Suggestion: The Balancing Act

[branmakmuffin]

You could. And it could even be a part of a chosen fantasy archetype. However, many dungeon masters however frown upon taking something for purely mechanical reasons and trying to rationalize said choice, which is par for the course online.

As others have suggested, you can make a good RP case for paladin/rogue in PnP. In DDO, it just smacks of power gaming.

[frugal_gourmet]

As others have suggested, you can make a good RP case for paladin/rogue in PnP. In DDO, it just smacks of power gaming.

Right. I guess what I'm saying is playing a particular unique blend of characters is fine. But when 99% of the server does it, you know they're not playing a particular character. They're picking mechanically.

The two monk levels thing is much more easily controlled in a pen and paper setting because the DM can call B.S. when every player starts doing it. Most people's imagined fantasy worlds aren't full of ninja rangers. I think at least.

I mean, think about the dwarven Ranger. Not that they don't exist in the D&D world, but our world is full of them.

And I'm not saying that you can't "power game" and "role play" at the same time. I recognize they are not mutually exclusive.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Really? Mind elaborating on that? Mostly balance-wise, I don't see how.
(Not saying you're wrong, I'm really open on that.)

Well for example a strength of humans is that they could multiclass more easily.

The limits on multi classing also helps reduce unexpected playabilty issues from splash builds.

[branmakmuffin]

I mean, think about the dwarven Ranger. Not that they don't exist in the D&D world, but our world is full of them.

That's an excellent example. Of course one big reason is all the Dwarven racial enhancements that don't exist in PnP