Goodman Games

Does anyone allow multi-classing?

Due to the experience curve being aligned for all classes, the randomness of characters stats, and the focus on lower level play it seems to me like it could actually work....

I'm thinking it could be as simple as allowing players to choose what class they level as at each level up.

So a warrior who reaches level 2 could spend his newly earned level on the cleric class - including using that hit dice this level, and taking first level cleric abilities in addition to his first level fighter abilities.

Insta-paladin.

Has anyone tried this? Do you think it would break the game? On the experience curve they would have 2 'levels' but only 1 fighter and 1 cleric level. Same goes for other combos like fighter/wizard, or fighter/thief.

Thoughts?

maxinstuff wrote:Does anyone allow multi-classing?

Due to the experience curve being aligned for all classes, the randomness of characters stats, and the focus on lower level play it seems to me like it could actually work....

I'm thinking it could be as simple as allowing players to choose what class they level as at each level up.

So a warrior who reaches level 2 could spend his newly earned level on the cleric class - including using that hit dice this level, and taking first level cleric abilities in addition to his first level fighter abilities.

Insta-paladin.

Has anyone tried this? Do you think it would break the game? On the experience curve they would have 2 'levels' but only 1 fighter and 1 cleric level. Same goes for other combos like fighter/wizard, or fighter/thief.

Thoughts?

The problem with your suggestion is that DCC classes are front-loaded, i.e. they get a bunch of stuff at level 1. So a multiclassed 1-1 PC (level 2) would have much more abilities than a straight level 2 PC. For example, the thief gets all all thief abilities, plus the ability to backstab, plus the ability to recuperate luck, etc... at level 1. Everyone would just want to add thief to their list of classes if only for the luck recuperation.

Raven Crowking suggested a multiclass system that seems interesting, in which you essentially pay an extra level to multiclass. For example, if you're a level 1 warrior and wish to MC into thief, it will take you 2 levels to buy that 1 level of thief. So when you're level 3, you're actually level 1 warrior and level 1 thief. You do get some stuff in that "half-level" you pay on your way to the level 1 MC class, including hit points and a few base abilities of the new class, so your half-level payoff is not entirely useless.

This system appears much more balanced to me.

You can always try this: http://ravencrowking.blogspot.ca/2012/0 ... evels.html

Oh yeah luck..... that could be game breaking - I mean, who is going to NOT take a thief level?

I think it could work OK with smaller player groups who don't want to run multiple PC's each.

And thanks for the link! I might try and test both approaches out and see how it goes....

The classes in Transylvanian Adventures can be "multi-classed" up to a point. There are a couple of things that probably shouldn't be shared between classes. Those will be developed in more detail in the second book. But there are very pared down "multi-classing" rules in the first book.

So you could have, say, a Hunter that knows Kung Fu. Or a Reaver that can use a katana. Or something.

Not that any of this info helps all that much with DCC. But I'd be surprised if someone didn't find a way to mash up DCC and TATG in a way that allowed for the DCC character classes to benefit from the same sort of advancement in TATG that makes multi-classing so straight-forward.

I've been privy to multi-classing since David Lee Roth was the only, ever lead singer of Van Halen. TATG does it well-enough. Better than most versions of "The World's Most Popular Roleplaying Game". TATG sacrifices neurotic concern for balance for ease-of-use and kickass. But that's pretty much the whole book.

Skyscraper wrote: Raven Crowking suggested a multiclass system that seems interesting, in which you essentially pay an extra level to multiclass. For example, if you're a level 1 warrior and wish to MC into thief, it will take you 2 levels to buy that 1 level of thief. So when you're level 3, you're actually level 1 warrior and level 1 thief. You do get some stuff in that "half-level" you pay on your way to the level 1 MC class, including hit points and a few base abilities of the new class, so your half-level payoff is not entirely useless.

This system appears much more balanced to me.

To clarify my last post, and in case you didn't read RC's link, you only pay 2 levels for that first MC level; after that, it's business as usual. So for example, a 5th level character might be thief 2 - wizard 2; and an 8th level characters might be cleric 3 - warrior 4. I.e. you pay one level for entry into your second class, but after that you're free to evolve as anyone else (and you still have the full hit points of say, a 5th or an 8th level character).

Or you could play an Elf or Halfling!

I would like to see RavenCrowKings "half levels for multi-classing" idea fully flushed out. At least cover a few examples.

FWIW:
I haven't done much with this except some of the play testing, it isn't perfect, but it works fairly well... though it isn't split-classing in the traditional way. In Critters, Creatures, and Denizens I have a little blurb on pages 14-15 that offer a method for adding class levels to critters, that can also be adapted by players who want to switch a character to a new class from their old one. The process is actually rather simple: the character taking on the new class 'over-writes' any of their old class abilities with any similar abilities supplied by the new class.

Ex. 0-lvl Dwarf who wants to be a wizard...
The Dwarven entries for: Hit die (type), Weapon training, Alignment, attack modifier (including MDoA), Luck, Languages, saves, crit die and table, as well as Action die are lost as they become supplanted by the wizard's abilities in these areas. Leaving the dwarven wizard with the sword and board style, Slow, Infravision, and Underground Skills. I let dwarves keep the use of shields because wizard class doesn't explicitly bar their use, and I figure using a shield is inherent in 'sword & board style.'

Wizards and clerics becoming other classes get to keep their casting abilities unless they choose to become clerics or if clerics become wizards. This does mean that it's better to go from being a caster to being a fighter because you get to keep spell casting ability and gain access to MDoA, but your character can't gain access to new spell levels. They can still learn spells of levels to which they still have access up to their maximum knowable limits set by their old wizard levels.

For higher levels the process would be the same, except the character keeps any hit points earned up to the point where they change classes and then adds in the attack bonuses, save bonuses, etc. for the new class... at 1st level. So a 5th level fighter choosing to become a wizard is quite a sacrifice... amongst other changes, the character looses MDoA and their save bonuses go from

R: +2 F: +3 W: +1

to

R: +1 F: +0 W: +1.

The character is still considered a 4th level character over-all, so they'll never get to be more than a 5th level wizard with a lot of hit points. I don't imagine that many players will take this particular path, but then, if they had the stats to be a warrior from the beginning: there wouldn't be any need to lose all of that magnificence...

Like I said, it isn't perfect, but this method eliminates the stacking up of powers as well as the problems with luck because the Halflings and Thieves taking on new classes lose their regenerating luck and the ability to share luck with others and must use their luck in the manner described by the new class.