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Kiero
2007-11-15, 07:49 PM
Has anyone ever tried a party where every character stays at the class they began with? Where there's no multiclassing and no Prestige Classes either.

The Order of the Stick mostly conforms to this; Belkar's Barbarian level is a token really, and Elan only recently got his Prestige class. Rest of them though are all single-class.

I'm guessing most people wouldn't play it.

Lapak
2007-11-15, 07:51 PM
Has anyone ever tried a party where every character stays at the class they began with? Where there's no multiclassing and no Prestige Classes either.

The Order of the Stick mostly conforms to this; Belkar's Barbarian level is a token really, and Elan only recently got his Prestige class. Rest of them though are all single-class.

I'm guessing most people wouldn't play it.I don't know about 'most people', but the last three games I ran were all parties of single-class characters all the way through.

RTGoodman
2007-11-15, 07:54 PM
For the first year or two that I played D&D, my old group didn't do any multi-classing. Of course, we never played character higher than level 3 or so before we started whole new campaigns, so that's probably not a very good indicator.

WrstDmEvr
2007-11-15, 07:55 PM
Yes, we actually reached level 9 or 10, which was good considering we had a monk.

ReluctantReaper
2007-11-15, 07:57 PM
right now in my campaign there is a level 11 figher level 10 rogue level 10 barbarian level ten fighter/orc thing. and we have all stayed in our single class and its going good...half the world hates them but...that's because the rogue is evil as heck.

cupkeyk
2007-11-15, 07:59 PM
Last campaign, i was a wizard 5, Fatespinner 4, wayfarer's guide1, divine Oracle 10. I was the only person who PRC'ed out. The other guy was a monk and a druid. all twenty levels.

nerulean
2007-11-15, 08:15 PM
I'm guessing most people wouldn't play it.

Not everyone requires characters to be optimised to hell and back before they'd even consider picking up a d20.

ocato
2007-11-15, 08:17 PM
Heck, I'd play more than a few classes to 20 straight. PrCs and multiclassing aren't the end all be all of D&D my friend.

Crow
2007-11-15, 08:18 PM
Not everyone requires characters to be optimised to hell and back before they'd even consider picking up a d20.

True. The only person multi-classing in my group right now is a Bard5/Ranger2. Everyone else is single class...even the CW Samurai!

Gerrtt
2007-11-15, 08:44 PM
The first three campaigns me and my friends played were all like this. I personally have only multiclassed one time and that was a special case.

daggaz
2007-11-15, 08:47 PM
I like clerics, and with a cleric its easy to go all the way.

Temp
2007-11-15, 08:55 PM
If level adjustment doesn't count, most of my group now is straight-classed. If "Swift Ambusher" counts as a class of its own, I think I have the only multiclassed character. I think we've got a Druid, a Beguiler, a Duskblade, a Rogue/Scout archer and a Barbarian/Swordsage/Master of Many Forms/Warmind (think the Hulk).

greenknight
2007-11-15, 08:59 PM
I like clerics, and with a cleric its easy to go all the way.

Not if the Cleric took a Vow of Chastity. :smallcool:

No multiclassing is usually fine in low level games, and full spellcasters don't really need the boost multiclassing can give anyway. Pseudo-spellcasters (eg, most ToB classes) and partial casters might do ok, but the ones who will really hurt by not multiclassing are the non-casters. They're already weak compared to full casters at higher levels, so I'd say they should be allowed to multiclass. Preventing full spellcasters from multiclassing might be a good idea though.

Matthew
2007-11-15, 09:03 PM
Most of the time the parties I play with are Single Classed and too low level to worry about Prestige Classes.

JaxGaret
2007-11-15, 09:10 PM
Some people like to multiclass more than others. It's all personal preference.

Are you really going to tell the Bard5/Ranger2 that he can't have his character because you are worried about someone else pulling some multiclassing combo cheese?

My point is, you are going at this the entirely wrong way - the problem is with the *player* who overly multiclasses to achieve a power level incompatible with the rest of the party, not the multiclassing itself.

There is nothing, I repeat nothing wrong with multiclassing.

Yahzi
2007-11-16, 12:38 AM
I like clerics, and with a cleric its easy to go all the way.
Same here... I don't think I've ever made it through any campaign as anything other than a cleric.

And cleric's so good, why would you want to dilute it with anything else?

