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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imban" data-source="post: 2900538" data-attributes="member: 29206">Actually, on a re-read of the thread, I noticed a few things about the OPs post that I don't necessarily agree with, and I wanted to address them.Some base classes are just really, really bland. Clerics and Sorcerors, for example, both have absolutely no class features after first level other than spellcasting, so any full divine/arcane spellcasting prestige class gives them more class features, and thus usually more power. I don't really see this as "taking away from the prestige" of prestige classes, since it makes them classes that people who are any good usually have at least one of. Wouldn't making them overtly gimped options that only the stupid take hurt their prestige more?Sure, you and every other high-level fighter might be a Frenzied Berserker, but that's just it - the prestige comes from it being what the people who are actually any good use.Having any sort of options really "waters down archetypes" since it means there are hundreds of actual, viable choices, rather than seven. I don't really see this as a bad thing, since optimized multiclassing is really sticking with one discipline in a way. Sure, your character sheet might have all sorts of crazy class names and feats on it, but in the end your character still has a single discipline - while multiclass characters can certainly have the power, it's almost always in the form of specialization, rather than the ability to do everything under the sun.Half of this seems weird, whereas the other half is a different problem I have with prestige classes. The half that seems weird is Sleight of Hand - considering that one of the Arcane Trickster's class features improves Sleight of Hand, Disable Device, and Open Lock, it seems odd that you would have ranks in it without planning on using it, especially considering it's not a prerequisite.The other half is that prestige class prerequisites don't always match up with the sort of character who might be interested in taking this class. For example, the Arcane Trickster requires 7 ranks in Decipher Script. It doesn't matter if you're not one for trying to figure out the funny writing on the temple wall, and are a magic-using halfling trickster, you need to have 7 ranks in Decipher Script. Invisible Blade is one that really bothers me with this.It is likely that prestige class prerequisites are only mechanical because roleplay-specific prerequisites are very campaign setting-specific. D&D books not written for any specific setting really do need to be generic - otherwise, most prestige classes would be somewhere between incredibly difficult and completely impossible to acquire in a normal game.(Of course, if you're just accusing people of taking PrCs for abilities where the flavor doesn't match, just call them on it - especially in a long-running campaign, questions like "Do you honestly think (character name) can call himself a holy warrior of (god) right now?" are perfectly valid.)</blockquote>

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