sgriobhadair's page

In my campaign world, there are three Hobgoblin nations. In all of these, use of arcane magic is punishable by death, and arcane magic items are confiscated, destroyed, and the owners imprisoned or heavily fined. (Divine magic is fine, and some divine magic items would be ok).

I'm looking for a standard, effective build for NPC 'anti-magic police specialists', using only CRB, APG and Ultimate Magic. (It could also be an interesting PC background). They should be able to spot and identify arcane casting, neutralise or shut it down where possible, and neutralise and imprison the caster for later trial. They'll probably typically work in pairs (probably one of level 1-2, the other of level 2-5). Hobgoblins get +2 Con, +2 Dex. Obviously they can't be any kind of arcane caster. (Alchemist, Bard, Magus, Sorcerer, Witch, Wizard are all no-go).

I'm thinking essential spells (obviously they can be only up to 3rd spell level) will include: Detect Magic, Silence, Dispel Magic. Others like Invisibility Purge and Command may be useful too. Important skills would include Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft and Knowledge (Arcana). (Oh, and Profession (Law enforcement)).

In terms of equipment, they want to prevent casting and take the casters alive, so I'm thinking saps, nets, maybe even tanglefoot bags may be useful. In combat, grappling is obviously a good way to shut down spellcasters so anything that boosts that would be good.

It feels like Inquisitor might be the best class to use.

I'm not sure what are the best feats to go for ... obviously we're talking max of character level 5, many of them at level 1 ... so many with one feat, some with three (depending on the class, of course).

How would you build a character like this? Assume the CRB's 'heroic NPC' stats: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8; (only more talented police would have the opportunity to become 'anti-magic police').

Still worldbuilding ... I have a culture who live in wide open plains and work with cattle and horses, sometimes mounted, sometimes on foot.

I want them to use lengths of rope as a weapon. They might be one end of a regular 50 ft rope (with the rest wrapped around them), or just a shorter length (say 10 or 12 feet) of rope. After training, they'll be able to swing this in order to knock down or trip horses and cattle. They could also use it in a more martial way, to knock riders from their mounts.

I'm trying to work out how to do the stats on this ... here are some thoughts
- it may either not cause damage, or only cause nonlethal damage. Being hit by the end of a skilfully-used rope probably hurts as much as being being hit by a really good punch; generally it's just a pain but sometimes (bad luck or really good user) it can cause serious damage.
- Being able to trip, dismount riders, have reach (it's a long length of rope after all) and the potential to cause lethal damage are way too powerful to have in one weapon just for the price of an exotic weapon feat. So, to get the best out of the weapon would require additional feats.

Purchasing and weight - same as rope (hemp); only the end section of it is used for fighting.
Basic - exactly the same rules and description as fighting with a whip, except it deals bludgeoning damage instead of slashing. Or does it make more sense, given the rope is bulkier than a whip and a handful to wield, to improve the hit dice to d6 (same as a club) but make attacking with it a full-round action?

I'd give the proficiency away as a campaign trait (otherwise, requires an exotic weapon proficiency).

Feat - "Improved Rope Fighting" (mimics improved unarmed strike, or whip mastery from ultimate combat)
Prerequisite: Weapon Proficiency (Rope fighting)
Fighters with ropes may now deal armed or unarmed damage, at their choice, and no longer provoke strikes of opportunity for using the rope.

Feat - "Greater Rope Fighting" (mimics unseat)
Prerequisites: Str 13, Improved Rope Fighting, Improved Trip, Base Attack Bonus +6 (in line with other 'greater' feats).
You can attempt to knock a rider from their mount with your rope. If your regular attack hits, you may immediately make a free bull rush attempt in addition to the normal damage. If successful, the target is knocked off his mount and lands prone in a space adjacent to his mount that is directly away from you.

What do you think? Certainly flavourful, but is it balanced - attractive but not overpowered?

Paizo has inconsistency between the CRB and Gamemastery Guide in the availability of spellcasting for hire.

In addition, not every town or village has a spellcaster of sufficient level to cast any spell. In general, you must travel to a small town (or larger settlement) to be reasonably assured of finding a spellcaster capable of casting 1st-level spells, a large town for 2nd-level spells, a small city for 3rd- or 4th-level spells, a large city for 5th- or 6th-level spells, and a metropolis for 7th- or 8th-level spells. Even a metropolis isn't guaranteed to have a local spellcaster able to cast 9th-level spells.

