One thing I think is kinda cool about AD&D is human dual classing. You start out as one class, but switch to another. I like it better in concept than demihuman multiclassing. Of course, Gary was never one to allow cool stuff like that to be easy, so AD&D is full of fiddly limitations about ability scores and how you can't rely on your old class powers if you want to gain XP in the new class, etc. Frank Mentzer's Master Set introduces the idea for one of the paths to immortality (the Polymath) but gives no rules on how to make it work.
And I'm playing Final Fantasy III (for the first time ever) on my phone NES emulator, which involves switching classes any time it's convenient, so class switching is on my mind.
A while back I made a streamlined multiclass system for TSR, where I just totaled XP from both classes into one progression chart, instead of the division needed by AD&D's system.
But now I'm thinking of scrapping that idea and going with a modified dual class system for all races in the game. At the moment (I just came up with this idea this morning, so I still need to consider ramifications) I'm thinking it would work like this:
Start as Class A.
When you gain enough XP to attain 4th level in that class, you can instead choose to dual class.
If you dual class, you retain all previous class abilities, but start out in the new class with 0 XP (keep the old XP total noted, though). You immediately gain the abilities of a 1st level PC in the new class, except you must roll for 1st level hit points (my house rule is max at 1st level).
From now on, you progress as your new class. You can freely use abilities from the old class without XP reductions. You can only dual class once.
Energy drain attacks reduce your highest level first, so you may lose levels in your original class if drained soon after the switch. If your levels are tied, the original class gets drained first.
Example:
Rodrick the Cleric adventures until he's 3rd level. When he finally earns 6000+ XP, he can choose to become a 4th level Cleric, or he could dual class.
If he dual classes into Fighter, he has 2 1st and 1 2nd level cleric spell and can Turn Undead up to wraiths. He can also now use any weapon and gains 1d10+Con modifier hit points (yeah, I use AD&D hit die types). He uses Cleric saves for all categories but Dragon Breath, which is slightly better as a 1st level Fighter (in BX/BECMI, anyway). He gains the Dodge ability of Fighters (once per day, reduce damage from a melee or ranged weapon attack to 0). From now on, he can only progress as a Fighter.
I think this allows for a bit of flavor, won't be overpowering (you can't get 4th level spells then decide to be a fighter, for example, or be starting your new career as a 1st level magic-user with 58 hit points), and a lot less bookkeeping than AD&D dual classing or most rules for multiclassing. Also, at high level, the dual classer won't be so far behind others in their active class.
Can one gain back drained levels in the original class except by means of spell?
ReplyDeleteGood question. I would say yes, with the Restoration spell as long as at least 1 level remains. If all are gone, a wish would be needed to restore them. But that's my gut reaction answer. Upon reflection, I might change my mind and allow Restoration to work regardless.
DeleteI've actually gone the other way on dual classing...I'm not a fan. And that's because I feel it takes years of study/pursuit to learn even the basic (1st level) skills of a particular class.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I'm only allowing "dual classed" humans in a kind of retroactive fashion: a player who says they want to dual class are basically saying:
A) I was once trained in this other (new) class before I began my training career in the current class.
B) I have decided at this point that I no longer want to be this current class and want to return to my "original" training.
At which point I add seven years to the character's age to represent their prior (and..till now...unknown / undiscovered) work and study.
That's the only way it works for me...I just can't abide someone saying "hey, now I'm a wizard" (or whatever) on a whim.
Of course, this new take required me to finally break down and rewrite the bard class...
Interesting. For whatever reason, if I were playing AD&D, I'd be okay with dual-classing not being so onerous (including allowing sub-types to dual — I don't mind dual-classed paladins, rangers, assassins, druids, illusionists, or even monks and bards — so long as you don't see nonsensical combinations within the same class, like thief/assassin or mage/illusionist — and also with dual-class characters having three or more classes if they've got the stats for it, as 2e explicitly allows).
ReplyDeleteBut since I run with a BXCMI base, where dual-classing isn't even a thing, I put restrictions on it that are much tighter even than AD&D or the sparsely sketched LBB version. To wit: I run dual-classing mostly like AD&D, but with the OD&D stricture against combining mage and cleric in place; stat reqs of 17+ in all primes (contra 16+ in all primes from OD&D or 15+ and 17+ from AD&D); an added level requirement that the character be 5th–8th level in their first class when they dual, along with commensurate training times and costs when the event takes place; and two restrictions that I'd never put into place if I were running AD&D, namely a limit on only one extra class, and a requirement that any character belonging to a powerful sub-class (like paladin or assassin) who dual-classes reverts to the base class (like fighter or thief) when they do so.
This winds up limiting the possible dual-class combos in my game to fighter/thief, fighter/caster, thief/caster (and vice versa on all of those), with the character needing scores of 17+ in at least two relevant areas (or three in the case of a fighter or thief dual-classing with psionicist)