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Hello there!
Sometimes, as a GM, you think about giving the PCs a litte boon.
I did that with extra starting gold, better point buy, (static) bonus feats/traits and so on.
Now, that there is Variant Multiclassing, what do you think about giving it away for free (so they don't loose the feats on Lvl 3, 7, 11, 15, 19).
Do I miss any consequences? I'm aware, that I won't let the players take this class as a regular multiclass.
To be honest, I don't feel like the Variant Multiclass options are balanced against each other.
Any experiences made with that way of a boon or Variant Multiclasses in general?
Thanks for your replies!
Why do you need to give the players something extra? Extra gold and a higher point buy I can understand. In my experience giving the players too many extra “things” just makes it harder to run the game. While low level characters don’t have a lot of options once you get past a certain level it becomes progressively more difficult to balance out the game. This often means that high level campaigns start to break apart and get abounded. Adding extra abilities only hastens this trend. I would much rather have the game go to higher level than to get some extra abilities at low level.
The best boons to give a player are usually not tied to game mechanics. Membership in organizations and special privileges are often good rewards. Rank both social and military is also useful. Allies, contacts and favors are also helpful. For some characters these type of thing will often be more important than an extra bonus to hit. To a paladin having the right to dispense justice is often an incredibly useful boon.
I give Fighters VCM for free.
VMC is not balanced.
Most options are bad, others come close to might-be being worth half your feats.
If you have a build that gets some bonus feats the steep costs are easier to swallow. Ipersonally would never again do any VMC on a class that doesnt get bonus feats.
Hello there!
Sometimes, as a GM, you think about giving the PCs a litte boon.
I did that with extra starting gold, better point buy, (static) bonus feats/traits and so on.Now, that there is Variant Multiclassing, what do you think about giving it away for free (so they don't loose the feats on Lvl 3, 7, 11, 15, 19).
Do I miss any consequences? I'm aware, that I won't let the players take this class as a regular multiclass.To be honest, I don't feel like the Variant Multiclass options are balanced against each other.
Any experiences made with that way of a boon or Variant Multiclasses in general?
Thanks for your replies!
I'm thinking of doing that too. The big reason is a small group. On fix is to throw more gold at them. That's what I typically do but I'm tired of doing that. Higher stats help but only carry you so far and too high of stats breaks the game. I was thinking this might be good way to round out a 3 player party to fill the missing holes.
VMC is really, really variable in quality. If your players tend to Optimise then VMC for free could be very powerful. If they tend to go for flavour then it can wind up near-worthless.
It often ends up being about one or two little details that give you access to great feats or tricks - consider Cleric VMC. On a Prepared Caster with Summons and Heals on their spell list (Witch or Shaman, for example) you can now spontaneously heal, qualify for Sacred Summons AND get Domain powers by 3rd level. That's a freakin' great deal even with a feat cost.
Similarly Wizard offers a familiar and School abilities which are great, or Sorcerer gives access to various bloodline powers of variable awesomeness.
Or you could VMC Ranger for flavour and get Track at 3 and a basic Favored Enemy at 7. Woo Hoo!