Multi-Classing and Single-Classing and the PFS Compression Factor..


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1/5 5/5

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Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

This is simply an observation I've come across in my play, it could just be a regional thing, or just luck of the draw...

What I've noticed is that in PFS play, there tends to be a *lot* of 'dipping' classes.

Is this a response to the fact that PFS play is generally contained within 12 levels rather than 20, so building with an 'endzone' of L12 encourages 'branching out' to maximize efficiency?

I have several characters that have one class, but it feels sort of weird sitting at tables with 'bardbarians' and 'oradins', etc?

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an indictment of the 'dipping' practice, but simply trying to find out if this perception is the reality, or if the numbers are just skewed on what I encounter.

Thank you very much for your time in advance.

4/5 ****

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I try not to look under the hood of my neighbors too much, helps my immersion to think of them as characters rather than stat blocks.

In a totally unscientific anecdotal way, here are my characters in case that's helpful to you:

Fighter 4, Rogue 1, Ranger 3, Shadowdancer 7
Cleric 16
Druid 12
Barbarian 2, Ranger 4, Living Monolith 7
Wizard 12
Farak, the Most Powerful Mage in All Absalom 17
Alchemist 10
Oracle 10
Sorcerer 10
Wizard 1, Cleric 2, Mystic Theurge 4
Cleric 1, Paladin 2, Monk 3, Champion of Irori 3
Cleric 8, Diabolist 1
Arcanist 6
Slayer 6, Horizon Walker 1
Bard 7
Figher 11
Fighter 2, Oracle 4
Summoner 4
Warpriest 3 [DEAD] Eaten by a Leucrotta
Bloodrager 4
??? Aasimar 2
??? Tiefling 1
Unchained Barbarian 3
Witch 3
Unchained Rogue 1

My CORE characters are:
Paladin 1 [DEAD] Touched by a wight.
Cleric 3 [DEAD] Killed by a lvl 13 Magus
Paladin 1 [DEAD] Pounced on by a fungal crawler
Bard 4
Paladin 3
Monk 1
Paladin 2, Sorcerer 1

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

Multi-classing usually is only beneficial to martial classes. Casters always loose out on a level of spellcasting, which is always a loss of power.

Dipping for martials, especially if you don't loose any BAB can actually be more powerful depending on what you want to do. It can give you feat access earlier (dipping a lvl of monk is very good for this), resulting in a overall more powerful build.

You also need to multi-class for access to prestige classes, because you otherwise cant meet the prerequisites.

The Oradin you mention is a combo of class features that makes one of the most powerfull healing build possible (lifelink/lay on hands combo).

And sometimes, people multiclass because they can. I have a ninja4/palladin2. Its insane on the saving throws, and smite evil backstab with a greatsword is hilarious.

3/5

I do not like to define my characters as their class. A class is a set of abilities. So what abilities do I want my character to train in.

The pathfinder game system often gives huge rewards at level 1. This makes dipping advantageous in many cases.

4 of my 18 characters do not have dips. Some classes are hurt more than others by dips. I believe the newer classes generally have less advantages to dip as they adjust the abilities to scale with that class levels more.

3/5

Tineke Bolleman wrote:
Multi-classing usually is only beneficial to martial classes. Casters always loose out on a level of spellcasting, which is always a loss of power.

I disagree strongly with this. There are many ways that make casters much more powerful with dipping.

I have mostly casters and only 2 of them are not dipped.

Scarab Sages 4/5 5/5 ***

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One important question is what you aim for, do you want to build a fighter or powerful spellcaster or do you aim for an allround adventurer. PFS rewards versatility and there multiclass wins out. Grant a bard or investigator one level of brawler and his allround capabilities grow emensely.
Give a Fighter one level of bard and suddenly he can partake on all these skillchecks and can use a lot of wands and scrolls. Add a level or two rogue to a ranger and suddenly he is good against traps, too. And if you have a dex build you win double.
I for one love variants of 4 levels of bard types + X, besides a lot of good skills and some useful utility spells along the use of spellcompleton items you get up to two hours of heroism (+2Caster level from trait + ext. metamagic rod-lesser)with a single spell. In PFS priceless :)

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

Every one of my PFS characters is single class. The only one I'm tempted to multiclass is my gunslinger 6 (even tempted to retrain that last level) but I'm not sure where to go with him yet.

Of my local group of players, only one really multiclasses to any significant degree; they're also the player with most PFS experience (and rules knowledge).

5/5 *** Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht

Finlanderboy wrote:
Tineke Bolleman wrote:
Multi-classing usually is only beneficial to martial classes. Casters always loose out on a level of spellcasting, which is always a loss of power.

I disagree strongly with this. There are many ways that make casters much more powerful with dipping.

I have mostly casters and only 2 of them are not dipped.

