Saga Balance Issues

[Goober4473]

I'm making a new class system based on Star Wars Saga Edition's talents, but I've found some issues that I'm not sure how to solve, based around multiclassing. The first issues are hit points and skills trained. 3x max on your hit die at first level means that taking your first level in a class with a high hit die, then your second in a class with a ton of trained skills is more effective than doing it the other way around, and skill-based classes are underpowered, because you need only one level of the class to get all the trained skills. I don't want to revert to skill points to solve this issue, but I may have to.

My other problem is that I'm making talents less like trees, and the requirements are based more on things like base saves and BAB. That way, if you're already a 16th level character, and you take a couple levels of another class, you're not getting only abilities meant for level 1 characters. Likewise, every talent should be useful throughout progression, and if it wouldn't be, it gets more powerful with character level, making all talents of a given class essentially equal. The issue here is that a character could take one level in each of the 10 available classes, gaining 10 talents, instead of the normal 5 talents, 5 bonus feats. The fix I thought of for this would be to reverse talents and bonus feats, making bonus feats be on odd levels, and talents on even, then giving all characters a bonus talent at firs character level, rather than class level. This fixes the abuse problem, but also makes taking just one level in a class beyond your first a weak choice, and I don't want weak choices like that.

What I need is a way to make all levels (besides your first character level) equal, regardless of how you multiclass. Any thoughts?

[Draz74]

Sounds a lot like issues I'm working through as I try to put together a system based on Generic Classes. But since I'm not intimately familiar with Saga rules, I don't have any specific suggestions to help you.

[TamerBill]

because you need only one level of the class to get all the trained skills.

What? No you don't. "When you select a new class, you do not gain any new trained skills". If you want to blow a ton of feats on Skill Training, great, but getting them free at level one sounds a whole lot better to me than a few more hit points.

[Mando Knight]

you need only one level of the class to get all the trained skills.

Like TamerBill said, you don't gain skills by multiclassing... you just open up new possibilities when your INT increases or you take Skill Training.

My other problem is that I'm making talents less like trees, and the requirements are based more on things like base saves and BAB. That way, if you're already a 16th level character, and you take a couple levels of another class, you're not getting only abilities meant for level 1 characters.

Uh... that's the point with multiclassing in general, that your new class's abilities are available to a 1st level character... see standard D&D, RCR Star Wars... it allows those who take a single class to be better than those who multi a lot...

Also, at level 16 a character is more likely to take Prestige classes anyway (or at least I would...), since all of the prestige classes seem to be massive improvements on the base class... (E. Trooper>Soldier, Jedi Master>Knight>Jedi...)

It's not a bad idea to take the 1st level in Soldier or Jedi anyway, given the feats and talents...

Talents are similar to feats--they don't scale to level, you have to take the next talent or feat on the tree to make it better. However, skimping on Bonus Feats through multiclassing is not a great idea... you'll need the feats to make the talents that you do get worthwhile...

[Jack Zander]

My homebrew system gives hit dice out to your character's race, not class. If that's an acceptable flavor for you, it solves the whole issue.