Psion said:
Not normally, no. Oft times prestige classes are the continuation or pinacle of a given concept, but if you could do the concept justice with the base classes and feats, then you really had no business making it a prestige class in the first place. Part of the point of a prestige class is to do things with them you could not otherwise do.
My sentiments, exactly.
Part of the problem is the assumption that Prestige Classes are only for PCs, and the tunnel-vision that results from this. Further, prestige classes have often been used incorrectly, IMHO, as a way to get uber-powers, and not to serve a concept. Sometimes the designers fall in love with a concept so much, they forget good design rules, and this is what results in so many broken PrCs.
For example, an excellent NPC prestige class is the Doomdreamer, from Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. No sane PC would ever even dream of qualifying for the class, but it makes a great class for the big bad guys in them module.
Another great example is the Dharkaguard, from Living Greyhawk. It is an excellent example of both an organizational prestige class, and a well-designed one. The class, for those unfamiliar with it, is basically a Rheenee male who defends their barges on the Nyr Dyv, using the Dharka, a handheld harpoon-like weapon. They gain special uses for it (such as the ranged trip attack) which are only available to the class, but sacrifice much of the standard fighters flexibility to do so.
The problem I have with many prestige classes is that the designers often fail to consider the ultimate question: "If I qualified for this....is there ANY reason I WOULDN'T take it?" If the answer is no, then you probably should review either the requirements, the abilities, or both.
The second question to ask is: "Would the average player take more than ONE LEVEL of this class?" If the answer is no, then you need to redesign the class (most likely removing the rampant front-loading that is, IMHO, the cardinal sin of most poorly designed prestige-classes).
The third question should be: "Have you considered the effects that multi-classing might have on this class?" Again, if the answer is no, it's time to review. Many times, prestige classes are designed assuming the PC will only take that class, and ignores the possibility that they might take another class that would radically alter the character's viability. No one can consider all the possibilities, but you should have at least considered what will happen with the core classes. Even if your PrC is a clerical-based one, you should be know what will happen if they get a rage ability, for example. A Mighty Servant of Kord, for example, has the ability to increase his Strength...how is that effected if he can rage AND cast Bull's Strength? You'd better figure that out ahead of time.
I think Prestige Classes are one of the best things about D&D 3E...I just think many folks (including WOTC) don't use them terribly well.
A side note: the assumption is also being made that for organizations, all members join a Prestige class, which is, to me, the worst kind of metagame thinking. It's like assuming that every cleric who is a member of church has levels as a cleric, or that every member of a thieves guild has a level in Rogue. A fighter can be a Dharkaguard, for example, but only the elite members would have the Dharkaguard prestige class.