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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeff Wilder" data-source="post: 4442321" data-attributes="member: 5122">As I wrangle with fixing multiclassing, I'm struck over and over by how complex the issue is.  Wulf Ratbane made a great point (intended or not) that spellcasters, while the most visible victims of multiclassing, aren't the only victims, and I felt the complexity ratchet up again.I'm no longer sure that the issue is fixable while maintaining B-C.  Patchable, maybe, but not very well.  I think RangerWickett's suggestion shows that he reached the same conclusion.My most recent thought experiments have been along the lines of combining concepts behind gestalt classing and ECL (or "dead levels," as seen in UA's bloodlines rules), in a manner that's somewhat reminiscent of multiclassing in 1E and 2E.The building blocks:(1) Classes in a multiclass no longer have their own levels.  A character isn't a fighter 4/wizard 4.  He's a multiclassed fighter/wizard 4.(2) Multiclassing must be decided as early as possible.  If a PC gains a level without adding a new class to a multiclass, that decision can't be changed.  (EDIT: Giving this some thought, I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary.  As long as the player pays the ECL before gaining the additional class, it may work fine.  For instance, say a fighter 6 wants to multiclass into a fighter/wizard at the next available chance.  The ECL for a fighter/wizard 6 is 8, so the player has to stay at fighter 6 until he gains enough XP for 8th level, at which point he becomes a fighter/wizard 6.)(3) A multiclassed character is fully functional in all classes.  For every class, you gain all features.  For those features in common (e.g., BAB), the PC gains the most favorable from among all classes.(4) Multiclassing itself has an ECL cost.  This ECL is +1 per five character levels (counting the ECL itself), plus 1 per additional class.An example ... a fighter/wizard:At 1st level, the player starts as either a fighter or wizard.  Doesn't matter which, mechanically.  At 2nd level, the player decides to multiclass.  The PC is now a fighter/wizard 1(ECL +1).  The PC has all of the abilities of a fighter 1 and a wizard 1.  The player forgoes further multiclassing.  At 5th character level, the PC is a fighter/wizard 3 (ECL +2). The same thing happens at 10th level (fighter/wizard 7 (ECL +3)), 15th level (fighter/wizard 11 (ECL +4), and 20th level (fighter/wizard 15 (ECL +5).)At every level, the PC has full BAB, good Will and Fort saves, fighter HD, all his fighter feats and proficiencies, full spellcasting, wizard bonus proficiencies and familiar abilities, and so on.Unfortunately, I don't have time to provide more examples, but I've gone through many in my head, and it seems to reach a power level I personally like.Problems with it?  Well, I already noted that it's not B-C, which in itself is probably enough to disqualify it from this thread.  Also, I haven't given a lot of thought to how it will work with prestige classes.  (The prestige class issue, BTW, affects pretty much every fix so far suggested, including something as simple as BCL.)  Anything else?</blockquote>

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