3PP Release Available Now: Multiclasser's Manual, Volume 1

EDIT: This is available now!

Multiclasser's Manual, Volume 1 (A5E) - Purple Martin Games | DriveThruRPG.com

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When I wound down the Thematic Toolkit series, I mentioned I'd be replacing it with a larger product called Multiclasser's Manual.

With work on the first one of those well underway, I figured it'd be good to tell folks about it!

The core of the book is the synergy feat chains; there are 25 two-class combinations covered, and of those, 24 are brand new, with the one reprint being the rogue/wizard chain from Thematic Toolkit: Venomous Shadow. The full list of two-class combinations is as follows:

• Cleric/Fighter
• Cleric/Rogue
• Cleric/Wizard
• Fighter/Rogue
• Fighter/Wizard
• Rogue/Wizard
• Fighter/Herald
• Marshal/Rogue
• Cleric/Herald
• Esper/Warlock
• Artificer/Druid
• Sorcerer/Wizard
• Marshal/Ranger
• Druid/Warlock
• Elementalist/Sorcerer
• Warlock/Wielder
• Adept/Sorcerer
• Adept/Cleric
• Cleric/Marshal
• Berserker/Ranger
• Ranger/Witch
• Bard/Warlock
• Herald/Wielder
• Savant/Scholar

A few notes about those combinations: while fighter/wizard is covered already, I wanted a heavily-armored "magical shock trooper" kind of option on deck and decided to make a feat chain for that. The Warlock/Wielder chain also has eleven feats in it; two that interweave the core class features and then one for each of the nine combinations of bonded artifact and pact boon that exist, and yes, if you take the Pactkeeper's Reward invocation, it is possible to pick up two of them if you wish.

Each of these combinations also not only comes with a fully-generic synergy feat chain, but some analysis and advice on how to combine the classes and 4-6 general character concepts with a list of suggested archetypes and backgrounds for each.

There is also one three class synergy feat called "paladin" that requires the opening synergy feats for the cleric/fighter, cleric/herald, and herald/fighter chains.

But the book isn't just synergy feat chains! Here's what else is in there:

• Four new archetypes:
  • Artificer: Experimental Chirurgeon
  • Rogue: Hand of the Highborn
  • Wielder: Reliquarian
  • Warlock: Avaricious
• A set of seventeen "profession" feats modeled on the Covert Training, Heraldic Training, and Woodcraft Training feats from the core rules. Each gives a minor benefit and one or two knacks from its associated class. Classes covered are adept, artificer, bard, berserker, cleric, druid, elementalist, esper, fighter, marshal, savant, scholar, warlock, wielder, witch, and wizard. (Which covers all the remaining first-party classes and the 5 third-party ones that are widely available.)
• Reprints of all the mechanical content from a bunch of smaller PMG releases! In particular, you will see the archetypes and supplemental content from the following in here:
  • Arcane Sniper
  • Confidence Mage
  • Field Agent
  • Fiery Justice
  • Mortalist
  • Spiritualist
• Reprints of various combat traditions and spells needed to make the new material work, such as the Sanctified Steel combat tradition first introduced in Sinuous Sentinels.

Coming very soon, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. This thread will be updated with more precise information once I have it to share!

It looks really cool! I have all your other work, so it's nice to see so much new material.

I've always wondered though: since the standard form of synergy feats requires you be at least level 6 to take the first one, and potential for feats is every four levels starting at level 4, isn't it true that for practical purposes you can't get started with the feat chain until at least level 8? Does anybody houserule that? Level 8 is pretty far along a PCs development, especially given the rarity of high-level play. Or are these feats assuming a high level campaign is in the offing?

The reason I'm asking is simply that I've had players inquire about that issue and thought you, as someone who has spent a great deal of time on this specific area of A5e design, would have some insight. Really looking forward to the book!

You can get the first synergy feat at level 7 (3 levels of class A and 4 levels of class B) and the second at level 8 (4 levels of class A and 4 levels of class B) remember: ASI/feat opportunities are tied to class level, not character level. But yes, they definitely assume your campaign gets into those higher levels. Those are the points where you start to really need something extra to make a multiclass character function, too; you start to fall behind single-class builds more and more as the levels progress.

By the way, if folks were wondering why the specific batch of feats I chose is in there, I wanted to cover all 6 combinations of the 4 "essential" classes (fighter, rogue, cleric, and wizard) in one shot and then tried for a good mix of "gold standard" and "novelty" builds.

