jdead's page

Fantastic... Another "I'm right, you're wrong, I will look up no information to prove that I'm right, you must look up all the information to prove me wrong, because I'm right" thread....

Look under Multiclass in the Core Rulebook. Too hard? I'll simplify this for you:

(page 30) Instead of gaining the abilities granted by the next level in your character's current class, he can instead gain the 1st-level abilities of a new class, adding all of those abilities to his existing ones. This is known as "multiclassing."

I'm not trying to make a point to be right, I'm simply pointing out slight variances in wording that I personally interpret one way because. As a DM I am aware of what letting a little leniency with the rules can cause, but it leads to some interesting conversation when you approach things from another angle because "You're wrong just because". Remember that this is Pathfinder, there are a lot of differences to this from 3.5 that seem a little more unbalanced.

If only there was something in the Core Rulebook that laid out how it works...

CRB, Classes, Multiclassing wrote:

Note that there are a number of effects and prerequisites that rely on a character's level or Hit Dice. Such effects are always based on the total number of levels or Hit Dice a character possesses, not just those from one class. The exception to this is class abilities, most of which are based on the total number of class levels that a character possesses of that particular class.

And it's wording like this that I'm talking about; it says "most of which" and not all. I'm just saying guys, if we open things up to the possibility of certain meaning, who knows what conclusions or house rules we could walk away with.

If there is a point to be made of mechanics being out of balance, we should be collaborating and not arguing.

My interpretation goes a little more literal that what I'm seeing. When I see an ability that specifically designates, I believe it applies to what it is designating in a literal sense. Level means Character Level and Designated Levels mean class. There are some special limitations to this. For example:

Oracle
Flame Mystery
Revelation - Wings of Fire (Su): As a switft action, you can manifest a pair of fiery wings that grant you a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. You can use these wings for 1 minute per day per ORACLE LEVEL. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1 minute increments. You must be at least 7th LEVEL before selecting this revelation.

Think of the context of the qualifier as "you must have so much experience before you can have this". Whereas the duration is based off of the devotion to the class itself.

The exception being

Paladin
Smite Evil (Su): ... The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, AS INDICATED ON TABLE 3-11, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.

The rule outlines Level generically for how many times times a paladin can smite based on the paladin table. Unlike their Divine Bond which indicates Level generically but does not have a specified progression based on the paladin table.