Lame Prestige Classes

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You know, there's only one thing wrong with the assassin PrC. One.

That's the name.

Seriously. Change the name "assassin" to something else, make the PrC representatives of some dark secret society of mystically-oriented killers, and it's just fine.

Don't get too hung up on terminology.

I agree.

It's an awesome prestige class that represents one city's or one religion's assassins guild or a government's secret police force. Give them a specific name and done.

Frankly, of all the prestige classes in the DMG, it's the only one I've ever wanted to play.

 

[ForceUser]

Force User Let's start a thread bashing prestige classes because we don't agree with how they are represented.

Done. Next?

This is a messageboard. Rants occur. Carry on.

 

[Edgewood]

I used to disallow prc's in my campaign but once I started to really look at them, I saw that I could use them for more than just a pile of stats and rules. Introducing an NPC as a Bloodhound is far more interesting than saying he's a mere hunter, or rogue/ranger.

 

[vrock]

Not really. They are the mechanics side of the role playing. Its fine to say that you are a Assassin but if you don't have the skills to back it up, its meaningless.

I should clarify my statement...They can be used as a crutch for roleplaying and storytelling.
If a player in my game expressed an interest in becoming an assassin, or created a concept for an assassin character, I would allow it. But the game and story would dictate how and when levels of assassin would be taken, not the requirements in the DMG. I would also change up when spells were allowed, and when poison use was allowed. It seems silly that an assassins guild would give out all of their secrets to a new recruit.
I should also mention that I view multiclassing similarly. I wouldn't allow the Bard in my group to spontaneously take a level in Barbarian, or a Fighter to take a level in Wizard without some in game explanation.

 

[Drew]

You know, there's only one thing wrong with the assassin PrC. One.

That's the name.

Seriously. Change the name "assassin" to something else, make the PrC representatives of some dark secret society of mystically-oriented killers, and it's just fine.

Don't get too hung up on terminology.

The above poster nailed it. Good point, Ari, I couldn't agree more.

In my homebrew, I created a prestige class called the Guild Assassin. Its meant to represent a highly trained rogue that specializes in killing for money. Mechanically, its the core assassin prestige class sans spells and with a few minor tweaks.

The core assassin prestige class then became a representative of a specific order of assassins in my game world. IMC, they were founded by an evil wizard, who used them to eliminate his political enemies. They're like guild assassins, but with a magical twist. The founder is long dead, but the guild has spread throughout the world.

 

[DaveMage]

I've never DMed or played a prestige class, but the only ones I could see me taking are those that empowered my spellcaster once their own class levels no longer provide anything interesting.

 

[JPL]

"Assassin" is a profession, but so is "fighter." Sure, you can be a paid killer without having levels in the assassin prestige class, just as you can be a guy who fights for a living with levels of warrior, or fighter, or ranger, or whatever.

I really like the Devoted Defender. A character whose whole bag is about protecting others, rather than the usually stabby-looty? Interesting choice for a PC, great idea for a henchman.

As for the Heirophant...some folks will go for those "tricks", some won't. It might be that those tricks are a bit better than you think. As with any other character option, players can do the math and decide for themselves.

I believe the Red Wizard has been revised in 3.5 to moderate the escalating spell DCs. In the Realms, these guys were "specialist wizards" way back in 1st edition, so I look at it as the mechanics finally catching up with the game world. And yeah, that's still gonna be a wicked fireball from a Red Wizard invoker...but since these guys are so heavily specialized, he'll be largely limited to invocations, and might find himself wishing he could bust out fly, or teleport, or dispel magic....

 

[Crothian]

I should clarify my statement...They can be used as a crutch for roleplaying and storytelling.
If a player in my game expressed an interest in becoming an assassin, or created a concept for an assassin character, I would allow it. But the game and story would dictate how and when levels of assassin would be taken, not the requirements in the DMG. I would also change up when spells were allowed, and when poison use was allowed. It seems silly that an assassins guild would give out all of their secrets to a new recruit.
I should also mention that I view multiclassing similarly. I wouldn't allow the Bard in my group to spontaneously take a level in Barbarian, or a Fighter to take a level in Wizard without some in game explanation.

Anything mechanical can be a cruch like this though. THis has nothing to do with the system, its about the players. Some players foreshadow and show the choices their characters make in game, and others do not. But it also depends on the DM. If my character wants to be part of the assassin guild yet the DM takes us away from the citry and limits my ability to make contact with them, this type of thing can be hard to do.

So, I ask my players what classes they would like their character to take so we can incoirperate that in game.

 

[Xombie Master]

This is a messageboard. Rants occur. Carry on.

Ok then!

Assassin Bad name choice sure, but still a cool class, since his spells facilitate his sneakiness. I've used one as a villain and it went over very well!
Devoted Defender Sure anybody should be able to take a hit for an ally, but I'm not trained to anticipate danger and throw myself in it's path. Not everyone is gonna be good at doing just that. Plus the devotion that it takes is immense. Can and would you take a bullet for someone? Are you fast enough to jump between them and death! Ask a real bodyguard what it takes to become one, I know one personally and it takes serious training to be truly good at it.
Dungeon Delver The rogue is not a trapfinding specialist, it's a jack of all trades! The dungeon delver just focuses his skills to one avenue of adventuring. That's like saying a ranger is stupid because he's good at killing orcs when any fighter could do the same and take better feats while he's at it. While we're at it why don't you bash the Arcane Archer it's just a bow weilding fighter with spells!
Forsaker If you roleplay a forsaker by carrying around a bag of potions, you shouldn't be playing a forsaker, in fact you probably shouldn't be playing at all. I have played one, as a barbarian similar to the old 2nd edition barbarian that hates magic. It was fun.
Frenzied Berserkzer Fantasy stories (some of the best) are filled with characters who can't control themselves. Not to mention comics (Incredible Hulk) and movies. It's a great fantasy character if played well. Once again I've actually played one before.
Heirophant Gee the ability to manipulate magic in a new and rare way. Spells are mere tricks to what a well played Hierophant or Archmage (which is an Arcane equivilent) can do. It's narrowminded min/maxing that can't see the potential here. "I don't want to give up my spells for those abilities." Then, news flash, don't play one.
Red Wizard of Thay Okay so maybe it's only really good as an NPC prestige class. It was still fun when I used them in my Forgotten Realms campaign.

There, rants happen!

I've seen every one of these classes in play except for the Red Wizard and the Hierophant, (but I've played an Archmage which is just the arcane hierophant.) All of them have made memorable characters. I accepted a long time ago that not all material in books was written for my personal enjoyment and that there exist a large variety of playing styles. The writers don't cater just to you.

In the end it's not about what you play but how you play it.

 

[Anson Caralya]

But hey, let's throw spells on it, because that makes total sense thematically for the sneaky guy who kills people!

I see where you're coming from, but this could just as easily be said about the ranger or paladin -- there isn't much mythology to support them as spell-casters, but standard D&D is a magical world, so spell-casting is not a rare ability. I would probably just de-emphasize the spell-ness of it in play and treat them more like special abilities.