Most broken prestige classes?

[Maldor]

Thrallherder is a very powerful class but the thing that makes me say it should not be allowed is how much it slows down game play and makes other players less importaned

 

[Hussar]

Pious Templar

Color me confused on this one too. Other than it is a supreme save monkey, why is this PrC broken?

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Color me confused on this one too. Other than it is a supreme save monkey, why is this PrC[Pious Templer] broken?

I personally have no idea. It seem intersting, and a decent fighter/paladin crossbreed, but broken, I think no way!!1

 

[Thanee]

Color me confused on this one too. Other than it is a supreme save monkey, why is this PrC broken?

It's like a Commoner, just better!!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Caliban]

Color me confused on this one too. Other than it is a supreme save monkey, why is this PrC broken?

Probably because a lot of builds only use one level of the class. 2 levels of monk or rogue (or Divine Oracle), and 1 level of Pious templar and you now avoid all negative effects of any spell when you make the save. It's not that strong for divine casters because it costs you a feat and a caster level, but it's very powerful for mutt melee builds.

I have a lvl 18 mutt/Dwarven Defender that uses it. (Ftr4/Mnk2/Exotic Weapon Master 1/Pious Templar1/Dwarven Defender 10).

 

[billd91]

The discussion about the Rainbow Servant has gotten me thinking. I am starting to come around to the idea that a significant portion of the cleric's (and druid's) balance is a fairly limited set of spells available to them. Since they can prep anything off their class lists, any additions to that list have to be weighed particularly carefully.
I'm discovering this in a game I'm running because the addition of Complete Spell Compendium has significantly ratched up the power of the cleric in the party. I'm tempted to say that the cleric's or druid's spell list is fixed at a certain number of spells - the number in the PH. Any additions from other sources must be met with reductions from that list.
If you use a game with the Rainbow Servant, you might want to consider doing that as well.

 

[Particle_Man]

Radiant Servant of Pelor is a good example of a class that people yell "OMG broken" over that just isn't.

I disagree. Here's why:

You have to sink several ranks in Heal to qualify, and your domains get chosen for you. You also have a feat chosen for you.

5 ranks in Heal doesn't break the bank, and is actually a good investment for a low level cleric who might run out of spells. 5 ranks of knowledge religion helps turn undead, so we are talking about 4 more ranks of knowledge religion.

Your domains get chosen for you. Sun domain is rather nice, though. The healing domain isn't the best, but you get a bonus domain with the class, which means you now have 3 domain powers.

Extra turning is a good feat for a cleric to have. In a "lots of undead" campaign, just keep turning. In a "not so much undead" campaign, you can use a feat to turn those turn undeads into something else (and some of those are quite good, and themselves have extra turning as a prereq. anyhow).

You do get martial weapon proficiency, some nice SLAs, and a few enhanced heals each day, but you do get a reduced hit die (d6).

The lower hit die is effectively a "negative feat" (vs. improved toughness) but doesn't retroactively reduce previsous cleric hd, so you lose a maximum of 10 hp on average). The martial weapon proficiencies open up the "cleric archer" option, as well as give you much greater access to magic weapons that are randomly determined. To learn proficiency is one martial weapon is one feat. You get them all.

A fairly common cleric trope is the "heal and turn undead" guy. It is not the only trope but it is far from rare (in fact, I would be tempted to say it is the default cleric that most people playing D&D think of first when they hear the word "cleric" - note I did not say all people). If you play a cleric of this trope, why would you *not* take this prestige class? In fact, a cleric of this trope will likely take the feats and most of the skill ranks needed for prerequisites anyhow, so it is effectivley cost free except for the lost of 10 hp.

I won't say "broken" in the sense of "breaks the game" but I will say "broken" in the sense of "almost every cleric of the default cleric trope should take this prestige class because the positives so greatly outweigh the negatives".

