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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6279582" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Compendiumpart 2/10PRESTIGE CLASSES: Unlike the races and core classes, it looks like the prestige classes are all just straight reprints from the recent years of the magazine. Well, they did do a lot of them, so they have plenty of choice without needing to do any more work digging out some old kits and figuring out how to tweak the concept to better fit 3e. Let's see if they picked ones I liked first time around then. Aerial Avengers are very much a one-trick pony. Still, flying is an exceedingly useful and versatile trick, it has to be said, so you can see why someone would want to specialise in it, and why people would remember it. Sometimes you just want to serve the concept rather than break the game.  Arcanopath monks still feel like an attempt to make a hammer specifically designed for smashing swiss army knives, handy as far as they go, but not nearly versatile enough to really do the job when the enemy has had a chance to prepare. Short term thinking is the flaw of fighty types everywhere. Blessed of Gruumsh still seem unusually Daily heavy for a fighting class, making them nastier as adversaries than members of the party. Sometimes, that's just what you need as a DM. Cerebrex still feel highly suboptimal due to their requirements, and the bonusses they get from the prestige class being so very divergent, leaving them neither one thing or t'other. Definitely not a choice I would have picked for reusing. Fleet Runners of Ehlonna are another one-trick pony. No matter how fast you can run, the teleporter will get there before you. This is why the followers of nature gods get so pissed off about violations of the natural order. It's just not fair. Flux adepts, like Cerebrex, start off spellcastery, and then get primarily physical bonuses from the prestige class, leaving them unimpressive in both compared to someone who just stuck with a good core class. And indeed, they're from the same author and article, leaving me more than a little irritated. Not the best choice from their extensive selection. Force Missile Mages also feel like they're here on the memorableness of their concept rather than their awesomeness in actual play. I suppose reliability counts for a lot, and they've certainly got that in spades. Consistent slightly boosted damage will annoy the DM far less than a clever save or suck spell ruining his whole encounter in one go. Monks of the Enabled Hand are another 5 level one that feel like a diversion from the path to true power, since you're sacrificing enlightenment for the ability to hit things a little harder. Very much a trap for the unwise. Oh paizo, y u do dis to us? Osteomancers are the third suboptimal transformational prestige class from Andrew M Scott, making me wonder what he did to get this privilege. Maybe it was the good descriptive text. I hope it wasn't blowjobs for the editors. Shapers of Form seem rather more effective than the other three transformative classes here, since they get a better spellcasting progression, and more flexible powers too. You might still just miss out on 9th level spells, but you'll be able to do a lot of other things that might just be worth it, especially if you lost your spellbook. And if you're using epic levels, then you'll soon catch up anyway. FEATS: They don't list the feats individually on the contents page, which is quite understandable since there are 75 feats in 22 pages, and that would make it overflow considerably. In the past, I might have simply done a general overview of them, but as this is the very last time, I shall try and find something to say for every last one. After all, it's still a drop in the ocean compared to what I've done already. Ability enhancer is only useful if you're a specialist in buffing, as a +1 extra bonus is small individually, but adds up if you buff lots of creatures in several ways at once. It's just a pain that they nerfed the durations of most of those spells in 3.5. Air Bloodline is the first of many bloodline feats in this collection, granting your spontaneous spellcasters a themed set of bonus spells. There's plenty of elemental spells in the books, so they have an easy job for this first one. Telekinesis, though? That doesn't fit the air theme at all. Not trying hard enough. Anarchic Bloodline's bonus spells, on the other hand, are mostly mind-affecting. Since alignment is all in the mind, that seems appropriate. See what chaos you can cause with these extras. Astral Tracking is another niche feat that could be very useful for the right character, but most will never miss it. After all, many people never leave their country, let along their entire universe. Axiomatic Bloodline gives you lots of divination and a few warding spells. You can't stick to the rules unless you know what they are, and have the strength to say no to people. Otherwise you get forced into a position where there's no right answer. Bend Spell is pretty neat. Being able to shoot round cover is definitely a good addition to your arsenal if you're at all interested in evocations. Braced for Charge, on the other hand, seems pretty useless because it's a passive power that only comes up occasionally. Not worth spending a feat slot on unless you're a dumb fighter. Celestial Bloodline is all about the abjurations, which is a bit boring, but fits the goody-good image. Don't want anything exploitable if they go to the dark side, do we? Celestial Light lets you show off your glowy holiness, as if that isn't easy to fake. Also, why 5 times a day? Might as well make it at will, since it's not a single round combat power. You're just making pointless bookkeeping for us with this one. Charming makes things marginally more susceptible to your mind<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing magic. Meh. Circle Student & master are cascading feats that let you be extra effective against one opponent at the cost of being vulnerable to everyone else. In a duel or against one big monster, that's not a drawback at all, so you'll get a fair amount of use out of this. Combat Charm gives you a fairly substantial bonus at mind<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing mid-fight. De-escalating may be hard, but it definitely pays off. Commanding is another one from the mind controllers article, letting you squeeze a little better odds. It's a good thing wizards get bonus feats, really. Cuthbert's Strike lets you zap both chaotic and evil things with one smite, making you rather less likely to waste them. It's good to be sure and steadfast in your morality. Cutpurse lets you pick pockets mid-combat without taking AoO's. Not sure how useful that'll be. Once again, a specialist pick that won't end up in proper books.</blockquote>

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