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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5431546" data-attributes="member: 4937">No, though there are some restrictions.1) There are no PrCs.  This was a bad idea tacked on at the last minute by Monte that never accomplished what he had intend to accomplish.  Monte has a fetish for secret organizations and the intention here was to use mechanics (and the desire for entry into the class) to tie the character more closely to the setting.  PrCs are IMO simply the single worst design decision in D20 and they impact the game in a myriad of not so great ways.  In trade off, Feats tend to be more powerful and capable of broader changes than in stock D20 and the base martial classes tend to have more upside.  As one of my players put it, "You don't take a PrC in [my game], you become one."Without PrCs, I don't have to ban particular ones (it would be a long list) or create rules to manage them.2) Each class has a prerequisite ability score which is usually quite low.  For example, you can't be a Hunter unless you have both a 7 Str and 7 Dex.  However, in order to qualify for multiclassing you must beat this minimum by 2 for each additional class you have beyond the first.   So for example, if you want to take both Hunter and Fighter you have to have at least an 11 Str and 9 Dex.   That's just a 'sanity check' rule that has never come into play, but prevents a player from, for example, taking 1 or 2 levels of each class.3) Favored class rules are strictly enforced.  I know alot of people do away with it and I sympathize, This is supposed to be one of the Humans big advantages, and a means of creating a specific flavor in the other races, so I4) The Champion class, which is my games equivalent of the Paladin, has the standard rule excluding multiclassing once you enter it.  However, certain Portfolios (the Champion equivalent of Cleric domains) not only allow free multiclassing with certain other classes but allow half the levels of that class to count as Champion class level for the purposes of spellcasting, spellcasting progression, and class abilities.  Mostly these are 'sanity check' rules designed to keep the available builds constrained in predictable ways.  They rarely come up or prevent players from multiclassing, and the number of potential builds is still huge.  And, if any player wants to play something that isn't available in the rules and is suitable to the setting, I'm perfectly happy to create feats, domains, portfolios, bloodlines, etc. that help enable it.  What I don't do however is create purely mechanical variation simply for its own sake.  So many WotC classes always felt to me not as characters you couldn't play until the class came along, but rather particular mechanics you couldn't before have until the class came along.  IMO all sorts of different mechanics can be used to capture the flavor of a certain heroic concept.  So long as I have some means to get there, I don't necessarily feel the need to offer any particular alternate mechanic (which is usually more about powergaming than it is about characterization).  I have very little sympathy for example with the idea that you can't capture the flavor of a particular type of spellcaster unless you have mechanical point buy or free form magic, but I would have alot of sympathy with a player who said, "I want to play a clockwork themed mage, but I don't see alot of clockwork options in the spell list." or "I want to play Dr. Frankenstein, but there don't seem to be any rules for creating low level contructs." or "I want to play a dinosaur rider, what should I do?" I do this too, but in practice since there are '1000 gods' in my setting any time a player comes up with an unusual combo I tend to make up a god on the spot (usually with player input) with the result that 'all clerics must have a deity' ends up being no restriction at all.  I've waffled back and forth since reading 'Book of the Righteous' on the merits of going down to a small tightly interwoven pantheon, but still find that 'always free to make a god for the occasion' pays off.</blockquote>

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