Dnd4 hybrid characters

Recently WOTC published the second version of the “Hybrid Characters Playtest” at DnD insider. Read on for a summary and my comments, and find out why I like these new rules!

Back in the day

Remember multiclassing back in DnD 3.5e? It may seem like a long time ago, but it’s just one year ago. From my experience and reading posts on the Internet I can tell that many considered the multiclass ruleset back then limiting and ended up removing some of its restrictions in their campaigns (the XP penalty).
In 3.5e you had a bit bothersome rules for multiclassing when it came to calculating XP, you had to keep the all classes at about the same level or you would get a 20% penalty to XP. Still, you could multiclass to any class! And you would get the same powers and abilities like a normal character in that class would at level up. A fighter could decide “hey, I wanna sneak attack!” and gain a level in rogue to do so.
Each race had a “favored class”, that’s a class where your race is considered so prodigious that the XP penalty does not count. These were your stereotypical elven wizard, gnome bard, half-orc barbarian and so on. Multiclassing usually didn’t pay off very well other than at the first few levels when one of the two classes were your favored one, though, as when you’re high level you get more bang for your XP when taking the next level of your existing class instead of getting the benefits of being a level 1 monk or so (being level 5 in two classes was usually not as good as being level 10 in one).

Enter 4th edition

Multiclassing got nerfed. You pay a feat to multiclass and get.. almost nothing? I remember pouring through the multiclass feats to see if it made sense to use any of them, any at all, but no. The added benefit was at best minuscule. You could in theory multiclass to get a tiny payoff in flavor from the other class ["Look ma! My fighter is an amateur spellcaster because he can cast prestidigitation!"], but not enough to even tempt me. It was all very disappointing. Hybrid player characters sets out to fix this badness!

Be environmentally responsible, play a hybrid!

WOTC has succeeded in making it really easy to build hybrid characters. There are no calculations involved. You just have to make sure that you have at least one power of each type from both classes at all times. In the first few levels you’ll have only one daily and one encounter power, then you choose freely from the two classes’ powers. A hybrid player character chooses two classes from a special list of hybrid class specifications. You’re a hybrid character from level 1. There is a an additional feat, “Hybrid Talent” you can take to unlock more class features of each hybrid class.

You are allowed to mix and match powers from two classes, that may have different roles and power sources. This adds bang -and- flavor to your character!
WOTC warns that there is the possibility of creating both feeble and too powerful characters using this rule set. I call it flexibility.

The new multiclass mechanics

The hybrid classes are basically half the normal classes when it comes to bang. Numbers are halved and most class features are removed.
Two hybrid classes are combined into one using the following procedure:

• Use the armor proficiencies shared by both classes
• Add weapon proficiencies, bonus to defenses, class skills, implement options and class features together
• Average the hit points and healing surges (the numbers are already halved, so add them together and round down)
• You get training in three skills

That’s it!

Shameless plug

Next week we’ll build on the new hybrid character rules and introduce the level 0 character aka. the “not yet a hero” character, for interesting character building in your roleplaying game!

Tags: 4th edition, Reviews, Rules