:smallbiggrin:

Icewalker
2007-11-16, 12:41 AM
I only played first edition for the first year of dnd.

Back then the only possible multi-classing was bards, who were these crazy fighter/rogue/magic-user multiclass which then became bards at like 10th level.

Oh 1st edition...

Doresain
2007-11-16, 01:09 AM
i very rarely multiclass...PrCs are another story...me and my group all play a bunch of jRPGs outside of DnD, so we usually stick to one class, then advance to a PrC that bumps up the capabilities of what we designed our characters to do...

Lady Tialait
2007-11-16, 01:21 AM
I have been DMing a game with some freinds for a few years now and I am always asking them if this level they will multiclass the whole party is epic..i mean in the 30s the winner of the milticlass contest is ...
Enigma NE Elf Cleric of Himself 20/Soulcrusher (a PrC we hammered out for him)10/ Sorc 1/ Wiler 1

He is pretty much useless at his secondary sorc and wilder stuff..but he just started them and is starting to like them very much.

Multiclassing wasn't really important to him till he had all his cleric levels the only one who used Multiclassing was our..spellcaster/psion

Psion (Telepath) 5/ Wizard (Enchanter, null Necro + Conj.) 5/Cerebromancer 22

He was the first to multiclass but teh most powerful in the party fromt he start was Enigma. who didnt take a single multi-class level till epics.

TheOOB
2007-11-16, 02:07 AM
I played in a campaign with no multiclassing once, then again it was a favored soul, a duskblade, a beguiler, and a swordsage, all classes that reward players for 1-20.

CatCameBack
2007-11-16, 02:33 AM
I'm guessing most people wouldn't play it.

I find the opposite. It's a major event in my games when someone goes PrC or multiclass. True, I do set a few roleplaying hoops to jump through for class change, but they aren't very high.

greenknight
2007-11-16, 02:38 AM
And cleric's so good, why would you want to dilute it with anything else?

Some people really like the Radiant Servant of Pelor PrC. Personally I like to add in 4 - 5 levels of Divine Oracle and then go with Contemplative, although that's more for an Arcane/Divine hybrid character.

Grynning
2007-11-16, 05:34 AM
Most games I play in end up with a little multi-classing, but my favorite campaign of all time was one where we all were epic characters (started at level 18) and we stuck with one class pretty much all the way. I was the only one who regretted it (I was the Fighter :smalltongue: )
In practice, I think most DM's place a few limits on multi-classing/PrC'ing to prevent cheese and dipping a lot in multiple PrC's (mainly because it often doesn't make sense story wise for a character to have several PrC's). The most common house-rule I've encountered goes something like "You can multi-class once or twice and take one (or two if they're only 3-5 levels) PrC's, that's it." I think this is a pretty good rule and have included it in the games I've ran. As always, a good DM/player relationship is the deciding factor in how much multi-classing works for the campaign, sometimes it's cool to have in a group, other times it's just annoying.

its_all_ogre
2007-11-16, 06:24 AM
i have 5 players only one is multiclassed, a barb/scout. they are all level 5. if i said no multiclassing they would not care.
i often multiclass when i play, but it depends heavily on dm stance on the mechanics of it and the setting.

Overlard
2007-11-16, 06:27 AM
I always tend to have one level of something other than my main class. I rarely use PrCs, but often will end up with a single level of rogue, fighter or a divine caster, whatever I make.

Closet_Skeleton
2007-11-16, 06:49 AM
I only really got to high levels in a game of d20 modern, which basically enforces multiclassing since all classes cap at 10 levels. The other high level games I was in had us start at high levels so it was easier for us to build characters into Prcs.

KillianHawkeye
2007-11-16, 07:19 AM
I usually end up playing front-line fighters, and I have no problem staying a single classed Fighter all the way. In those cases, I wouldn't multiclass without some kind of reason to do so, or if it made sense for the character (IC) to do so.

The main exception to that is my current character, an Aasimar Paladin of Bahamut. I went Paladin 8 and then took a level of Dragon Devotee (for the Charisma increase) on my way to Platinum Knight. My saving throws are rediculous. :smallsmile:

leperkhaun
2007-11-16, 07:55 AM
i tend to go the straight 20.

Shisumo
2007-11-16, 11:28 AM
At some point I'm going to run a campaign where the players are a duskblade, a warmage, a beguiler and a bard for the entire story arc, and I'm hoping it's going to be one of Paizo's Adventure Paths.

