Multiclassing

[Voadam]

Generally I only ask that it make sense for the character and game, usually no more than a token explanation is needed.

Wizard I require training because the flavor is that they master knowledge and go through an apprenticeship to get to level 1 and gain a spellbook. Druids need to belong to a druid circle to get taught the druid language and take the oaths, although there are outcasts and renegades who might teach it outside of the circles.

Paladins and clerics can answer a divine call to duty or be trained by a church organization, it is a story issue that is character and situation dependant.

For prestige classes it varies, arcane trickster and eldritch knight were natural outgrowths of multiclassing base classes so no new action or explanation needed. Archmage worked essentially the same way, just mastering magic. Druidic 3e shifter and 3.5 warshaper and master of many forms worked as the character in game explored the options. Our home brew paladin prc, by request of the player, required a holy quest as a roleplaying entry requirement.

 

[Xath]

I've never played in a campaign where multiclassing/prestiging was a big deal at all. We've never even used multiclassing penalties. In a previous campaign, one of the characters ended up being a Ranger/Rogue/Fighter/Martyr/Shadow Champion. He wasn't particularly under or overpowered in comparisson to the rest of the group, and it gave his character an interesting flavor.

 

[amethal]

I notice the poor old fighter doesn't appear to get much respect amongst the "I require training to multi-class into wizard" supporters.

Would you be happy if my human rogue picked up a level of fighter simply after having a few combats, watching and taking tips from the party fighter etc. ?

I don't see why my human rogue should now be proficient in the use of tower shields, plate mail and longbows, even though he doesn't own any of those items and quite possibly no one else in the party does either.

And is it realistic that (assuming for the sake of argument equal dexterity scores) my 20th level human wizard can pick up a longbow for the very first time in his life and :-

a) be as likely to hit as your 5th level fighter who has the weapon focus (longbow) feat, and
b) get an extra shot as part of a full round action even though your fighter doesn't?

And is it realistic that my human rogue (with Int 14) can, on levelling up to 8th level, decide to spend all 11 skill points on the knowledge (local) skill, (which he previously had no ranks in, and has never used), so that now he is better at it than he is at searching and disabling devices (two skills he has been using constantly throughout his career to date and at 7th level were maxed out)?

Why just pick on multi-classing to introduce "realism"?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Y'know, I run a Gestalt game, so I have even more excuse to limit multiclassing, willy-nilly or otherwise.

I've just never seen a reason to. Noone I play with makes random, seemingly insensible multiclassing decisions. Noone I play with takes one-to-three levels dips in multiple classes just for the powers, and noone really seems to make class decisions that don't fit their character concept.

I keep meaning to set up an XP penalty for excessive multiclassing, since it would cut down on weird level-offsetting for some Prestige Classes, but I keep forgetting or putting it off because noone's ever tried it in one of my games.

 

[kenobi65]

I honestly haven't worried about it.

We get some multi-classing, but not a lot, unless people are specifically building towards prestige classes. By and large, we've figured out that multiclassing can really cause a PC's effectiveness to take a hit (esp. with spellcasters), compared to a single-classed character of the same level.

So, I occasionally see people taking a level of a second class to be able to dip into class abilities and such (e.g., the bard taking a level of sorcerer so she can easily use all the wiz/sor wands), but it just doesn't happen often enough to cause me any lost sleep.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Well I would allow it willy-nilly and would like at least some in-game explanation as to why but I have never had anyone even pick up a level in something else.

 

[Jackelope King]

If the player and the DM agree that it makes sense for the character, I could care less how many classes a character has. I routinely use upwards of 4-5 classes to get the mechanics I want for my character, and if that's what it takes for my players, that's fine too.

 

[Buttercup]

In my experience as both a player and a DM, willy-nilly multiclassing does not happen much, if at all. The vast majority of players use multiclassing to create the character they have imagined rather than to power game, or if they want to power game they at least come up with an in-game reason for the PCs added classes.

Actually, now that I think of it, most players will know from the very start whether or not their character concept requires multiclassing.

In my campaigns, I don't typically require in-game training. However, my players tend to be pretty strict about only advancing skills or classes that they have actually used in previous sessions, unless there is some plot related reason for doing differently. Also, I've been known to award ranks in certain skills or feats in lieu of treasure. For instance, if the party saves the elderly sage from bandits, by the time they have escorted him back to safety, he has shared enough of his knowledge with them that they will each acquire a few skill points in something like Knowledge (History).

 

[wedgeski]

We take it as-is (I voted for the 'at least some' option), but we're generally easy-going. Some exceptional circumstances lend themselves to additional roleplaying - for example, when the gnomish rogue in my Dragonlance party decided that a career with the Wizards of High Sorcery was just the job - but I will never allow it to hold up the game, or frustrate the player. We don't play D&D often enough to derive any pleasure from a more 'realistic' approach to multi-classing.

 

[Arnwyn]

I voted: Yes, we allow multiclassing, but at least some in-game explanation and training is required.