Here Come The PRESTIGE CLASSES! Plus Rune Magic!

Mike Mearls' latest Unearthed Arcana column presents the first ever 5E prestige class: the Rune Scribe! "Prestige classes build on the game’s broad range of basic options to represent specialized options and unique training. The first of those specialized options for fifth edition D&D is the rune scribe—a character who masters ancient sigils that embody the fundamental magic of creation."

It's a 5-level class, and also contains the basic information on how prestige classes work and how to join them - including ability, skill, level, and task-based prerequisites. Find it here.

 

[SkidAce]

Somebody fork the thread and let us get back to rune magic and prestige classes.

YMMV.

 

[Mistwell]

I don't think organized play deserves any consideration when weighed against home games. Then again, I think catering design around organize play is one of the worst things for a game. Designers should not restrict themselves to decisions based on organized play. Let the people in charge of organized play determine their own rules and restrictions (as if they were any other gaming group) and then let players and DMs of organized play decide if they like organization's decisions enough to take part.

D&D has had organized play since the beginning, it's a major component of their growth strategy, it appears to be working well for them, it's working well for their competition as well, and therefore it's in the mix in terms of analyzing their market. One key element of it appears to be that players can pick up and go to a different table on a different day at any time, and as long as their PC was registered and tracks on the logs, use that PC at the other table with no issues.

 

[Mistwell]

"Didn't like?" If I'm running an AL game, I know the adventure & the setting and what's legal. If it was a setting that included things I disliked /that/ much, I'd run freeplay that season, and be free to take or reject things (or provide pregens, or whatever).

Can't run freeplay in AL, and part of the built-in incentives people are (reasonably) assuming when they reply and show up to your game is that it will count towards AL. They expect their AL PC will gain experience and treasure and faction points and downtime days from that adventure they are attending (unless their PC dies of course).

 

[Tony Vargas]

Freeplay doesn't count towards AL...

Didn't mean to imply it did - sorry if I confused anyone. But it doesn't mean you can't do it for a season if you're not into the current crop of AL adventures.

Last night, for instance, my FLGS had 3 tables of freeplay (rewards at that table only), and 3 of Encounters (regular AL awards).

 

[Sadrik]

soured.

 

[Chocolategravy]

I will continue to follow the homebrews on reddit and ignore the garbage WotC is spewing in the UA column. Blargh.

 

[Greg K]

D&D has had organized play since the beginning.

D&D has had con tournaments since the early days. However, true organized play like the RPGA and design consideration for organized play in development of a version did not happen until AD&D 1e. Gygax and others from TSR (e.g. Jim Ward) have stated that AD&D 1e was created in response to a shift in players wanting more codification of play and absolute answers to rules interpretations which was something that took Gygax and others at TSR at the time by surprise. Gygax stated on these boards as Col Pladoh that his attitude shift from pre 1e favoring of houseruling to AD&D 1e play by RAW or you are not playing D&D was due to the need of codified rules for organized play which he was developing at the time.

 

[Li Shenron]

There are alot of weird things about the decision to start experimenting with prestige classes.
1. How does this sort of addition to the game relate to notion of avoiding bloat?
2. How will future prestiage classes work if alot of what they were in 3E have already been folded into how classes advance in 5E. It seems like the design space is getting kinda small and niche here. Plenty of concepts mind you, just not so much room in terms of game mechanic design space. Rune type casters seem like they could be interesting. I'm just not sure that their example is that interesting mechanically.
3. Why are they messing with prestiage classes when they haven't (yet) even released a campaign setting?

1. I wouldn't say the two are strictly related... if they wanted to bloat the system, there is already enough room with classes, subclasses, races, subraces, feats, backgrounds, spells and magic items

2. Well if design space is small then there is less chance for bloat. But again I'm not sure it's small

3. As a matter of fact, one way to enrich a campaign setting book and make it more marketable is to have character material in it. It's very possible that they want to see ASAP if prestige classes are appreciated exactly because then they will know which mechanics they can leverage for campaign setting material.

 

[Mistwell]

D&D has had con tournaments since the early days. However, true organized play like the RPGA and design consideration for organized play in development of a version did not happen until AD&D 1e.

1e is close enough to the beginning for everyone to understand my point. It started in 1980, 35 years ago. That's plenty of time for everyone to get what I meant.

 

[TwoSix]

1e is close enough to the beginning for everyone to understand my point. It started in 1980, 35 years ago. That's plenty of time for everyone to get what I meant.

Too true. Most people weren't even alive 35 years ago.