bypassing prereqs...

[Marius Delphus]

...it's been long established that WotC doesn't know its own game and 3e-as-playtested and 3e-as-played rarely match up anymore....

I'm inclined to agree with this isolated point, but I use it instead to support my opinion that the spirit of the rules remains important. If the designers can't get things to work the way they ought to, then it's a task the DM ought to take on, in my view. I realize my view is not universal.

 

[Eldritch_Lord]

I'm inclined to agree with this isolated point, but I use it instead to support my opinion that the spirit of the rules remains important. If the designers can't get things to work the way they ought to, then it's a task the DM ought to take on, in my view. I realize my view is not universal.

It depends on what you view as being the spirit of the rules. While you may interpret the spirit of the rules to be "The designers intended for the mystic theurge to be entered only after level 6, so I will enforce an arcane 3/divine 3 entry," I interpret the spirit of the rules to be "The designers intended for the mystic theurge to be a valid choice when compared to straight casters, so I will allow early entry because low levels are where having two classes' worth of spells really matters." Things working the way the designers intended and things working the way they ought to are not always (or even often) the same thing.

 

[Marius Delphus]

My opinion differs from yours, and I need to leave it at that.

 

[krupintupple]

Maybe, but I've never seen one "earlier than intended" "trick" that wasn't either totally against the spirit of the rules or excruciatingly erroneous by the letter of the rules. These things always seem to devolve into taking Some Feat (or Being Some Race or Taking Some Other Class Level) That Doesn't Really (or Isn't Supposed to) Do That. Maybe it's just me.

I tend to lean this way. I've found that working with the DM to get snuck into a PrC early, say, through role-play or a side quest, is much better than trying to rules-lawyer and acronym yourself into a class; really, he can just rule 0 it, if it's really abusive, or just forget to call you next session, if you're really obnoxious about it.