Book of Roguish Luck

[Samothdm]

Yes. To be clear, he did the Assassin's Handbook (which wasn't blatantly overpowered so much as mechanically ham fisted... "throw in this ability three times a day here and one three times a day there, and we'll call it a PrC.")

Psion, can you elaborate a little on what you mean by this particular quote above? I'm really interested in your take on this since I'm working on some PrCs for publication right now and want to make sure that I understand what you mean.

For ease, I copied your review on the PrC section of the Assassin's Handbook below that that we can compare/contrast:

(From the Review)
Fida'i: The fida'i is a zealous holy warrior. The fida'i has many stealth skills common to assassin types, but the class abilities let him enter a state of divine ecstacy providing moral bonuses to combat rolls, as well as spell-like abilities relating to their religion's lawful bent.
- Houri: The houri is an assassin and spy that rely on seduction to ply their trade. The houri has more social skills than the typical assassin type and has class abilities to enhance those skills, as well as spell like abilities to help them influence others.
- Shadow Mage: The shadow mage is a class for spellcasters who hope to use their magical arts in assassination. The class continues advancing in spellcasting ability as normal, and has class abilities related to darkness and shadow.

Overall the prestige classes are well conceived and useful. If there is any flaw, perhaps it is that some classes give out spell-like abilities generously. I would probably trim down the number of uses per day of the spell like abilities.

 

[Psion]

Right. The prestige classes, as I recall, were put together largely as lists of spell like abilities, each one 3/day. There's nothing wrong with giving out spell like abilities in and of itself, but usually its introduction is more gradual, and usually, you only have a few such abilities; to provide a wide berth of them with frequent uses makes the class a virtual spellcaster, which usually implies you should be cutting back in other areas.

 

[Samothdm]

Right. The prestige classes, as I recall, were put together largely as lists of spell like abilities, each one 3/day. There's nothing wrong with giving out spell like abilities in and of itself, but usually its introduction is more gradual, and usually, you only have a few such abilities; to provide a wide berth of them with frequent uses makes the class a virtual spellcaster, which usually implies you should be cutting back in other areas.

Thanks! I thought that's kind of what you meant but wanted to double-check. It doesn't help that I don't have that particular book here with me at work, so I'm going based off just memory.

 

[Wombat]

I am hopeful about this one, but I'll see when the time comes.

It is of interest, at least.

 

[Turjan]

Yes. To be clear, he did ... the College of Necromancy (which was blatantly overpowered.) Despite that, they were both good reads. The guy can write.

I agree with your verdict concerning the mechanics. The rest boils down to a matter of taste. I found the writing in the Secret College of Necromancy repetitive and long-winded. I suppose it was meant to build up suspense, but it didn't do it for me. As you can see, I don't really have fond memories of that book .