favored class bonus ?

[Chidori]

hi quick question

for favored class ive heard that you gain +1hp or skill point per lvl in favored class is it true and where can i find this information in the book

[torrasque666]

Pathfinder. Pathfinder did away with Racial Favored Classes and instead you pick one at character creation. Then you get either +1 HP, +1 Skill point, or the racial FCB (if one at all)
EDIT: Pathfinder Core Rulebook p31

[Chidori]

is there a version of this in 3.5 or is it just houserule

[torrasque666]

is there a version of this in 3.5 or is it just houserule
no official version in 3.5. if it exists anywhere for a 3.5 game, its a houserule.

[Honest Tiefling]

In 3.0/3.5, you gain a penalty to experience equal to -20% for each class not within 1 level of your highest class, and favored class (usually determined by race) doesn't count. For instance, a Dwarven (favored class fighter) cleric 2/paladin 4/fighter 4 is going to get hit by one, because the clerics and paladin levels are not within 1 level of each other. The dwarven fighter 8/cleric 2/paladin 3 is however, fine. Prestige classes don't count either.

This rule is very harsh (as opposed to Pathfinder's version of some added goodies if you stay within your favored class), and is thusly, abandoned by many groups. I hope that explains why you hear 'Favored Class' in the 3rd edition material as well as the Pathfinder stuff.

[BowStreetRunner]

In 3.0/3.5, you gain a penalty to experience equal to -20% for each class not within 1 level of your highest class, and favored class (usually determined by race) doesn't count. ...This rule is very harsh (as opposed to Pathfinder's version of some added goodies if you stay within your favored class), and is thusly, abandoned by many groups. ...

Consider that a High Elf (Favored Class: Wizard) Fighter 1/Barbarian 1/Ranger 1/Warblade 1/Crusader 1/Sorcerer 3 has a 100% XP penalty and you will start to really understand why Pathfinder opted for their alternative system. In their system you choose your own favored class and can choose the 1 hit point or 1 skill point at each level. In addition, if your chosen favored class is also a racial favored class there will be a third option available - like for a dwarven fighter there is a bonus to their defense against trip and bull rush attacks that they can take instead of the HP or SP.

Personally, I prefer the PF version and would house-rule it in any 3.5 game I run.

[Eldariel]

Consider that a High Elf (Favored Class: Wizard) Fighter 1/Barbarian 1/Ranger 1/Warblade 1/Crusader 1/Sorcerer 3 has a 100% XP penalty and you will start to really understand why Pathfinder opted for their alternative system.

I think the more poignant point is that same character with only 2 levels in Sorcerer (one level could even be in Cleric or whatever) would have absolutely no penalties. The system was originally devised to penalise excessive multiclassing particularly in demi-humans but:
1) It's easy to multiclass in a way that does not incur XP costs. It does not really limit most of the strong builds.

2) Multiclass casters are already penalised; the strongest characters in this game are basically all completely composed of base class and prestige class levels. Thus it further penalises the already weaker parties.

3) Martial characters benefit the most of base class multiclassing. However, they have little interest in taking lots of levels in any given class since martial classes fail to give anything interesting on higher levels so they rarely apply and when they do, those types are generally the worst off anyways.

4) Humans are basically just the strongest race anyways; they really don't need extra help in Favored Class: Any.

5) Fluff-wise, it serves the idea that a character is merely a combination of their classes instead of an actual person with an eclectic set of skills. Multiclassing (where it works) allows picking what you want your character to be able to do instead of few select containers as options. The edition provides very well for this with its wealth of classes; multiclass penalties fly in the face of what the edition actually provides the players with.

6) I touched upon it already but prestige classes are unaffected. And it's good that way. But it also removes any kind of inhibitive features the rule was supposed to have as unlike with baseclass multiclassing, prestige classes often improve the base classes you take them from and thus directly improve the character, while base class multiclassing generally weakens it.


In short, the strongest in the game are unaffected by Favored Class rules while they restricts many weaker builds people might have fun with. They also don't affect the majority of the classes (PRCs) in the game nor do they serve the kind of character creation the system itself provides tools for. And they are rather arbitrary: number of different classes doesn't really matter as long as you stick to the 2 levels of separation. And when the penalties do apply, they grind the character progression down to a halt.

The system doesn't serve its purpose nor any other purpose really other than trampling upon the weakest. Thus I'm really happy basically nobody uses it.