Multiclass Character

Whenever your character gains a level, you may choose to continue advancing your character in his current class, or you may choose to have him gain a level in a new class. When your character adds new classes as he progresses in level, he becomes a multiclass character. The class abilities from a character’s different classes combine to determine the multiclass character’s overall abilities. Multiclassing improves a character’s versatility at the expense of focus.

Class and Level Features
As a general rule, the abilities of a multiclass character are the sum of the abilities of each of the character’s classes.

Level: “Character level” is a character’s total number of levels. It is used to determine when feats and ability score boosts are gained. Thus, a 3rd-level rogue/4th-level warrior is a 7th-level character. When she gains another level, whether she chooses to advance as a rogue or warrior, or pick up a new class, she becomes an 8th-level character and is eligible for her second ability increase.

“Class level” is a character’s level in a particular class.

The 3rd-level rogue/4th-level warrior has three rogue class levels and four warrior class levels. For a character whose levels are all in the same class, character level and class level are the same. A 5th-level tinker, for example, has five tinker levels and is a 5th-level character.

Hit Points: A character gains hit points from each class as his class level increases, adding the new hit points to the previous total. A 5th-level tinker who gains a level and chooses to advance as a barbarian gains 1d12 hit points, plus his Stamina modifier, added to his hit point total.

Base Attack Bonus: Add the base attack bonuses acquired for each class to get the character’s base attack bonus. A resulting value of +6 or higher provides the character with multiple attacks. A 3rd-level rogue/4thlevel warrior, for example, has a base attack bonus of +6 (+2 from her rogue levels, +4 from her warrior levels) and therefore gains multiple attacks, making her base attack bonus +6/+1.

Saving Throws: Add the base save bonuses for each class together. A 3rd-level rogue/4th level warrior has a base Fortitude save of +5 (+1 from her rogue levels, +4 from her warrior levels), a base Reflex save of +4 (+3 from her rogue levels, +1 from her warrior levels), and a base Will save of +2 (+1 from her rogue levels, +1 from her warrior levels).

Skills: If a skill is a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, then character level determines a skill’s maximum rank. (The maximum rank for a class skill is 3 + character level.) If a skill is not a class skill for any of a multiclass character’s classes, the maximum rank for that skill is one-half the maximum for a class skill. The character gains skill points and spends them as normal for the class in which she gained a level.

Class Features: A multiclass character gets all the class features of all her classes but must also suffer the consequences of the special restrictions of all her classes. (Exception:A character who acquires the barbarian class does not become illiterate.) In the special case of turning undead, both priests and experienced paladins have the same ability. If the character’s paladin level is 4th or higher, her effective turning level is (her priest level + her paladin level – 3). In the special case of uncanny dodge, both experienced barbarians and experienced rogues have the same ability. When a barbarian/rogue would gain uncanny dodge a second time (for her second class), she instead gains improved uncanny dodge, if she does not already have it. Her barbarian and rogue levels stack to determine the rogue level an attacker needs to flank her.

Feats: A multiclass character gains feats based on character level, regardless of individual class level.

Ability Increases: A multiclass character gains ability score increases based on character level, regardless of individual class level.

Spells: The character gains spells from all of her spellcasting classes and keeps a separate spell list and prepares spell slots separately for each class. If a spell’s effect is based on the caster’s class level, the player must keep track of which class’s spell list the character is casting the spell from. When an effect makes the character lose spell slots, she first loses spell slots from the class in which she can cast the highest-level spells.

XP for Multiclass Characters
Multiclassing does not come without its drawbacks. As long as all your classes are within one level of each other, you are devoting equal energy to your varied talents and you gain experience points normally. However, if any of your classes are two or more levels above or below another, you must devote extra energy to maintain your skills and abilities: Whenever you gain experience points, you gain 20% less than you would normally. You take this penalty for each class you have that is more than one level away from the others. The penalty persists as long as your classes  are two or more levels away from each other.

For example, an Ironforge dwarf 3rd-level rogue/4thlevel scout does not suffer an experience point penalty, because his two classes are within one level of each other. If he chooses to gain another level in scout, becoming a 3rd-rogue/5th-level scout, he suffers a 20% XP penaltyuntil his classes are again within one level of each other. If the 3rd-level rogue/5th-level scout then takes a single level in barbarian, becoming a 1st-level barbarian/3rdlevel rogue/5th-level scout, he suffers a 40% XP penalty. Racial levels and prestige class levels never confer an XP penalty in this manner. Also, every race has a favored class. This class does not  count when determining whether or not a character suffers an experience point penalty for multiclassing. An Ironforge dwarf 2nd-level rogue/4th-level warrior, for example, does not suffer an experience point penalty, as warrior is an Ironforge dwarf’s favored class.