No multiclassing penalties?

[KrazyHades]

I've wondered whether multiclassing penalties should exist, and I'm considering eliminating them from my game. My reasoning is that one is sacrificing growth in one class to grow in another area. For example, you get fewer spells per day if you're a wizard taking a fighter level, but you get an improved BAB and Fort saves. However, I can see the point of view saying that multiclassing penalties are important because it discourages people from taking a few lvls here and there to take advantage of some powerful class abilities, this letting them create a broken character. What do you think?

EDIT: grammar

 

[wayne62682]

I've played in many games that eliminate them (hell I've never really met a group that really enforced them). They seem like just a way to shoehorn races into specific niches and prevent leaving said niches to fill a unique concept.

 

[Shade]

I've eliminated the penalties and see no detriment to my game. Rather, I find the characters to be more interesting and less traditional.

 

[Graybeard]

In my game and another one I play in, there are no XP penalties to multiclass. However, you must take more than 1 or 2 levels in a class or else have GM permission AND an excellent in game reason for it. For example, in an Eberron game I am in, I had a rogue that needed a specific feat to qualify for a prestige class. I took a level of Urban Ranger to get the Urban Tracking feat. It fit into the character concept and the prestige class is master Inquisitive. I asked the GM about it ahead of time and explained my concept to him.

 

[was]

I don't quite agree with the penalties.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I have no problems with the penalties. If I were to remove them, I would at the least give half-elves something to compensate, and maybe humans as well.

But what I would really like to see is favored class replaced with racial substitution levels. That way you could get the archetypical race/class combos without penalizing multiclassers.

 

[The Human Target]

No, as the game stand now I don't think you need them.

I don't use them.

 

[Zendragon]

I took out the penalties in my game with a few exceptions. No PrC can be higher than the base core class and no more than 2 PrC's. I hate the idea of taking 1 level of a PrC class just to get a bonus. Also any PrC has to make sense for the character.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Never really enforced them. So I think they should just go away. D20 modern and Star Wars d20 worked fine with no XP multiclass penalties. D&D works fine without them too in my experience.

 

[Darklone]

I like the Conan multiclass rules where you get bonus feats for taking levels in your favored class.