With this system, each character can choose a secondary class at 1st level that she trains in throughout her career, without giving up levels in her primary class.The AC has no primary class. it is a bit hard to get a secondary class without it.
Also "character" is shorthand for "Player Character". Mounts, Familiars Animal companions, Eidolons, etc aren't characters, they're class features.
Just like the others said, this is a big Negative Ghostrider.
But, if you did allow an AC/Eidolon to gain Class levels w/ VMC, then that's fine, it's your own game and you can Homebrew all you want. And if that's the case, then for balance reasons, I would suggest that an AC/Eidolon with VMC should progress like an actual character, and not as an AC at all.
For example, take your base animal, and do not progress him like an AC/Eidolon, but rather progress him by adding Fighter w/ VMC Rogue levels (or whatever you want). And since he is an "Animal Companion" or "Eidolon", I would only allow him to progress his level in a Class as per the AC/Eidolon's schedule for whenever an AC/Eidolon would normally increase his HD, so that way your AC/Eidolon can only ever be as high as level 15/16 when the actual PC is level 20. So if you're going to allow something like this, I think that's a pretty balanced way to do it.
If you allow an AC/Eidolon to progress with Multi-attack, evolutions, Imp Evasion, etc, as well as gaining features from taking Class levels with VMC, you're going to break your game. They're powerful enough already as it is.
I think the notion that “character” refers only to PCs is incorrect. We’re this the case then NPCs would be unable to take class levels or any other option that referred to character or character level. All creatures with an INT of 3 or higher are considered to be sentient beings and I feel should fall under the NPC umbrella. In fact many GMs chose to run their player’s eidolons familiars and animal companions as npcs rather than mindless player controlled bots. Also as I have seen most GMs posting about VMC do not consider a character with vmc to have class levels in or even be considered as having the class they are talking vmc for. Essentially the term secondary class is merely fluff and all vmc is is a feat for class feature swap. If such is the case any int 3 creature with feats could qualify. But as for the “legality” vmc is basically a house rule in a big book of house rules. If you are the gm do whatever feels right for your game. That said some vmc aren’t really appropriate for all companions. A velociraptor with vmc wizard makes no sense but an eidolon with vmc monk seems fine to me. It’s your game so you do you :)
All the stuff VMC does is based on character level, including when the class features are gained: "A character who selects this option (...)
gains class features from her secondary class as described on Table 2–8: Multiclass Character Advancement." The table says "Character Level". The CRB says "Character level is the sum of all of the levels possessed by a character in all of his classes." An animal companion, Eidolon etc. doesn't possess levels in a class, and thus doesn't have a character level.
So even if a pet could qualify, it can't ever benefit from VMC.
So if a player is making a character with racial hit dice using the monsters as PCs rules and hasn’t reached a level high enough to be able to take class levels yet then that character would be unable to take the vmc option as they have no class levels yet?
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So if a player is making a character with racial hit dice using the monsters as PCs rules and hasn’t reached a level high enough to be able to take class levels yet then that character would be unable to take the vmc option as they have no class levels yet?
Correct.
You select the secondary class at first level, not with your first HD.
Ok I guess that makes sense thanks Diego
Companion creatures are certainly “characters”. That term isn’t exclusive to player characters, for instance there are non-player characters.
The problem is more that the companion creature doesn’t advance by levels but by hit dice.
All that said, I doubt it’d be problematic to allow variant multiclassing for hit dice users. The advancement would need to be based on feat acquisition though. You couldn’t get your VMC feature till the corresponding feat would have been acquired. It’s basically like an archetype for your feats.
For maintaining balance, I feel like you'd need to look at what they were VMCing into. There's a big difference between an AC who can rage or one who can use void schools "reveal weakness" power and one with favored enemy/terrain or unarmed strike and evasion.
I'd probably ban barbarian, the elemental wizard schools, anything that grants its own companion, alchemist, and gunslinger. Maybe it'd be better to approve the choices individually than try to ban all the weird ones.
I'd probably ban barbarian,My badger AC would object to that exclusion (it rages every time it is wounded).
At the same time, allowing it to be a barbarian would be unbalancing, as its rage hasn't a duration or a limit to the number of uses in a day.
Question on this. Does an AC badger get blood rage?
Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.; AC +2 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4), 2 claws (1d3); Ability Scores Str 10, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10; Special Attacks rage (as a barbarian for 6 rounds per day); Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.
4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Attack bite (1d6), 2 claws (1d4); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex -2, Con +2.
That says 6 rounds of regular barbarian rage, and doesn't say anything about blood rage.
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I'd probably ban barbarian,My badger AC would object to that exclusion (it rages every time it is wounded).
At the same time, allowing it to be a barbarian would be unbalancing, as its rage hasn't a duration or a limit to the number of uses in a day.
Question on this. Does an AC badger get blood rage?
That says 6 rounds of regular barbarian rage, and doesn't say anything about blood rage.Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.; AC +2 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4), 2 claws (1d3); Ability Scores Str 10, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10; Special Attacks rage (as a barbarian for 6 rounds per day); Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.
4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Attack bite (1d6), 2 claws (1d4); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex -2, Con +2.
True, ACs are more limited and better defined than monsters.
It had a normal rage.