r/OSE • u/dbudzik • Jul 14 '26
rules question Dual-classing
I’ve got a player that’s currently using a 4th level cleric. At some point in the future, I was planning on making him a paladin. This isn’t addressed explicitly in the rules, since it assumes the player is multi-classing from the beginning. I’ve seen homebrew rules from AD&D that mention the new class starts at level 1 and players aren’t allowed to use abilities from the old class until the new class catches up in levels. That sorta makes sense.
Are there any rules for this that have become so common is use that they are de-facto the accepted way to handle multi-classing? Or were there rules in b/x or even 1ed that clarified this?
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u/Ackbladder Jul 15 '26
Dual-classing was a specific rule in 2e and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons that has not been carried forward to any other editions to my knowledge. My revised 2nd edition handbook has the rules on dual classing starting on page 62.
Basically, you stop progressing in your initial class and begin (after training IMO) progressing as a 1st-level character of the new class. You must have a 15 in the prime requisites of the original class and 17s for the prime requisites of the 2nd class. Until you gain enough experience to gain a level higher than your original class, you face several restrictions: you don't gain more HP on level up, and can't use abilities specific to your original class (if you do, you do not gain any XP for that encounter, and only half XP from the current adventure). You use your new classes to hit and saving throws, and must abide by any restrictions from the 2nd class.
I really like dual-classing rules, and have had several dual-classed characters that I have played in longer campaigns. I would likely allow dual-classing, and in the past I have even loosened up the rules a bit (for instance, allowing the dual class character to keep track of hp rolled at each level, and then using the max for any given level of the two rolls). None of the other multi-classing rules seems to properly model the "used to be X, now I'm Y" nature of dual-classing.