There are exceptions, but generally, losing out on spell level is losing out on power. Say I make a Wizard/Cleric. Both have the same spell progression. At level 6, if you distribute evenly, you have two classes with second-level spells. If you go full in one of those classes, you have access to third-level spells. You're still stuck casting not-that-great support spells like Resist Energy and the like, or mediocre offensive spells such as Flaming Sphere, while most of the really cool spells start at spell level 3, such as Fireball, Haste, and so on. You might be winning on versatility, but I'd say losing those spell levels also means a loss of raw spell power.

EDIT: Just noticed you specifically mentioned dipping. I see the merit of one or two levels in something else for more utility and more class features, but I'm still not sure if that's worth giving up your higher spell slots for. You're probably stuck with first-level spells, so the most utility you'll get is Grease, Channel Energy, and so on. Although I have seen a Sorcerer with one level Oracle dip purely for Misfortune, that's definitely worth it.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Pathfinder actually penalizes dipping far more than some previous systems did. That said some people enjoy finding the combos of classes that do work well together and for some concepts it does work incredibly well. I generally prefer staying in a single class, but not always. There are also some dips that work well instead of picking up a number of feats - such as fighter if you are feat starved and want Heavy Armor, Gunslinger if you want a gun, Paladin (2 levels) for CHA saves.

For comparison sake my characters
1 - Fighter 13.2
2 - Swashbuckler - 9.2
3 - Unchained Monk 5/Unchained Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4 (9.1 total)
4 - Paladin 8/Oracle 4
5 - Sorcerer (tattooed) 9/Cyphermage 2 (11.1 total)
6 - Warpriest - 6.1
7 - Alchemist - 4.1
8 - Cleric - 5.2
9 - CORE GM BLOB
10 - Druid (Naga Aspirant) - 3.0
11 - Paladin (Divine Hunter) 2/Fighter (Archer 1) - likely headed to (Paladin 3/Fighter 2/ Evangelist 6)
12 - GM Blob
13 - Fighter 1/Ranger (Witchguard/Infiltrator) 1 - (honestly wanted the extra feat)
14 - GM Blob

5/5 *****

Finlanderboy wrote:

I disagree strongly with this. There are many ways that make casters much more powerful with dipping.

I have mostly casters and only 2 of them are not dipped.

There are very few things worth giving up caster levels and earlier access to new levels of spells, at least if you see casting as your primary role. If you are trying to do some sort of gish it might be worth it.

I have about 18 characters at the moment, of the actual characters as opposed to blobs of GM credit I have:

NORMAL

Sorcerer 18
Oracle 16
Oracle 14
Wizard 12
Sorcerer 11
Arcanist 9
Witch 9
Oracle 9
Cleric 8
Oracle 6
Summoner 5

CORE

Druid 9
Sorcerer 5
Wizard 2

The only one who has multiclassed at all is my Wizard 12 who is actually Wizard5/Bloatmage7.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***

Of my 30+ characters, only 8 are currently multiclassed. 2 of those are Prestige Classes, and 1 is a retraining mess.

Of the 5 purposefully multiclassed characters, my...

• Fighter wanted to one-hand his Greatsword, so he dipped 2 levels of Titan Mauler.
• Gunslinger was originally multiclassed with Paladin for theme, and retrained Paladin to Fighter for IC reasons.
• Ranger wanted face skills and a better relationship with snakes, so he dipped 1 level of Animal Speaker Bard.
• Savage Technologist wanted Deeds, Grit, Gunsmithing, and a Firearm, so he dipped 1 level of Gunslinger
• CORE Druid wanted proficiency in heavy armor and lance, and Mounted Combat feats, so he dipped 1 level of Fighter.

I use PFS to try out new things and to learn how new classes function, so I generally want my characters to be as single-classed as possible.

I guess the multiclassing I've done thus far is half for theme, and half for mechanics.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

SINGLE CLASSED:


  • Life Oracle 16: Once you start getting good spells, you don't want to dip out and slow it down.

  • Kineticist 9: Has one job: shoot things. Dipping out lowers kinetic blast damage and abilities that boost it.

  • Shaman 7: Same as Oracle--spell progression.

  • TWF STR Slayer 4: No compelling reason to dip out as this hybrid class perfectly captures the combat rogue build

  • Summoner 5: Single-classed because, y'know, Eidolon

  • Mesmerist 4: Caster/debuff focused, so no dipping.

  • Dirty Trick Reach Untamed Rager Barbarian 2: Remaining single-classed for delicious rage powers.

MULTI-CLASSED:

  • Tetori Monk 9/Brutal Pugilist Barbarian 7: Multi-classed for RP reasons. Oh, the tempting days of season 4...

  • Ranger 6/Horizon Walker 3/Fighter 3: Teleporting melee martial build that I kind of stumbled into about halfway through its life.

  • Zen Archer Monk 9/Inquisitor 2: WIS-synergy build before the FAQ on ability-stacking. I still have a scenario or 2 left on this character, so I'd probably just retrain to pure ZAM before dusting him off again.

  • Wizard 3/Cleric 1/Mystic Theurge 2: Pre-SLA FAQ rollback when you could use SLAs to qualify, making MT a viable choice.

