Anime Kidd
Explorer
To try and add a bit of a twist to my homebrew, I want to try to eliminate some of the core classes and have them as Prestige Classes. Is this a good idea? I want the setting to have a low magic feel, but having magic still being powerful.
I belive that the Wizard, Druid, Paladin (duh!), and the Ranger as PrCs, maybe the Bard as well. This leaves the Cleric and Sorcerer as the base spellcasting classes.
Turning the core classes into 10 or 15 level PrCs is a bit easier then I thought. All I did was kepp everything the same; class skills, hit dice, class abilities, attack bonuses, save bonuses, etc. With the class abilities, I kept the abilities in a similar progression as found in the original core class. I did tweak some of the progressions of some abilities, like the druid's wildshape. Some abilities I altered when the class first gets it, like the Paladin's mount is at 1st level.
As an example, here's the Wizard as a PrC:
Wizard Prestige Class
Requirements
Base Will Save: +4.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
Feats: Scribe Scroll.
Spells: Must be able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
Hit Die: D4.
Class Skills: As Wizard.
Skill Points: 2 + Int Bonus.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wizards are skilled with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff. Wizards are not proficient with any type of armor nor with shields.
Bonus Feats: Every five levels, a wizard gains a bonus feat. This feat must be a metamagic feat or an item creation feat.
Familiar: A wizard gains a familiar in exactly the same manner as a sorcerer. See the sorcerer description.
Spellbook Casting: A wizard's spellbook is a source of great power. With a spellbook, a wizard can cast any spell within the book itself as if casting from a spell scroll, with the wizard's own caster level to determine the spell's effects. Whe using this ability, the spell doesn't disappear from the spellbook.
To create a spellbook, the wizard treats it as creating a normal spell scroll with their highest castable spell level possible, but takes 1 week per 1,000 gp of its best price, with the base price being the highest spell level multiplied by the wizard's current caster level multiplied by 50 gp [Highest Spell level castable x Wizard's Caster Level x 50 gp]. There is no need for material components or XP expenditure either.
In practice, many wizards tend to place protective spells on their spellbooks to help protect them from thieves and the ravages of the elements and time. Some wizards even have 'traveling spellbooks' that are filled with their most commonly used spells. These spellbooks are smaller and are figured as normal, but multiplied by 25 gp instead of 50 gp [Highest Spell level castable x Wizard's Caster Level x 25 gp] and takes 1 week per 1,000 gp of the base price.
I didn't know how to have a character with spontaneous casting to instead use prepared spells from a spellbook. Why would ayone want to need a spellbook to prepare their spells everyday instead of spontaneous casting? I got around this by having the Spellbook Casting ability. This allows spellbooks to be useful and as a powerful item and not as a restriction as before (with the preperation time and all).
As it is written now, I don't think having the disadvantages I have listed now are good enough to balance it out. Maybe dropping the bonus feats that are gained and possibly the weapon and armor proficiencies?
Comments? Advice? Ideas? Flames?
Edit ----------
Fixed the subject title
I belive that the Wizard, Druid, Paladin (duh!), and the Ranger as PrCs, maybe the Bard as well. This leaves the Cleric and Sorcerer as the base spellcasting classes.
Turning the core classes into 10 or 15 level PrCs is a bit easier then I thought. All I did was kepp everything the same; class skills, hit dice, class abilities, attack bonuses, save bonuses, etc. With the class abilities, I kept the abilities in a similar progression as found in the original core class. I did tweak some of the progressions of some abilities, like the druid's wildshape. Some abilities I altered when the class first gets it, like the Paladin's mount is at 1st level.
As an example, here's the Wizard as a PrC:
Wizard Prestige Class
Requirements
Base Will Save: +4.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
Feats: Scribe Scroll.
Spells: Must be able to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
Hit Die: D4.
Class Skills: As Wizard.
Skill Points: 2 + Int Bonus.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wizards are skilled with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff. Wizards are not proficient with any type of armor nor with shields.
Bonus Feats: Every five levels, a wizard gains a bonus feat. This feat must be a metamagic feat or an item creation feat.
Familiar: A wizard gains a familiar in exactly the same manner as a sorcerer. See the sorcerer description.
Spellbook Casting: A wizard's spellbook is a source of great power. With a spellbook, a wizard can cast any spell within the book itself as if casting from a spell scroll, with the wizard's own caster level to determine the spell's effects. Whe using this ability, the spell doesn't disappear from the spellbook.
To create a spellbook, the wizard treats it as creating a normal spell scroll with their highest castable spell level possible, but takes 1 week per 1,000 gp of its best price, with the base price being the highest spell level multiplied by the wizard's current caster level multiplied by 50 gp [Highest Spell level castable x Wizard's Caster Level x 50 gp]. There is no need for material components or XP expenditure either.
In practice, many wizards tend to place protective spells on their spellbooks to help protect them from thieves and the ravages of the elements and time. Some wizards even have 'traveling spellbooks' that are filled with their most commonly used spells. These spellbooks are smaller and are figured as normal, but multiplied by 25 gp instead of 50 gp [Highest Spell level castable x Wizard's Caster Level x 25 gp] and takes 1 week per 1,000 gp of the base price.
Code:
Class Fort Ref. Will
Level BAB Save Save Save Special Spellcasting
1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Familiar, Spellbook Casting, Bonus feat +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
2 +1 +0 +0 +3 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
3 +1 +1 +1 +3 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
4 +2 +1 +1 +4 Bonus feat +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
5 +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
6 +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
7 +3 +2 +2 +5 Bonus feat +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
8 +4 +2 +2 +6 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
9 +4 +3 +3 +6 +1 Arcane Spellcasting level
10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Bonus feat +1 Arcane Spellcasting levelI didn't know how to have a character with spontaneous casting to instead use prepared spells from a spellbook. Why would ayone want to need a spellbook to prepare their spells everyday instead of spontaneous casting? I got around this by having the Spellbook Casting ability. This allows spellbooks to be useful and as a powerful item and not as a restriction as before (with the preperation time and all).
As it is written now, I don't think having the disadvantages I have listed now are good enough to balance it out. Maybe dropping the bonus feats that are gained and possibly the weapon and armor proficiencies?
Comments? Advice? Ideas? Flames?
Edit ----------
Fixed the subject title
Last edited:
