D&D 5E Prestige classes in Next?

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

I hope they don't come back. The game doesn't need them as the subclass system fills that same function. Prestige classes in 3e were a neat idea but it was simply not done well and quickly went from optional to practically required.

I like the idea of an inbaked part of the character (so not magic item) that can be strived for in game and given as a reward in game.

3e did it with prestige classes, 4e did it with the special powers that were inborn instead of magic items (boons). I would love to see a mix.

If you go to the mountain of the high master you can learn at his feet, and when you do you have access to something that no one that didn't do that has access.

 

[drjones]

I don't feel the lack of them. So far I prefer the sub-classes and backgrounds that kick in at a much more usable level for a lot of games. I also would agree that expanded feats can fill a similar customization niche while being easier to balance against a known power value.

 

[DMZ2112]

Backgrounds are great. Having been a soldier is absolutely something that is going to color your character's entire career. But the impact on play of a background peters out pretty fast. How relevant to a 10th level fighter is the military rank they held at 0-level? Is it still a major source of their authority and influence? What about that trophy from a fallen enemy? I'm sure they still have it -- probably even know exactly where it is -- but is a 10th level character still carting it around, or does it sit in a dusty chest in their fortress?

There's a place in D&D5 for taking a second or even a third background later in a character's career. Something that reflects their changing ideals, represents the forging of new bonds with the setting, and maybe even nods to the development of unexpected flaws. I think mid- and high-level backgrounds, coupled with good feats that reflect the setting, fills the niche of the prestige class without the need for an additional mechanic.

 

[AslanC]

I like the idea of an inbaked part of the character (so not magic item) that can be strived for in game and given as a reward in game.

3e did it with prestige classes, 4e did it with the special powers that were inborn instead of magic items (boons). I would love to see a mix.

If you go to the mountain of the high master you can learn at his feet, and when you do you have access to something that no one that didn't do that has access.

I gotta say I never thought of PrCs as something I would ever want and then I read this post.

Great way to look at it!

Cheers!

 

[Crothian]

If you go to the mountain of the high master you can learn at his feet, and when you do you have access to something that no one that didn't do that has access.

That would be great if that was the were made to be used but that's not what a prestige class is. A prestige class is more powerful abilities that are delayed a few levels till the character gets some mechanical requirements. All the added fluff and story to a prestige class had little to know meaning.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I like the idea of an inbaked part of the character (so not magic item) that can be strived for in game and given as a reward in game.

I do, too, but I don't think that requires, or is even best served by, reintroducing PrCs. I think boons and some new and interesting feats with RP requirements would be the better 5E way to fill that niche.

 

[GameDoc]

That would be great if that was the were made to be used but that's not what a prestige class is. A prestige class is more powerful abilities that are delayed a few levels till the character gets some mechanical requirements. All the added fluff and story to a prestige class had little to know meaning.

That's prestige classes as they came to be, but IIRC as presented in the 3e DMG that's not how they were intended. They are supposed to also involve roleplaying elements - finding a trainer or guild of some sort. But for whatever reason, like so much else in 3e, it got used as a source for character optimization mechanics.

Whenr the 3e PHB-2 came out, I used the affiliation rules to create "prestige societies" and required players to maintain a certain affiliation score to keep taking levels in a prestige class. The idea was the socies were "pay to play". They did not divulge all their secrets to a novice initiate and to keep getting the trade secrets required to advance, you had to contribute regularly to the society's cause.

 

[The_Gneech]

The prereqs on prestige classes are one of the reasons you ended up seeing "builds" for characters; a player in my group always planned his characters out at least six levels in advance, and I was certainly prone to doing it too as a player. Thus you ended up with people dipping into this class, that class, and the other class, all to get to their actual desired class, going through all sorts of finagling.

Fine for those who want it, I suppose, but it's definitely something that contributed to my personal case of 3.x/PF burnout. So far at least, I am digging the backgrounds/subclasses/feats model, which seems robust enough to make a wide variety of character concepts viable and interesting.

As for the campaign-specific items, such as the aforementioned "studying at the master's feet," that might be better served by a custom feat for a specific ability, rather than by a whole PrC.

-The Gneech

 

[Crothian]

That's prestige classes as they came to be, but IIRC as presented in the 3e DMG that's not how they were intended. They are supposed to also involve roleplaying elements - finding a trainer or guild of some sort. But for whatever reason

The reason it failed is because they did not learn from 2e. Roleplaying requirements for classes or anything mechanical just doesn't work for balancing a it.

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

The reason it failed is because they did not learn from 2e. Roleplaying requirements for classes or anything mechanical just doesn't work for balancing a it.

last I heard this is what mike mearls was working on... have the rp prereq and a level requirement... as long as old man in the mountain training levels can't be taken till 6th, we can give tghem the power level of a 6th or 7th level class... AND then it hurts no one if you ignore the prereq