A burning question about multiclassing

[Higa]

When I played DND for some years, my players shunned multiclassing (and prestige-classes) like it was some kind of evil plague. But as I see it, in Conan, multi-classing are essential to create some character concepts.

The problem is, I never really understood how it worked, no matter how many times I read it. So, here is my guess how it works, and I hope to get this either confirmed or corrected...

A level 3 soldier decides, after spending a long time in Shadizar - doing some things that may be concidered "roguish" - that he wants to take a thief level. Fine, it sounds reasonable. He takes the Thief level 1, with all that comes with it, and then decides (after joining a band of mercenaries) that he will continue with his leveling in the soldier class.

Does he take soldier level 4? Or is this level "consumed" by his level in Thief, so that he must skip it, and take soldier level 5 instead?

Soldier 1 2 3 4=(thief level 1) soldier 5 (total level 5)

Or must he continue with soldier level 4, and if he never change class anymore he may "only" advance up to level 19 in soldier?

Soldier 1 2 3 4
Thief 1
Total level 5

Thankful if anyone can help me straighten this out...

 

[Turim]

He continues with soldier level 4, and can't advance beyond soldier level 19.

 

[Trodax]

What Turim said. You just keep gaining new levels from the different classes separately, adding together the benefits you get from each class (BAB, Saves, hp, etc.)

Also note that when you add BAB from different classes, you add the highest attacks, and this sum then determines if you get iterative attacks.
For example, an 8th level Barbarian (BAB +8/+3) who adds 3 levels of Soldier (BAB +3), does not get a BAB of +11/+3. Instead you sum up the highest attacks (+11), and then add iterative attacks at -5, -10, -15, giving a total BAB of +11/+6/+1.
This may be obvious to you, but I've seen misunderstandings on this before.

Happy gaming, and good luck with the multiclassing! (Which is a great way to build the character you want in Conan, I might add.)

 

[albjohnson]

so as i read it my level 3 sorcerer / level 1 soldier will get a BAB of +3 (+2 for sorcerer and +1 for the soldier) is that right as im only using the highest +2 at the moment :?

 

[argo]

There are two concepts that you must keep track of seperately, they are character level and class level. Character level is a character's total level of all his classes (including prestige classes) and he gains certain benefits as he advances character level regardless of what his class makeup is. Class level is a character's level in a particular class and he gains certain benefits depending on what level he is in that class. Lets try a few examples:

Sam the soldier is a Soldier 4. Sam is a 4th level character, that is his character level is 4. Because of this he has 2 feats (1 feat at character level 1 and +1 feat at character level 3) and an ability score increase (+1 to an ability score of his choice at character level 4). Sam is also a 4th level Soldier, that is his class level in the soldier class is 4, so he takes the benefits of a 4th level soldier (+4 BAB, 3 feats, 1 Formation Combat ability). Sam adds the benefits of character level together with the benefits of class level to get his final character stats: +4 BAB, 5 feats (2 from character level and 3 from soldier level), 1 Formation Combat, 1 ability score increase, etc.

Mark is a multiclass Soldier 2/Thief 2: he has 2 levels of Soldier and 2 levels of Thief. Mark is a 4th level character, that is his character level is 4. Because of this he has 2 feats (1 feat at character level 1 and +1 feat at character level 3) and an ability score increase (+1 to an ability score of his choice at character level 4). Mark has a Soldier class level of 2 which grants him the benefits of a second level Soldier (+2 BAB, 2 feats, etc.) he is also a 2nd level Thief and so gets the benefits of two levels in that class (+1 BAB, +1d6 Sneak Attack, Eyes of the Cat, etc.). He adds all these benefits together to get his final character build: +3 BAB, 4 feats (2 from character level and 2 from soldier), +1d6 Sneak Attack, Eyes of the Cat, ability score increase, and so on.

Trodax already explained how to handle multiclass BAB.

Likewise with saving throws, you sum the base save from each class (before adding ability bonuses or other bonuses). Mark would have a base Fort save of +3, base Ref +3, base Will +0, as a fourth level character. Do the same with Base Dodge Bonus, Base Parry Bonus and Base Magic Attack Bonus.

For hit die and skill points you take those as you level in each class seprately. Skill points granted by your class may be spent on that class's class skills at a 1:1 ratio or on other skills (cross-class skills) at a 2:1 ratio. So for hit points Mark has 2d10 + 2d6. His skill points he should have spent when taking a level of each class as though a member of that class. It is important to decide which class you take at first level since at first level you get max hit point and x4 skill points.

Lastly we have the issue of Favored Class. This works different in Conan than in dnd. Your race has a Favored Class; if you take levels in this class then when you reach class level 1, 5 and 10 in that class you get a bonus feat. There is no penalty for multiclassing as ther is in dnd.

