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WolvesbaneIII
2013-06-08, 04:41 PM
Which spell caster class is the best and how many kinds are there?

I know of the sorceror, what else?


What penalties are there for multi-classing? How many classes can you do with one character? Nale has 3 classes for example.

Thank you.

Dhavaer
2013-06-08, 04:50 PM
Probably Wizard, seven in core and a lot more in splats.

You take an experience penalty if a non favoured class is more than 2 levels different from your other classes. As many as you have levels.

Geordnet
2013-06-08, 05:17 PM
It would help if you said which system you're thinking of, and asked on the appropriate subforum. :smalltongue:

Rhynn
2013-06-08, 05:40 PM
I guess D&D 3.X ...


What penalties are there for multi-classing? How many classes can you do with one character? Nale has 3 classes for example.

Have you tried reading the PHB? It's got the rules, and the answers.

Coidzor
2013-06-08, 05:46 PM
In 3.5 there are many spellcasting classes.

Usually the "Best" (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=658.0) are thought of as the Big 3/Big 5/Big 6.

Wizard, Sorcerer, Duskblade, Bard, Beguiler, Warmage, Dread Necromancer, Healer, Druid, Cleric, Adept, Death Master, Spirit Shaman, several PrCs that have their own casting progressions.

Then there's pseudo-casters like Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts.

Alternate casters such as the psionic classes: Psions, Wilders, Psychic Warriors, Lurks...

The Rose Dragon
2013-06-08, 05:53 PM
In True20, there is only one spellcasting class, the adept, so unless you use the custom class creation rules, it is by default the best casting class. There are no penalties for multi-classing, other than your spells growing slower, but you get better defenses and attack bonuses in return, as well as potentially more skills and more diverse feats.

The only other system I play that has something similar to classes is Legend of the Five Rings, which similarly has one kind of caster, but many clan-specific variations on it. Due to setting restrictions, multiclassing doesn't exactly exist, but you can later get courtier ranks, which is generally a bad choice for shugenja.

erikun
2013-06-09, 12:47 AM
Iron Kingdoms has six spellcasting classes: Arcane Mechanic, Arcanist, Gun Mage, Priest, Sorcerer, and Warcaster. I will admit, I haven't really played the system yet so I can't make a recommendation on one class over the others.

You get to choose two classes at the beginning of the game. You don't get any others (from what I've read) and so while there are no "multiclass penalities", that doesn't allow you to play all the spellcasting classes at once. The biggest hurdle in playing two spellcasters would be that both drain on the same fatigue pool, and so playing a Priest/Sorcerer still gives you the same limits of spellcasting as a normal Priest or Sorcerer mixed with a non-spellcaster does.

Kelb_Panthera
2013-06-09, 01:58 AM
Which spell caster class is the best and how many kinds are there?Best is tough to call but it's damned difficult to beat a wizard played to its full potential. As for how many there are; there are 15 classes that are dedicated spellcasters, not counting classes drawn from 3rd party sources or from subsytems that are similar to magic (17 if you count NPC classes).


I know of the sorceror, what else?To the best of my recollection: sorcerer, wizard, cleric, druid, wu-jen, shugenga, shaman, spirit shaman, archivist, dread necromancer, warmage, beguiler, mystic, artificer, and favored soul. There are also a number of classes that get only partial spellcasting.



What penalties are there for multi-classing? How many classes can you do with one character? Nale has 3 classes for example.

Thank you.

The rest of your answers are described in the classes section of the srd; found in convenient hypertext format here (http://www.d20srd.org).

Madfellow
2013-06-09, 09:48 AM
In the D&D 3.5 core rulebook there are 4 primary casters: wizard, sorcerer, cleric, and druid. These 4 are not only the best casters, they are the best classes overall because spellcasting in 3.5 is overpowered. The wizard is the best caster out of all of them, but the weakest physically. The other 3 make up for that with some physical ability.

There are also 3 secondary casters: bard, paladin, and ranger. These guys are hybrids, getting some spells and some physical power.

And then there are 4 non-casters: fighter, rogue, monk, and barbarian.

But that's just in the core rulebook. The supplements offer dozens of other classes to choose from, most of whom cast spells in some form or another. (:smallsigh:)

Multiclassing only confers a penalty if you put an uneven amount of training into them, for example, having 5 levels of wizard and only 1 of cleric as opposed to 3 of wizard and 3 of cleric. If one of your classes is the favored class of your race, then the penalty is mitigated. The penalty in question is a reduction in the amount of experience points you earn for completing tasks.

Theoretically there is no limit to the number of classes you are allowed to take.