  • Reach Paladin 4: Considering going into Sentinel Prestige class for fun because while a pure Pally is effective, having a slightly mechanical different take would be interesting.

  • (CORE) Reach Barbarian 3 / Fighter 1: Will go Barb 6/Fight 2 and then possibly retrain gradually to pure Barb. Fighter levels in Core are only for the feats so tripping comes online and progresses at a satisfactory pace.

NON-PFS CHARACTERS BUILT USING PFS-RULES


  • Archer Bard 11

  • Ninja 10

  • Arcane Bloodrager 8

  • Shaman 7

  • Reach Cleric 3

4/5 5/55/55/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Minnesota—Minneapolis

I never pay any attention to the level 20 capstone ability, even in home games. It is extremely rare for any character to make it there.

I generally multi-class for an ability that I feel the character should have. My bloodrager/skald did it for the bonus to Will save and class skills. It allowed for a more educated warrior.

The example of an Oradin (Paladin/Oracle) is an extremely powerful battle healer. The life-link and swift action lay-on-hands is great. You have two classes that have good ways to take advantage of the high charisma. The main thing to do is decide which class you are going to build after Paladin 2 / Oracle 4.

For characters that are mostly spell casters (arcanists, cleric, druid, oracle, sorcerer, wizard, witch) you lose a lot by multi-classing. Most of your power comes from that next level of spell and there is no way to make that up. If my character is mostly about spellcasting, I avoid multi classing.

Dark Archive 1/5

I tend to favor single class characters. But then again IMO multiclassing got penalized a lot starting with 3rd edition. I use to multi-class regularly in 2nd edit AD&D. Half elf fighter/mage was my favorite one.

The Exchange 3/5

If staying a single class was effective I would do it. So far this has been the case only for one of my characters (it use to be one more before retraining).

I have:

Psychic/Sor
Wizard/Sor
Wizard/Eldritch Knight/Arcane Archer
Wizard/Bloatmage
Wizard/Bloatmage/Pathfinder Savant
Druid/Balanced Scale of Abadar
Paladin/Oracle/Holy Vindicator

Wizard/Veiled Illusionist (hasn't taken prestige class yet.)

and an Oracle.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

I've got 16 characters over level one. 15 of them are multi-classed (the last will be next level) There's just too many good synergies to pass up.

Dervish Dancer Bard/Urban Barbarian/Mutagen Mauler/Ranger - I'm a dex fighter who drinks mutagen for more dex and rages for more dex. And has ranger to pick up power attack without needing strength.

Musket Master/Inquisitor - I add Bane and some key spells to do obscene damage in a single shot.

Sorcerer 9/Oracle/Witch (winter) - Blasty caster. Yes, I stifled my spells a bit, but sorcerer makes every energy spell cold, oracle make every cold spell also Slow+stagger for free, and witch makes my DC go up.

My sneak attacker is level 7, and has 5d8 dice for sneak attacks (and greater invisibility), because 4 of those levels are in classes that get sneak attack at level 1, instead of waiting for dead levels with no sneak in rogue (he did take more rogue to get sneak on charge though)

My biggest multiclasser is my "samurai" - he was made as an experiment that he could not take more than one level in any class. He just hit level 10. He was amazing at levels 7 & 8, but is now falling behind the damage curve. Barbarian (urban)/ Magus (Card Caster, Kensai)/ Samurai (Sword Saint)/ Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade)/ Bloodrager (Steelblood)/ Gunslinger (Bolt Ace, Gun Tank)/ Fighter (Lore Warden)/ Occultist (Battle Host)/ Cleric (Varisian Pilgrim)/ Wizard (--). Last will be Brawler (Exemplar) or Investigator (Sleuth).

He's a smasher / buffer.

Multiclassing is great.

4/5

lol... mainly I play wizards/arcanists and yes, I multiclass. Generally it's about the character concept/design, what area(s) of weakness you want to cover, or abilities you want to pick up rather than what areas you want to maximize. You do lose a level in spellcasting but you gain martially, thus become harder to *gank* and don't have to rely on CON to survive. Thus a better rounded character able to handle more situations competently. Mostly I get a lot of comments about how my characters are powerful. Part of it is me and how I play them, the other part is the character design. I try to play the character as designed and realistically with survival in mind.

5/5 5/55/55/5

There is little if anything in a lot of martial classes in between levels 5-10 to go for. So the cool stuff all classes get at levels 1-2 to help secure that classes flavor from the beggining become a LOT better than the filler from 5-10 before you hit 10 and the cool stuff comes back. Not only is the dipping stuff better but it comes online NOW.

You're right that in a game that ends at 12 there's very little thats enticing about an ability comming online at level 11, much less the the level 20 capstone.

Another factor is that in a home game i wouldn't dip rogue or ninja because someone else has a rogue. In pfs i'm making a character for an unknown group, so there's no toe stepping in taking someone's role.

