[Axel]

There's a difference between levels and experience. I award experience immediately to save myself the trouble of doing it later. Levels I require a minimum training time in a place of safety. The idea was to decrease rollplaying by no longer allowing arbitrary decisions when a level is gained but rather by having the decision made as they play. Splitting experience is no more difficult at the end of an adventure, you must still keep notes on what they did and therefore which class deserves the experience.

[Shadow_Wolf]

so if a ranger/thief were to move silently whitch class would get the XP? the skill is a class skill for both classes. to me your system sounds alot like Min/Maxing to get the best scores. if the players are truely role playing then multi classing is not an arbitry dision made on the fly but a part of the game that develops well before the character "takes" the extra class.

if you feel the need to controll the players every action that is your choice. i trust my players and let them decide there characters choices. the final diction however is always up to me and so far noone has given me reason to overrule any class choice

[Dusk]

Shadow_Wolf, on Jun 29 2004, 03:57 AM, said:

I trust my players and let them decide there characters choices. the final diction however is always up to me and so far noone has given me reason to overrule any class choice

Yes, but remember you're also blessed with a group that isn't likely to make the sort of arbitrary decision that presents a problem with the multiclassing concept. Frex, Saardez taking a level in fighter (I think that's what he's done, right?) It wasn't an attempt to metagame, Saardez had for years, both game time & real time, displayed leanings toward a second career as a fighter; he displayed a curiosity about warrior ways, and (all too often) did a lot of headlong charging more appropriate to a fighter than a rogue. If, on the other hand, I tried to have Dusk take a level in fighter - or pretty much any class that wasn't "sneaky", that'd be totally inappropriate, given that he's never displayed any interest in being anything other than a thief, at least class-wise (There's no such class as "aspiring merchant prince", is there? If there is, we need to talk ).

Problem is, there are too many players who are tempted to take classes for no solid reason. It's not even necessarily a case of people trying to min-max, or GMs trying to assert excessive control over the characters, it's just the players in question not putting enough thought into their characters.

Actually, the 3rd ed system of multiclassing is one of the few things I actually like about d20. It allows for a better sense of achievement, without letting things get "out of hand".

Ultimately if there is a flaw with the system, it has more to do with the people playing it than anything else.

[Axel]

So you think a fighter/mage who has gained most of his experience through bashing heads rather than studying spells should be allowed to take a level of mage because the player wants to avoid the penalty for a level difference? At the very least I would record which class earned his experience on my character card even if I wasn't using it in an official capacity I could determine which class deserved to level up. And I would require a character declare his intention to multiclass the level before he took the new class.

Oh, and if the experience seems to apply to more than one class I'd give half of it to each.

[blacxthornE]

I don't believe he suggested that. There seems to be a misunderstanding in the concept of "roleplay". Dusk clearly pointed out that there were tendencies to multiclassing in roleplaying before the actual rolls for the new class begins. How is the fighter/mage example you've given relevant?

[Axel]

It's the main flaw with the current system as I see it. It serves as the introduction to the suggestion that followed.

[blacxthornE]

Sorry then - I thought it was a comment about Dusk's post.