The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [53]
Multi-class characters, on the other hand, could perform the functions of several different classes simultaneously. This option was only available to demi-humans; a multi-classed elven fighter/wizard could wear armor and cast spells, although at a penalty. In fact, some demi-humans could combine three classes. Experience points were divided amongst the classes, so it would take longer to level in all the additional classes. Given that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had different experience point rates for different classes, it was therefore possible that a multi-class character might end up with different levels in each of the classes he belonged to. The Original Dungeons &Dragons boxed set had another rule that restricted demi-humans, only allowing them to reach certain maximum levels. So even if they were multi-classed, demihumans were restricted in the highest levels they could attain in each class.
In Advanced Dungeons &Dragons different classes had different ability score requirements for the character to join them. Paladins and monks had much stricter joining requirements than other classes. These limitations led to “ability score creep” in my campaign—players just happened to have the right amount of statistics to join the class, either by rolling ability scores over and over until they achieved the necessary scores, through a point buy system, or (as they admitted later) just assigning scores.
The third edition changed classes considerably, standardizing several aspects of their abilities. Perhaps most affected was the thief class, whose proprietary skills were standardized so that other classes could perform the same roles. Prestige classes, which had highly restricted requirements but bestowed a tightly focused set of abilities, were introduced in the third edition. In the fourth edition, prestige classes were replaced by paragon paths and epic destinies, which perform essentially the same function but are carefully regulated by level (Carter 2007:91).
ASSASSIN • Assassins in Dungeons & Dragons are shadowy figures who can kill with a single strike. Assassins appeared in Men & Magic as a special class (Arneson 1975:1). They were masters of disguise and poison, paid by performing assassination missions and given titles derived from the Indian Thuggee (the sixth level title is Dacoit, the seventh Thug). They were evil characters, so it was difficult to imagine that these characters could ever be fully functioning members of an adventuring party.
The term “assassin” was coined in 1531 via French and Italian (Ayto 1990:39). The belief that assassins used hashish helped form the word “hashishiyyin,” which means “hashish-users.” Active in Persia and Syria from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries, the original assassins were members of the Nizaris, a fanatical Ismali Muslim sect who opposed the Abbasid caliphate through murder. The leader of the assassins was the Shaik-al-Jibal (“Old Man of the Mountains”). Although the two classes have their roots in different cultures, the assassin (Ismali) and the paladin (Knights Templar) actually met during the Crusades.
Much of what was known about assassins in the Western world was drawn from Marco Polo, who explained how the assassins were drugged with special potions that made them both fearless and hopeful for an afterlife filled with pleasure. Polo’s account is undoubtedly biased, but it is his description that established the assassin archetype in fantasy literature.
The assassin was removed from the second edition, reintroduced as a prestige class in the third edition, and restored as an exclusive class in D&D Insider for the fourth edition.
BARBARIAN • Barbarians were first introduced to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in Dragon magazine (Gygax 1982:8).