Frosty
2007-11-16, 11:45 AM
I stay in classes that are good all the way through 20 levels. Beguilers and Druids for example.

TimeWizard
2007-11-16, 11:55 AM
For casters multi-classing and PrC's are only for people who are bored with how their class works. Druid/Cleric/Sorc/Wiz/Psion/Wilder/etc.. 20 is a good bet. Have you noticed the ratio of caster PrC's to non-caster PrC's? Incredible.


Barbarian/Swordsage/Master of Many Forms/Warmind (think the Hulk).
How did you qualify for MoMF without Wildshape? Also, if you want to go for broke dip into Bear Warrior for some raging awesomeness. Hm, Barb/Frenzied Beserker/Bear Warrior... I think I smell my next character...

Keld Denar
2007-11-16, 11:58 AM
I happen to be very fond of my Rogue 3, Fighter 4, Barbarian 2, Occult Slayer 5, Exotic Weapon Master 1. Just because I need 18 sylables to say what he is, doesn't make him any less of a man. And yes, he is human, so Fighter is his favored class, and therefore no xp penalties.

Temp
2007-11-16, 12:12 PM
How did you qualify for MoMF without Wildshape? Also, if you want to go for broke dip into Bear Warrior for some raging awesomeness. Hm, Barb/Frenzied Beserker/Bear Warrior... I think I smell my next character...It's not exactly RAW, but I used the UA Wild Shape Ranger and Archery Barbarian variants:

Rage=>Favored Enemy and Archery Combat Style
Combat Style=> Wild Shape

...My character had no stats above 11, so the DM was pretty lenient.

Indon
2007-11-16, 12:30 PM
It used to be that I'd generally run straight characters, but recently I've played and considered a few different multiclassers; for one campaign, I've considered a character that took 1 level in 6 different classes (the campaign would be with a level 6-capped D&D ruleset called E6).

Tyger
2007-11-16, 12:35 PM
The majority of our groups stays single classed. In the one campaign, we have 5 characters, only two of which are multiclassed (a monk / psi-war and a wizard / MoAO) and in the other party, all five characters are single classed (beguiler, warmage, druid, psi-warrior and wizard).

We use (like I think many people do outside of the CO boards) the class that fits the RP. And in many cases, a single class just works for the RP.

Egill
2007-11-16, 11:03 PM
I would take 20 levels of druid, cleric, wizard, archivist, scout or factotum.

Scout and factotum simply because I like their concept.

SadisticFishing
2007-11-16, 11:04 PM
My current group, started yesterday, is fully single-classed - and if the Beguiler decides not to go magical Trickster, they'll all stay it. Mongrelfolk Barbarian, Warforged Artificier, Grey Elf Beguiler. +1.

Kantolin
2007-11-16, 11:07 PM
If the purpose is to keep game balance in check, I don't think limiting multiclassing will do it. Most multiclasses aren't particularly powerful, and they tend to smack around spellcasters.

If you're asking if I would do it, then sure. I play single-classed units occasionally. Normally, though, an idea I'd like requires a multiclass to fit the idea more ideally.

I mean, class power has little to do with that. If my Fighter learned the capability to track and do a few wilderness skills while he was in a slightly unusual military, that might be better represented by a Fighter/Ranger. Sure, it could be sort of done with a Fighter, but the multiclass makes things a little easier.

Temp
2007-11-16, 11:11 PM
I would only take a couple classes to 20th level... maybe a Druid, a Warblade, a Swordsage, a Beguiler, and maybe an Artificer.

The other classes have enough Prestige Class support or are front-loaded enough to make multiclassing/prestige classing obvious decisions.

mabriss lethe
2007-11-17, 01:01 AM
I prefer a minimum amount of multiclassing as both a player and a DM. Keeps the paperwork a lot more tidy for everyone.

As a DM I'm usually pretty lax on multiclassing if the character has a good reason story-wise. I treat PrC's as more or a rewards plan for good roleplaying. I still stick to the written prerequisites but will almost always add a requirement of my own. The simplest way (by no means the only way)to handle it is to require a willing teacher for the PrC. Characters that overly multiclass then find themselves at odds with former teachers and wracking up a long list of NPC adversaries (both jilted former teachers and their "loyal" students.)