BAB with Classes and Prestige [Archive] - Wizards Community

BAB with Classes and Prestige [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Whirlwind-X
01-21-05, 12:58 PM I am a fairly new player to D&D and had some questions adding base attack bonuses from multiple classes or prestige classes, Like for instance

A fighter gives me 20/15/10/5 and if i took a class that gave me 10/5 then what would my new base attack bonus be?

Or if i took a class that was a 15/10/5 and then say took the fighter with 20/15/10/5 what would by attack bonus be then?

And one final question if i have a class that gives me 15/10/5 and i have a str mod of +2 my melee would be 17/12/7 not 17/12/7/2, right?

And also if these rules are spelled out anywhere would someone please kindly direct me.

Thank You
Keku
01-21-05, 01:19 PM well there are two ways to go about this, but let's break down some basics.
if you are starting at 20th level, then yeah a player with full bab would have 20/15/10/5 when you multiclass normally you would just take the bab you had before multiclassing then add to it the levels after.

So a fighter 5/rogue 5 would have bab +8 (5 form fighter 3 from rogue)
Well this rule can be slightly unfair to characters using multiple classes that do not have full attack bonuses.

In Unearthed Arcana, they have a variation rule which has fractional increases.
IN reality each levle of rogue would give you 3/4 of 1 point of BAB. so you would just add up the fractions then round down. If oyu could give an example of the character you are trying to mkae, I could help more.
Whirlwind-X
01-21-05, 01:24 PM He just finished up the rogue so he has a 15/10/5 BAB and is going to take six lvls in fighter which is 6/1 BAB and has a str and dex bonus of +4...so what would the Melee/Ranged Attack bonus be?

Moreover what i should ask is...would it be 21/16/11 or 21/16/11/6/1 and with the ability mods would it be 25/20/15 or 25/20/15/10/5?

Thanks
eggplantm
01-21-05, 01:36 PM You can never get more than four attack per round with your primary hand except by special circumstances such as speed weapons, haste or special class features. So, a character with a BAB of +30 would make attacks of +30/+25/+20/+15.

Additionally, I believe the epic rule is that when you reach 20th character level, you gain no more iterative attacks ever. So if you only had +15/+10/+5 by 20th level, you'll never get more than three attacks even if you later increase your BAB to +16 through character advancement. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

The primary thing to remember is just to add up the first number of the class' bab and start subtracting by 5 each time. You can't have more than 4 attacks without special help.
Jell_Moo
01-21-05, 01:44 PM The easiest way to look at is to simply drop everything after the first number. So a 20th level Fighter has a BAB of +20.

You just take the numbers and add them together.

For example a 3rd level fighter has a BAB of +3. If he then takes two levels of rogue he would have a BAB of +4.

You just look at the chart:
3rd level Fighter = +3 BAB
2nd level Rogue = +1 BAB

Then add em together to get +4.

When it comes to additional attacks, you just wait until the BAB reaches the right mark, which is every 5 levels. So as soon as you hit a BAB of +6, you gain an attack of +1. And then every level after that, the new attack goes up as well.

You strength mod does not actually affect your BAB. They are kind of like two seperate things. Your BAB is the Base of your attacks, and it affects # of attacks per round. You add things like your Str bonus and weapon enchantment bonuses to it after wards.

As for you question about the Rogue taking Fighter levels:

There are special rules for when a character goes past 20th level. These are known as Epic rules, so things work differently here. After 20th level, your BAB does not go up. Instead you get a +1 to hit every other level, regardless of class.

It's a little confusing at first, but after a little exposure to it you'll pick it up.
Felagund
01-21-05, 01:50 PM Now you're talking about an epic level character, which is a completely different barrel of monkeys. The rules from the PHB only apply to characters up to level 20. Starting at level 21, the rules change.

Honestly, I would really advise steering away from characters of levels that high if you're a new player. Things are going to be a lot more complicated. Of course, it's your choice, and I'm not going to try to tell you what to do. But if you're going to be playing over level 20, you're probably going to want to pick up the Epic Level Handbook. Otherwise, each of the books in the Complete series also has some limited information about epic level.

As far as general multiclassing goes (below level 21), simply add your base attack bonuses together. You only really need to add the highest attack of each, because you will always get secondary (and tertiary, etc.) attacks at -5, as long as the new attack is at least +1. These extra attacks come from base attack bonus only. Increasing your overall attack modifier in other ways (str/dex mod, weapon focus, magic weapon, etc.) will never grant you extra attacks. Also, you can never have more than 4 attacks with your base attack bonus, even at epic level.

Example:
Say you had a character with 10 levels of fighter, and 5 levels of rogue. The character gets +10 BAB from fighter, and +3 BAB from rogue. Together this gives him a total BAB of +13, with extra attacks at +8 and +3. If the character had a 16 strength, this would make his melee attack bonus +16/+11/+6, but it would not grant him an extra attack at +1.

