Multiclass Reconciliation

Tahquil

I am curious if anyone else has had a similar experience to what I am about to describe and how they went about rectifying it.

Story time:
Tahquil has (nearly) always been played as a very headstrong character, someone who is sometimes overwhelmingly certain of who she and her standing in the world. Part of this has always been drawn from her active participation with her class (research, investigation, subtle uses in RP) rather than passive use of her skills (just seeing them as game mechanics). When Multiclass came out, like most people, I picked up another class because I felt that it suited Tahquil as well. Then, with the advent of Depthswalker, a third class was picked up.

Recently I've noticed I have disconnected a lot of Tahquil. Previously she would spend most her time in lesserform as she was very proud to be a Mhun, but now I have options on what that lesserform class could be I stay in dragon because the three classes are equally Tahquil-ish. I've kinda just fallen into the routine of Bash-Fish-Bash-Fish-Bash-Fish since I do not like RPing in dragonform.

I feel being a 'Jack of all Trades, but Master of None' has taken away a lot of the motivation I had playing Tahquil as a character. I'll be quitting my classes and taking the number back down to one to see if I can get some of that identity and motivation back. But, has anyone else felt like this?

Aesgar

Tahquil said:

But, has anyone else felt like this?

Hi!

Mathilda

Part of why I've opted not to get another class (even when I really wanted DW or alchemist) was that it just didn't fit Mathilda's MO as a sort of intrepid trailblazer. Class RP by itself is pretty dead, but class definitely can still augment the RP and identity of a character as a whole.

Shirszae

Like you, I see all of Shirsz classes as aspects of her, but that hasnt actually hindered my wanting to play her. I just see Shirsz as someone who dabbles on different things like a normal person, and has accrued abilities in different areas, which she will make use of depending of circumstances. 

I try to not directly acknowledge which class she is in at any given point, but I tend to slip in combat situations for obvious reasons.

Keorin

Personally, this is a big reason why I've generally avoided multiclassing, myself. Being a monk is too huge a part of Keorin's identity for it to really feel appealing to turn her into a generalist.

I've taken a second class on other characters, when it that class felt super appropriate for them, and may someday take a second for Keorin, but I can't imagine taking any more then that. When learning a class means that your character has become skilled in manipulating several new powerful, supernatural forces, I find focusing on just a few helps them each be much stronger parts of her identity.

Voli

I pick my active class based on what I want to have for the day, mechanically, to utilize. Voli's RP involves utilizing both classes's skills in an RP fashion, even if I can only work with one mechanically.

I don't really understand the idea that more classes = less identity, because I'd be more than willing to (if Voli's RP worked this way) roleplay utilizing elemental channels, as a Magi, even though I wouldn't have the ability to utilize it in a more combative (mechanical) sense. I just limit myself to classes that would actually fit Voli's RP.

I have a character in another IRE mud that has basically every class in her faction. She applies a very jack-of-all-trades style to her roleplay of utilizing those classes, but the two she had since she was a girl (18-25 in MUD age) are the two classes she roleplays as an actual master of. It lets me delve deeper into the RP of those classes while still applying some fun effects from the others that she isn't as invested in.

Sorry if I misinterpreted your struggle. I exude much noob.

Accipiter

Not at all, I play Accipiter as a serpent, and even before multiclass when I was class hopping I always identified as serpent since the first time I took up the class when the character was around 50. I do find I lesserform a lot more now that I have elder dragon, just because the time to switch to dragon is pretty much inconsequential now but from what I can see talisman drops to get that are much lower now than they used to be.

I agree that the Jack of All Trades mentality can be harmful, but with a lorewarden arte (even just l1) you are never really that far away in time from being your chosen class so you can just wait and bitch about not being able to do what you should be.

But then, serpent has 50% of the good stuff as arties that I have anyway from when I was class hopping so maybe it is a bad example.

Mathilda

@Voli multiclass doesn't translate to identity loss per se, but for example, you wouldn't expect my daring trailblazer to be a lab-sciency gal. But it could make sense for her to be able to, say, be a woodland ranger, too. It's about proper mixes, in my case.