Multiclassing is a great option in Conan and a terrific way to build the character you want.

Hope that helps.

 

[argo]

so as i read it my level 3 sorcerer / level 1 soldier will get a BAB of +3 (+2 for sorcerer and +1 for the soldier) is that right as im only using the highest +2 at the moment :?

Yes, thats right. BAB +3

Edit: and don't forget, you do the same with Base Dodge, Base Parry, your saving throws and Base Magic Attack Bonus as well. Add the base values of each class to get the total, do not simply take the highest.

 

[Higa]

What if I go from a class where I have got +2 to - say - parry-bonus, and comes to a different class, in which level there is a +1 to parry-bonus... will I add that bonus and get +3, or do I only raise if the class I move into have a higher bonus? So, in the above example, I can only raise my parry-bonus once the class Im in gives +3 to parry?

 

[Trodax]

What if I go from a class where I have got +2 to - say - parry-bonus, and comes to a different class, in which level there is a +1 to parry-bonus... will I add that bonus and get +3, or do I only raise if the class I move into have a higher bonus? So, in the above example, I can only raise my parry-bonus once the class Im in gives +3 to parry?

No, you always get to add together all the bonuses you get from all your classes (so you would add the +2 and the +1 together for a total of +3). This is what makes multiclassing a pretty good deal; if you only used the highest bonus, it would suck big-time, and you would always be better off just sticking to one class!

 

[Trodax]

OK, since multiclassing is a pretty big deal in Conan, and therefore important to get the hang of, I'll give you one more example with numbers.
The post above by argo explains very well the difference between character level and class level; these are important to differentiate between. For example, King Conan, is a 20th level character. His class levels are; 15th level Barbarian, 2nd level Soldier, 1st level Thief and 2nd level Pirate.

So, an example.
Bob is a Zamorian 5th level Soldier. Because he is a 5th level character, he has gotten 2 bonus feats (at levels 1 and 3) and a +1 ability increase (at level 4). This is from the table on page 40 of the AE rulebook.

Because he has 5 class levels in Soldier he also has the following bonuses:
BAB +5
Dodge +2
Parry +3
Magic +1
Fortitude +4
Reflex +1
Will +1

He has also gained 3 bonus feats, Formation Combat, 1d10 hp at each level (5d10 total) and skill points at each level ((2+Int)x4 at 1st level and then 2+Int at each level).

Bob now decides to devote his next level on multiclassing into Thief.
First of all, he gets the benefits from becoming a 6th level character from the table on page 40; a bonus feat and +1 to all abilities.
Secondly, because Thief is the Favoured class for Zamorians, and he's getting his first level in Thief, he gets a bonus feat (if he continues to advance as a Thief, he will also get bonus feats when he attains his 5th and 10th Thief levels).
Thirdly, he gets all the benefits of a 1st level Thief. The bonuses to BAB etc. get added to the bonuses he already has from being a Soldier, as follows:
BAB +5 (+0 from Thief)
Dodge +2 (+0 from Thief)
Parry +3 (+0 from Thief)
Magic +1 (+0 from Thief)
Fortitude +4 (+0 from Thief)
Reflex +3 (+2 from Thief)
Will +1 (+0 from Thief)

He also gets Sneak Attack Style, Sneak Attack +1d6/1d8, Trap Disarming, 1d8 hp and 8+Int skill points to spend on the Thief's class skills.

A couple of adventures later, Bob is ready to level up again. He decides to stay on as a Thief, getting a second level in the class. His bonuses get modified again, as follows:
BAB +6/+1* (+1 from Thief)
Dodge +3 (+1 from Thief)
Parry +4 (+1 from Thief)
Magic +1 (+0 from Thief)
Fortitude +4 (+0 from Thief)
Reflex +4 (+3 from Thief; he already got +2 last level, this now goes up by an additional point)
Will +1 (+0 from Thief)

He, of course, also gets Eyes of the Cat, 1d8 hp and 8+Int more skill points.

Bob is now a 7th level character. He has 5 class levels in Soldier and 2 class levels in Thief. He is completely free to continue advancing any way he wants to; when he gains XP enough to level up again, he may choose to become a 6th Soldier, or a 3rd level Thief, or he may multiclass further and maybe pick up the first level of Scholar, or why not Pirate!

Hope that helps to clear the multiclassing confusion up!

*Remember that the extra attacks you get from having a high BAB are a bit special (I described this further up in this thread). You always get extra attacks dependent on what your highest attack BAB is. So at BAB +6 you get a second attack, at BAB +11 you get a third etc.

 

[Higa]

Thank you Trodax! At last I understand this... it must be to many years with WFRP that made me draw the conclusion that you can only buy higher advances than you currently recieved.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this.