Multiclass-Penalty and Feats

[Jan van Leyden]

Hi folks,

for the first time, one of my players' characters suffers from the XP-penalty due to the lievel difference between her classes. Now the player asked me wether there exists a feat which lessens or removes this penatly.

It didn't ring a bell with me, but is there something in the D20 universe like:

Gifted (General)
You have an inborn talent for a certain class.

Benefit: Select one class. This class is treated as favored class for your character. The selected class is not considered when calculating the XP-penalty for multiclassing.

Normal: You suffer a 20% XP-penalty when two of you character's classes are two or more levels apart.

This feat may be taken several times. Each time you take this feat, select another class to apply it to.

As you see I have my own solution for this, but I might take a published version instead.

Huldvoll

Jan van Leyden

 

[Li Shenron]

I haven't seen anything in the form of a feat, at least in WotC books...

What's her character like?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I haven't seen such a feat. I'm guessing because then to make it fair you'd have to include another one for the rest of the group.

Really Smart

You are really smart, and learn more from any given experience than others.

Benefit: You gain 20% more experience than normal.

Normal: You gain the standard amount of experience listed in the DMG for figuring out experience rewards.

I mean, that's what such a feat is doing. It's giving the player +20% experience. And your "take multiple times" clause means they can get even more than that, depending on how wildly they decide to multiclass. If I were a non-multiclassing player in such a game, I'd be annoyed that a multiclassing player could take a feat to gain +20% xp, if I couldn't do the same.

 

[the Jester]

iirc Unearthed Arcana has a feat called "Additional Favored Class" or some such in a sidebar.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Or, if you're the DM, you could simply do what I do and remove the penalty to begin with. I've never found it to be particularly necessary or useful, honestly.

 

[Scharlata]

[...] but I might take a published version instead.[...]

Hi!

Maybe you should look into the book Races of Destiny, page 150. There lurks a feat called: Diverse Background. The prerequisites are: half-human and character level 1st. The benefit is: You gain a second favored class.

Auch huldvoll!

 

[Li Shenron]

I mean, that's what such a feat is doing. It's giving the player +20% experience. And your "take multiple times" clause means they can get even more than that, depending on how wildly they decide to multiclass. If I were a non-multiclassing player in such a game, I'd be annoyed that a multiclassing player could take a feat to gain +20% xp, if I couldn't do the same.

While I wouldn't easily remove the importance of favored classes (I did drop all multiclassing penalties before, but I'm not likely to do it again), isn't your example going too far?

I mean, why should the wizard player get a +4 on fighting with a longsword at the cost of a feat (Martial Weapon Prof - Longsword), when my fighter cannot get the same?

Removing a penalty is not as good as having an equal bonus over the maximum.

Furthermore, with Xp being so important, who would NOT want to take your feat? I certainly would take it at 1st level with all my PCs

 

[irdeggman]

I mean, why should the wizard player get a +4 on fighting with a longsword at the cost of a feat (Martial Weapon Prof - Longsword), when my fighter cannot get the same?

I'm not sure what you mean by this one but fighters can get a +4 on attacks for an exotic weapon with a feat (the one set of weapon proficiencies they don't get as a class feature). Not all exotic weapons function like the bastard sword does, some actually (say Nunchaku or Sai).

 

[irdeggman]

Eberron has a few feats that do something like what you want.

I can't recall the exact names but there is one for monks and one for paladins that allow the character to choose one other class and multiclass between the two without penalty.

So creating a feat that allows something similar would seem to be about right. A feat per class with some sort of organizational background that makes it work.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I haven't seen such a feat. I'm guessing because then to make it fair you'd have to include another one for the rest of the group.

Really Smart

You are really smart, and learn more from any given experience than others.

Benefit: You gain 20% more experience than normal.

Normal: You gain the standard amount of experience listed in the DMG for figuring out experience rewards.

I mean, that's what such a feat is doing. It's giving the player +20% experience. And your "take multiple times" clause means they can get even more than that, depending on how wildly they decide to multiclass. If I were a non-multiclassing player in such a game, I'd be annoyed that a multiclassing player could take a feat to gain +20% xp, if I couldn't do the same.

Beg to differ... In my view, this is a penalty - not a bonus - just like the -4 attack penalty for using a weapon the character is not proficient with. The idea is to remove this penalty by spending a feat. A character can spend a feat for the profiency, removing the penalty. Why should she not allowed to spend a feat on this penalty?

I don't think it would be unbalancing the game. Keep in mind that this yields just one aditional character class to be used; it's not a ticket for a free ride through all classes.

Huldvoll

Jan van Leyden