But even if you dabble in seemingly opposite professions, you can still make that a significant factor in your character's core identity. There are real-life examples of lawyers who are also phenomenal musicians, for example. Own your multiclassing.

Tahquil

It might be also be part of a character's age. Like @Voli said, her character has no issue sliding seamlessly between classes, however as it seems like she is saying (I apologise if I am misinterpretting), that she has also been multiclassed for the majority of her character's developmental stage?

Voli

For that character in my example @Tahquil, I was primary class from inception, got 2nd place in a Great hunt and picked up the 2nd class by 19. It's why I consider her a master at those two classes.

@Mathilda I mentioned it in another thread, actually. Certain styles of RP need to have some form of background development to make it feel earned and sincere. Voli, who is a Depthswalker and Blademaster, couldn't just walk up to the people she knows and start whipping out all sorts of awesome elemental magic..

Well.. I could do that.. but it would feel as sudden as a slap to the face, because she has displayed no inclination towards it, no interest in it, and no real aptitude for it. In fact, she tends to turn her nose up at the idea of being one of those people who waves her hands around in funny patterns and makes people keel over dead. (even if it is internally).

It'd feel unearned, and a bit random for her to suddenly start doing it. I could, however, start fostering the RP for it before I multiclass into the intended thing and start building an RP for it, so that anyone who knows her sees it as an obvious, logical step in her development as a person as opposed to a random bit of RP that'll probably fade out due to the suddenness of it.

(Edit) THIS IS ALL MY OPINION!

Cailin

Different people are just going to have different ways of looking at it, but here's how it works for me. 

Cailin is a druid first and foremost, and always will be. I'll pick up more classes as soon as I can afford them, but she's always going to have a special place in her heart for druid. For  me, it's easier that she's "always been a druid," because the classes that aren't particularly akin to her character will be explained as "I wanted such-and-such ability, so I studied and learned it. But I'll always be a druid." She's a very practical-minded person, so that fits.

I'll never pick up classes that clash with her character (Depthswalker, for instance).

Dochitha

You just need @Aerek to be back. 

Torinn

Torinn takes on the priest archetype primarily.  No matter what class he is mechanically, he is always a priest.  Class changes I have always justified with RP.  My two other classes are Magi and Serpent, things you wouldn't think mesh well, but in the case of Magi it is simply the priest's elemental affinities being turned outward toward destructive ends rather than to healing purposes.  A primary side effect of this is being further away from devotional source.  My angel is still there but I can no longer see her, my devotional abilities aren't easily accessible, but importantly -are- still present if I just changed my mindset.  For serpent, I basically completely ignore the fang aspect and go with that serpent is a 100% martial class.  It's an additional set of physical skills I learned to fill in the gaps when more subtlety is required, or when devotion isn't easily accessible.  I never take another class without roleplaying it and having some actually compelling reason to do so.  For instance, if a new class came out and it was the best thing ever i still wouldnt take it unless there was a compelling rp reason.  Torinn is still a priest first and foremost but now sometimes I direct the elements destructively, and sometimes choose to hide in the shadows instead of going in mace swinging.  I admit it is a little difficult sometimes to keep the priestly persona going but I think customizing my equipment would go a long way to close the gap.  For instance, customizing the dirk to show it as glowing with light or fire or some such as if I'm still channeling the fervour of faith even as a serpent.  Because really torinn is and always will be a priest no matter what class he really is.

Kyrra

I can relate to this a little bit. Kyrra is so old and she's always been a Runewarden, so I feel like that is a huge part of her identity. She's nuts for Runelore and totems, and I draw heavily on that for her RP. She's got a four centuries-long connection to the earth and using earthen power. After an epic encounter with Hecate, I've been leaning towards more of a healer route thanks to all the extra knowledge floating around in her head. She uses a blend of runic power with herbs and poultices to create items with healing properties. I think it's so freaking cool that I can take that option but it draws on things already in place and her massive amount of trade skills.

