AD&D 1E Rules that are kinda cool but everyone forgot

[Ralif Redhammer]

I always use this example to players who multi-class. And I agree with the design.

But it illuminates why people are always looking for a good gish class...

In smaller groups, I think there's some benefit to having a bigger toolkit, but in most parties, you're going to be surrounded by people that do what you do, only better.

I think a big part of the gish class' persistence is rooted in D&D's squishy wizards design. People are always looking for a more resilient spellcaster that gives you fireball without being a glass cannon.

 

[Lanefan]

I never really understood why multi-class demi-humans had to earn all of the XP required for each class level, but did not get all of the hit points for each class. Instead the HP got averaged together, so a Fighter/Mage could have no more than 7 HP per level(s) instead of 14. We may well have been reading those rules incorrectly...

I think you were reading them right.

Multiclass levels in 1e don't really stack in any way, and that includes hit points. Stacking (or 'additive') levels is a 3e-and-later thing.

We have it that a multiclassed F-MU rolls a d7 for hit points when its leading class (usually the Fighter) bumps. If relevant, the character would get the Fighter's Con bonus. I suppose there's an argument to be made that being part-Fighter ought to be enough for the character to roll d10 for hit points, i.e. the better of the two classes, but that's not how we ever saw it.

 

[cbwjm]

I remember being confused by the constitution bonus for multiclass warriors, I don't I think at the time we weren't doing it right, we just added the best bonus to the final result (normally the first level you gain hit points so a fighter/thief would gain the full bonus when they hit level 2 as a thief). Now I'm pretty sure the actual way to determine hit points was to add the constiution bonus to the rolls before dividing, giving a fighter/mage with an 18 con a potential maximum hit points of 10 at level 1 ((1d10+4)/2 + (1d4+2)/2). It probably didn't come up that often, I just remember not quite understanding it back in the day.

 

[Lanefan]

I remember being confused by the constitution bonus for multiclass warriors, I don't I think at the time we weren't doing it right, we just added the best bonus to the final result (normally the first level you gain hit points so a fighter/thief would gain the full bonus when they hit level 2 as a thief). Now I'm pretty sure the actual way to determine hit points was to add the constiution bonus to the rolls before dividing, giving a fighter/mage with an 18 con a potential maximum hit points of 10 at level 1 ((1d10+4)/2 + (1d4+2)/2). It probably didn't come up that often, I just remember not quite understanding it back in the day.

Hard to do when the classes will be bumping at different times. Assuming a straight 50-50 xp division the Fighter side will bump before the Mage side does, meaning the character doesn't get the Mage side points yet to toss into that formula.

Far simpler to just make it d7+4 when the Fighter side bumps, or d7+3 if you want to also average the Con bonus (assuming Con 18).

 

[cbwjm]

Hard to do when the classes will be bumping at different times. Assuming a straight 50-50 xp division the Fighter side will bump before the Mage side does, meaning the character doesn't get the Mage side points yet to toss into that formula.

Far simpler to just make it d7+4 when the Fighter side bumps, or d7+3 if you want to also average the Con bonus (assuming Con 18).

It's not that difficult, but it's assuming I'm correct with how to do it, maybe it was explained in a sage archived column. Basically it doesn't matter when each class levels, you roll 1d10+4 and divided that by 2 when the fighter side levels, then after gaining the xp for the wizard side you roll 1d4+2 and add half that total to hit points. Easy, but I still didn't get it when I first started playing adnd.

Nowadays I'd probably just add there xp together and say that's what's needed to level so a ftr/mge doesn't hit level 2 until reaching 4500 xp.

 

[Nikosandros]

Hard to do when the classes will be bumping at different times. Assuming a straight 50-50 xp division the Fighter side will bump before the Mage side does, meaning the character doesn't get the Mage side points yet to toss into that formula.

Far simpler to just make it d7+4 when the Fighter side bumps, or d7+3 if you want to also average the Con bonus (assuming Con 18).

It is even better to keep a separate tally of HP totals by class and then average them. If you have con 17, when you go up a fighter level, you add d10+3 to the fighter tally, when you go up as a M-U, you add d4+2 to the M-U's tally. Your actual total is the average of the two separate sums.