Casters
Doyle - Druid Single class
Shamus Woodgear cleric: single class
Fabrizio: sorcerer, single class.
Pyrite: Tanky druid
Flutter: Wild empathy druid.
Fuligin: Occultist
Todd: Lore oracle
Lotus d'Bonaire: Mesmerist

Martials

Corvus Cailean Fighter/inquisitor
Reynard d'Bonaire Kitsune swashbuckler with a dash of dervish dancing bard
ReinhartKit d'Bonaire Kitsune dervish dancing bard with a dash of swashbuckler
Goliath: Single classed lore warden fighter: will probably take levels in alchemist.
Spare d'Bonaire Unchained rogue Spear fighter
Grr d'Bonaire: Urban barbarian Mouser swashbuckler unchained rogue blend
Heir d'Bonaire Ninja Irorian paladin blend.

So yeah...1 single classed martial (probably) Definite tendency to dip on martials. There's almost always some cool ability or combo that you can get by dipping that doesn't work nearly as well aiming for a level that you'll never get to.

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

The Exchange 3/5

I guess I also used to have an actual non-magical martial before too but errata destroyed the build.

She was a Brawler/Monk/Bloodrager/Cavalier who was going to take a level of fighter then paladin levels.

Dark Archive 1/5

grandpoobah wrote:

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

Can you even do that? I'd have to read the multi-class rules again. But I thought you can only have 3 classes?

5/5 5/55/55/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kahel Stormbender wrote:
grandpoobah wrote:

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

Can you even do that? I'd have to read the multi-class rules again. But I thought you can only have 3 classes?

Nope. Not a rule

Silver Crusade 4/5

I've only multi-classed 1 of my 20 PFS PCs, and that was to go for a prestige class. I keep considering dips in other classes, but I weigh what I'll gain against what I lose from the base class, and end up deciding it's not worth it.

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

You can even combine Hybrid classes like Brawler with their parent classes (in the case of Brawler: Fighter and Monk).

I believe there was a rule during playtest that prevented such multiclassing, but the print version of the Advanced Class Guide explicitly says you CAN multi-class between Hybrid classes and their parent classes.

Citation

3/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

4 people marked this as a favorite.
grandpoobah wrote:

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

"Why is your Will save so abysmal?"

*holds up character sheet* "Mul. Ti. Class."

2/5

I do it as i see necessary for the concept. I built a Link whose primarily a fighter but dipped witch and alchemist for the bombs and access to a fey familiar (with the feat).
My other characters are single class:
Rogue Paladin Sorcerer Fighter Barbarian Ranger Druid Hunter Warpriest
My mixed are
Monk/paladin/sentinel
Oracle/exalted
Bloodrager/Paladin

3/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

My currently multiclassed characters are:

-Cavalier 1/Oracle 8/Mammoth Rider 1 (dipped Cavalier for the martial weapon proficiency, and a couple of bonus feats)
-Swashbuckler (Mouser) 5/Ninja 3 (a Bluff/Disguise focused character who will probably go into Master Spy at level 9, followed by more Ninja)
-Swashbuckler 1/Magus (Kensai) 7 (Dipped swashbuckler for parry/riposte. She's a 5 Charisma Tiefling with Extra Panache)

I may end up creating a multiclassed monstrosity with my Paladin, who will probably stop at Paladin 2 for divine grace, add 2 levels of Brawler for the flurry and IUS/Snake Style, and a level of Swashbuckler for parry/riposte. At that point, I'll be so behind on Paladin features, I figure I might as well dip into some other martials for low-level goodies.

Liberty's Edge 3/5 *

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

My multiclass PCs

Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade) 1/Ranger (Freebooter) 2 - My pirate PC is taking a mix of two classes that fit the flavor. Probably will go swashbuckler 5/ranger 6 to maximize the benefit of both classes.

Cleric 8/Holy Vindicator 4 - The prestige class fit the concept and once I got my second set of domain abilities at level 8 there wasn't much reason to continue as a cleric.

Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 2/Druid 3 - Mostly picked up levels of druid for the growth domain. Haven't decided if I will be taking 3 or 4 levels of druid though.

Unchained Monk 1/Sorcerer 4/Dragon Disciple 1 - Monk was for unarmed fighting and the AC boost and the BAB boost. Wanted a DD with decent spellcasting which is why 4 levels of sorc. Will go DD from here on out.

Fighter 1/Inquisitor 1 - Wanted a level of Eldritch Guardian for the familiar, but hate the sklll progression of the fighter. Gave up some bonus feats and BAB for the versatility of the Inquisitor. Will go Fighter 1/Inquisitor 10.

Gunslinger (Mysterious Stranger)/Investigator (Sleuth) 1 - The dip is basically to increase the size of my grit pool and getting more class skills. Will take either 4 or 5 levels of gunslinger then go Shieldmarshal for the rest.

That's 6 PCs that are multiclassed or planned multiclassed out of 12 total PCs.

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber
RainyDayNinja wrote:


"Why is your Will save so abysmal?"