Timespike said:

You can get the first synergy feat at level 7 (3 levels of class A and 4 levels of class B) and the second at level 8 (4 levels of class A and 4 levels of class B) remember: ASI/feat opportunities are tied to class level, not character level. But yes, they definitely assume your campaign gets into those higher levels. Those are the points where you start to really need something extra to make a multiclass character function, too; you start to fall behind single-class builds more and more as the levels progress.

Click to expand...

I suppose you're right; there really isn't anything for it, but sometimes I think it's a shame that so many interesting creative ideas get gated behind higher levels you may never see.

It's also a little weird that you need to wait until three levels after you can get a feat before you can actually take the one you want. Do you just have a placeholder feat from levels 4 to 7? Or higher, if you don't go straight through the first four levels of your first class and want to multiclass earlier? I know the latter issue is an obstacle for all multi-classing feat-takers, but the synergy feat system seems to exentuate the problem.

Like I said though, I agree that there doesn't seem to be anything for it.

The best way to do it is 3 levels of one class, 3 levels of the other, then advance one of them to 4 so you get the ASI/feat pick right after you qualify (and then probably advance the other to level 4 so you get the second one).

Unless you're playing with a house rule that decouples ASIs from individual class levels, that solves that problem; you don't have 4 levels in anything so you don't get a feat prior to being able to take the synergy feat you want.

Timespike said:

Each of these combinations also not only comes with a fully-generic synergy feat chain, but some analysis and advice on how to combine the classes and 4-6 general character concepts with a list of suggested archetypes and backgrounds for each.

Click to expand...

Sort of like the Quick Builds in 5e which offer you suggestions on which attributes and which background you ought to focus on during character creation? Only here, it will be which class archetypes and which background will pair well with one another. I hope this is the case. It's a bit of a guessing game IMO when it comes to finding the right pair of archetypes for a synergy feat chain. So some help would be welcome.

Here's an example copy-pasted out of my working document. The Devotee of War concept is just one of six for that specific combo, but this will give you a sense.

Cleric/Fighter​

Cleric/Fighters have access to both the peerless martial focus of fighters and the versatile spellcasting of a cleric. The classes don’t have a lot of direct synergy, but they also don’t get in each other’s way at all, and virtually any mix of fighter and cleric levels will probably make for a satisfactory experience. Leaning further into fighter creates a character who is mostly just a warrior, but has a smattering of divine magic. However, even just one level of cleric will give access to shield of faith and healing word, which will stay useful even into the upper levels of play. In addition, a cleric/fighter can pick up a damaging cantrip like sacred flame which scales with character level, giving an otherwise melee-focused character a useful ranged option that doesn’t require switching weapons. At higher cleric levels, spirit guardians will make a fighter even more dangerous than they would otherwise be, damaging and slowing enemies before they even lift their weapon. Focusing more on cleric levels creates a powerful divine spellcaster that can stand in the thick of combat with even less feat than a normal cleric, and a roughly even mix of levels gives you a very flexible mix of spellcaster and warrior who can handle a wide variety of different situations.

Devotee of War​

Cleric Archetypes: Holy Guardian, Judge, Warpriest
Fighter Archetypes: Arcane Showoff, Bladeseer, Brute, Charging Shield, Gladiator, Militant, Militarist
Recommended Backgrounds: Acolyte, Cultist, Guard, Marauder, Soldier, Strategist
General Concept: Part of the clergy of an actual deity of warfare or battle. The character will likely focus mostly on combat buffs and damaging spells.

Click to expand...

I will also say for the record that the level of specificity varies; sometimes you've got so many different ways the classes can be built that specific spell advice like you see above is less applicable, but I tried to provide it where I could.

So when will the Multiclassers Manual Volume 1 be coming out?

Hopefully before the end of the month, but possibly early May; I have a couple odds and ends that still need to happen, but it's definitely coming along nicely.

I allowed my players to take the synergy feats a level early, so at least two of one class and 4 in the other. In both cases the "2" class was one that got their subclass by then, which I think would be the only concern mechanically. 3/3 means you get consistency in the design and don't have to worry about whether one class doesn't have their archetype yet.

in our case there was no issues with giving the feats a level early and let them get their builds online earlier.

Micah Sweet said:

It looks really cool! I have all your other work, so it's nice to see so much new material.

I've always wondered though: since the standard form of synergy feats requires you be at least level 6 to take the first one, and potential for feats is every four levels starting at level 4, isn't it true that for practical purposes you can't get started with the feat chain until at least level 8? Does anybody houserule that? Level 8 is pretty far along a PCs development, especially given the rarity of high-level play. Or are these feats assuming a high level campaign is in the offing?

The reason I'm asking is simply that I've had players inquire about that issue and thought you, as someone who has spent a great deal of time on this specific area of A5e design, would have some insight. Really looking forward to the book!

Click to expand...