However, the gamemastery guide completely disagrees at the lower levels:

Unlike magic items, spellcasting for hire is listed separately from the town's base value, since spellcasting is limited by the level of the available spellcasters in town. This line lists the highest-level spell available for purchase from spellcasters in town. A town's base spellcasting level depends on its type. (Type = Size}

And we have:
Thorp - <20 people - 1st level spellcasting
Hamlet - 21-60 people - 2nd level
Village - 61-200 people - 3rd level
Small Town - 201-2 000 - 4th level
Large Town - 2 001-5 000 - 5th level
Small City - 5 001 - 10 000 - 6th level
Large City - 10 001 - 25 000 - 7th level
Metropolis - 25 001 + - 8th level

We also have in the GMG some modifiers that alter the available spellcasting: Academic or Pious settlements add 1 level, Holy Sites and Magically Attuned settlements add 2 levels, Superstitious settlements reduces by 2 levels.

We have a huge variance then, from the CRB where at a Small City of say 7500 people you are 'reasonably assured' of finding someone who will cast 3rd-level spells for hire, to the Gamemastery Guide where it WILL have someone who will cast up to 6th level spells for hire.

OK, one issue here is that Paizo are somewhat inconsistent, how do you decide this factor when designing a city? By the book, or on an individual basis? Or just let players have access to what they can afford, no matter where?

I'm also wondering what the logical magical % population is here... To work that out, we need to know what proportion of spellcasters will offer their casting services for hire. A temple priest would probably do so, for a donation to the good cause. Most wizards in a town are probably professionals making a living. Let's say that the vast majority of casters in settlements are interested in selling casting.

However, the implication is that the players can find any spell they need with that level of casting, so if we can get first level spells, we must have the full range ... wizard/sorcerer, cleric and maybe druidic (just staying with core). So our thorp of < 20 people should contain at least one wizard, sorcerer or bard and one adept or cleric. Being a developing demographic, children should be about a third of the population. So, from a maximum of 12 adults, we need one divine and one arcane caster.

That means at least one in twelve people, logically following from the GMG, will have arcane abilities. Is that how people view their Pathfinder world (Personally, I think I prefer the CRB figures; I'd like PC spellcasters to be special, not as common as muck).

There's nothing to say so in the spell description, but presumably a caster should only be able to summon creatures that the character knows about.

Which is, I guess, quite obvious ... but in general do people play it that way? Or does learning the spell imply learning about all the different creatures it gives access to?

I'll post these here in case I can get useful feedback or they're useful to anyone.

There are three pantheons; a western pantheon - based on a mother and father god and many 'patron saints' that clerics can choose to adopt. This pantheon is mostly followed in variant forms by hobgoblins, dwarves and some humans.

An eastern pantheon has eight gods - four couples, each couple based on an element, and one demigod - the psychopomp.

There's also an ancient pantheon, followed by some humans, some elves, and most druids - it has one god and some companion demigods.

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Here's the ancient pantheon (I can post the eastern and what I've got so far of the western if there's interest)

Ancient Pantheon

Followers of the ancient pantheon are predominant in the country of Anravor, but some can be found in all human lands, particularly in remote, rural areas and among druids. Temples of the ancient pantheon are in rural or wilderness areas, and are often adapted caves or roughly constructed from evergreen trees.

Clerics of the ancient pantheon gain Knowledge (Nature) as a class skill. This replaces Knowledge (Nobility).

The Old God (also called The Old One, The Horned One), Neutral
Cleric Alignments: NG, CN, N, LN, NE
Domains: Animal, Community, Knowledge, Liberation, Repose
Subdomains: Ancestors, Freedom, Fur, Home, Memory, Souls, Thought
Favoured weapon: Battleaxe
Holy Symbol: An actual antler or ram’s horn.
The Old God is always depicted as a man with long brown hair and dressed in furs, but the details vary. He is sometimes shown bearded, sometimes cleanshaven, and often with horns - either those of a ram or goat, or with a stag’s antlers. He carries a horn which is said to be able to cause earthquakes, flatten trees or summon nearby animals when blown.

