D&D 5E Why do you like single or multi classing

[demonsquidgod]

I actively dislike multiclass in 5e. I was initially going to ban it in my current campaign but one of my players wanted it so bad.

It's often used by people who focus more on character build than character concept. People who view building a character aa akin to building a deck in magic the gathering lookingfor optimized synergies.

I prefer when characters are defined more by their personality and choices than by the efficiency of their mechanics.

If you have a neat concept that isn't well represented by an existing class/subclass I would prefer to just homebrew something than use a multiclass kludge.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Dipping into warlock and then moving on is (should be) probl matic..

Then your PCs are all surprised when suddenly their patrons are calling them making ‘requests (or else)’ of them or asking why they haven’t been holding up their end of the contract.

 

[James Gasik]

Multiclassing is a useful tool for creating the exact kind of character you want, both mechanically, and conceptually. On a long enough timeline, however, options will appear that will obviate the need for multiclassing to build characters that do exactly what you want them to do.

For example, you might want to play a fantasy Ninja, with supernatural abilities and stealth skills. When the PHB came out, you might decide to do this by playing a multiclassed Monk/Rogue. Later, you may find the itch is best scratched by a Shadow Monk. And at some future point, there might be a Ninja subclass for the Rogue that does everything you would want a Ninja to do!

 

[payn]

Multiclassing is a useful tool for creating the exact kind of character you want, both mechanically, and conceptually. On a long enough timeline, however, options will appear that will obviate the need for multiclassing to build characters that do exactly what you want them to do.

For example, you might want to play a fantasy Ninja, with supernatural abilities and stealth skills. When the PHB came out, you might decide to do this by playing a multiclassed Monk/Rogue. Later, you may find the itch is best scratched by a Shadow Monk. And at some future point, there might be a Ninja subclass for the Rogue that does everything you would want a Ninja to do!

Yeap, this has been happening since 3E. PF1 went through a ton of iterations so you had so many options to choose from. For some thats too "build" centric, but I cant personally get enough!

 

[Bolares]

I like the freedom of being able to multiclass. Sometimes I want a mechanic benefit that will make the character interesting to play in combat, sometimes i want to emulate a concept that I think will be better represented with a multiclass, sometimes there is an in story event that makes the character want to pivot to another class, and sometimes I don't want to do it at all.

 

[James Gasik]

I like the freedom of being able to multiclass. Sometimes I want a mechanic benefit that will make the character interesting to play in combat, sometimes i want to emulate a concept that I think will be better represented with a multiclass, sometimes there is an in story event that makes the character want to pivot to another class, and sometimes I don't want to do it at all.

I do wish that multiclassing rules were kinder to characters who want to multiclass organically based on the story unfolding. 5e is better about this than previous editions, since having your Wizard take a level of, say, Druid, isn't the end of the world, but if you're playing a Monk and at around level 3, you decide to embrace your religious side to take a level of Cleric, you're in for a bit of pain.

 

[Bolares]

I do wish that multiclassing rules were kinder to characters who want to multiclass organically based on the story unfolding. 5e is better about this than previous editions, since having your Wizard take a level of, say, Druid, isn't the end of the world, but if you're playing a Monk and at around level 3, you decide to embrace your religious side to take a level of Cleric, you're in for a bit of pain.

Yeah, I think there should be a way to "respec" your character to fit your organic multiclass better. It only happened in a table I DMed once, and my solution was to talk to the player and adjust their stats to better fit the direction their character was going.

 

[James Gasik]

Making ASI's dependent on character level, not class level, would be a good start. The bonus ASI's of the Fighter and Rogue wouldn't have to change, they'd just be class abilities at those levels.

 

[Bolares]

Another thing that is a problem to this kind of multiclas is the ability pre-requisites....

 

[James Gasik]

Another thing that is a problem to this kind of multiclas is the ability pre-requisites....

I always forget those are a thing, since most people multiclass in a synergistic fashion. I don't think I've ever heard someone say "man, I wish I had the Int to multiclass Wizard", since you wouldn't want to be a Wizard unless you had high Intelligence to begin with!