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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • WotC as usual threw the baby out with the bathwater and decided it meant that prestige classes are a dud of an idea entirely.

    That’s because they were.

    With subclasses, prestige classes become redundant on top of fighting for levels you need to unlock higher level abilities.

    If you want things like prestige classes and multiclassing to not fight single-class characters at the design level you need to push single-class abilities away from the high levels of the class, which just leaves them empty and boring. At which point, why bother playing at high levels? Why bother single-classing ever?

    You just end up removing choice by turning what should be a valid decision into a false-choice that does nothing but penalize you.

    3rd edition, for example, should have cut the base classes off at level 5 or 10. The way the game was designed, there was no need for them past that point since everyone ended up taking either alternative base-class levels or prestige class levels.

    With subclasses, you either need to embrace dipping and only define the base classes to level 15, getting rid of EVERYTHING that comes out in levels 16-20 (which kills a sacred cow and will make some people, like me, very un-happy), or you need to retire multiclassing, or at least try to balance it.

    That means no more subclassing at 1st level and, preferably, standardizing subclass ability levels. Why people are against that I have no idea. Who cares if everyone gets their 2nd subclass ability at level 7 regardless of class?

    Honestly, the only reason I can think of to want them at different levels is purely for power-gaming. The ability to plan out “a build” that is hands-down better than other builds because you get to squeeze in one more ability than other builds.

    Seriously, what are the other reasons? The valid reasons?




  • The only reason this is a “house rule/variant” is because everybody allows the optional rules by default and doesn’t understand what “optional” or “check with your DM first” means.

    I don’t allow multi-classing. Subclasses do it better and are actually balanced. When I don’t disallows multi-classing I get 1-3 hexblade dips every group because of how OP the dip is.

    I’ve had a ton of Paladin/hexblades, more than a few Wizard (Bladesinger)/hexblades, and even a rogue/hexblade with a fucking double-scimitar.

    I’m sick to death of hexblades.

    Fuck hexblades. No more multiclassing in my games. Assholes abused it so much it’s no longer an option because I like my hair where it is, and the alternative is for me to quit DMing altogether.

    …and nobody else seems willing to run the fucking game…