Cairdeas, Neutral Good
Cleric alignments: CG, NG, LG, N
Domains: Animal, Community, Strength, War
Subdomains: Family, Ferocity, Fur, Tactics
Favoured weapon: Spiked Gauntlet
Holy Symbol: A depiction of a cat’s paw with the claws drawn.
The demigod Cairdeas is depicted as a large lynx, and is the Old God’s friend and frequent companion.

Stalcair, Chaotic Neutral
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, N, CE
Domains: Air, Animal, Glory, Travel
Subdomains: Exploration, Feather, Honor, Wind
Favoured weapon: Longbow
Holy Symbol: Three feathers
The demigod Stalcair is depicted as a giant eagle, and is the Old God’s hunting companion and messenger. He is said to sometimes grant some of his feathers to a follower; when his feathers are fitted to an arrow, the arrow is shot with incredible range and accuracy.

Darach, Lawful Neutral
Cleric Alignments: NG, LG, N, LN, NE, LE
Domains: Knowledge, Plant, Strength, Weather
Subdomains: Growth, Memory, Resolve, Seasons
The demigod Darach normally has the form of an ancient oak tree, but can take the form of a large man with bark-like skin and leafy green hair and beard. Some stories suggest that Darach was the ancient predecessor to the Old God and served as his mentor.
Clerics of Darach are forbidden from using axes.

I'm worldcrafting, and want to create a place where permanent magic items are special and rare.

What do you think of the following ruling ... would this do it? How would living with this ruling affect you as a player?

Magic items cannot be freely bought.

Exception: Magical properties may be added to a wizard’s bonded object without requiring an investment of Con. Restrictions for the bonded object remain as usual (its magical properties only function for the creating wizard, and are lost if the item is replaced or its creator dies).

I'm actually not sure what to do with wands. They're not permanent magic items, but they are a significant force I'd like to cut down on. I'm not going to make someone use a point of Con for something that expires after 50 charges. One option is to keep them as temporary items but nerf them by reducing the number of charges. Another is to make them permanent items that require a point of Con, but can be recharged. A third is to just drop wands completely ... something that would definitely alter the flavour of the world significantly (not necessarily a bad thing).

I'm also considering a couple of alternatives to this rule which could alter the flavour of it ...

- allow a point of Con to be used from ANY sentient creature instead of from the item's creator (creating conflicts for Good item creators; even if the Fighter would give up a point of Con to have his magic sword, would this count as the creator causing harm to the Fighter. It would also create opportunities for Evil casters, who would seek out creatures whose life force they could use in creating magic items. My concern with this ruling is it might encourage there to be more magic items than I'm intending from this rule in the first place. Maybe with this option the feats should still be required as well).

- a different ability score may better reflect the drain on the creator (Cha? Str? Wis?), though I think I'm happy with Con.

- items created in this way have the alignment of the creature whose life force was used in its creation. While not (generally) intelligent items, there would be some penalties in using the item for those of opposing alignments.

According to paizo, a quarterstaff is "a simple piece of wood, about 5 feet in length."

No, no, no, no, no!

A five-foot long staff is just a staff, the kind someone might use for walking. Yes, it can make a nice weapon.

The english short staff was about eight feet long (ideally sized exactly to suit the user). You could use it in two fighting styles - half staffing (holding the middle half of the staff and hitting with both ends - a double weapon) or quarter staffing (holding it between a quarter of the way along and half way along - a reach weapon). A skilled user could easily outmatch most swordsmen (there's a good story of an englishman, Richard Peeke, who outfought three top spanish rapier wielders at once). You could also use the staff to trip opponents. In addition, it's relatively quick (a swift action?) to switch between halfstaffing and quarterstaffing.

The english long staff was a blunt pole weapon, typically twelve to fifteen feet long, striking with the end. It's also a great peasant weapon - the best way to face off against mounted attackers for no cost. It can be braced.

The pathfinder stats for "quarterstaff" seem to be more for a japanese style fighting staff - much shorter than the english short staff.

Maybe for half-staffing with the english short staff, the existing stats are ok? (1d6/1d6, x2, B, double, monk) but we should also add (trip). We should also be able to use it quarter-staffing, which would be something like (1d8, x2, B, reach, trip).

Long staff would be the same as quarter-staffing, except that reach goes up from 10 feet to 15ft (?) and we could brace it. (1d8, x2, reach (15ft), trip, brace).

