PrCs for Fighters and Rogues.

[nameless]

I sort of feel the need to rant on the situation with Prestige Classes for the least magically inclined of the base classes (except maybe Barbarians). Namely, there aren't enough. For fighters, you tend to have either the "Elite fighters of organization X" (Fist of Hextor, Ravager, Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, etc.) or the "Master a specific weapon" (Master of Chains, Lasher, Weapon Master, many archer PrCs). We don't see a lot of stylish classes like the Duelist or the Ghostwalker. Also, you don't see a lot of classes which elaborate on a fighting style over a weapon, like the Master Samurai.

Rogues tend to have it the same way. Classes like the Spymaster focus the character on a specific area, but still give flexibility and style. Others focus in different areas, but sacrifice a large amount of flexibility to do so, when the Rogue's whole function is flexibility. The Rogue's main class feature is the Sneak Attack, and 5 of the 10 classes in Song & Silence have no sneak attack whatsoever, and none have the full sneak attack progression of a Rogue. It's harder to pinpoint what aspect of the quality classes (Assassin, Spymaster, Shadowdancer, and Temple Raider all qualify IMO).

There are probably dozens of books out there which detail PrCs for arcane casters, and a good number which are for divine casters. Almost none focus on Fighters or Rogues, or to a lesser degree Barbarians, Rangers, and Paladins. Does anybody else notice this, or am I just being too powergamery in wanting prestige classes for my run-of-the-mill characters?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Does anybody else notice this, or am I just being too powergamery in wanting prestige classes for my run-of-the-mill characters?

Honestly? I feel the opposite way. The spellcasters have two choices: lose their high-end spells in favor of abilities or stay generic.

Just my two cents.

 

[seankreynolds]

You might want to check out the Scorpion Scion and Serpent Archer from my site:

http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/prestige/prestige.html

Both are suitable for fighters, and while neither advances sneak attack, both would work well for rogues as well.

 

[Cedric]

I think most PrC's are totally misused and broken. In my campaign's I allow each pc to take a maximum of one 10 level prc and one 5 level prc.

Additionally, almost every prc in my worlds will be associated with an organization that has requirements of the PC.

Cedric

 

[Crothian]

I've found with the almost thousand perstige classes out there that I can usually find something pretty darn close to what I'm looking for easily. There are many prestige classes for fighters and rogues, so many that I can't possible use them all. So, you must not have the right books if you think they aren't out there.

 

[hong]

I sort of feel the need to rant on the situation with Prestige Classes for the least magically inclined of the base classes (except maybe Barbarians). Namely, there aren't enough. For fighters, you tend to have either the "Elite fighters of organization X" (Fist of Hextor, Ravager, Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, etc.) or the "Master a specific weapon" (Master of Chains, Lasher, Weapon Master, many archer PrCs). We don't see a lot of stylish classes like the Duelist or the Ghostwalker. Also, you don't see a lot of classes which elaborate on a fighting style over a weapon, like the Master Samurai.

I don't know about you, but the knight protector, weapon master and most archer PrCs seem pretty stylish to me. And I've seen zillions of PrCs for fighter types; there's probably even more of them than wizard PrCs, and _definitely_ more than bard PrCs.

Pick up OA and some of the Rokugan books, especially Way of the Samurai. More warrior-type PrCs than you can shake a stick at.

 

[Lela]

And if you don't want to be part of an organization, that's not a balance issue. Drop the group (as long as your DM agrees).

 

[The Forsaken One]

More warrior-type PrCs than you can shake a stick at.

Something you know all about eh?

 

[eris404]

There are probably dozens of books out there which detail PrCs for arcane casters, and a good number which are for divine casters. Almost none focus on Fighters or Rogues, or to a lesser degree Barbarians, Rangers, and Paladins. Does anybody else notice this, or am I just being too powergamery in wanting prestige classes for my run-of-the-mill characters?

Well, I guess it depends on what exactly a player is looking for in a character. Sometimes all someone needs is the right combination of core classes, skills and feats to create a character s/he is completely happy to play. I do agree that some prestige classes are poorly written, but there are some good ones out there in a lot of different sources; you just have to sift through a lot of material. For example, I think that Dragon makes some decent prestige classes for a lot of different settings, class combinations, character types.

Do you have something specific (an ability, character type, etc.) in mind? Maybe the nice people here can suggest some prestige classes.