As far as some things I was thinking to make this class have even more prestige, was the idea of making it Lawful Good Lawful or Lawful Neutral only. Mechanically only lawful is a requirement as far as I had set it up, but the Order (as I want it, but might not be in the campaign) could be something like one of 'schools' that grew up around certain Buddhist masters in ancient China and Japan. I am fairly sure that Chan (Zen) Buddhism would be quantified more with Wisdom than Intelligence in D&D, but the idea of supreme Reason mixed with the trappings of the martial/mystical traditions of the East seemed doable. The Non-Evil part would come from their ability to realize the 'hidden truths of the world,' and come to realize that the greedy pursuits are ultimately useless; either because they are typically self-destructive or else the Order sees the pursuit of (overt) power as 'sticking your neck out for someone to cut when you aren't looking.'
As far as the adventuring concept for such a character; real world experience and thinking under pressure are the meat and drink (though perhaps they should also be vegetarian) of an order that seeks nothing more than to see the patterns of world/reality. The disciples wouldn't even necessarily be all too ascetic, since I see the Order also as being something of enlightened pragmatists. Certain strains of Buddhist thought encourags that type outlook.
Once the would be Disciple feels ready, he can seek the givers of the Test. What this Test is obviously is up for development. I had toyed with the idea of making it similar to those great riddle-heavy Dungeon adventures the "Challenge of Champions."
Anyway, I'm glad that its been approved. I hope whoever came up with the original version of the prestige class (a poster on the WotC boards circa 2001) likes what I did. I definetely couldn't have come up with this all on my own.
C.I.D.
