Multiclass
You know what’s awesome? Drizzt Do’Urden, that’s what. Sure he’s got those dreamy lavender eyes, but everyone’s favorite dark elf is more than a pretty face. The dude’s also got some sick scimitars, a badass black panther companion, and enough clones to populate a Star Wars prequel. Since his first appearance in The Crystal Shard back in 1988, there have been innumerable iterations of the character, along with the attendant debates about what class he ought to be. Well I think he’s more of a fighter. Well I think he’s a ranger. But you know what? I think he’s a floor wax, and a dessert topping. That’s why of all the many, many incarnations of Drizzt, my favorite is this one from 3e. Check out that character sheet. Go on and look at it. Just bask in its glory. That’s multiclassing at the service of character.
As I’m sure you all know, Drizzt spent his early years training in Melee-Magthere (offering the fighter levels), descended into primitivism while surviving in the Underdark as the “Hunter” (which explains the barbarian level), and found new faith on the surface as a servant of Mielikki (the goddess of rangers). It’s a fairly powerful build, but the level split of Fighter 10/Barbarian 1/Ranger 5 reflects the personality and history of the character. When mechanics reflect character, it’s easier to represent them at the table. The actions you take and the abilities you use are a constant reinforcement of personality. Or at least they should be. Looking at you, Fighter.
How about you kids? Do you multiclass for raw mechanical power, for character reasons, or do you try to combine the two?
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Aah, multiclassing, one of the most torturous things one could experience… I’ve always reveled in the thought of being able to both be a martial character and an effective combat spellcaster… Sadly it’s not an easy thing to pull off.
I’ve got a repertoire of characters, each with their own preferred style of combat, and a single element of magic they use.
A templar who uses wind magic, granting him flight and heightened agility, an assassin who uses shadow magics to get the upper hand on her foes for a swift kill, or an artificer who uses earth magics to provide him with the metals and crystals he needs for his creations.
Nothing is easy, I know that much. Sometimes I think my own mind just goes a bit too far in concept, resulting in things that just simply cannot be done without making some major sacrifice.
You’re a Pathfinder guy, right? Have you heard of this silliness?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/4q1yi0/turn_your_fighter_into_a_caster_by_using_advanced/
I can’t say I had something like this in mind…. The things people come up with.
Though, I had full spellcasting capability in mind with my characters, so the pseudowizard idea isn’t what I’m looking for. Still interesting, nonetheless.
While I haven’t taken a look through each and every class, I suppose the Eldritch Knight would be somewhat close to what I want for a couple characters. A 5th level sorcerer/1st level Fighter would be able to pick this up no problem, though I see things as how to do such things without taking a prestige class.
Our party has had a strange amount of luck splashing a Bard level or two into various other classes, offering a smattering of useful 1st level spells, not too much a drop in fighting capabilities, and AMAZING skill bonuses. Seriously, Pathfinder bards have pretty much every skill as a class skill.
So what are the bard mashups in your party? Does the multiclass fit all of them equally well?
Bard/barbarian. It has all the advantages of a bard, with the HP boost of a d12, competent attack bonus, and combat boost of rage, turning them into a competent secondary combatant.
Would recommend.
I seem to recall you recommending this combo way back here:
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/identity-crisis
You’ve got me curious now. Mechanics aside, what was this guy’s musical talent? Was he angry about classical music? Pissed off at his tambourine? Did he play his opponents like a percussion instrument? In other words, how did you justify the multiclass from a story perspective?
Oh man… I can imagine a bard barb combo. Drums… As he rears his rage, the drumming becomes intense. With a primal scream of fury, he charges his quarry, his heartbeat filling his ears is the drum fueling his rage now. That would be awesome….
He’s filled with rage at the memory of being forced to play a triangle in bard camp.
I’m the kind of guy that can flavor pretty much any mechanics as anything that suits me, so if I multiclass it’s usually purely for the mechanics. That said, sometimes I will build the character concept wholly around the mechanics.
For example I have this 5e character build I have dubbed the skill monkey which would eventually have training in literally every skill and expertise in a sizable number. It involves being a rogue, cleric, bard, and a mystic. Flavor wise this insanity is justified as a character who is focused and being the best they can be and wanting to be as knowledgeable as possible. Any proper god of knowledge would surely appreciate the dedication to such a cause and expanding your mind in such a way is enough to justify some psychic powers and bards are all about the tales and musical mastery and that’s right there too. Rogue doesn’t really need any justification since half their flavor basically already is “guys who use their skills to overcome challenges”.
Now here’s a question. Was the impetus for this character “I want proficiency in every skill,” or was it the bit about “character who receives gifts from the gods for his diligence in seeking knowledge?”
The former. Occasionally I’ll just look at the available material and think “what kinds of builds or characters haven’t I tried to do yet that I see I could maybe do?” That time it came out as a mechanics based thing.
I realized too late that the better scroll-over would have been, “Is Paladin gonna have to choke a bitch?”
My craziest multi-class madness? (archetypes in brackets)
Investigator 7(steel hound)/Fighter 3(trench)/Alchemist 1(internal/vivisectionist)/Inquisitor 6(infiltrator/preacher/persistence)
I rand out of stuff that could help a gun user in investigator, so started taking levels in anything that had some synergy. Hilariously it worked too well and ended up OP, but also in character as a man that would use anything he could get his hands on to protect and serve (he was a watchman)
Do I detect a hint of Sam Vimes in there?
