Ridley's Cohort
First Post
The idea of eliminating player-side multiclassing is initially somewhat shocking. But I think I agree. Rather than creating a comprehensive ruleset for multiclassing that will almost certainly have holes, it would be easy enough to release hard-coded multiclass classes. So, there would be a set of discrete, specific, rules of progression for a Fighter-MU, a Thief-Cleric etc. This assumes a DDI-type model so the classes could be created and distributed with nominal hassle.
Yes, that could work. And it has all the advantages and fewer of the disadvantages of the 1e/2e multiclassing.
In a sense, 3e eventually went in that direction with its PrCs and blended base classes, only without any hard restriction.
On the downside, there were a dizzying array of potential options, if one really cared. On the plus side, there were three easy & practical choices available: (A) just dip for 1-3 levels and call it good enough, (B) walk down the two-class PrC path for your whole career, or (C) pick a blended new base class.