*holds up character sheet* "Mul. Ti. Class."

An 11th level Fighter (or ranger or Barbarian) has a +3 Base Will Save.

One level of Paladin gives me +2
My characters with no "base will Save" typically have better Will Saves then their single-classed peers, because I choose to invest in Will Saves in other ways:

Dual Minded Half Elf (+2 Will)
or Scarred Half Orc with the Luck Trait (+2 Luck bonus to all saves)
Iron Will Feat (+2 Will)
Indomitable Will Trait (+1 Will)
2 Build points for 12 Wisdom (+1 Will)
Invest in Cloak of Resistance Early (+X Will)
Cracked Pale Green Ioun Stone (+1 Competence bonus to all saves)

I have Level 1 Fighters with +5 will saves (better saves than the arcane casters...)

Grand Lodge 4/5

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Let's see, my -1 is Rogue/Fighter, my -2 is Cleric/Fighter/Holy Vindicator. And I have a Monk/Paladin going for Champion of Irori. I think that's it, out of 23. My Gunslinger is probably going Inquisitor.

1/5 5/5

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Thanks for the feedback so far. Since folks are tossing their characters out here, figured fair's fair, might as well drop mine on down, too...

Wei Ji Slayer: Tengu 5.2/Cleric(Irori)3 Cleric dip for roleplay reasons
Agraic Shieldarm: Half-elf Unchained Barbarian 3
Zykon Gibbs: Tengu Bolt Ace 2(going to be adding a couple Freebooter or Slayer in there)
Brigid 'Half-Human' Thundertone: Half-Orc(Currently at 'decision time', on the fence between Bard 2 and Spell Warrior 2)
Karasuma Tazou: Tengu Unchained Rogue 5 (Going for Shadowdancer)
Andrietta Ebonfeather: Tengu Paladin 2
M. Reynard: Kitsune Vigilante 1 (Playtest)
Karasuma Gennei: Tengu Goblins Credit Blob, working on something to fit the boons...
Rae Alain Paight: Taldan Bard 5
Juan NiFor: Taldan Dark Tapestry Oracle 1
Reijingu Feza: Tengu Barbarian 1
Wazziri Two-Fang: Tengu Unchained Rogue 1
'Sully': Suli(Currently at 'decision time', on the fence with not sure what the heck to do with them, started with Life Oracle but feels kind of 'weak' and almost... boring.)
Feza Savard: Tengu Sin-Eater (Calistria) 1

Yeah, I've got a lot of bird folks in there...

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East

RainyDayNinja wrote:
grandpoobah wrote:

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

"Why is your Will save so abysmal?"

*holds up character sheet* "Mul. Ti. Class."

As I said above, I mostly held to this for my multiclasser. The will saves took a bit, but the fort save is fantastic. At level 9 I had +20 from nothing but levels, con, and a luck bonus.

Grand Lodge 5/5

Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber

8 PFS characters.
2 multiclassed, for prestige classes.
Hunter 10/Mammoth Rider 4
Rogue 1/Brawler 1/Wizard 2/Arcane Trickster 1

Bloodrager 11
Fighter 7
Oracle 4
Druid 3
Unchained Summoner 3
Paladin 2

Silver Crusade 4/5

Just to talk about the initial premise of this thread: I actually think I'm less inclined to multi-class because of the limited levels in PFS.

There are a lot of classes that take 3-5 levels to get all their good stuff. In a campaign going to level 15-18, I'd be more inclined to dip.

But knowing the limit for most PFS PCs is level 11, and most of your play time will be spent at levels 2-8, you can't afford to water down your core concept as much. So I have to have a REALLY good reason to multi-class a PFS PC.

The Exchange 3/5

Most of my characters have a core mechanic they are designed around. Ideally they can do so by about lvls 6-8. There a few characters who don't start until 10+ though. Since most/all of my concepts involve casters I normally won't have a build that does anything special before 5.

Dipping is a very good way to get access to more features though. Honestly it wouldn't matter to me if I was multiclassed or not and if the base class had the best options (something like magus can often be single classed) I would choose it instead.

3/5

I tend not to multiclass. The ACG has made that even more unnecessary, for me at least.

3/5

I've avoided multiclassing because I want my characters to come online at level 2 as much as possible, and I want to avoid build plateaus where a character falls behind until his deathstar comes online.

My characters are
-1 Fighter 3 (Dead)
-2 Dead pregen
-3 Cleric 11
-4 Fighter(Archer) 5, Sentinel 4
-5 Druid 4, Monk(Tetori) 3
-6 Brawler(Snakebite) 2, UC Rogue 4
-7 Bard 4
-8 Fighter 1

The Sentinel counts as a multiclass, but I went with it because I liked what it offered more than I liked the rest of the Archer options. The character build was already online.

Both the Druid/Monk and Brawler/Rogue were hard because they both never started to shine until level 5.

Going forward, I will not be making multiclass shenanigans until I'm GMing regularly and can baby them until they come online.

