Multiclass hit points

[harlandski]

Is there anything written in OD&D sources about how to calculate accumulated hits (hit points) for "multi-classed" elves (in the 3lbbs) and then dwarves and halflings in Greyhawk and beyond, or how do you do this in your games?

As far as I can tell there are three possibilities:

1) Just add them together, so an elf veteran / medium has 2+1 dice.
2) Add them and halve the result (this is what I remember from AD&D 2e, but I don't remember seeing this anywhere in OD&D books).
3) Switch between the hit dice for each class as the character switches between adventures.

I suppose 3 could be further subdivided:

3a) Only rolling once each and re-using that roll when you switch classes.
3b) Re-rolling when you switch class (as I believe you are supposed to reroll all hit dice when you go up a level in any class).

[waysoftheearth]

I don't think the 3LBBs are explicit on this one, so it's up to you to decide.

Another (popular?) option is:

4) Choose the most advantageous stat (saves, HD, FC) for the level you are at in each class.

For HD, there is also:

5) Roll hp for both classes separately, and then run with the higher total.


BTW "multiclass" is not mentioned in the 3LBBs or GH. OD&D inherits "combination figures" from CM, but it isn't mentioned again until GH (p29) which says druids are "combination cleric/magic-users".

[delta]

In my game, I do as waysoftheearth said above: Roll hit points in separate "silos" for each class and use the maximum in play. To me, this seems harmonious with the "best class" rule for everything else, like attacks, saves, any skills, etc. Of course, I do need a space on the PC sheet to record these sub-totals.

[Red Baron]

I grew up playing the way piper describes Gary running things. However, here's my interpretation for 3LBB:

Elves have two separate classes and track hp/xp seperately for each class. Elves use the hp total for the class they are currently playing as. Elves take a full week of rest between adventures to switch between classes. 

An elf who had 12hp as a 3rd level fighting-man and 8 hit points as a 4th level magic-user would have 12hp when adventuring as a fighter and 8hp when adventuring as a magic user.

[sixdemonbag]

Mar 28, 2019 20:20:01 GMT -6 Red Baron said:

An elf who had 12hp as a 3rd level fighting-man and 8 hit points as a 4th level magic-user would have 12hp when adventuring as a fighter and 8hp when adventuring as a magic user.

To me, this is the most straight-forward reading of the text.

FWIW, in my games, Elves are simply armor-wearing magic-users. That's more than enough of an advantage, in my eyes, and fits with elves' inherent class duality. I mean, honestly, who isn't gonna play a spell-slinging, sword-wielding, armor-wearing Elf working all the way towards an 8th level m-u?

So my houserule is that elves are m-u's and that's it. This avoids the whole issue and mostly depends on how one interprets the "may use both weaponry and spells" and "may use magic armor" clauses.

Nothing wrong at all with any of these other methods, of course, I just like to keep it simple.

[talysman]

I have two suggestions for you:

1. What we used to do back in the '70s/'80s was to average the dice. For multi-class fighter/magic-user, this basically works out to half of each hit die for each class, the method Gary suggested to Piper. It's also the official AD&D 1e method from the PHB.
2. What I do now is to reroll hit dice every time a character gains a level, using the class that has the most hit dice. This works great for me because I use the old hit dice method rather than the one in Greyhawk. For a 1st level fighter/magic-user, fighters get 1+1 hit dice, m-us get 1 hit die. So, roll 1 die and add 1 point. If the f/mu raises fighter to 2nd level, reroll 2 hit dice and keep the new total if it is higher than the original. If, however, the elf advances mu to 2nd level first, reroll 1+1 hit dice. Multiclass characters only advance in one class at a time, so there's no need to worry about more than one class at any given time.

[Zakharan]

I tried to meet the LBB "switch class" and Greyhawk "simultaneous classes" interpretations in the middle; I use Gary's halved-HD answer as Piper described.

Elves in my campaign technically begin at Level 2; they always use d3 for HD, but have access to both class' perks simultaneously. This is counterbalanced by the need to devote gained XP to only one class per session, and --because they're level 2--they tend to Level up slowly early on.
I haven't had to account for quirks with saving throws since I use Delta's Target 20 for that--reduces any issue there down to nothing.

[magremore]

Mar 28, 2019 21:14:28 GMT -6 sixdemonbag said:

FWIW, in my games, Elves are simply armor-wearing magic-users. That's more than enough of an advantage, in my eyes, and fits with elves' inherent class duality. I mean, honestly, who isn't gonna play a spell-slinging, sword-wielding, armor-wearing Elf working all the way towards an 8th level m-u?

So my houserule is that elves are m-u's and that's it. This avoids the whole issue and mostly depends on how one interprets the "may use both weaponry and spells" and "may use magic armor" clauses.

Nothing wrong at all with any of these other methods, of course, I just like to keep it simple.

I’ll probably never use this, but that is a nice, super simple solution I’ve not seen before. Cool!

(Mine is more of a post-GH/Barker take: simultaneous F/M-U, XP split between both, roll new HD when you gain a level in either, use the new roll only if it's higher.)

[Deleted]

I'm currently using the "Roll your hit dice when you gain a level and use that number if it's higher than your current hit points" system.

The main advantage of this system is that it works even when the class levels are not equal. It also means that players don't have to declare their multi-class at character creation but can, instead, start multiclassing at any time.

[talysman]

Apr 1, 2019 11:59:49 GMT -6 @hedgehobbit said:

I'm currently using the "Roll your hit dice when you gain a level and use that number if it's higher than your current hit points" system.

The main advantage of this system is that it works even when the class levels are not equal. It also means that players don't have to declare their multi-class at character creation but can, instead, start multiclassing at any time.

It's what I was thinking of when I suggested rerolling hit dice for multiclass characters, using whichever class has the best hit dice. It solves the problem of humans changing classes as well.

Although the way I ran it when I first started using "reroll all your hit dice when you gain a level" was that you kept your hit points no matter what. Also let players reroll their hit dice when they are back home healing. So, your max hit points can go up or down. But maybe that's too strict.

[hamurai]

Mar 28, 2019 17:29:54 GMT -6 Piper said:

roll hit dice normally when advancing in level in either class, then cut the result in half (always gaining at least a point) before adding to the player’s total.

That's how we have always done it, too.