(Mongoose) Prestige and Core Classes are here!

[Mongoose_Matt]

Hi guys,

Two brand new series dropped onto my desk this afternoon - the first four Power Classes and the first of the Supplementary Rulebooks, Ultimate Prestige Classes. Both sets of books have been eagerly anticipated, not least here in the office for our own campaign!

Ultimate Prestige Classes (volume 1) is a big, fat 256 page hardback with a very attractive cover by Scott Clark (he also designed the covers for the Power Class books). I am told there are well over 100 prestige classes in this book and judging by its thickness, I can believe it!

The book kicks off with a couple of introductory chapters covering how to use prestige classes in campaigns and how players can approach them in terms of their characters. One of the most well read chapters, I think, will be Design Your Own Class, written by Alejandro Melchor. Rather than trying to introduce a point-based formula for creating balanced classes (we did actually start messing around with one until we realised the utter futility!), Alejandro discusses each stage of prestige class design, taking into account balancing factors, requirements and class features. Then, with no more ado, the book gets into the meat of things - the prestige classes themselves.

Rather than just a dry list of class after class, Ultimate Prestige Classes has been arranged into several self-explanatory chapters (Way of the Warrior, Secrets of the Arcane, The Power of Faith, By Wits and Skill, Mind Over Matter and Monstrous Paths). In addition, Alejandro has written a paragraph mini-review for many of them (Classic Plays), discussing ways in which the class can be introduced into a campaign, the effects of its features and which characters will best suit it. Hats off to Alejandro for this - it is a simple idea but it really adds a lot to the book.

So, what classes are in here? Well, I would be tempted to say all of them, but unfortunately space restrictions meant that not every prestige class ever released could physically fit in! However, we do have a lot of old favourites from both Mongoose and other companies, as well as many new never-before-seen classes. Some people have already asked where the OGC material has come from, and just running through the section 15, I see Firey Dragon Productions, Necromancer Games (Clark Peterson), FFG, AEG, MEG and Green Ronin (as well as the odd Mongoose entry!).

I cannot speak for any other gaming group but I can see Ultimate Prestige Classes, along with its sister publication Ultimate Feats, being two _very_ well used books on the gaming table. Whether you are a player looking for that vital edge of survival or a Games Master planning the next foil, if you cannot find inspiration from Ultimate Prestige Classes, well, I would be surprised!

Ultimate Prestige Classes is a big fat $34.95 book which, incidentally, will be at the US distributors by the end of the week, I believe. Unfortunately, gamers in the UK will have to wait a tad longer - sorry guys, but that is the way it goes sometimes!


This leads us nicely into the second new series - Power Classes. Kicking off with Assassin, Gladiator, Exorcist and Noble, each $2.95 / £2 booklet of 16 pages adds a complete core class to the game. Each class is laid out in a similar method to those in The PLayer's Handbook, allowing gamers to jump straight in with a new character, or multiclass in from an existing one. However, there is far more to each book than a new range of class features and skill lists - we have tried to add a little 'more' to each booklet to further expand the class and give it a good boost when introduced to a game. Assassin, for example, includes new poisons, assassination equipment, new weapons (including the renowned Sniper's Crossbow!), and rules for concealing weapons.

Each Power Class booklet covers a very different archetype, giving players a good spread of classes from which to choose from initially - we'll be expanding the Power Class range later this year.

The Power Class booklets will be available in the UK within a week, I am told, and will begin appearing in the US within a fortnight - they are being flown over to you guys as I type!

Happy gaming!

 

[JoeGKushner]

One of the things I"m interested in this:

In designing prcs, are the special abilities assigned a factor like magic items are? minor, medium, major or it is mostly like determining a CR and is guess work with advice?

In addition, are there any new spells, magic items, feats, or other goods with the PrCs since some of the resources you mentioned had unique spells that only said PrCs cast or new feats that were required prior to entering the class?

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

We toyed with a 'standardised' prestige class construction system, but it just don't work. First off, there are far too many variables to cover every angle and second, it would require the reworking of every prestige class ever written to make them compatible with such a system. Which, to be fair, would be utterly pointless. After all, the prestige classes as they stand have served us all thus far.

If anything special or unique was required for a prestige class, it has been duplicated in this book though, by and large, we have tried to keep each 'stand alone' in nature for greater flexibility and use in other campaigns.