I honestly just can't see Kyrra as another class. I don't even dragon that much anymore. Dragons are cool, I have Elder, but I can tank well enough for hunting and I have epic wings so gare is kind of pointless. When the elemental lords were released though, that was exciting for me. Kyrra is the Storm Maiden, and here is a class that is less of a class in her eyes and more like embracing a form that is closer to how she sees herself. If I had won that custom EL description in the last auction, I'd have gone full Storm Lady and it would have been perfect.

Perhaps because I've just played a character for so long and changes in her life have come so gradually, that I struggle with the concept of turning her into something different. Most of the other classes just don't make sense for Kyrra to be.

Sena

I've always basically considered Sena to be a serpent (as does Sena, ICly), despite not actually being one since 2006. No matter what class I change to, I've always used it to explore some different aspect of the same archetype, so I've never really felt any disconnect with the identity I originally developed.

Although that's just changing class, with a few years between each change, so it's not quite the same as the situation you're describing. I could never really afford multiple classes until depthswalker, and by that point I was already mostly dormant due to RL eating up all my time, so I've never actually dealt with constant switching back and forth. I expect it still wouldn't be a problem though, because I can still connect it to Sena's core identity just fine. It also helps that I can now actually have serpent as one of her classes, so it would always be present and easily available regardless of what class I'm currently playing.

Aerek

I always tried to embrace the flavor and themes of my class as part of my character psychology, and I always admired other characters who did the same. If you really like to throw yourself into the lore of a class and portray the everyday life of someone with these extraordinary powers, having multiple classes dividing your attention certainly muddies the water. It's like drawing a Venn diagram with too many colored circles, the center takes all the vibrant shades and turns them into puce. 

For me, having trained myself to think and act like a big dude in plate armor for most of a decade, once I started spending more time in Blademaster, that did start to erode my sense of character identity. Some of the disconnect was narrative, (I would forget which class I was, act like I was in armor when I wasn't, etc) and some of it was more mechanical, (Stand-and-fight-fair mentality vs survival via Evade and BM's long list of dirty tricks) but it definitely contributed to a sort of cognitive dissonance while roleplaying the character.

One aspect I feel folks might not think about is how multiple classes influence how other people perceive a character. I'm sure we can all explain to ourselves how multiple classes compliment and highlight our character's complex personality, but most other players aren't going to know us on that level, and so we become more indistinct to the casual observer. A lot of older, iconic characters (Tenebrous, Flair, etc) would be impossible to describe without including their class, because they embodied their class, and their class made possible their adventures. Not to say that today's icons won't be remembered, but I do think multiclassing robs characters of a certain archetypal quality that I was always fond of.

@Dochitha I miss you too, bro.

Minifie

It would be a lot harder if someone has RP'd their character heavily with their class, but a lot easier for those of us who never integrated it into routine RP stuff. If you want to integrate your class into your character, then multiclass falls very quickly (Aerek going serpent would be incredibly weird, or magi, as examples) While Min just pulls the arrow out she needs. It's very much a "how you want it to work" deal, though. 

Tysandr

Minifie said:

It would be a lot harder if someone has RP'd their character heavily with their class, but a lot easier for those of us who never integrated it into routine RP stuff. If you want to integrate your class into your character, then multiclass falls very quickly (Aerek going serpent would be incredibly weird, or magi, as examples) While Min just pulls the arrow out she needs. It's very much a "how you want it to work" deal, though. 

Agree.

The way I reconciled playing so many classes was to have a favoured methodology; I would choose magick or martial as the predominant driver. Then I would choose one of that branch to consider my character a master in. Often it was dependent on how good I actually was at combat in said class.

Then swapping to other classes meant seeking an avenue to win, rather than a personality trait. Being uncomfortable in fullplate and complaining about it on the battlefield "How the hell do you guys wear this ridiculous metal casing every day?" is certainly fun RP.

Atalkez

The only class I really put effort into role playing was BM. To me, even if I learn every class in the game, I cut my teeth as BM - so I’ll always be a BM really. It’s probably the most associated class from an outsider perspective, though Paladin since going to Targossas may be prominent now.