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A dude on RPG.net said about building a barbarian.
Toughness is always good, cus your going to get hit alot. Also I would only pick a race where I can pick Barbarian twice as my favored class (+2 HP a level!)You get to pick your favored class in Pathfinder which gives you +1 skill or +1 HP every time you take a level in that class. The advantage of the Half-Elf (for example) lets you pick two classes as favored classes. You are allowed to pick the same class twice so you can double your bonus. So if your playing a class that needs HP or Skills its a huge advantage. As a Half-Elf Barbarian I'm gaining +2HP per level.
I have to admit, it does not say pick two different classes. So ergo, he isn't wrong by the wording.
Is there a FAQ about this?
Can you pick same class for favored class bonuses?
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Half-elves choose two favored class at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in either one of those classes.
I'm sure someone will pop along with a better RAW explanation of why you can't, but that 'dude' is very, very wrong.
Something's either a favoured class or not. There's nothing in the rules that says a class can be "doubly favoured".
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I have to admit, it does not say pick two different classes. So ergo, he isn't wrong by the wording.
... come on.
What does he choose as favored classes ? Barbarian and barbarian ?
The wording is pretty clear :
Half-elves choose two favored class at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in EITHER ONE of those classeS.
It's not even just RAI here, just sweet RAW without ambiguity.
Even were you to allow a half-elf to choose the same favored class twice, you'd still only get a single favored class bonus per level. So if my favored classes are Barbarian and Barbarian, I get to choose between +1 hp, +1 skill, +1 hp, or +1 skill.
As the others have said, this does not work. Not only can you only take 1 favored class bonus per level, you can not take a class twice. You can not be a barbarian 1/ barbarian 1 second level character. So you can't take the same class twice.
This simply does not work on every level
If I say my two favorite foods are apples and apples, what's my two favorite foods?
I'll buy your apples for two dollars. Of course, one of those is the same dollar as the first one, but never mind that.
I'm with the rest of the no category. Half elves pick 2 classes, nothing more nothing less. Barbarian twice is not 2 classes.
That said, I greatly doubt that even were this allowed, it would make half-elf optimal for race for a barbarian. Nor, IMO, is toughness a good feat for a barbarian. Aka, don't believe random people on the internet.
Toughness is not a good feat? Don't be silly, it's basically having +2CON, it's NEVER a bad choice. Might not be optimal for some builds, but it's always a good choice.
Also, OT, you can't pick two classes by the same reason you can't multiclass with the same class you already have: It does not make sense.
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Even were you to allow a half-elf to choose the same favored class twice, you'd still only get a single favored class bonus per level. So if my favored classes are Barbarian and Barbarian, I get to choose between +1 hp, +1 skill, +1 hp, or +1 skill.I would agree with this
As would I. I say allow said 'dude' this choice and deny him the ability to change it.
If a group wanted to differentiate between archetypes as being different classes, like a brutal pugilist barbarian and a totem warrior barbarian, I could see an argument for taking barbarian twice as a half-elf's favored class. But even then he should only get the bonus based on which one he advances in. And frankly, it makes little sense to multiclass in the same class twice. Fighter types may find their BAB adds directly and loses no ground, but most of the special abilities will.
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If I say my two favorite foods are apples and apples, what's my two favorite foods?I'll buy your apples for two dollars. Of course, one of those is the same dollar as the first one, but never mind that.
But he doesn't HAVE any apples yet. He's just deciding what his favorites are. You can't buy that.
That is epic fail logic. I don't know if I want to laugh or that's just a side effect of blood vessels bursting in my brain.
Another vote here for the "sure, pick barbarian twice. That way you'll get the favored class bonus when you pick barbarian or when you pick barbarian."
Kind of reminds me of the time I was explaining to someone how the global economic crisis occurred. It went something like this:
"So, I have 10 sandwiches. I lend you 5. Then I borrow 5 from him. So now I have these 5, technically the 5 I lent are mine, and the 5 I got from him, so I have a total of 15 sandwiches..."
Throw in some sandwich based metaphor for credit default swaps and derivatives, and it ends with the statement: "I'm sandwich-rupt!"
