DCC Multiclassing (Revised 2026-10-11)

A while back, I wrote a blog article on multiclassing in Dungeon Crawl Classics, and it wasn't bad.  But I should really update it, as I've changed how I play with multiclassing at my table.  

Delaying to level up both classes wasn't fun for the player so we scrapped it pretty quickly. We also changed how bonuses might stack.  Yes, I still want to keep the feel of my old AD&D, when you wanted to be a fighter/magic-user … but like older editions and my first attempt at house ruling this, forcing a single choice at 1st level and 2nd level didn't work for my players.  And if they aren't having fun with an option, it's a bad rule.  Here's my updated take on this.

The earlier AD&D concept had something to say for it – you picked a combination and lived with it.  No one complained about overpowered combinations, because the combinations were limited, and fairly straight forward.  A fighter/magic-user couldn’t wear armor while casting spells, but could use martial weapons.  In fact, you clearly made a trade-off of power for versatility.  The concept that only demi-humans could multiclass wasn't ideal, and led to a less-human game with the PCs diving for dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-orcs and halflings.

Now, DCC is it’s own interesting creation – you can’t choose a class when you first start out at 0-level, so gaining a class at 1^st level is a heady achievement that really shouldn’t be diluted.  Let that plucky farmer enjoy his moment in the sun as he becomes a lofty 1st-level warrior.  But what about when you make it to 2^nd level?  Capturing the feel of AD&D, maybe this would be a good point to let your players choose to multiclass their characters at this point, and it’s a definite once-in-a-character-lifetime choice.  It allows interesting varieties such as a Thief/Wizard, or Warrior/Thief, which is a perfect reflection of the Grey Mouser or Fafhrd, or even Conan, so it fits the central premise of being faithful to Appendix N.


0-Level to 1st Level

Most characters choose classes as normal -- but if a player wants their 0-level demi-human to take a class in something else, let them!  There's no real reason a dwarf can't become a Thief at 1st level.  Let them keep their demi-human characteristics they had at 0-level (darkvision, slow movement, etc), and take whatever class they want.

Human characters of course, can't take the class 'Elf' (unless they have some stunning explanation how they have elven blood and you are willing), but pick their first class as normal.

I allow the Paladin, Ranger, Monk and Druid classes in my Aquerria game, as well as the additional potential racial classes through occupation rolls of Gnome and Half-Elf.


1st Level to 2nd Level

Here we go -- this is the fork in the road, a chance to continue on as a single classed character, or multiclass.  If a character wants to be a Cleric/Warrior, Thief/Wizard, or any such combination, let them -- they take the second class as normal.

As an ancillary effect, it lets you but it also offers some versatility to demi-humans, so they aren't railroaded into one class only, and then you can offer options, like becoming a Dwarf/Thief or an Elf/Warrior.  Frankly, giving demi-humans a choice to branch out seems like a good solution to me.

Now going forward, when the character levels up, they can level up either class they have, but all classes must stay within one level of each other.  No one class can be higher than 5th level, so should a character get to 10th level, they will max out at 5th/5th.

So, if allowing this, characters get versatility, but they need to stick with their career-altering choice choices, and advance in both of their newfound classes at half-speed.  So here’s my simplified take on multi-classing, as allowed in my campaign.

Enjoy!

needed.

Multi-Classing

     Multiclassing may be chosen when a character advances to 2nd level only, and a second class may be added instead of advancing in the character’s current class (eg. 1st level Wizard/1st level Thief instead of 2nd level Wizard).

     As the character advances, both classes must remain within one level of each other -- so for example a 0-level Gongfarmer becomes a 1st-level Thief at 10 XP, a 1st-level Thief/1st-level Magic-User at 50 XP, and then a 1st-level Thief/2nd-level Magic-User at 110 XP.  Each character can advance to a combined maximum of 10 levels (so with this example, a 5th-Level Thief/5th-Level Warrior) – and the character gains the following benefits:

* Combined hit dice and hit points

* Combined weapon training

* Combined attack bonuses

* Highest Action Dice of either class

* Highest Crit die and table choice of either class

* Highest bonus of either class’ saving throws

* Highest bonus in any skill of either class

* Caster level and spells known separate for each class

     Thus, a 2nd level Magic-User/2nd level Thief with a Stamina of 14 would have 1d3+1 hp (for 0-level) plus 2d4+2 (for the Magic-User class levels) and 2d6+2 (for the Thief class levels), a +2 Attack bonus from both classes combined, saving throws of Fortitude +1, Reflex +1, and Will +1 (the highest of each class), and would use 1d12 on the II Critical Hit Table.