favorite prestige classes?

[jollyninja]

the most hated/beloved aspect of 3e is clearly the prestige class. when well done they can seem like things crafted by the minds of geniuses. when poorly done they can infuriate dm's and those less interested in pure killing and hardcore powergamers alike.

i'm not particularly interested weither you love or hate them in general, that's been done to death and guess what, nobody's opinion changed. all i want to know really is which ones did you like and what made them so great? also what book was it in, boost sales for your favorite products.

i'll start with my list.

spellsword, tome and blood. when that sorceror/barbarian just does not seem like the type to wear bracelets and rings for protection, he can maintian his bush cred by taking levels this great little number. decent combat capability and hp but slow spell progression. this spiffy piece of work can easily be fit into most campaign worlds without alteration. my 17th level character couldn't keep up with the fighter, or the wizard as far as damage per round goes. but he could hurl fireballs (weak ones) wearing dwarf plate with a large mithral shield. impressive to bystanders? yes!

Holy warrior, forgotten realms campaign setting. do you worship a neutral evil god? would you like to smite your enemies like your nemesis the paladin? until now that was just a pipe dream! today for the price of what are probably crossed class skills, you to can severly injure your enemies, friends and anyone else who refuses to see that cyric was destined to be lord and master of all! good for villians and heroes alike just remember that in a world where the gods can bring you back from the dead, you'd have to be an idiot NOT to take this class. do you have orders of warriors dedicated to gods that are not lawful good and your to lazy to make your own prestige classes? here is the answer to your needs!

blade dancer, oriental adventures. do you like the hong kong kung fu? if so then this baby is as close as you can get withought playing dragonfist (best rpg ever) to emulating the feel and abilities of the great chinese action heroes. WARNING has no place in standard midevil europe styled game, not even slightly generic.

the ghostwalker, sword and fist. a PrC based on a clint eastwood character? what's not to love? true that unless the campaign is somewhat tailored toward the characters goal, it's useless and disruptive but if the group is small and your campaigns as plot driven as a spaghetti western, revenge can be sweet.

 

[Crothian]

Oozemaster: THis is one of the few Prestige classes that definatly allows you to do something beyond the the core classes. It's just so different. THe write is up is nicely done and they really did a good job of being honest with the material. Now, frankly, the class is a little underpowered which I think adds toi its charm. The only reason to take it is concept based. THis is a role players class in the best way.

 

[Ace]

I am a major boring guy but I like Duelist and Eldritch Master ---

Simple and easy

 

[RogueJK]

Wow. There's so many good ones to choose from. Off of the top of my head...

The Gnome Artificer from Magic of Faerun. The more I look at it, the more I want to play one. It might not be the most powerful class out there, but it definitely has style.

The Zhentarim Skymage from Lords of Darkness. Who wouldn't want to play an evil, fireball-hurling archmage astride a dragon (or other flying mount)? Much more classy than the same old hasted, improved-invised, flying wizard.

The Bear Warrior and Singh Rager from Oriental Adventures. I like the unique spins that these two classes put on the Rage ability.


There are plenty more, but it's late, and I'm running on empty. I might post others as I think of them.

 

[Aitch Eye]

The Stiltling, from Asgard #2. It's a nice combination of cool imagery (halflings or gnomes leaping and dancing around on polearms) and a natural seeming progression in abilities. The second point may be a little too subjective, but when I read through the class features, it feels like a character getting better through experience, where a lot of other PRCs feel like a designer adding game mechanics at levels.

It made me decide to keep halflings in a setting where I was going to leave out all the standard non-human races.

 

[The_Dood]

The Dreadmaster from Dragon 286.
Full spell progression, 2 unique cohorts and nice bonus to leadership.

Everything a spellcasting tyrant needs.

 

[rounser]

Beat me to it. Again with the Oozemaster. I've been in love with the concept ever since running into it in the Baldurs Gate CRPG.

That, and Archmage. Archmage is justifiably a prestige class in every sense of the word.

 

[Crothian]

Beat me to it. Again with the Oozemaster. I've been in love with the concept ever since running into it in the Baldurs Gate CRPG.

Someone else liked it? Cool. THen you need to go over to House Rules and look at my write up of the Epic Oozemaster complete with 10 new Epic Feats designed just for it.

 

[LordAO]

The War Wizard from the Forgotten Realms. AWESOME class for Sorcerers! Allows them to use Widen Spell metamagic for free 1 + Cha bonus times/day! It even makes Widen add 100% to the radius rather than the normal 50%! Awful when used with Meteor Swarm!

The Arch Mage from Forgotten Realms. The ability to change my spells elements on the fly, put holes in area spells so friendlies aren't hurt, and spell power, AWESOME! Not to mention arcane reach (lets you use touch spells up to 30' away, or 60' if taken twice) and mastery of counterspelling (instead of counterspelling, the spell is reflected back at caster, he he).

The Eldritch Master, since it gives Sorcerers an INSANE number of known spells, and even allows him to choose from the spells of two other classes (my favorite picks are Cleric and Druid, of course). Great at epic levels, since you aren't gaining spell progression anymore anyway. Also the 3 free spell boosts means you don't need to get Improved Spell Capacity!

 

[fl8m]

I love the shifter from masters of the wild. Just the very idea of changing from druid to black pudding to kobold to balor.. i just can't get over how cool that is. although the lack of spell progression is pretty harsh... especially with the new epic wild shape feats.