Looks like another attempt at double stacking. I'm going to have to agree with hogarth. Picking the same favored class twice to automatically get double the bonus each level would be a no-go for me. That been said and done, this is a messageboard to clarify a range of things and rules is one of them. No need to bite someone's head off for asking a question, Sekret.
This guy is a half-elf! His other half is elf, also.
As a dm, I would probably be confused if a player suggested this, then I would laugh, then I would go and make a sandwich.
1 a level jim, nice try.
Looks like another attempt at double stacking. I'm going to have to agree with hogarth. Picking the same favored class twice to automatically get double the bonus each level would be a no-go for me. That been said and done, this is a messageboard to clarify a range of things and rules is one of them. No need to bite someone's head off for asking a question, Sekret.
Indeed it's a rules forum. And Pathfinder is dense; there is a lot of room to misread or get confused, not to mention the fact that the creators are still human and mistakes get made or things aren't as clear as they could possibly be.
But come on, there are some things that deserved to be scoffed at. Power gamers that are either turning off their logic or not having it all to begin with fall into this category.
The 'dude' is making a rather blatant mistake in the context of describing an optimal build. As such, he is claiming to having familiarity with the rules.
If he was a newbie, I wouldn't scoff at a new guy struggling to learn the game. If it was just a little mistake in passing, I'd point it out and be done with it. But the 'dude' is making this flaw a core piece of his advice, meaning he is thinking about it. This is kind of one of those mistakes that if you think about it for more than a couple minutes you can't help but realize it doesn't sit right mechanically or thematically.
I'm not scoffing at Starbuck. Starbuck did the reasonable thing and asked about it. I'm deriding the mysterious dude for saying something incorrect with enough vehemence as to confuse other people.
Okay, I'm levelling up my wizard from 5 to 6, I'd like to get my allotments of spells for six and add them on top of the daily spells I got during five. :)
S-S-Stack combo!
If a group wanted to differentiate between archetypes as being different classes, like a brutal pugilist barbarian and a totem warrior barbarian, I could see an argument for taking barbarian twice as a half-elf's favored class. But even then he should only get the bonus based on which one he advances in. And frankly, it makes little sense to multiclass in the same class twice. Fighter types may find their BAB adds directly and loses no ground, but most of the special abilities will.
So, like, what if you wanted a 10th level Alchemist who was Vivisectionist 5/Regular Alchemist 5. Does that mean you get 3d6 bombs, 3d6 Sneak attack, and full extracts/discoveries?
Ah I see. Misunderstanding on my part. Sorry about that. My bad.
Good point Joey. bwahahahahaahahahahaha.....sorry had to laugh at that example you made. Welcome to the realm of powergaming. Reminds me of a player who wanted to play a cleric fighter but be able to cast spells of a pure cleric character. The DM didn't allow it. I wonder why........
Because he wasn't a pure cleric!
Weirdest debate ever that one.
Ah I see. Misunderstanding on my part. Sorry about that. My bad.
It's all cool. However, I'm now somewhat concerned that 'the dude' may be fantastically trolling us...
*sucks in helium*
We'd like to welcome you to the lollipop guild....
This guy is a half-elf! His other half is elf, also.
Actually, it's the same half, just counted twice.
So, like, what if you wanted a 10th level Alchemist who was Vivisectionist 5/Regular Alchemist 5. Does that mean you get 3d6 bombs, 3d6 Sneak attack, and full extracts/discoveries?
10th level alchemist? No. You'd be a 10th level character but 5th level vivisectionist/5th level alchemist. You'd have the extracts/discoveries of a 5th level alchemist, twice. You'd be limited in what you could pick to anything a 5th level alchemist could pick. This would be instead of having the extracts and discoveries of a 10th level alchemist plus the 5d6 bombs or 5d6 sneak attack you'd have if you went straight up to 10th level as an alchemist or vivisectionist.
Overall, it would be a bad trade and I wouldn't recommend allowing it. It's just the single sort of instance in which taking favored class in the same thing twice could conceivably work.
Ah, but in neither case does 'either' refer to the same side of table twice, or the same side of the river twice.
It's less of the 'either' part of the language and more that 'choose two' has never meant you could pick the exact thing twice.