Hope that clears some things up for you.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Whirlwind-X 01-21-05, 12:58 PM	I am a fairly new player to D&D and had some questions adding base attack bonuses from multiple classes or prestige classes, Like for instance A fighter gives me 20/15/10/5 and if i took a class that gave me 10/5 then what would my new base attack bonus be? Or if i took a class that was a 15/10/5 and then say took the fighter with 20/15/10/5 what would by attack bonus be then? And one final question if i have a class that gives me 15/10/5 and i have a str mod of +2 my melee would be 17/12/7 not 17/12/7/2, right? And also if these rules are spelled out anywhere would someone please kindly direct me. Thank You
Keku 01-21-05, 01:19 PM	well there are two ways to go about this, but let's break down some basics. if you are starting at 20th level, then yeah a player with full bab would have 20/15/10/5 when you multiclass normally you would just take the bab you had before multiclassing then add to it the levels after. So a fighter 5/rogue 5 would have bab +8 (5 form fighter 3 from rogue) Well this rule can be slightly unfair to characters using multiple classes that do not have full attack bonuses. In Unearthed Arcana, they have a variation rule which has fractional increases. IN reality each levle of rogue would give you 3/4 of 1 point of BAB. so you would just add up the fractions then round down. If oyu could give an example of the character you are trying to mkae, I could help more.
Whirlwind-X 01-21-05, 01:24 PM	He just finished up the rogue so he has a 15/10/5 BAB and is going to take six lvls in fighter which is 6/1 BAB and has a str and dex bonus of +4...so what would the Melee/Ranged Attack bonus be? Moreover what i should ask is...would it be 21/16/11 or 21/16/11/6/1 and with the ability mods would it be 25/20/15 or 25/20/15/10/5? Thanks
eggplantm 01-21-05, 01:36 PM	You can never get more than four attack per round with your primary hand except by special circumstances such as speed weapons, haste or special class features. So, a character with a BAB of +30 would make attacks of +30/+25/+20/+15. Additionally, I believe the epic rule is that when you reach 20th character level, you gain no more iterative attacks ever. So if you only had +15/+10/+5 by 20th level, you'll never get more than three attacks even if you later increase your BAB to +16 through character advancement. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. The primary thing to remember is just to add up the first number of the class' bab and start subtracting by 5 each time. You can't have more than 4 attacks without special help.
Jell_Moo 01-21-05, 01:44 PM	The easiest way to look at is to simply drop everything after the first number. So a 20th level Fighter has a BAB of +20. You just take the numbers and add them together. For example a 3rd level fighter has a BAB of +3. If he then takes two levels of rogue he would have a BAB of +4. You just look at the chart: 3rd level Fighter = +3 BAB 2nd level Rogue = +1 BAB Then add em together to get +4. When it comes to additional attacks, you just wait until the BAB reaches the right mark, which is every 5 levels. So as soon as you hit a BAB of +6, you gain an attack of +1. And then every level after that, the new attack goes up as well. You strength mod does not actually affect your BAB. They are kind of like two seperate things. Your BAB is the Base of your attacks, and it affects # of attacks per round. You add things like your Str bonus and weapon enchantment bonuses to it after wards. As for you question about the Rogue taking Fighter levels: There are special rules for when a character goes past 20th level. These are known as Epic rules, so things work differently here. After 20th level, your BAB does not go up. Instead you get a +1 to hit every other level, regardless of class. It's a little confusing at first, but after a little exposure to it you'll pick it up.
Felagund 01-21-05, 01:50 PM	Now you're talking about an epic level character, which is a completely different barrel of monkeys. The rules from the PHB only apply to characters up to level 20. Starting at level 21, the rules change. Honestly, I would really advise steering away from characters of levels that high if you're a new player. Things are going to be a lot more complicated. Of course, it's your choice, and I'm not going to try to tell you what to do. But if you're going to be playing over level 20, you're probably going to want to pick up the Epic Level Handbook. Otherwise, each of the books in the Complete series also has some limited information about epic level. As far as general multiclassing goes (below level 21), simply add your base attack bonuses together. You only really need to add the highest attack of each, because you will always get secondary (and tertiary, etc.) attacks at -5, as long as the new attack is at least +1. These extra attacks come from base attack bonus only. Increasing your overall attack modifier in other ways (str/dex mod, weapon focus, magic weapon, etc.) will never grant you extra attacks. Also, you can never have more than 4 attacks with your base attack bonus, even at epic level. Example: Say you had a character with 10 levels of fighter, and 5 levels of rogue. The character gets +10 BAB from fighter, and +3 BAB from rogue. Together this gives him a total BAB of +13, with extra attacks at +8 and +3. If the character had a 16 strength, this would make his melee attack bonus +16/+11/+6, but it would not grant him an extra attack at +1. Hope that clears some things up for you.