Please rate the Cavalier

[smetzger]

Sword & Fist p.12
Prereqs:
Lawful, Bab +8
Spirited Charge, Weapon Focus(Lance), Weapon Focus(any sword), Mounted combat, Ride-by Attack
Handle Animal 4 ranks, Knowledge(nobility) 4 ranks, ride 6 ranks
Equipment: materwork heavy armor and masterwork large shield

Class features:
Tall In the Saddle
Deadly Charge
Mounted Weapon Bonus
Ride Bonus
Burst of Speed
Full Mounted Attack

So, rate it on:
1) How well it stacks up with other classes.
2) How often a PC will go with this class.
3) How often an NPC will go with this class.
4) How 'fun' it is to play this class.
5) How much this class adds to the game.

 

[Ravellion]

I think the bonusses, all being numerical, are bland, and all focus on a thing that 3rd editions back to the dungeon aspect seems to ignore for the majority of the game... or at least when the party cavalier will meet the BBEG, he'll most likely be on foot.

Also, the Lawful restriction is somewhat odd: apparently all lance bearing mounted warriors are fuedal knights.

Rav

 

[Jeremy]

Above average and cool because it is, but it is also very limited in application and very difficult to qualify for.

By the time you qualify for it, you are in a lot of situations where keeping a horse alive is near impossible. And if you are a paladin so your mount at least has bonus HD and shared saving throws, it will take you even longer to qualify. So definate limitations on it.

 

[hammymchamham]

My friend drives a Calvalier and says its fine. But I would never buy one.

 

[Celebrim]

In terms of balance, there is nothing wrong with the class. It meets the balance requirements of a PrC quite well: very narrow focus, slight improvement in that area over a core class.

The real problem with the whole idea of a cavalier prestige class is that thier is so much overlap of that focus with the focus of a regular fighter. The flavor of the class has very little relation to the abilities of the class. The flavor of the class focuses on the cavalier's social position and ethical code, but none of the abilities directly stem from that. This leads me to believe that there is no particular reason for the class to exist. There is really nothing in the cavalier classes class abilities that couldn't be translated to a general feat and made available to fighters specializing in mounted combat. A cavalier would be better implemented as a fighter with the appropriate mounted combat feats. Given the high level requirements for the class, anything but the most high level campaigns aren't going to see many NPC's with the 'cavalier' background that aren't fighters or fighter/aristocrats anyway.

 

[smetzger]

4.96 after 26 votes

----------------------------
7. Shadowdancer(7.05, 93, 40632)

6. Arcane Archer(6.23,70,38773), Assassin(6.07,54,38913), Blackguard(6.29,52,39353), Loremaster(6.58,79,40493), Archmage(6.91, 110, 4073), Church Inquisitor(6.74,27,41662)

5. Dwarven Defender(5.72,69,39947)

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I say an 8. The cavalier is what it ought to be. It gives a number of good bonusses appropriate to the feudal knight role that it's supposed to fill. The opportunity costs are such that players won't want to take the class unless they want to play feudal knights.

As I understand it, that's how prestige classes are supposed to work.

 

[Celebrim]

Well, as usual with PrC's we seem to have two big voting blocks.

One block is voting around 7 based on the fact that in terms of balance this is a very well constructed PrC. This is probably the block that rates Order of the Bow Initiate, Templar, and Archmage very low.

The other larger block is voting around 3 based on the fact that the class does not provide more power than a core class except within its narrowly useful area. This is the group that probably rates OotBI, Templar, and Archmage very highly.

Rating how this class stacks up to other classes in terms of power and how often a PC will take this class, is probably very different than rating how this class stacks up to other classes in terms of flavor and balance, and how much it adds to the campaign.

 

[Endur]

I voted very good. But I voted on the assumption that you are playing in a campaign that uses Knights and Tournaments.

Either a campaign based on the Legends of King Arthur or Charlemagne or the Crusades or George RR Martin's "Game of Thrones".

If your campaign is a traditional D&D game which focuses on dungeon crawls, the Cavalier class is less useful since horses can't enter dungeons. On the other hand, halflings mounted on dogs seem to have no problems entering dungeons.

Tom

 

[Archer]

If everyone is rating prestige classes by different criteria then the result is relatively meaningless. Feats are rated on relative power, prestige classes should be rated on the same basis.

Some prestige classes sacrifice little to gain little, others sacrifice a little of everything to get a lot of a very specific thing. Some prestige classes exchange everything for something total out of the ordinary. The difference in types of presige class are categorizable as they are in the 3.5 rules document. To have a meaningful result classes of the same archetype need to be rated together under a single criteria. Different archetypes can be rated on different criteria but within a category there must be some constant against which they are judged. Most prestige classes so far have been rated seemingly randomly from 1-10.