Silver Crusade 4/5 *** Venture-Lieutenant, Washington—Spokane

I have characters that go both ways. I like to multiclass for versatility.
Alliarra - 14 Paladin- Divine hunter elf with breadth of experience
Agra - Dwarf 12 - 11 Barbarian with 1 level of rogue
Inalla - Aasimar 12 Cleric- healer
Lythandra - Tiefling 11 - 10 Thassalonian spec of wrath/ 1 investigator
Kadranna - Tiefling 10 Magus
Chondara - Aasimar 9 Zen archer
Dawnfire - Damphir 9 Dhampir Inquisitor of Sarenrae Kinslayer
Arrina - Human 9 Hunter
Nishella - Gnome 7 Arcanist
Talianna - Dhampir 6 - 5 wizard (transmutation)/1 witch
Aurora - Human 6 Inquisitor of Gorum
Amberella - Aasimar 6 Paladin of Iomedae
Auria - Sylph 5 - 2 Arcanist/2 Investigator/ 1 Alchemist
Tyrella - Tiefling 4 - 1 Arcanist/3 unchained Rogue wields an elven curveblade
Viviane - Undine 4 Cleric of Pharasma
Adara - Ifrit 4 Fighter
Kethry - Aasimar 3 Magus mindblade
Trissa - Halfling 3 Monk underfoot adept/maneuver master, she loves to run around and put everything on it's hind end
Julina - Aasimar 2 Sorcerer Psychic bloodline
Kesiera - Aasimar 2 Life Shaman
Breena - Human 2 Gunslinger Pistelero
Some of my characters will never be "powerful" but they are versatile as hell, they each have their own story. Lythandra and Chondara are twins parents were surprised as hell when they had a Tiefling and an Aasimar. I GM quite a bit and have a few racial boons which is mostly why I have so many Aasimars and Tieflings


I want both of those races so much. :/

Lantern Lodge 5/5

Multi-classing gains breadth, single-classing gains depth.

In PFS where being versatile is at a premium, the way to do that is by splash classes (or being a bard).

Bandwagoning!

Rogue 15
Barbarian 12
Bard 2/Paladin 8
Cavalier 13
Bard 12 [Retired, Reported Dead]
Inquisitor of Shelyn 1 [Ledford'd]
Cleric of Sivanah 5/Veiled Illusionist 5
Rogue 1 [MIA- -Godsmouth Ossuary]
Ranger 6/Fighter 3/Brawler 1/Gunslinger 2
Wizard 14
Fighter 5/Low Templar 3
Mad Dog Barbarian 4
Cleric of Brigh 5/Evangelist 1
Swashbuckler 1/Sorcerer 1/Unchained Rogue 3/Dragon Disciple 3
Daring Champion Cavalier 3
CORE Paladin of Shelyn 4
CORE Cleric of Urgathoa 1
Psychic 2 (Will not likely multiclass)
Slayer 3 (Will likely multiclass)
Cavalier 1/Rogue 2 (Will be Rogue 4/Cavalier 6+)
GM Stub 1
GM Stub 1
Swashbuckler 3 (Will not likely multiclass)

Apparrently I've become more multiclass-happy as I've gone along.

3/5

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I multi-class to specialize....

Silver Crusade 5/5

Fighter (Lore Warden) 7 / Duelist 4
Paladin of Damerrich 14
Unchained Rogue (Swashbuckler) 14 / Fighter (Lore Warden) 2 / Sleepless Detective 1
Barbarian 5 / Living Monolith 5
Ninja 6
Fighter (Rondelero Duelist) 9
Paladin of Lymnieris 3
Barbarian 3
GM Credit 2
Unchained Rogue (Counterfeit Mage) 8
Magus (Mindblade) 5 / Evangelist of Desna 1
GM Credit 4

So, pretty much the only multiclassing I really do is for PrC's. It's not really that I have anything against multiclassing, I've just never really seen the need.

Liberty's Edge 3/5 5/5 **** Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha

I took a dip into ranger with monk because I wanted the ability to use CLW wands and to have a favored enemy.

4/5

Here's my breakdown...

Holden Kane – Pistolero 5, Weapon Master 3, Sensei 1, Sleuth 1, Warpriest 3. My -1 character. I like being really good with guns. I jumped off gunslinger early because I needed feats to be better which lead to weapon master, I had cleric before warpriest which was so I could use abundant ammo. Sensei got me Combat reflexes when I needed them so I could use snap shot. Plus bard abilities helped. Sleuth got me trapfinding and more ways to refill my grit. Warpriest allows me to buff as swift actions which since I lost abundant ammo is rather useful. This is what I term a multiclass monstrosity.

Baron Marcell – Tower Shield Specialist 9, Bard 2, I took Bard so I could use liberating command but found out in the end I liked taking bard because it made the character come off more of a Taldan noble. The multiclass din't increase the characters power level but did make the character more interesting.

