Prestige Class requirements tweaking

[Oryan77]

I use a much slower level progression XP chart that resembles 1st/2nd Ed D&D. A couple of my players are showing interest in picking up Prestige Classes now. Since it usually requires a PC to be 6-7 lvl before they can even pick up a lvl 1 Prestige Class I was thinking about changing the requirements a little so they can pick it up sooner.

In normal 3e xp progression it takes no time at all to get to use a Prestige Class. With the lower xp progression it feels like the classes are being wasted & not used effectively.

What would be the reprocussions of doing things like lowering the rank requirement & spell casting level requirement so players can take a Prestige Class at lower levels?

 

[Crothian]

I wouldn't change them. It just mnakes them that much harder to get into and more prestigious.

 

[Krafen]

It's been a while, but as I recall earlier editions had an exponential XP progression as opposed to the current linear progression. Early levels went by fairly quickly, but the higher you went, the slower you progressed. Because of this, I wouldn't suggest lowering the requirements by more than 1 level or so. Most prestige classes require 5 character levels to meet the requirements. Lowering that to 4 would probably not be too bad. Another option would be allowing Skill Focus to count for the purposes of qualifiying for prestige class skill rank prerequisites. You might also use the Test-Based Prerequisites option from Unearthed Arcana. I like this option the most.

 

[CRGreathouse]

It's been a while, but as I recall earlier editions had an exponential XP progression as opposed to the current linear progression. Early levels went by fairly quickly, but the higher you went, the slower you progressed.

It's really no different from the current system, where the XP needed increase linearly (total XP quadratically) but the XP gained per encounter scales exponentially.

 

[Li Shenron]

I was thinking about changing the requirements a little so they can pick it up sooner.

You may consider to allow a broader modifier instead of the static one as prerequisite, to get the same effect of making a PrCl available sooner. For example, instead of skill rank you may just require a skill total modifier, and instead of BAB you can use BAB+Str or BAB+Dex, or even allow to count other bonuses such as from size or feats.

It should not be done with a general rule however, but instead you have to do it case by case, for each PrCl that a player of yours asks you if he can take.

 

[nothing to see here]

I think we're seeing a bit of dissensus emerge on the role of prestige class requirements.

I agree that I find the traditional prestige requirements a bit onerous. Not necessarily because they are too high (though that applies somoe), but beacuse many of the feat/skill requirements are two specific and don't allow for other paths into the class.

So, like many, I rule zero it -- an approach tacitly endorsed by WOTC's own designers when they introduce the idea of 'test-based' prestige classes in Unearthed Arcana.

Here's where the problem starts.

The rationale given by the WOTC staff is that mechanical requirements are chosen over flavour requirements -- purely as a balance aid -- from game to game. This is fair enough.

However, when you look at some of the more 'controversial' Prestige classes, like the Mystic Theurge -- designers like Johnathon Tweet (IIRC) have defended the idea that the specific prestige class requirements don't just ensure an appropriate level of entry -- they also require a diffusion of class power between differnet classes to qualify -- forcing the character to make a sub-optimal choice to quaify for the PRC -- a choice that will be compensated for by the higher than normal power curve once they are inside the class.

I wish I could be more clear than that. And I'm sorry to hijack the threat a little. It's just important to note that in some cases (Mystic Theurge being most obvious example) the requirements are not just a barrier to entry -- they are intentionally designed to handicap a character during the qualification process. For these special cases, changing requirements can be very unbalancing.

 

[Li Shenron]

Well, I have to add that what I suggested to do is not necessarily what I would do either simply because I like the current average minimum level for PrCls. But taking for granted that the first poster doesnt, I suggested him one way to rule 0.

However, speaking about requirements in general, I really want to say the following.

I think requirements should be a very important part of a PrCl. Every member of the same PrCl have in common only the requirements and the 1st level features.
For this reason, I would like to have even MORE "mechanical" requirements than normal, but not necessarily a higher minimum level. At the same time I think that the more core classes can qualify, the better it is (although some PrCl are just meant to be multiclass from the start) and therefore I am not very fond of class-features requirements that can be met only by 1 core class.
However, the two don't go together quite well, especially if there are too many skills required, the classes with 2sp/level are often cut out from the start unless they wait a very long time.