Buttercup
Princess of Florin
In this thread I asked what people thought about having all the PCs start as NPC classes. I got some good suggestions, and I'm in the process of tinkering with my idea, mostly to make these classes a pinch more powerful, and hence play-worthy.
But now I'm wondering about using the regular PC classes, Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric and the like, as Prestige Classes. The requirements I have in mind have less to do with skills and feats, and more to do with being invited to join an organization or something similar. So, let's say that a PC wanting to eventually become a fighter would try to catch the attention of the Order of the Silver Sword by performing deeds of valor and honor, or by doing them favors. A rogue might be made an offer he couldn't refuse to join the thieve's guild. A wizard might try to convince a crotchety old mage to take her on as an apprentice by bringing the old coot some rare spell components. And so on. In short, becoming a base class would be part of the campaign.
Here's what I'm wondering though. Prestige classes normally only have 5 or 10 levels. Should I rewrite the base classes to reflect this? Then too, others have suggested that the PC should lose all their hit dice, their BAB, their skills and so forth, from their NPC level(s). As a player I would hate that, and as a DM, I'm not sure it fits the concept I have in mind.
If it took 4 levels for the expert scribe to become a rogue, then he could only ever reach level 16 of rogue. It's worse for spellcasters. Let's say a character ended up as a 5th level adept before managing to find a wizard willing to teach her. That means that PC could only ever become a 15th level wizard, max. Of course, I did say I wanted the setting to be low magic, so maybe this is no bad thing. In fact, maybe the wizard class would need to be reworked somehow.
Anyway, thoughts on this idea? Comments? Rotten vegetables? Foul curses?
But now I'm wondering about using the regular PC classes, Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric and the like, as Prestige Classes. The requirements I have in mind have less to do with skills and feats, and more to do with being invited to join an organization or something similar. So, let's say that a PC wanting to eventually become a fighter would try to catch the attention of the Order of the Silver Sword by performing deeds of valor and honor, or by doing them favors. A rogue might be made an offer he couldn't refuse to join the thieve's guild. A wizard might try to convince a crotchety old mage to take her on as an apprentice by bringing the old coot some rare spell components. And so on. In short, becoming a base class would be part of the campaign.
Here's what I'm wondering though. Prestige classes normally only have 5 or 10 levels. Should I rewrite the base classes to reflect this? Then too, others have suggested that the PC should lose all their hit dice, their BAB, their skills and so forth, from their NPC level(s). As a player I would hate that, and as a DM, I'm not sure it fits the concept I have in mind.
If it took 4 levels for the expert scribe to become a rogue, then he could only ever reach level 16 of rogue. It's worse for spellcasters. Let's say a character ended up as a 5th level adept before managing to find a wizard willing to teach her. That means that PC could only ever become a 15th level wizard, max. Of course, I did say I wanted the setting to be low magic, so maybe this is no bad thing. In fact, maybe the wizard class would need to be reworked somehow.
Anyway, thoughts on this idea? Comments? Rotten vegetables? Foul curses?