Race Only Classes

[Kabol]

This bug anyone else but me?

3.X Finally did away with all the stupid race/class restrictions - Only to put more of them back in with PrC's. Why can Only Elves be Arcane Archers? would it be unbalanced for a human or a dwarf to be? Why isn't there a Human Defender? Why to Dwarves get all the decent tanking classes?

I see no Human only Classes, no Half-Orc only classes, Gnome.. Half-elf?

Is this a reasonable rant, or am I just being Bitter?

 

[Lamoni]

Is this a reasonable rant, or am I just being Bitter?

It is a reasonable rant. You seem to favor versatility. I really prefer uniqueness. Anything that makes my class and character more unique from everyone else is favorable in my opinion. In D&D, after level 10, you really don't notice what race you chose since it is generally overshadowed so much by the class abilities and feats. It still isn't too bad and there are still some advantages to being one race over another, but they don't stand out much. Anyway, I like the prestige classes that are limited to race... I just wish they included a different prestige class for each race. I find it similar to the dragonmarks in the eberron campaign setting. I would really like to be a warforged and also take a dragonmark prestige class, but that is off limits. Instead of irritating me though, it just gives me more reasons to want to choose a different race.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents. I still see where you are coming from and if I really want to play a dwarf archer, I should be able to play a dwarf archer. Unfortunately, I'll have to play one without entering that particular prestige class.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I like the racially-limited (or at least culturally-limited) prestige classes, but only for core/Greyhawk D&D. For instance, in another setting, arcane archer might be more appropriate for gnomes than for elves. Or to a specific nation of archery-oriented humans.

However, as written, WotC racial classes do heavily favor dwarves. That could be a problem, or it could be a natural outgrowth of inevitable dwarven imperial rule.

Humans probably don't get (m)any racial PrCs because one of their main advantages is the ability to qualify for multiple PrCs quickly, courtesy of their bonus feats and skill points.

Half-orcs probably don't get many because... well... maybe WotC hates half-orcs. Their stat mods seem to say so. They do have the Eye of Gruumsh (Complete Warrior) and, IIRC, they qualify for some PrCs that are otherwise open only to the "savage humanoids."

Gnomes and halflings actually have quite a few PrCs to themselves, I believe, though not as many as elves and dwarves.

 

[uzagi_akimbo]

Well, after "Races of Stone" there is now a bunch of PrC rather exclusively for Gnomes and Dwarves (and Goliaths ) - but that was to be expected from a racial-focus book. I believe after "Races of Destiny" in early winter there will be some good stuff for Half-orcs, which will feature heavily in that book.

Overall, I don't really think that any specific race gets the "shaft" with regard to PrC. Half-Orcs will usually drift and qualify more easily to the fighter-PrCs (which they might have to share with other races ) in the first place, while many of the other "limited" prestige classes play to a specific race's strengths.

And - generally spoken, racial PrCs are an outgrowth of a well defined habitat and culture for any specific race. Dwarves are rather iconic dwellers in underground fortresses and staunch, stubborn fighters, so are Elves (with all the "bow and magic" hype) . Far less so for Halflings (which many settings actively try to steer away from the iconic Home-Boyrural image they tend to have ) , gnomes (besides the annoying "tinkering" image - as if the entire race was a bunch of befuddled, absent-minded technical lunatics. I have yet to see a well thought out gnomish mindset in an "official" setting ) and the "half-breeds", e.g. half-orcs and half-elves, who don't even really have a culture of their own to be iconic, but will live in human, orcish or elven settings and take their "iconic" clues from there.
And there really aren't that many possibilities for various PrCs in the barbaric society Orcs seem mostly to be stuck in in the generic settings ( notably excepting Eberron ). besides not many barbaric cultures having the resources or traditions to found and maintain a special "barbaric" PrC, even among the more numerous orcs (who tend to die young and messily in general - hence they have little time to develop or even pass on "prestige" knowledge ).

In a way it makes sense, from a world-building point of view....

 

[FireLance]

Also in Races of Stone is a 3-level PrC called the Stoneblessed which allows any character to be treated as a gnome, dwarf or goliath (choose one). It is thus possible for a Human Fighter 5/Stoneblessed (dwarf) 3 to start taking levels in Dwarven Defender. For that matter, so could a Gnome Fighter 5/Stoneblessed (dwarf) 3.

 

[garyh]

I think some PrC's that are race-specific shouldn't necessarily be, but that's where Rule 0 comes in (as long as you're not playing Living Greyhawk, where the only Rule 0 is that there is NO Rule 0).

In my homebrew, the only races are humans, dwarves, goblins, Arcana Unearthed giants, and WarCraft orcs. I took elf PrC's I thought fit the game world and gave them to humans, and I gave goblins the halfling and gnome PrC's. Works for me.

 

[argo]

Is this a reasonable rant, or am I just being Bitter?

It would be reasonable except that racial-Prc's account for a mere handfull of the hundreds (thousands?) of Prc's that have been published for 3.x I think with so many options open it is ok for a few to be race specific.

And humans don't need any more help in the Prc department. With their extra feat, skillpoints and favored class: any they already make the most munchkin Prc builds.

Later.

 

[Li Shenron]

The original idea of Prestige Classes is not the same for AD&D kits. In early 3ed days, a prestige class was always supposed to be tied to an organization which you would become part of through roleplay and in-character actions, that's why having a racial requirement was perfectly acceptable: Arcane Archers could be an elite group in the elven armies, and their training is open only to the best elven warriors.

When Monte Cook wrote the DMG he wasn't thinking of WotC publishing hundreds of prestige classes in the following books. He was actually suggesting that every gaming group should have its own designed prestige classes, which means that the DMG ones were basically EXAMPLES. But we know that the first supplements already had many PrCls, which is quite sad in a way because now players have the attitude of looking through a lot of PrCl without even finding the "perfect" one for their PC.

I don't see the problem why in a campaign there couldn't be a PrCl with exactly the same features as Arcane Archer but for humans only, tied to a specific kingdom's army for instance. It doesn't have to be printed in a book to be allowed in the game.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I'm just curious Kabol, have you read page 171 of the 3.5 DMG? There is clearly a section for houseruling Race/Class Restrictions.

 

[diaglo]

is the Eye of Gruumsh from Masters of the Wild orc only? meaning half-orc..

i didn't pay attention.