Nuri the Blind – Seeker Oracle 2 (Clouded Vision), Tattoed Sorcerer 1, Urban Barbarian 1. Was planning to make a blind archer based on the Dark Swords mini. Wasn't fun and I can't legally have the Seeing Eye Bear I bought anymore. (Which ironically I never used as I played her at 6 player tables and refused to use him) basically a retired character. I throw GM credits on her sometimes.

Green Mantis – Slayer 5, plan is to take Horizon Walker prestige class so I can dimensional feats to dimensional door around the battlefield and flank with my self and two weapon fight with sawtooth sabres.

Tim deBow – Hospitaler 5, He uses faith healing to heal wounds and bring back the dead. Has 0 ranks in profession footballer so can not make money at his day job. Will stay single classed.

Morgan Blackros – Arcanist 12. Was meant to be my Technologist character ended up being my Emerald Spire GM credit baby. I've played this character 3 times. Boo!

Gustov the Grandiose – Separatist 2, Wizard 1, Mystic Theurge 7, Pathfinder Savant 2, Early entry Theurge Aasimar who was built to imbue allies with his lawful good cleric aura and then use litany of Righteousness to buff the group. Also an Acadamae Graduate for times when group has no heavy hitter to buff. Nerf to Litany (my save DC's are horrible because my mental stats aren't great for the level) switched me to using Gallant Inspiration. Multi-classing was needed for the build.

Bin – Alchemist 1 [Dead]

Vance Castor – Wizard 5, Bloatmage 3. Bloat for the Bloat God! Bloat for the Bloat God! Rest of his levels will be bloat mage.

Poncho the Dwarf – Myrmidarch 3, Musket Master 1, Dwarf pirate with a musket miniature inspired this character. Build will take too long to be fun so I haven't played him in years.

Valens – Urban Ranger 4, Weapon Master 1, Elven Curve Blade, leads blade build. Will take two more levels of fighter and the rest will be ranger. Haven't played in years with this guy.

Ryojin – Tetori 4, Menhir Savant 4, Lore Warden 3, Tentacle Monk. The -5 to grapple checks because tentacles are secondary natural attacks killed the fun of this character once I realized that. The character is just not very good at grappling things in tier so the constrict/trip build isn't fun.

13 – Zen Archer 5 [Dead] was planning to take levels in Evangelist prestige class

The Muscle – Bloodrager 1, Inquisitor [Sin Eater, Infiltrator] 7, my Hell Knight Asmodean “Paladin”. Bloodrager gives me the ability to make my weapon flame when I rage which is cool look for a Hellknight plus it allowed me to get Power Attack at 1st level. The rest of the levels will be Inquisitor. I use a DC comics Persuader figure as his mini.

Elvin Halliday – Mutagenic Mauler 3, planning to be straight 12 level build but probably won't progress much as not a favorite character. The archetype provided all I needed for the character's idea which was to be abit like the comic character Rage.

The Chosen - Warpriest 6, uses a Shillelagh as a Sacred Weapon and will be a straight Warpriest build. I love this character.

Orek Thul – Psychic 5 – The Runeprince of Pain, Master of Trade, Heir to The Empire of All That He Can See, First of His Name, Trade Prince Orek Thul is going to be all Psychic because I don't think anything could come out that's better for him as a character.

Fenris the Unbroken – Bolt Ace 1, Sniper 1 planned build is Bolt Ace 5, Sniper 7 to make a crossbow snipe build.

Silver Crusade 4/5

Gary Bush wrote:
I took a dip into ranger with monk because I wanted the ability to use CLW wands and to have a favored enemy.

Hmm... that is a very good one level dip for any martial type. Can't believe I never thought of it.

As I said above, I've only multi-classed once, and it turned into a mess, but I was also trying to accomplish something 4 years ago that has since become much easier with newer books.

I've occasionally looked at "what can I get for dipping?", but just never felt it was worth slowing my normal progression for my main class. It's been a close call a few times, though. Actually, the class I usually start with when considering dipping is fighter, because the bonus feat is usually my main reason for considering dipping.

5/5 5/5 *

In my area, multi-classing for a dip is rare (and multi-classing for a prestige class even more so). There's only one player I can think of that does it with any regularity, and, not knowing his character stable, I'd guess that half or less of his characters do it.

Everyone else I can think of that's done it has done it once, and among those multi-classed characters, they've all died at least once (several permanently). In fact, every TPK I've ever seen has included at least one of the very rare multi-classed characters.

Lantern Lodge 5/5 * RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

I'll join the bandwagon!

Lots of PCs:

Koraq Silverclaw- Urban Barbarian 1/Martial Artist Monk 10/Blood Conduit Bloodrager 1.
The barbarian dip was for a level 1 Power Attack and the rage to boost for Strength as I was going for a Dragon Style monk and to play as the then single way to have a barbarian monk that was legal. The bloodrager dip was for the ability to use some arcane wands (for mage armor) and add more (blood)rage rounds.

