How many levels of Prestige Classes do you prefer?

[chatdemon]

I think the levels for a pr class should be proportionate to how many levels of a base class you need, so you can 'finish off' your character (until Epic rules come out anyway) in the Pr Class without having to multi-class again at level 18 or 19.

For example, say I'm making a pr class called badass summoner. The concept is that this pr class is for wizards or sorcerors who want to give up some of their range of spells to get bonuses to summoning spells, and some unique powers at high levels that involve summoning.

Now, I decide that this class should be able to cast 4th level spells, and they must have at least 2 conjuration spells in their repetoire as well as the Dimensional Anchor spell, to prevent summoned critters from just bounding off when they get bored. This means that a wizard could qualify when he reaches 8th level (since he needs to be 7th level to cast 4th level spells and learn Dimensional Anchor). I would therefore give the Pr class 13 levels, so that the character could reach 20th level without having to multiclass again. Sorcerors could qualify at level 9, and would miss a level at the top end, but sorcerors aren't supposed to be on par with wizards at level 20, so it doesn't unbalance anything. A character who multiclassed early on and takes longer than 7 or 8 levels to qualify is denied the high end levels of this class, but who cares? The level 7wiz/13badsum is supposed to be the best of the best when it comes to casting conjuration spells, and you don't get that good by taking the JOAT route and multiclassing to your heart's content.

 

[Gargoyle]

(Edit: Couldn't beat chatdemon's post with my slow typing, and repeated some of his thoughts... )

I also agree with Darklance, though I'm not sure that PrC's should be less than 5 levels. I'm basically of the opinion that the class concept should dictate the number of levels.

A class that is a limited concept or is very specialized might warrant less than 10 levels. These classes have the advantage of allowing PCs to master the class while still having a significant number of levels in a core class. The FR Archmage is a good example of a 5 level class. What kind of archmage isn't a high level wizard? Even if you allow more than 20 levels or use the Epic level rules, five level classes allow you to have mostly core class levels. As for the argument that anything less than 10 levels isn't prestigious, I think gaining 5 levels is quite prestigious...particularly at higher levels.

For classes where the character should have the option of staying with the class all the way to 20th level, more than 10 levels is warranted. James Wyatt's void disciple in Oriental adventures was designed with 13 levels for that reason. He didn't feel like the void disciple should have to change classes after reaching the 10th level of the class. The disadvantage of this approach is that the PC has to earn the class early and stick with it to master it, but that's the nature of the class concept.

As far as prestige classes with less than 5 levels, I've designed such classes, but then discarded them. They just didn't seem worth taking by playtesters (or worth the time spent designing them), and the abilities gained were better expressed with two or three feats or with a template. Anywhere from 5 to 15 levels seems to be the correct range.

I'm interested in what the Epic Level prestige classes will look like.