I haven’t done this yet, but in 5e, I wanna multiclass a Warlock with a Paladin. Take just enough Paladin levels to get the mount & choose my Oath (Vengeance), & start concentrating on warlock. Fiend pct with the Blade deal. Why? Because I wanna play Ghost Rider! In Pathfinder, you can do it via a Graveknight (link here: http://www.infobarrel.com/How_to_Build_Ghost_Rider_in_The_Pathfinder_RPG).
I think you should build the Pathfinder version that you linked. Just play it in 5e. See how long it takes for the group to notice.
It’s become something of a running joke in my group that all of my characters “started training at a Shao Lin monastery until they realized the lessons were too expensive”, since about half of the characters I play have at least a level or two of Monk. I just really like the Monk class. Monk/Investigator, Monk/Oracle, Monk/Paladin, Monk/Druid…
Stunning fist is a solid pickup. My favorite monk dip was for a half-giant grappler. I ran Martial Artist for alignment reasons, but otherwise it was all Brutal Pugilist barbarian. A favorable reading on the powerful build racial ability combined with a healthy dose of rapid grappler + strength surge rage power meant that you could body bludgeon a surprisingly large array of enemies. It was dumb and niche and I loved it.
The problem is that Drizzt’s 3e build is objectively awful. A frontliner with Str 13 and Dex 20 dual-wielding non-finesseable weapons? He’d be hard-pressed to hold his own against any reasonably-optimized character many levels below him. It’s a good thing he tends to pick on low-level goblins, orcs, and pirates, because anything close to his 18 ECL would wreck him. Now, he does suffer from the fact that his build was designed early in 3e’s lifecycle, and he could definitely benefit from some splatbook enhancement. I’d sub most of his Fighter levels out for Warblade specializing in Tiger Claw maneuvers, give him a level of Dervish (which lets him use Weapon Finesse with scimitars), make him a Whirling Frenzy Barbarian (which basically allows him to flurry of blows while raging), and trade out his Ranger spellcasting for some bonus feats. This build keeps to the character’s story while allowing him to be mechanically effective at his role. Arguably moreso than the official build, because much ado is made of his “peerless” fighting skill in the books, whereas the only reason the 3e build can fight its way out of a wet paper bag is because it’s level 16.
Personally, I do a mixture of both building for concept and for power. I’ve rejected classes for straying too far from the character’s concept, even if there’s a significant mechanical power boost in taking it. I also dislike “dipping” – the process of taking a few levels in a class just for an ability that comes early in the class’s lifecycle – unless it’s absolutely necessary or otherwise fits with the character. I have taken classes, feats, spells, etc, purely for the mechanical boost they give, however; I usually try to role-play the choice when I do, though. For example, a several of my characters have taken Knowledge Devotion for its combat benefits, but I usually role-play them as warrior-scholars (or sometimes scholars who just happened to pick up a sword and find out that they’re good at it) as interested in the acquisition of knowledge as they are in killing monsters and taking their stuff.
Basically, I have allowed role-playing to influence a character’s mechanics, and mechanics to inform a character’s role-playing.
I love watching the feedback loop between character and mechanics. For example:
“OK. I want to play an occultist. He needs special objects to focus his powers. What if one of them was a weapon? Cool, I’ll go with transmutation and choose… What haven’t I used before? Bardiche looks cool. Maybe he can be a traveling executioner. Cool! So with all those dead people in his past, he probably has some ties to necromancy. Maybe this ‘necromantic servant’ power calls upon the spirits of the people he’s beheaded? Neat! OK then, what kind of object do you need for necromancy? This ‘ferryman’s slug’ sacred implement sounds interesting. How did my guy meet the boatman on the river of death then…?”
That’s the most fun for me, watching rules cascade into story and back into rules again.
As I’ve stated before: some combo of Druid/Monk/Ranger is pretty good.
I like the monk aspect of the pair. Druid/Ranger always struck me as a little redundant, you know? When you replace one or the other with the monk though, that variation on “reclusive dude in the woods” begins to make a lot more sense.
I’ve only multiclassed when necessary for the feel of the character. For example, a level into Alchemist because Throw Anything felt right for an Investigator who is spending all of his money on Alchemical Equipment. That, and the feat I really wanted was locked behind an outdated “Alchemist and Poisoner Rogue Only” clause, so my Investigator wasn’t technically allowed to take it without the multiclass.
Also thinking of Multiclassing my Druid level 1 so I can get an Animal Companion at the beginning of the character growth as opposed to in the middle. Retraining only costs 5 PP instead of 7 PP because Cleric and Druid are “compatible” with each other.
I think the only truly outrageous multiclass stunt I preformed was a Fighter/Bloodrager/Witch combo. But when you’re creating a character concept centered around the Mauler Familiar, isn’t your “character” just an NPC for the familiar? (I made it in memory of my cat… I miss Kirara… v_v)
Ever look at the occultist for the familiar build? Souldbound Puppet is a spicy little number:
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/occult-adventures/occult-classes/occultist/occultist-implements/
Grab wood shape and a few ranks in Craft (carpentry) and you’ve got every familiar in the game. 😀