How many PrC's in your campaign?

[Corsair]

PrCs in my campaign simply aren't another class you tack on to a character once you've taken a few feats and skills. They have meaning -- and obligations.

Even ones like the Duelist, Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight or Mystic Theurge? I can buy that argument for something like a "Mage of the Arcane Order" or any of the many PrCs in CV which are tied to specific organizations (daggerspell, Foluchan, Nightsong, etc), but many PrCs exist simply as a way to make a specific type of character which cannot be made workable without them.

 

[clockworkcrab]

I currently allow most of the PrCs from the SRD, with the exception of those that are race-specific (since we use non-standard races). In addition, we've brought in the prestige Paladin from Unearthed Arcana (base-class Paladins are not available), the 3.0 Cavalier (w/ homebrew adjustements to 3.5), and two campaign specific ones that are DM-designed. So that's... lessee... fourteen or so, most of which are "core". Non-core prestige classes are approved case-by-case.

That said, no-one is using any of these right now. Everyone's been able to create decent character concepts using the base classes. I find them useful for NPCs, but otherwise they're pretty much superfluous.

 

[DungeonMaster]

Zero. None. Ever.

The reason I chose this number is two fold:
#1 Prestige classes are often pointless mechanics grafted to substitute flavor
#2 The mechanics they introduce are often poorly designed to mesh with other mechanics (i.e they either are broken or can be broken taken in combination)

 

[IronWolf]

Though it is up to the DM's discretion to choose which PrC's to allow, I find them more of a player thing. So with that in mind, I let the player's approach me with what they would like to pursue. We can then look at it, see how it fits into the game, what roleplaying might need to be done in the manner of training, etc to gain that PrC and go from there. I only allow WotC books in my campaign [1], so the players can use those as a source. If the player has a good plan that fits with the current campaign then I am quite likely to allow it.

[1] Standard Disclaimer - I have nothing against other d20 publishers, there are some great things out there - but my time is limited and it takes a fair amount just to keep up with some of the WotC stuff.

 

[FireLance]

Whatever the players want, provided I agree. Interestingly enough, in one of the current games we're playing all character creation and advancement is done by a single person (me) while we take turns to DM. Since I'm DMing this weekend, I find myself in the odd position of planning encounters for characters that I've created and equipped personally (we've also done away with the concept of looting, buying and selling equipment, and every time the characters gain a level, I just equip them with whatever gear I think would be useful and appropriate for them according to the standard wealth guidelines).

My current plans for the characters are as follows: pure classed favored soul, pure classed spellthief, hexblade/warlock, warmage/fighter/eldritch knight, scout/ranger/dervish.

 

[Gaiden]

2 Types of PrC's

To me there are two types of PrC's: setting specific and non-setting specific.

There are those PrC's like Radiant Servant of Pelor, Red Wizard, or Iaijutsu Master that are clearly setting specific - you might adapt them elsewhere but they were designed with a specific organization, world, or religion in mind. I'd say that the majority of PrC's are like this.

However, there are other PrC's that I feel are appropriate anywhere. I must qualify this that these other PrC's are still limited, but not in the same way that the above category is. For example, where Red Wizards are only present on Toril (or originally came from there), there are certain PrC's that are more specific to a concept than a specific setting. For example, any world that has both fighters and mages has eldrich knights available. I may tweak the PrC ever so slightly to represent flavor but that is usually purely description - the mechancis would stay the same. Another example, any world that has mounted knights as a concept, will have the cavalry charger PrC. Another example, any world that has dwarves that are traditionally mountain dwelling folk will have dwarven defenders; any world that has elven "fighter/mages" will have bladesingers, etc.

I have created a homebrew world that is pretty much an iceball (world was wrecked by energy harnessed from the solar system's sun a few thousand years ago and consequently it is a lot colder on the planet now so the temperature outside is almost entirely arctic - you wouldn't believe how exhilerated I as to find out Frostburn was coming out). It is primarily a dwarven run world with most of the other races dying off. There are a handful of uncivilized human and orc tribes that inhabit the surfact, but most of what goes in the world is subterranean an controlled by the dwarves. As such, you are not going to find halfling outriders around. But you will find most of your traditional dwarven PrC's as well as a few homebrew creations. In fact, if you are any of the handful of races that are not dwarves, you can't even gain access to some of the core classes - there simply are no wizards on the surface of Grakin.

Interesting little tidbit about that world: platinum, gold, and silver are not considered valuable whatsoever. Instead, there are equal proportions (in terms of rarity) of adamentium an mithril. They are far more common on this world and thus are used instead of platinum and gold (respectively) with cold iron taking the place of silver. Copper still exists and because of the dwarven innovation of telecommunication (laid down insulated copper wiring between clans) they basically have an elaborate phone line system. Sorry I am hijacking the thread here, but I really liked this little tidbit: on Grakin, I have these little cricket like insects that are scarab like in apperance. The dwarves found out that they will sing if they are sparked in any way. Well there is another insect called a lightning bug (but it actually lets loose a tiny little spark). So when you want to make a call, you touch the wire with the lightning bug which causes a spark at the other end of the wire that triggers the cricket into chirping. Every call is routed through an operator's station and the operator will connect two wires so that you then can talk over the wires (its like when you were a kid and put the ends of a copper wire into separate styrofoam cups). I think I have got the science right and it makes sense to me regardless.

Ok - hijack is done.

 

[sfedi]

So far, only the Assasin PrC was well made and fit into my campaign.

PrCs are used by me, the DM, as a tool to flesh out organizations and groups.
It is not the province of the players.

And besides, they don't choose to take the PrCs.
The organization chooses them, and offer the PrCs for them to take (as something of value to give to the Character)

 

[sfedi]

any world that has dwarves that are traditionally mountain dwelling folk will have dwarven defenders

What has a Dwarven Defender to do with mountain dwarves?

 

[Falkus]

I've always felt that the realization of any character concept is possible with the d20 PHB classes, especially with easy customization through skill & feat selections

You certainly can realize them. The more exotic ones will be extremely underpowered compared to other characters the same level, however.

 

[The Shaman]

In my 3.0 campaign, I was a complete idiot and attempted to add literally dozens of PrCs representing the different guilds, order, 'hoods, &c. in my campaign-world. Only two of the four characters entered PrCs, and so I spent most of my time working on stuff I never used. Aak.

For the 3.5 setting I was working on, I slimmed it down to about a half-dozen, expanding the number of core classes instead to encourage multi-classing to create the mechanics for a character concept.