Genjitsu Gaming

• Jul. 14, 2004
• Mar. 15th, 2004
• Jan. 14th, 2004
• Jan. 9th, 2004
• Nov. 3rd, 2003
• Oct. 20th, 2003
• Oct. 3rd, 2003

Someone recently brought up to me the number of rules people use for getting around the multiclass restrictions on monks and paladins, and questioned the validity of the never again apporach to these restrictions. Why is it that once you take a level in another class, you can never, ever, ever, take another level in these classes? Is it really that impossible to regain your monastic discipline or your holy zeal? The multiclass restrictions on these classes seem to be mostly an issue of balance, and for those who prefer a different solution, I have the following suggestion.

Any character with paladin or monk levels as well as levels in another class suffers multiclassing XP penalties as if the paladin or monk class were out of balance, even if it isn't. Thus, a dwarf Pal3/Rog4 suffers a 20% penalty on all earned experience, and a halfling Mnk3/Clr2/Ftr4 suffers a 40% penalty (because the fighter and cleric levels are out of balance, and the monk levels are automatically out of balance), as does an elf Mnk1/Pal1 (because both classes are considered out of balance).

If a character has monk or paladin as a favored class, or if monk or paladin is the only non-favored class in which they have levels, they can avoid these penalties as long as their monk or paladin levels remain balanced. Thus, an elf Wiz5/Mnk6 suffers no penalty, and neither does a human Ftr4/Clr4/Pal5 (because paladin isconsidered his favored class, and the other two are in balance with each other). Prestige classes also count, unless they stipulate that they can be freely interspersed with levels or monk or paladin (usually using language like, Taking levels of this class does not prevent you from taking monks levels afterward, or something else of the sort).

This method allows for more options, but also incurs stiffer penalties. It reduces "cherry picking" of these classes but still provides allowances for characters who really want multiclassing possibilities.