One thing about this book occured to me today (and I am sure this will go double for the forthcoming Ultimate Feats). I have been working on a new d20 games system for release next year and, designing a new prestige class for use with the system, I was stumped for a couple of additional class features to flesh it out. All I needed to do was pick up Ultimate Prestige Classes and thumb through the relevant chapters for loads of ideas to start flowing. I have a feeling that this book will be used by more than just players looking to enhance their characters or GMs seeking to give their NPCs an added edge. It was a fgood thing that we built the index to list not just the classes themselves, but all their class features too. . .

 

[Dark Psion]

I was curious what is in the "mind over mater" section since there have not been very many official Psionic PrCs out there yet?

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

The Psionics Toolkit from FDP provided a starting point, but in the main this is one of the chapters that benefited from writers being brought on board to create entirely new material - if psionics are your thing, there is plenty for you to get your teeth into with this book!

 

[Dark Psion]

The two PrCs in the Psionic Toolkits are what I call "Applied Psionics", Psionics added to non-psionic classes, thus the 1st-5th level powers list.

True Psionic PrCs have the +1 level aspect and enhance existing Psion of Psychic Warrior levels.

A bit of both would be nice, as well as at least one PrC for each Discipline.

 

[Gez]

The sad thing is, it can't provide WotC stuff -- despite them being probably the most used, and the most spread-out and errated !

Same thing for the feats.

I'm a bit curious about the Power Class serie. Was it necessary to create a new serie ? I mean, isn't there a Quintessential Witch (new base class) and an Encyclopaedia Divine: Shaman (new base class) ?

By the way, there's already an assassin prestige class, and admitedly "An assassin is someone who kill other; it's not a class but a job. An assassin could be a rogue or a wizard or a druid" (I think I remember one of the D&D designer saying something like that). So I'm a bit curious about what this assassin base class could be.

For the psionic prestige classes, I believe Bruce Cordell's alternate prestige classes (found on montecook.com, the stuff, archive) are OGC. They're better done than their PsiHB version. Also, the tricky part with creating psiprestige classes lay in the fact that BAB, save, and spellcasting progression are wildly different between the Psion and the Psy Warrior. The psi web feature on WotC's site dodge the difficulty by making prestige classes that advance levels in a set class (i.e., "+1 psion level" instead of "+1 level in an existing class"), but I find it a bit dirty.

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

Hi Gez,

Overall, I am not too fussed about not being able to include WotC prestige classes and feats (though all the SRD ones are in). The Quintessential books were largely designed to fill in the gaps that some people thought the 'official' class books had left, and this included the prestige classes - but there is enough room for everyone in the current marketplace.

You raise the point about ED Shamans, Quintessential books and the Power Classes - basically, they are all created to do something different. For Shamans, the focus of the book is the new magic system and so, in a way, the core class within is an extra.

The Quintessential books are the luxury product - they cover each class in as much detail as possible, leaving no stone unturned. In general, they will concentrate on existing classes and races but, now and again, we like to release something a little 'different' such as Witch. However, it is not really the function of the Quintessentials to primarily concentrate on new classes (and races, for that matter).

The Power Classes are something of an experiment, but it looks like they are going to prove very popular. Each specifically adds a new core class and at a price ($2.95) that will allow gamers to 'dip in and out' of them at very little cost, rather than having to buy a full-blown Quintessential every time. That said, if any Power Class proves exceedingly popular, we may well look at doing a Quintessential book to support it further down the road.

The Assassin core class does not, in fact, replace the DMG prestige class, and players can even combine the two. What we have done is focus on the more 'traditional' Assassin, leaving the supernatural edge to the prestige class. In this way, a player can start out as a normal (but highly skilled) Assassin and progress on to the prestige class as he meets the requirements - it provides a smoother path, but also allows straight rogues to specialise a little in assassination by multiclassing into it for a level or two.

Point taken about Psionic prestige classes. Up to now we have tended to seperate the two but we are looking to bring some synergy between them in Quintessential Psychic Warrior and Quintessential Psion.

Hope that helps!

 

[XCorvis]

This is a selfish question, but did you consider any PrCs from the Netbook of Classes ( http://nboclasses.fancc.org )? The reason I ask is because I am a reviewer there and I'd like to know how we stack up.

I'll probably be picking up Ultimate Prestige Classes as soon as I can - it's the first book in a while that has actually interested me.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

This is a selfish question, but did you consider any PrCs from the Netbook of Classes ( http://nboclasses.fancc.org )?

Brief hijack--

Have you guys considered taking a page from Tome of Horrors (Necromancer) and restructuring your Section 15 along those lines? It would make it easier to include OGC from the various Netbooks.