My player had an interesting idea and I'm not sure what to do about it. The want to multiclass into two different subclasses. (Lets say college of glamour and valor for a bard) How I'm thinking it would go is they would still get the bard abilities, just once they were able to chose the option they had to put levels into each college. I wan't to see what other players/dms think, and what possible balancing issues there would be.
If I'm understanding you correctly that would mean that at 3rd level they'd get the 3rd level subclass feature for one subclass. At 6th level they'd get the 3rd level feature for the other. Then 6th level features for each at 9th and 12th and never get 14th level features.
The subclasses are pretty front loaded so that would be a bit overpowered. To keep it balanced, since they aren't losing any bard abilities, I would limit it to the same schedule as a normal subclass. In other words, 3rd level feature at level 3, other 3rd level feature at level 6, one 6th level feature at 14.
I’m totally cool with players multiclassing, but I don’t allow multiclassing into the same class. Maybe I’m just a killjoy, but that seems too min/max-ish for the kinds of games I run. That may be perfectly fine in your campaign though, maybe everybody is built that way. As stated above, I would impose the level limiting as a balance.
I agree with Unruly_Cow and SwanSquad. Subclass features aren't meant to be mixed and matched. Different subclasses gain power at different rates (e.g. some give you a lot up front, others ramp up over time), have different mixes of combat/social/exploration abilities, and higher level features often expand upon lower level ones. Subclasses are also intimately tied to some class's identity as well (e.g. clerics, warlocks, sorcerers).
If a player wants elements from two different subclasses I'd consider designing a new subclass that better fits what they want, similar to how the War Magic wizard blends elements of the schools of evocation and abjuration into something new. Designing a new feat could also allow them to get what they want, though I'd only recommend this if you feel the mechanics they're trying to get are appropriate for all classes.
My player had an interesting idea and I'm not sure what to do about it. The want to multiclass into two different subclasses. (Lets say college of glamour and valor for a bard) How I'm thinking it would go is they would still get the bard abilities, just once they were able to chose the option they had to put levels into each college. I wan't to see what other players/dms think, and what possible balancing issues there would be.
If I'm understanding you correctly that would mean that at 3rd level they'd get the 3rd level subclass feature for one subclass. At 6th level they'd get the 3rd level feature for the other. Then 6th level features for each at 9th and 12th and never get 14th level features.
The subclasses are pretty front loaded so that would be a bit overpowered. To keep it balanced, since they aren't losing any bard abilities, I would limit it to the same schedule as a normal subclass. In other words, 3rd level feature at level 3, other 3rd level feature at level 6, one 6th level feature at 14.
I’m totally cool with players multiclassing, but I don’t allow multiclassing into the same class. Maybe I’m just a killjoy, but that seems too min/max-ish for the kinds of games I run. That may be perfectly fine in your campaign though, maybe everybody is built that way. As stated above, I would impose the level limiting as a balance.
I agree with Unruly_Cow and SwanSquad. Subclass features aren't meant to be mixed and matched. Different subclasses gain power at different rates (e.g. some give you a lot up front, others ramp up over time), have different mixes of combat/social/exploration abilities, and higher level features often expand upon lower level ones. Subclasses are also intimately tied to some class's identity as well (e.g. clerics, warlocks, sorcerers).
If a player wants elements from two different subclasses I'd consider designing a new subclass that better fits what they want, similar to how the War Magic wizard blends elements of the schools of evocation and abjuration into something new. Designing a new feat could also allow them to get what they want, though I'd only recommend this if you feel the mechanics they're trying to get are appropriate for all classes.
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