Tequila Sunrise
Adventurer
To combine two words that I’m fed up with hearing, I present you with the Prestige Fallacy, which goes something like this: Prestige classes are the secret to a satisfying D&D experience. Want to make your character unique? Don’t bother thinking creatively, just take a PrC! Need a set of specific abilities for some NPC foes? Well they’ll have to be at least sixth level, but there’s a PrC for that! Playing in a game above fifth level? Better take a PrC, or everyone will laugh and call you NEWB! Playing a non-magical character? Well you NEED at least two base classes plus at least five PrCs, just to pull your own weight!
The first word of the term ‘prestige class’ doesn’t even apply to most games; players take PrC levels simply as a matter of course. No prestigious organizations, just pointless prereqs that force players to plan out their stat minutiae from level 1. God forbid that all those cool special abilities should be available to single classed characters as alternate class features, feats and spells! Or even as base classes!
Some PrCs are simply means to circumvent artificial restrictions in core. Example: blackguard and holy liberator, which exist solely to bypass the paladin’s needlessly restrictive alignment requirement. That’s downright moronic. God forbid these character concepts should be available from level 1!
And then there’s the combo-concept PrCs. How many gish PrCs came out before someone in R&D finally said “Hey, why don’t we just make this a base class? We’ll call it the duskblade!”? Five? Six? Seventeen? All of those combo-concept PrCs would be better off as base classes; mystic theurge & co., arcane trickster, I’m sure there are others. Again, god forbid players and DMs have these options at level 1, ‘cause that would be insanity!
There are PrCs that exist to compensate for the suckitude of the game mechanics; Tempest and that TWF PrC from Bo9S comes immediately to mind. Why is everyone’s first impulse when encountering a problem with the basic game rules to fix it with a PrC, rather than fixing the problem itself? Great, so if I want to be a decent dual wielding warrior, I have to wait until sixth level? No thanks, I’ll play a different character concept until sixth level, then make a suicidal decision, and then play the concept that I really want to play. Gee, that’s brilliant game design right there!
There are PrCs that exist solely as magnifications of base classes; I’m looking at you, Radiant Servant of Pelor and Frenzied Berserker! There is zero reason that the benefits which these classes grant should not be feats, class abilities or else banned for being stupidly overpowered.
Finally there’s the mess of PrCs that might have a right to exist in certain games, but would also be better off as feats, class abilities and spells in most games.
Discuss.
The first word of the term ‘prestige class’ doesn’t even apply to most games; players take PrC levels simply as a matter of course. No prestigious organizations, just pointless prereqs that force players to plan out their stat minutiae from level 1. God forbid that all those cool special abilities should be available to single classed characters as alternate class features, feats and spells! Or even as base classes!
Some PrCs are simply means to circumvent artificial restrictions in core. Example: blackguard and holy liberator, which exist solely to bypass the paladin’s needlessly restrictive alignment requirement. That’s downright moronic. God forbid these character concepts should be available from level 1!
And then there’s the combo-concept PrCs. How many gish PrCs came out before someone in R&D finally said “Hey, why don’t we just make this a base class? We’ll call it the duskblade!”? Five? Six? Seventeen? All of those combo-concept PrCs would be better off as base classes; mystic theurge & co., arcane trickster, I’m sure there are others. Again, god forbid players and DMs have these options at level 1, ‘cause that would be insanity!
There are PrCs that exist to compensate for the suckitude of the game mechanics; Tempest and that TWF PrC from Bo9S comes immediately to mind. Why is everyone’s first impulse when encountering a problem with the basic game rules to fix it with a PrC, rather than fixing the problem itself? Great, so if I want to be a decent dual wielding warrior, I have to wait until sixth level? No thanks, I’ll play a different character concept until sixth level, then make a suicidal decision, and then play the concept that I really want to play. Gee, that’s brilliant game design right there!
There are PrCs that exist solely as magnifications of base classes; I’m looking at you, Radiant Servant of Pelor and Frenzied Berserker! There is zero reason that the benefits which these classes grant should not be feats, class abilities or else banned for being stupidly overpowered.
Finally there’s the mess of PrCs that might have a right to exist in certain games, but would also be better off as feats, class abilities and spells in most games.
Discuss.