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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Simth" data-source="post: 3999805" data-attributes="member: 29252">A couple of tips for your players...1) Avoid MAD like the plague it is.  Multiple Attribute Dependency is a character killer.  Sure, that Wizard//Cleric looks good on paper, but you've got two primary casting stats to focus on.  Now, if you put one side to stuff where saves don't matter (e.g., Cleric side is used for buffing, healing, and utility spells only) you can skip most the MAD... but you're still going to have some issues with it.  There's some feats out there that help with this, but you only get so many such feats.2) Look for active/passive combos.  You still only get so many actions per round.  In general, you'll want one side to be "active" with good stuff you can do, and the other side to be "passive" with abilities that take no action - defenses, generally.   Monk makes a very good choice for the "passive" side for anyone who can't really use armor (replace with Swordsage if you can't take a Lawful alignment for some reason, but the Monk will generally be the superior defensive package long-term), as does Barbarian or Paladin (but in an Evil campaign, the only Paladins you need to worry about are Blackguards or the variant Paladins).3) Avoid combos that neutralize each other's benefits.  That Fighter//Sorcerer can't wear the good armors due to the Arcane Spell Failure - which essentially means that you lose some of the benefit of the Fighter class.  Alternately, that Fighter//Sorcerer can't make effective use of all the spells available due to arcane spell failure, neutralizing some of the benefit of the Sorcerer class.  You want to avoid those choices.4) Look for combos that supplement each other.  The Monk, out of the box, has a bad case of MAD - it needs Strength for melee attacks and damage, Dexterity for AC, Constitution for HP, Wisdom for AC and class features, and some Intelligence for the skill points.  The Druid's Wildshape class feature supplies a Strength and Dexterity score independent of the character's base values - which means the Monk//Druid can now drop Strength and Dexterity, leaving just Con, Wis, and a small amount of Int as being the needed stats.  5) Avoid combos with a lot of overlap.  Sure, the Wizard//Sorcerer looks good on paper as the Ultimate Arcanist, but aside from the MAD, both have one good save (the same one - Will), d4 HD, 1/2 BAB, 2+Int skill points per level, and they draw from the same spell list.  Likewise, the Fighter//Barbarian looks good as the ultimate melee machine (using Core classes, anyway), but again, they've got a lot of overlap - there's only a one-step difference between their hit dice, they both have the same good save (Fort), and they've both got the same BAB (full).  You can do a lot better.6) Pick one party role.  You don't want to get too spread out.  You've still only got so much resources for equipment, and you've still only got so many feats.  Pick a role in the party, and focus on that.  Other stuff is a bonus.  The Paladin//sorcerer uses spells to back up melee.  The Sorcerer//paladin uses Full BAB, d10 HD, and Divine Grace to back up touch-attack spellcasting while taking hits and avoiding spells.  They're the same class combination (Sorcerer//Paladin) but they're completely different characters - one is a Meatshield, the other a Sparkcaster.7) Be aware of power curves.  A Barbarian is pretty much the king of the castle at 1st, where the Wizard is always the first to die.  The Wizard is pretty much the king of the castle at 20th, and the Barbarian is his baggage handler.  You want class combos where, at any given level, you'll have something useful to do.</blockquote>

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