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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gaius" data-source="post: 815049" data-attributes="member: 3589">I cannot believe all the stir this prestige class has caused.  Ever since the release of 3rd edition, one of the principle complaints, among others, was that multiclassed spellcasters sucked.  A level 20 character who split his advancement equally between cleric and wizard levels is at a severe handicap when compared to other 20th level spellcasters who maintained a single class.  No question about it.So the Mystic Theurge seems to be the solution.  Given that this is a revision of 3rd edition and not a brand new 4th edition, it is reasonable to expect that multiclassing rules are going to remain intact as is.  So the best way to fix the problem of multiclassing spellcasters, without a total revamp to the existing system, is to make a prestige class "patch."  Like the Mystic Theurge.I am firmly in the camp that believes that this class is not overpowered.  Three lost levels of spell advancement is not a small thing.  A topped out Mystic Theurge, let's say Cleric 3/Wizard 7/Mystic Theurge 10, has 1 base slot for 9th level spells.  The straight Wizard 20 or Wizard 10/Incantrix 10, or whatever "pure" arcane caster you want, has a base of 4 slots for 9th level spells.  Same is true of previous levels.  The Mystic Theurge will have versatility at the expense of sheer power.This prestige class has been debuted for all of a day now and already the armchair game designers are implementing their fixes.  Talk about some hypocricy there.  I mean, you've got people complaining, "Did they even playtest this thing!?" who then turn around and say, "This is what needs to be fixed!"  All in the span of one day.  I mean, did they even playtest this thing!?  <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=":)" />One of the most prominent changes seems to be making the prerequisites more stringent.  Such as requiring the ability to cast 3rd level arcane and divine spells.  I'm sorry, but are you crazy?  A 10th level character, 5 levels each in Wizard and Cleric, is casting third level spells while his peers are whipping out the 5th level guns.  At 11th level, with your one level of Mystic Theurge, you're still pumping out third level spells while your 11th level Wizard pal is stepping up to sixth level spells.  Who would want to sacrifice firepower like that just to have access to both arcane and divine spells?  As it is, I think that requiring second level spells is the right prerequisite.Basically, what you have here is a rather vanilla prestige class that allows Wizards to cast divine spells with only a slight dropoff in their arcane abilities.  A balanced dropoff.  This seems to me to be what people have wanted all along, but now that it's here, people can't seem to stop complaining.Of course, this is to say nothing of actually making a character rather than a stat-block.  Once you start considering something more than min-maxing, the prestige class becomes even more balanced.  I mean, not many people are going to be able to justify their character being a dual-spellcaster like this.  Best I can see would be those who follow gods of magic.  Or, if you're set in the Scarred Lands, maybe a Druid/Sorceror.  But even then, the Mystic Theurge sucks for Druids.  So there goes that.All in all, I like the Mystic Theurge and find it to be pretty balanced, at least on the surface.  Of course, I, like everyone else, haven't had a chance to playtest it nor am I privy to the full 3.5E context in which this character has been crafted.  So reserve judgement until you've got all the "facts" of the matter.Gaius</blockquote>

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