Do you select PrCs based on power or concept.

[Psion]

This poll is intended for those who play characters with prestige classes.

Is your prestige class selection primarily driven by the power it provides your character, or the concept that it realizes?

Edit: To clarify, when I say "select for power", you select the class because the class itself offers an arrangement of abilities and bonuses you consider beneficial, and/or it has class abilities that are part of a "combo" or "smackdown" type build.

I wouldn't necessarily expect you to say for "power" if you wouldn't select a PrC class that is pretty much weak compared to the core classes.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Now, when you say power, I presume that you mean how powerful the abilities are. I choose PrCs for concept. Of course, in order to help with the concept, it must have abilities that fit the concept, and they must be abilities that are actually useful enough to play the concept, or else the PrC doesn't help with the concept at all. A PrC called "Knight of the Realm" that doesn't help me play a knight of the realm any more than I could with a Fighter is not worth taking, whether it has a crazy-powerful ability that doesn't fit with a knight, or whether it just doesn't have anything useful at all. Or for a better example, the Metamind from the XPH is supposed to help me play a Psion that trades raw power for a wellstone of extra energy in a meaningful way, like a living battery. However, it fails abysmally at this, despite an incredible level 10 capstone ability. So I would never play a Metamind.

 

[drothgery]

I can't see playing a PrC that's weaker than the base class, unless it's interesting and for a very strong base class (i.e. cleric), and definitely will look for a strong PrC for a weak base class (i.e. sublime chord for bard), but I can't imagine taking a PrC that didn't at least sort-of make sense in-character.

 

[Snapdragyn]

I put 'both' because it comes closest to matching what I actually do -- which is look for ways to gain the abilities needed for a character build to match my concept in an effective & useful manner. If it has great flavor that exactly matchs my concept, but offers nothing (or even weaker than base class) ability-wise, I won't bother. If it has great abilities that exactly fit what I conceive for the character, but forces some concept-breaking constraint on me (an alignment, or some levels in a casting class for a specifically non-casting character concept), then I won't take it either; but I"m more likely to bend a bit on this side & try to squeeze the flavor of the PrC into my concept of the character.

If you'd had a 60-40 power-concept option, that's what I'd have picked I guess, but it's all about power in service to my inner character concept.

 

[Rystil Arden]

If it has great flavor that exactly matchs my concept, but offers nothing (or even weaker than base class) ability-wise, I won't bother.

I agree, but I voted primarily character concept because a PrC can't help you with character concept on sheer flavour alone--you can just claim that flavour for yourself and play a base class.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I pick abilities based on making my pre-existing character concept powerful/effictive, and PrCs based on what abilities they give.

If the abilities I need to make a detective character work and be competitive with, say, a straight druid are found in a prestige class 'Master Detective,' I'll advance as a 'Master Detective' - but if my detective's core schtick is best served by the abilities found in the 'Master Spy' or 'Shadow Knight' or even 'Criminal Mastermind' PrC, that's the PrC I'll pursue, regardless of whether its name on the character sheet and pre-existing fluff in the book fit my character.

Is that concept or power?

 

[ThirdWizard]

As I am currently working toward the Shadowbane Inquisitor, a rogue/paladin PrC, and since that in itself is a suboptimal choice, and since the PrC improves on it, but isn't all that great, I think I should vote concept.

 

[Umbran]

Not answering the poll itself, as I don't think I fit your desired criteria.

I would not take a prestige class for power alone. I'd require it to fit concept first before considering it. I have not yet played a character that called for a PrC in a game that had them available.

 

[Sejs]

Concept.

The real kick in the butt is when the concept involves a melange of classes and you have to try to balance things.

 

[el-remmen]

I chose concept, but ideally a PrC should be powerful in achieving the goals attributed to it by the fluff.

So if my character is a "giant-slayer", I expect him to be powerful against giants, if he is less powerful than normal against, let's say undead, well, that is the price for specializing.