Having a good quality staff made (or making one) will cost a little more than the 'free' cost of the pathfinder 'quarterstaff' though; but only a few gp at most.

Given that getting the most out of the short staff requires quite a bit of training, I think it would be martial weapon.

Thoughts?

These are an outline of my first notes on a new world I'm drawing up to use with PF. Any thoughts / reactions? Any suggestions?

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The main known civilised area of the world is centred on the Confederation, a group of seven countries. In the western Confederation are two hobgoblin nations (although these contain many settlements of goblins). In the eastern Confederation are five human nations (although these contain many halfling villages, and the cities have mixed human/halfling populations).

Early in the previous century, there was a long war between hobgoblins and humans. The military might of the hobgoblins was only thwarted by the magical prowess some humans have access to. Out of a ceasefire, the Confederation was born - and now humans and hobgoblins generally have cordial relations and free trade. However in hobgoblin nations, use of arcane magic is feared and strictly banned - generally on pain of death. Even in human lands, magical skills and items are uncommon and something to be handled with care and respect.

There are sometimes even consensual relationships between humans and hobgoblins - well tolerated in hobgoblin nations but only partially by humans. These sometimes lead to offspring - ‘hob-humans’; these children are generally healthy but always infertile.

To the north-west are dwarf lands and mountain wilderness; hobgoblins raid these as a source of slave labour, and dwarf slaves are also sold on to humans. Within human lands, some humans and halflings are opposed to this slavery, and factions of a secret ‘dwarf resistance’ are thought to be growing in strength. Dwarves and criminals are used across the Confederation for hard labour and popular gladiatorial contests.

To the immediate south of the Confederation are a number of independent human city-states, as well as one city-state whose population credit their origins to elves as well as to men. Further human lands lay further south, past a desert. To the west lies a vast nation inhabited by another race of hobgoblins with strange and foreign customs.

To the east and north-east are human and halfling settlements that border the wilderness and only loosely give allegiance to the Confederation. To the distant south-east a population of elves lives deep in thick forests; elf contact is infrequent but they are known and generally welcome in human lands. (Hobgoblins are mostly ignorant of elves, and mistake them for humans).

To the southwest lay the sea, allowing trade with the foreign human lands in the south and hobgoblin lands in the west.

From beyond these better known countries arrive rumours of fantastical people and beasts - dragons and giants in the distant north, mystical fey creatures in the far east and sea monsters away to the south.

---

I'm switching round some racial features to get the flavour I want:

- Dwarves have +4 Con, -2 Chr, and the APG Craftsman, Deep Warrior and Stone Singer traits by default.

- Elves have +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con and the following racial traits different to normal:
* Base speed of 40 feet, but only 20 feet if wearing medium or heavy armour or encumbered.
* Elven Magic: Elves add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against enchantment spells that they cast. Elves with a Wisdom of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day— detect magic, detect poison, know direction and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the elf's level.

- Goblins are available as PCs and have these racial traits:
* +4 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma
* 60 ft Darkvision
* +4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth checks
* Keen hearing: Goblins’ large ears give them a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks based on hearing.
* Small size (giving +1 AC, +1 attack roles, -1 CMB and CMD, +4 stealth), Base speed 30 ft.
* Weapon Familiarity: goblins are proficient with shortbows.

- Halflings have +4 Dexterity, –2 Strength and the Practicality racial trait from the APG

- Hobgoblins are available as PCs and have these racial traits:
* +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution
* 60 ft Darkvision
* Sneaky: Hobgoblins gain a +2 racial Bonus on Stealth checks
* Keen hearing: Hobgoblins’ large ears give them a +2 racial Bonus on Perception checks based on hearing.
* Medium size, Base speed 30 ft.
* Weapon Familiarity: Hobgoblins are proficient with shortswords, longswords, bastard swords and shortbows.

- Hob-humans are available as PCs and have these racial traits:
* Hob-humans characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation, reflecting their varied nature.
* 60 ft Darkvision
* Sneaky: hob-humans gain a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks
* Medium size, Base speed 30 ft.
* Weapon Familiarity: hob-humans are proficient with shortswords, longswords, bastard swords and shortbows.

(Humans and half-elves are as per the core rules. No player half-orcs or gnomes)

Hobgoblins society is nocturnal, Human diurnal, so obviously that creates issues for trade/interaction.