And one last thing that may be relevant to your interest: In the DM's Guide there is a prestige class called the mystic theurge. If you can cast 2nd-level arcane and divine spells, you can start taking levels of mystic theurge (prestige classes don't confer an XP penalty at all) and gain the full spell progression of BOTH of your spellcasting classes for 10 levels (out of 20). In OOTS, Tsukiko was a mystic theurge.

WolvesbaneIII
2013-06-09, 11:09 AM
I'm reading about losing a "focus" What is that?

Is it better to mult-class? or is it better to have a focus? Or is it due to a personal choice of what scenario to use it in?

Eldan
2013-06-09, 11:24 AM
Focus? Probably not a rules term, at least not in D&D, though it is in a few others games.

What is probably meant is that you should try and concentrate your efforts into getting really good at one thing, instead of being semi-competent at many things.

Coidzor
2013-06-09, 11:28 AM
Specialization is for insects... and D&D characters.

Rhynn
2013-06-09, 12:38 PM
I'm reading about losing a "focus" What is that?

Is it better to mult-class? or is it better to have a focus? Or is it due to a personal choice of what scenario to use it in?

You might get better results if you actually communicated what you are reading and where.

Eldan
2013-06-09, 01:05 PM
Specialization is for insects... and D&D characters.

:smallconfused:

Why insects?

Rhynn
2013-06-09, 01:27 PM
:smallconfused:

Why insects?

It's a Robert Heinlein quote...

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

WolvesbaneIII
2013-06-09, 10:02 PM
The d&d wiki page that was linked in this thread mentioned that cross classed characters gain new skills while losing a focus.


Why would anyone not multiclass if theres no penalties aside from an xp loss?

Rhynn
2013-06-09, 10:08 PM
The d&d wiki page that was linked in this thread mentioned that cross classed characters gain new skills while losing a focus.

Can you quote the passage or link the page? That makes no sense to me. There is nothing just called "focus" (except for material components for some spells which are not expended, e.g. holy symbols) in D&D 3.X.


Why would anyone not multiclass if theres no penalties aside from an xp loss?

What do you mean by XP loss? The XP penalty for multiclassing and having a non-favored class be more than 1 level lower or higher than another class is a huge disincentive to multiclassing, to the degree that many DMs houserule it away.

Every time you level up in D&D 3.X, you choose what class to take a level in. You're not getting any particular advantage simply by multiclassing, although good combinations of levels in different classes can create powerful characters.

Madfellow
2013-06-09, 10:14 PM
The d&d wiki page that was linked in this thread mentioned that cross classed characters gain new skills while losing a focus.

Ah, there's the problem. D&D Wiki is a horribly unreliable site filled to the brim with unmarked homebrew material. That thing about focus could likely be someone's homebrew.

Rhynn
2013-06-09, 10:19 PM
Ah, there's the problem. D&D Wiki is a horribly unreliable site filled to the brim with unmarked homebrew material. That thing about focus could likely be someone's homebrew.

The only pages linked in this thread were the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/) and JaronK's Tier System (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=658.0). No DnDWiki.

erikun
2013-06-10, 12:39 AM
The d&d wiki page that was linked in this thread mentioned that cross classed characters gain new skills while losing a focus.


Why would anyone not multiclass if theres no penalties aside from an xp loss?
It sounds like you're talking about D&D3e.

Also, in this case, the character "losing focus" probably refers to what the character build is designed to do. For example, a wizard is designed to cast spells. Wizard 9 gains access to 5th-level wizard spells to cast. Multiclassing into Wizard 8/Cleric 1 means that you get 4th-level wizard and 1st-level cleric spells, but you're missing out on what you would be getting with those 5th-level spells.

You will also now need to focus on having a good Intelligence and Wisdom, to make both Wizard and Cleric spells useful, rather than just focusing on Intelligence if you were simply a Wizard 9.

This is what is meant by "losing focus" in the comment. Wizard 9 has better spells than Wizard 8/Cleric 1, and can spend more resources towards just getting better INT rather than both INT and WIS. It gets worse (in some cases) the more you multiclass: Wizard 5/Cleric 4 will have even worse spells and force an even larger split of focus between INT and WIS.


Please note that multiclassing doesn't always mean "losing focus". A lot of good character concepts take advantage of multiclassing or prestige classes to get abilities that a single class would not. Random multiclassing, or doing so without being familiar with the system, will more likely cause a character build to "lose focus" rather than gain it.

WolvesbaneIII
2013-06-10, 04:48 PM
Thanks erikun. Yhat answered my question.