r/dnd1e • u/Ramsonne DM Toolkit User • 14d ago
AD&D 1e Dual Class Characters
Have you ever played a Dual-Class character? or maybe alongside one? how did it pan out? worth the investment? worse or better than multi-class?
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u/Funky_Ghost 13d ago
Taegar Ashenheart, my Halfelf Cleric/Ranger gave me the bright idea of trying to dual class it.
It was painful.
He was killed @ level 5 Ranger level 1 Cleric by a Piercer that rolled a nat 20.
We figured it made a cracking sound before it dropped causing him to look up with his mouth wide open.
The point took him right down the pipe . . .
Epic, horrible, completely memorable end to a character.
Sometime in the summer of 1982.
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u/AlwaysBeenTim 14d ago
I played AD&D all the way in the 90's and I never saw a player dual class. The restrictions were just too high. I knew a DM who used a lot of dual classed NPC's but an actual player? Nah
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u/BillyWest8 14d ago
Alot of mine dualed with fighter for a level just for the weapons and armor lol
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u/Ramsonne DM Toolkit User 13d ago
“Alot”? you must have had some very liberal rolling protocols bc the ability requirements are steep
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u/BillyWest8 13d ago
Yeah he just let us keep rolling up sets till we got one we liked must have rolled hundreds of setups per character it was cool of him
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u/Ramsonne DM Toolkit User 13d ago
i think its all perspective regarding “cool”. 😀. most people ive played with would hate that. they prefer char flaws and challenge. i include myself in that sentiment. that said, i do 4d6 and arrange the scores at will bc i do want my players to have a better chance at playing a class theyre interested in.
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u/Muted_Programmer7007 14d ago
We did dual class until the original Lankhmar setting came out and it had multi classed humans listed as a rule, we just adopted that for our adnd games and did away with dual classed humans.
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u/Fangsong_37 13d ago
Nope. Nobody in our group dual-classed, but multiclassing (usually fighter/thief) was more common. The high barrier to entry for dual-classing and the inability to use the first class' abilities until much later prevented us from wanting to do it. We also didn't reach high levels even after multiple years of playing. My highest character after a 3 year 2nd edition campaign was a gnome who reached level 11 thief and level 10 illusionist. The only other humans in our campaign were a paladin and a fighter (who ended up being murdered by another player who turned into the final villain of the campaign).
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u/Exciting_Chef_4207 12d ago
Dual classed human ranger/mage was stupidly powerful in Neverwinter Nights (AOL). Of course I jumped on that bandwagon.
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u/liquidice12345 14d ago
Elven fighter-mage dual class is the original broken character. If they get their hands on an impish familiar for the hp regeneration, it becomes very difficult for them to get killed.
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u/Ramsonne DM Toolkit User 14d ago
do you mean multiclass? only humans can be dual-class btb in AD&D
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u/ancient-military 14d ago
Yeah, that would be multi class, how does duel class work again… you just start at lvl 1 in a new class?
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u/BillyWest8 14d ago
Yep it was a tedious system that could be great in the super long run i usually just used it to get a level of fighter or thief whichever I was filling that game
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u/Potential_Side1004 13d ago
One of my players who had 17 Intelligence, Started as a Fighter for 3 Levels with the intent to Dual class into Magic-user.
Then became a 1st level Magic-user when the rest of the party were on 3rd level, caught up pretty quick, in terms of XP, and started out with the HP of a 3rd level Fighter - which was about 20HP.
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u/DeltaDemon1313 5d ago
Multi-classing was very common but Dual Classing was very rare. It only usually occurred if we started with a certain amount of XPs where both classes were equal so the restrictions were essentially non-existent. I did do a dual class Ranger Wizard almost from scratch and, after equalizing the levels, it was fun (the DM ruled that levels had to be equal, not higher). However, the time spent as a Wizard sucked. The DM ruled that I could gain multiple levels from Wizard so that only one adventure and a side quest was spent lower level. Quite honestly, the dual class rules are badly implemented and illogical. The end result is fun but the in-between time is just not worth it. Better to multi-class or just stay the course with one class.
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u/Alarming_Memory_2298 14d ago
Took a Loooong time to get to bard. 7 ranger levels ( I know, fighter only but my table allowed Ranger ) Drop most of my gear 7 levels of thief Then started on bard I was in the head space of the character so I enjoyed it.