Opinions on the Eldritch Master PRC?

[Maerdwyn]

I have a new player joining out group tomorrow night, and she wants to play en Eldritch Master. Not having Dragon 280, I can't easily review the class before she arrives a half hour before we start play tomorrow.

Does anyone have opinions or info about the class that would lead me to allow/disallow/modify it before Tuesday night?

Thanks,
Ian

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, well, I like it, but I have a policy with prc's that have some sort of rp requirement that I generally don't allow new characters to assume they've met that prereq. A lot of the time those prereqs are the hardest part of qualifying. For an eldritch master, you must have met an outsider who teaches you the secrets of the eldritch master. You might give 'im that one, you might not.

The main advantage of an eldritch master is their number of lower-level spells known increases dramatically, and they get really cool abilities as they advance. The main drawback is that they lose out on higher-level spells.

Overall, I think it's pretty balanced.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Also, the eldritch master gets the spell deiletente ability at level four which allows him to choose spells from a different list, so if you don't want your sorcerors casting cure spells, you might not want to allow it. I agree with the jester, though. It's prety balanced. By level 20, a sorceror/em is probably not as powerful 10/10 cleric/sorceror would be.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Thanks guys - both the outsider sponsor and the arcane (Im assuming) healing spells might be of concern as far as setting continuity are concerned, but Ill try to think of a way to rationalize these.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Seule]

If Bards can do arcane healing, I don't see why the Eldrich Master can't. The Eldrich gains a lot in spell versatility, knowing way more low level spells than a straight Sorcerer, but loses a lot in the higher level spells. The primary reason to play the PrC in my opinion is the flavour: many of the abilities are just cool, even if they are not particularly powerful.

--Seule

 

[Maerdwyn]

Bards don't have arcane healing IMC - they have an entirely different spell list and are divine casters

LIke I said, I'm not disallowing the class right now - it's just that I'm wary of allowing it sight unseen since today is the first I'm hearing of it for tomorrow's game.

 

[psionotic]

We have evaluated the Eldritch Master for the two campaigns that I'm part of (one I run, one I play). My group all feels that while it has some really cool abilities, its completely balanced by the fact that it seriously loses out on higher spell levels.

 

[Vecna]

Eldritch Master is Epic!

EM is the best Epic PrC around.
Think of a Sorcerer 20/EM 10, who used Spell Boost wisely to get 3 non arcane spells of level greater than 5.
Add Persistent Spell, Reach Spell and Chain Spell:

- Reached Harm (and possibly, depending on metamagic interpretation, Chained too). Hasted sorcerer -> harm + magic missile in a round...
- Maybe you prefer Heal. Or Restoration. Or Raise Dead.
- Persistent Divine Power, Divine Favor + Magic Vestment if you want a fighting sorcerer. Huh, I forgot Righteous Might!
- Destruction is better than Finger of Death.
- Do you like Extended Creeping Cold or Chained Miasma?
- ....

A cleric could do the same things, but a sorcerer can do them many times and without preparation, and cast a lot of fireballs too!

You cannot have so many spells and metamagic them to use IX spell slots with a Sorcerer 15/Cleric 15.

The possibilities of 3 classes (Sorcerer + Cleric + Druid/Bard) are infinite!

Post your ideas!!!

At lower level, it slows you down, so you are less powerful than a single class sorcerer but probably more powerful than a sorcerer/cleric.