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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 7800573" data-attributes="member: 6790260">The specific PrC that got me thinking about all this was the silver pyromancer, from Eberron. They had to be arcane--not divine--casters, and got certain neat benefits as a result of their ability to meld religious practice into their arcane magic. I don't think such a class absolutely must be tied to the Church of the Silver Flame only, in that I think it can be adapted to other appropriate things (a build guide that used it suggested an order of dragon-blooded sorcerers dedicated to Bahamut, using platinum fire to burn the minions of Tiamat, for example). The player-made feats and subclass (wizard-only; sucks to be you if you wanted to be a silver pyromancer as a sorcerer!) were extremely underwhelming, so it made me wonder.So...why is the multiclass requirement okay, but a prestige class--which, under this framework, literally is just a short-run class with requirements--can't have such a thing? I included such things literally BECAUSE 5e multiclassing includes attribute requirements, thus it would make sense that 5e PrCs would too. They're multiclassing, just with potentially slightly more required than just ability scores. (The rune scribe example did this, incidentally; it required 13 Dexterity and Intelligence, as well as 5th level.)Certainly, I've already said repeatedly that poor handling of prerequisites is a problem. Prerequisites should never be used as a balancing mechanism--just as they aren't for multiclassing. They're there to communicate something about the class, or to lay a reasonable expected minimum. Like how the UA rune scribe requires that you be 5th level or higher. It also requires you to complete a special task, to justify why your character would even be able to learn rune magic in the first place, but that requirement has nothing to do with "lock these powerful features behind onerous burdens." Roleplay prerequisites for roleplay effects (making sure your character has a reason to be doing what they're doing).As I've been so frequently told about all the other ways 5e preserved 3e-isms: Just because it was done badly before doesn't mean it's inherently bad. It means we have to learn from the mistakes. "Don't use roleplay requirements to balance powerful advantages" is a pretty clear lesson to learn.So only Sorcerers can become vampires, and it always happens at exactly the same point in their lives? Only Barbarians can become werewolves, and it always happens exactly as they hit level 3? That makes no sense to me whatsoever. If anything, your way is artificially narrowing things down--now only specific classes get to be vampires at all!I absolutely think that the only people who could tap into their vampire curse, to draw out the power in it and really use it to the fullest, would need a little Charisma--particularly if they're intending to do so quickly, rather than taking the years and years it normally takes to become a powerful vampire. I absolutely think that a character infected with lycanthropy wouldn't be able to really make use of the transformation, mechanically, unless their physical body is strong enough to support it...if they don't want to simply wait for the curse to change their "normal" form enough. Again, I'm not inventing anything weird here. This is 5e multiclassing. Becoming a multiclass Paladin requires 13 Str and Cha, even though it's perfectly feasible to play a Paladin with 8 Str who uses finesse weapons (I'd even call it thematic for Ancients). Why is it so weird that PrC rules should do the same thing for the same reasons (ones that are explicitly spelled out in the PHB, even)?</blockquote>

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