 

[Fieari]

RSoP is Cleric+. It's almost exactly like the base cleric, just with a lower HD size, but with added benefits that increase the usefulness of what the cleric is already good at. If you were going to pick the Sun domain anyway, which is by no means out of the question, what do you have to lose? A couple skill points allocated differently than you might have otherwise done? Big deal. You're a Cleric+!

 

[billd91]

For Warmage Radiant Servants, I would just rule that the ability gives them cleric spells on their class list, but that the clause about knowing them all does not apply and they must use expanded knowledge or Extra Spell to gain them as spells known. It's not demanded by the RAW, but I think it's a fair interpretation.

I'd consider allow a warmage rainbow servant to pick one spell from each level to add to the standard warmage list.
Quite frankly, it is unfair to judge the rainbow servant based on an alternative casting method that wasn't anticipated. The onus should be on the warmage to define how these things are handled and not the rainbow servant.

 

[pawsplay]

I disagree. Here's why:



5 ranks in Heal doesn't break the bank, and is actually a good investment for a low level cleric who might run out of spells. 5 ranks of knowledge religion helps turn undead, so we are talking about 4 more ranks of knowledge religion.

5 ranks of Heal is pretty ridiculous. I've never seen a cleric run out of heal spells... cure minor wounds is like a Heal check to stabilize, only better, and 0 level spells are like candy. If you don't have a decent Int, you could end up spending half your skill points on this skill. Obviously, humans and gray elves don't have it so bad.

Your domains get chosen for you. Sun domain is rather nice, though. The healing domain isn't the best, but you get a bonus domain with the class, which means you now have 3 domain powers.

Healing Domain is pretty weak. The bonus domain is nice, true.

Extra turning is a good feat for a cleric to have. In a "lots of undead" campaign, just keep turning. In a "not so much undead" campaign, you can use a feat to turn those turn undeads into something else (and some of those are quite good, and themselves have extra turning as a prereq. anyhow).

It's an expensive feat to have. First of all, you're not fighting undead all the time. Second, even if you are, your base number of turning attempts is probably enough. Third, turning those uses into something else uses even more feats.

The lower hit die is effectively a "negative feat" (vs. improved toughness) but doesn't retroactively reduce previsous cleric hd, so you lose a maximum of 10 hp on average). The martial weapon proficiencies open up the "cleric archer" option, as well as give you much greater access to magic weapons that are randomly determined. To learn proficiency is one martial weapon is one feat. You get them all.

So do fighters. And blackguards get armor proficiency. Frankly, 5th level is late in the game to be getting started on "cleric archer."

A fairly common cleric trope is the "heal and turn undead" guy. It is not the only trope but it is far from rare (in fact, I would be tempted to say it is the default cleric that most people playing D&D think of first when they hear the word "cleric" - note I did not say all people). If you play a cleric of this trope, why would you *not* take this prestige class? In fact, a cleric of this trope will likely take the feats and most of the skill ranks needed for prerequisites anyhow, so it is effectivley cost free except for the lost of 10 hp.

Greater turning, from the Sun domain, is 1/day, so although nice, it's no great thing on its own. Healing is a rare domain to take, although it's handy enough. Almost always, when I see a cleric, I see domains chosen to open up the spell list and other options beyond "heal and turn undead." If you plan on healing and turning undead, it's true, the Radiant Servant is a pretty good deal, but the fact that it is not for anyone else pretty much means it's not broken. For instance, Radiant Servant as a bump on the way to War Priest would not be all that great.

I won't say "broken" in the sense of "breaks the game" but I will say "broken" in the sense of "almost every cleric of the default cleric trope should take this prestige class because the positives so greatly outweigh the negatives".

I disagree. I suggest avoiding divine feats unless you have a specific domain in mind, I recommend Protection and either Strength, Magic, or Knowledge as domains, I suggest you take no more than 1 rank in Heal, and I can name a number of other Prestige Classes offering good domains and powers.