thol said:
I am in the process of building a prestige class for clerics of each of my gods in my homebrew.
I want most of them to have the "+1 to existing class level" for spell progressions.
What do I need to keep in mind in order to balance the rest of the abilities of the classes so that they are not overpowered? Should I change the save progressions? The BAB? Or just be careful what kind of powers I give?
There must be some sort of guideline for this, and I'm hoping the folks experienced with designing prestige classes can lend me some of their knowledge.
It´s difficult, because there is not much you can take from a Cleric...
Stopping the Turning Advancement will probably not make Divine Metamagic away. Losing Domain Access or Spontaneous Casting of Cure/Inflict spells could be a good way, because that will hurt. As will weaker Saving Throws, weaker BAB and lower HD.
+1 existing class levels indicates to me that the focus is spellcasting. If so, reducing the BAB and the HD is a good way to go. You could also add abilties that limit some of the other cleric benefits - maybe abilities that suffer from using armor (armor check penalty, speed or arcane spell failure), but obviously, anything should be reasonable, otherwise it makes little sense.
A common balancing technique is requiring "absurd" skills and feats, typically those that don´t benefit most Clerics. If you require two or three skills at a high rank value (8 ranks or more), this will make it difficult for the Cleric to max his primary skills (espcially Concentration). Cross Class ranks is another way. Unusual feats and those hard to qualify for (for a Cleric, examples are Dodge, Combat Expertise and the follow up feats).
I am not sure if this method is a good idea, though, because at high levels, the entry costs don´t matter that much, benefitting PCs starting at a high level.
I think reducing the Base Attack Bonus and/or the HD should still be sufficient for most cases, but it will not always fit. (But if the focus is more on melee combat, you should consider reducing the spell progression).
(Never make the mistake like with the D&D 3.0 hospitaler - a class designed for Paladin, but perfectly usable for a Cleric/Paladin, too, granting full spell progression, a good HD and good BAB and Paladin abilities all in one package)
