Hybrid Characters

[wbrandel]

Has anyone here played or been un a game where hybrid characters were used? If so what is your opinion of them. I am running a 4e game and gave the option for hybrids but no one took me up. I would like to know how they run in a real game. From what I have seen and read I don't believe they will run any differently then and older AD&D multiclass character.

[WhiteTiger]

I have only written up a character.. never actually playtested but it should be fairly comparable to a normal character. You do not have to spend a feat in order to dabble in another class. Your powers are mandatorially split between both classes and you count as both classes.
you gain access to all of the weapons that both classes offer but you only
get the worst of the armor. Although you may end up with a slightly watered down version of powers depending on what class you take.

[yukonhorror]

I have been experimenting with "elite" hybrid multiclassing where each character combines 4 different hybrid classes. From what I can tell, it isn't bad, but I haven't looked at ALL of the classes.

[wbrandel]

I have only written up a character.. never actually playtested but it should be fairly comparable to a normal character. You do not have to spend a feat in order to dabble in another class. Your powers are mandatorially split between both classes and you count as both classes.
you gain access to all of the weapons that both classes offer but you only
get the worst of the armor. Although you may end up with a slightly watered down version of powers depending on what class you take.

That's why I was thinking it would be similar to the old 1e AD&D or the 3.5 multiclassing. although I do have a new player coming into the group when his schedule permits and he is thinking about a rogue/ranger hybrid.

"elite" hybrid multiclassing where each character combines 4 different hybrid classes.

Sounds good. Please let me know how it works for you, although it does sound like the character would be so watered down that it would be ineffective at any role.

[Valdar]

I'm pretty skeptical about them. They seem like a good idea in terms of a more robust multiclassing (and more like what people are used to), but I'm pretty wary of the ability to cherry-pick the most powerful combos.

I'm not allowing them in my current game, but if I run another campaign where the players have all the options at the beginning, I'd consider it.

[wbrandel]

I'm pretty wary of the ability to cherry-pick the most powerful combos.

I don't think it is any diffrent than what they can do now with the powers. pick the most powerful ones and the ones that work best with the party.
Now if your talking about the hybrid option class freatures they cannot take them except by burning a feat. I don't really have a problem with that since many of the feats can be fairly well powered as well.

[jonnyrockshard]

I run a game with hybrid characters, and honestly...if anything hybrids are underpowered. They let you have a lot more options, but if you want to specialize in one role (especially so for the striker role) then you're better off just choosing one class. Still, for players that are looking for versatility, it's a godsend.

[Frank Jamison]

I just started playing a hybrid barbarian|warden. Some of the class features are watered down...but all-in-all I am enjoying playing him.

[Amon Alden]

I was messing around with hybrids in the character builder the other day. I do believe they seem a bit underpowered, but obviously versatility is the goal here.

I think in most cases a multiclass feat will probably achieve what you're looking for. You can only take the Hybrid talent feat once which gives you access to all the talents not included in the basic hybrid build. I guess some of these things could change upon publication of PHB3, but I think it will be very similar.

Maybe I just wasn't trying the right combinations. It seemed like they were always weak on defense or you had to spread your abilities so far that none of your powers/feats/talents worked the way they should.

Just my two coppers, I guess we'll see more when PHB3 makes it official.

[wizarddog]

The issue is your limited on the class abilities: For instance, if you chose ranger, you gain Prime shot and quarry but not the two blade fighter Style. So some combos may won't work too well.

One thing I found strange was the adding together of hit points so a Paladin/Fighter would have 30+Con of hit points at 1st level. Maybe they need the extra hitpoints so they don't go down before they are actually effective

[jonnyrockshard]

That's actually wrong. Paladins gets about 7 hit points at first level as a hybrid and fighters get 7 as well, adding up to 14 at first level + con. Hybrid classes tend to have around half the normal hit points as their respective full classes.

[wizarddog]

You are correct. I keep reading in the Character builder the beginning text and never the actual class hybrid description..so my bad.

How many pages did this stuff take up in the dragon magazine article because it seems a lot of pages would be dedicated to this in PH3...and if it is hardly worth it...

[Midnight Genius]

I tried to make a hybrid character. I think it's cool, and works well if you know what you're doing, but there's also a lot of room for error. I'm using the character builder, and even then I had a lot of trouble getting everything to work right.
If you can figure out what you're doing (which I'm sure a more experienced player than me would be able to do) Hybriding is a new and exciting possibility. A little of this, a little of that, and wapah, your own unique character with a unique class that's all your own, with a little guidance. A Dabbler character. I like the idea of hybridizing, unfortunately my limited D&D experience disallows me from doing so efficiently. As far as the amount of pages it would take up in the PH3 being worth it, I would say all signs point to yes.
Hybrid characters can also take feats to gain access to their classes other main abilities, so they aren't at that much of a disadvantage.