class?

There may be a rule to that effect, but if so, it's a silly rule. You should lose the last CHARACTER level you gained and that would be the last class level you took. If you can't remember, that's the only time I think you should default to losing the highest level. Otherwise, you could quite likely become ineligible for a prestige class you have picked up later on as long as that class has fewer levels than the one that you otherwise would have lost.

 

[Norfleet]

There may be a rule to that effect, but if so, it's a silly rule. You should lose the last CHARACTER level you gained and that would be the last class level you took. If you can't remember, that's the only time I think you should default to losing the highest level. Otherwise, you could quite likely become ineligible for a prestige class you have picked up later on as long as that class has fewer levels than the one that you otherwise would have lost.

The effects of becoming ineligible for the PrC are simple: You lose access to the abilities and cannot level in that class until you qualify again.

The more interesting thing is the "self-perpetuating PrC": A PrC where, despite losing the levels of some previous class that you needed to qualify for, you STILL qualify for because the levels earned in the PrC that also raised the prerequisite skills continue to qualify you for that class: In such a case, if the lost levels in the starting class are of inferior value, it may actually be beneficial to the character in the long run to lose these levels, so as to replace them with something else.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The effects of becoming ineligible for the PrC are simple: You lose access to the abilities and cannot level in that class until you qualify again.

Not in 3.5. What you say was true in 3E. In 3.5, the prerequisite rule for Feats is still in place - if you lose a prerequisite, you lose access to the feat until the prerequisite is regained. However, requirements for a Prestige Class now only apply for entry into the PrC.

"Prestige classes offer a new form of multiclassing. Unlike the basic classes, characters must meet Requirements before they can take their first level of a prestige class. The rules for level advancement apply to this system, meaning the first step of advancement is always choosing a class. If a character does not meet the Requirements for a prestige class before that first step, that character cannot take the first level of that prestige class."

There no longer exists in 3.5, to my knowledge, a rule that states a character must retain the requirements of a PrC subsequent to taking that first level.

-Hyp.