EDIT: I misread this as I was reading the APG traits section for the first time. Cleared up already underneath. Move along, nothing to see here.

How widely are traits used?

I see an issue with the "Adopted trait":

Adopted: You were adopted and raised by someone not of your actual race, and raised in a society not your own. As a result, you picked up a race trait from your adoptive parents and society, and may immediately select a race trait from your adoptive parents' race.

Any trait from the parents' race? You've somehow learnt to pick up, say, Darkvision? That doesn't feel right to me. It gets worse though.

The problem with it, is partly that there is also a "Magical Talent" trait:

Magical Talent: Either from inborn talent, the whimsy of the gods, or obsessive study of strange tomes, you have mastered the use of a cantrip. Choose a 0-level spell. You may cast that spell once per day as a spell-like ability. This spell-like ability is cast at your highest caster level gained; if you have no caster level, it functions at CL 1st. The spell-like ability's save DC is Charisma-based.

Gnome Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against illusion spells that they cast. Gnomes with a Charisma of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome's level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell's level + the gnome's Charisma modifier.

As written, that "Gnome Magic" is one trait, and therefore can be taken under the "Adopted" trait. But it lets them get TWO cantrips 1/day whereas another trait only gives them one. AND a level 1 druid spell 1/day. AND improved resistance to illusions. Am I missing something?

It's also stated that a trait is worth about half a feat, but both half-elves and humans have a bonus feat listed under their racial traits:

Adaptability: Half-elves receive Skill Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level.

Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.

So, another species adopted by humans or half-elves could use that trait to get a feat.

Obviously the GM could rule to disallow these, but it looks like that Adopted trait has the potential to be way overpowered.

It looks to me like some of the cantrips (and orisons) could be useful in combat, even though clearly not designed for it.

Dancing Lights:
Four torch-like or will o'wisp-like lights, within 10 ft of each other, moving up to 100ft/round.
How well is someone going to fight if these things are dancing round their head - or right in front of their face? It would be hugely distracting, if they could see their opponents at all through the lights. It lasts one minute - and the caster requires no concentration to keep it up.
(GMs - how would you rule on this use of the spell in this way?)

Ghost Sound:
Many options. An attacking shout from someone behind the enemy fighting your party's fighter. The sound of four more party members, clanking with weapons and armour, approaching from round the corner. The sound of one of the attackers calling retreat. May not be successful (the Will save is allowed) but could be worth a try.

Open/Close:
Could we open the fastening on someone's clothes or armour? (The spell description specifies 'container' so maybe not).

Prestidigitation:
You can create small objects within 10 feet (even though they will look crude and artificial). Can I create a hood or blindfold over someone's head? This might not be overpowered, as it could be easily removed or destroyed in a standard action by someone with their hands free.
There's room for distraction in Prestidigitation's other effects too (though probably not as strongly as Dancing Lights).

Onto the orisons
Create Water:
With a range of at least 25 ft, an enemy could probably me made to drop an arrow from their bow or otherwise lose an attack by having 2+ gallons of water splash down over their head. Or on a smooth floor, the water appearing at/under their feet could slip them up. (It's been suggested elsewhere that this spell is overpowered as unlimited-cast, and should be level one instead).
(Again, GMs I'd be interested to know how you'd rule this usage).

Are there any more cantrips/orisons - or additional creative combat uses of them - I've missed? (I thought 'Mage Hand' had potential, but the 'unattended' object requirement probably kills it.)

OK, getting a permanent Reduce or Enlarge person on a character costs 2500 gp, according to the Permanency description.

Getting someone else to cast the Permanency - a 9th level caster - would cost 9 x 5 x 10 = 450 gp. Probably someone on the party has enlarge person so that won't cost a thing. You could probably afford this (2950 gp) quite early in a campaign (even having started from level 1 - could probably afford by level 3), and long before it's probably meeting a caster who could dispel it (if this still applies for Enlarge/Reduce person: "application of permanency can be dispelled only by a caster of higher level than you were when you cast the spell.")

OK, we could have some fun with this.
Reduce gives +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength, and +1 attack and +1 AC due to size, speed unchanged
Enlarge gives -2 Dexerity, +2 Strength, and -1 attack and -1 AC due to size, speed unchanged

At first I thought it would be fun to create a permanently enlarged halfling or gnome character; just because ... but that speed penalty (would be human sized but still 20 feet speed) is somewhat annoying. (Not to mention illogical; surely the speed SHOULD change?).