Cadaeacus: Separatist Cleric of Pharasma 5/Envoy of Balance 1
Multiclass for the prestige (class). Then I will channel ALL the things!

Cornelius Bunbury: Oath of Charity Hospitalier Paladin 8
Single class for all the heals!

Oriandor Coronalis: Magus 3/Unchained Rogue 3
Mutliclass going for Arcane Trickster

Turk Thundershield: Guntank Gunslinger 10
Single class meatshield of a ranged combatant. Uses Vital Strike to minimize ammunition costs.

Telemachus of the Dawn Eagle: Divine Hunter 5
Going solely hunter so the holy bear AC doesn't get nerfed.

Ash Crane: Elemental Ascetic Kineticist 5
Tengu with natural attacks to try and make the most of the otherwise challenging archetype.

Saitama: Iroran Paladin 4
The paladin of perfection and beefitude. Had him as Warpriest for the first level, but rebuilt before playing as level after finding the Iroran Paladin archetype.

Havoc: Lore Warden Fighter 1/Card Caster Staff Magus 3
My attempt at a 'gambit-esque' character, needed the fighter level dips to get some necessary feats. I'll be taking 1 more Lore Warden level at CL 5 so I can get Close Quarters Thrower with the cards and not provoke from that, then magus rest of the way. Using Magical Knack to keep the Caster Level up.

Vassago Ilsidore: Unbreakable Soul Kineticist 4
Going single class because who wants to nerf that sweet kinetic blast damage. Next level will get Weapon Finesse and Kinetic Blade to finally be a switch hitter. Also has the Charisma and class skills to be back up face.

Bargus Highbrew: Drunken Qinggong Ouat Sensei Monk 4
A strange attempt at a support monk and to a lot of archetypes. Just can't wait when I can share barkskin and provide other benefits from the Sensei.

The Scratcher: Snakebite Striker Brawler 2/Warpriest 1
Inspired by someone's post of creating 'The Shredder', needed the brawler levels to get proficiency with the tekko-kagi, the ability to flurry with them, and the Brawler's Cunning for Combat Expertise and eventually Improved Disarm. Made him before Dirty Tactics Toolbox came out, so I may retrain Combat Expertise into Dirty Fighting.

Iron Feathers: Invulnerable Rager Unchained Barbarian 2/Unbreakable Fighter 1
Needed the Unbreakable fighter dip for Diehard and Endurance, feats required for Stalwart. Went Tengu with claws so I count as having Imp Unarmed Strike for prequisites so I can go Crane Style and eventually rock a massive DR starting at level 5. Rest of my levels are going towards IR Barbarian.

Sritaro: Mad Dog Barbarian 3
Staying solo class so the AC doesn't get nerfed... but the idea of eventually having a raging T-rex will be nice. Just gotta survive to level 7.

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Me too!

PCs:

  • human Cleric 15
  • dwarf Unchained Barbarian 16
  • human Gunslinger (Bolt Ace) 6 / Fighter 6 / Barbarian (Urban Barbarian) 2
  • aasimar Paladin (Undead Scourge) 2 / Monk (Flowing Monk) 3 / Champion of Irori 10 / Exalted 1
  • kitsune Sorcerer (Tattooed Sorcerer) 8
  • idylkin aasimar Barbarian (Drunken Brute) 2 / Monk (Drunken Master) 6
  • elf Evoker 5 / Bloatmage 4
  • human Alchemist (Mind Chemyst) 6
  • wayang Unchained Rogue 9 / Fighter 1
  • gnome Oracle 8
  • human Cleric 1 / Inquisitor 8
  • aasimar Cleric (Merciful Healer) 4 / Oracle (Dual Cursed) 1
  • grippli Swashbuckler 5
  • ifrit Fighter 7
  • aasimar Cavalier 3
  • human Witch (Hex Channeler) 6
  • halfling Fighter 5 / Monk 2 (Master of Many Styles/Monk of the Sacred Mountain)
  • sylph Sorcerer 2
  • dhampir Rogue 1 / Wizard (Exploiter Wizard) 2

CORE

  • half-orc Rogue 7
  • half-elf Barbarian 2 / Ranger 2
  • half-orc Ranger 6
  • human Cleric 2
  • dwarf Wizard 2
  • human Bard 4
  • dwarf Fighter 1/Bard 3
  • gnome Bard 1

The Exchange 5/5

RainyDayNinja wrote:
grandpoobah wrote:

I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!

"Why is your Will save so abysmal?"

*holds up character sheet* "Mul. Ti. Class."

way back in LG days I had a Wiz/Cleric/Sorcerer/Druid.... talk about a Will save! At 4th level it was over +10 (16 WIS Halfling helped), and that was without anything boosting it! (Let's not talk about Reflex saves...)

Sovereign Court 5/5

Gary Bush wrote:
I took a dip into ranger with monk because I wanted the ability to use CLW wands and to have a favored enemy.

Yeah, but how often does Favored Enemy Venture Captain actually come up?

(it's a joke!)

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