So, we could go the other way round ... take a Sorcerer, Rogue or Wizard PC (i.e. non strength-dependent class) and get them permanently reduced in size. A human, half-elf or elf would look very close to a halfling; a reduced half-orc would be quite unique ...

The Str change would be near-irrelevant to these classes, you'd get +2 to AC (+1 from going up in Dex, +1 from becoming small sized), very welcome in these classes. It could mean an optimised Rogue hit 22 Dex. (18 buy/roll, +2 from race mod, +2 from reduce person).

However, compared to a Halfling or Gnome, the Reduced "Big person" would still have a speed of 30 ft; a nice added bonus.

Definitely could be worth it for fun/flavour. (And makes sense psychologically for some Half-Orcs who we know have an identity crisis already; if they were ashamed of their Orc background).

But does playing a permanently Reduced, say, Half-Orc Rogue or arcane caster, offer any real tactical advantages?

Does anyone think it's worth equipping a starting (level one) arcane caster for melee - this would make him somewhat more versatile and survivable. He can then stop wearing armour as he acquires additional levels and becomes more of a threat with his magic.

There are a few things that could help with this concept

Possibly useful feats:
- am I right in saying a wizard or sorcerer only gets to choose ONE feat at first level if they are human, and no choice of feats for any other race?
- Armor Proficiency, Light (no attack penalties if wearing studded leather armour (a 1st level wizard or sorcerer couldn't afford a chain shirt, and padded or leather armour have no attack penalty anyway).
- Shield Proficiency (no attack penalties while holding a shield)
- Simple Weapon Proficiency (sorcerers already have this; could be useful for wizards - allows up to a longspear or morningstar that cause 1d8 damage)
- Weapon Finesse (because putting points in Dex instead of Str allows an AC boost from the stat as well). High Dex is more use than a shield.
- Toughness - adds three hit points at level one.
- Two Weapon Fighting for more attacks without too much penalty
Probably Toughness is the best choice here, to prevent the character being wiped out by one little hit, although Shield Proficiency and using a heavy shield could also be a good option - unlike armour that takes a while to remove, the shield can be easily dropped for casting.

Race choice to get a good weapon skill and physical stats
- Half-Orcs get the great-axe for 1d12 damage
- Elves get the longsword up to 1d8 and curve blade up to 1d10 (if they roll enough starting cash to afford it).
- Dwarves get the battle axe or war hammer up to 1d8

Prioritise spells with no somatic component, so the armour worn invites no chance of failure
- Flare (sorcerer / wizard 0) (doesn't have much effect but nice to use before closing in on someone to attack them)
- Light (sorcerer / wizard 0)
- Hold Portal (sorcerer / wizard 1)
- True Strike (sorcerer / wizard 1) (obviously only good if you can cause a decent amount of damage - half orc sorcerer with a great-axe and a decent strength score?)
- Ventriloquism (sorcerer / wizard 1)

Of course, with a cantrip outside of combat - and therefore not in a hurry - the chance of failure doesn't matter as the spell can be retried until it works. And even if they are in a hurry, even with studded leather and a light shield, spells with somatic components will still work 80% of the time - not too bad.

Any shield carried could be quickly dropped if necessary before casting in a hurry (or not generally worn - if the wizard is one layer back from the start of combat they'd have time to start yielding it when necessary).

Obviously any bonuses from constitution and strength would be a big help.

Any thoughts?

The rules clearly allow for multiclassing. A barbarian 3, say, with decent intelligence could at any point take a level of wizard and carry on happily Barbarian 3/Wizard 1, then return to further levels of Barbarian. This new level of wizarding in theory takes no time to acquire.

How do people justify this in terms of role play / character development / in-game reality?

After all, don't we expect the skill of beginning characters, particularly highly trained ones like wizards, monks and fighters, to be the result of years of hard study? I can easily understand picking up a level of sorcerer (the inherited trait just took a little longer to show), but not with trained characters. Surely to become proficient at a new trained class should take AT THE VERY LEAST a year of study, and more likely two to four years? Not likely something to be fitted in between adventures.

Has anyone house-ruled against adding certain classes later in the game?
Does any GMs require some downtime or story justification for dipping into another class? (i.e. next adventure takes place 18 months after the previous one).