Prestige Classes: What exactly are they?

[Darrin Drader]

My understanding is that Prestige Classes are a device to allow WotC (and other d20 companies) to sell more magazines and splat books. If they were a primary tool for world-building, the DMG would offer rules to create them, allowing the DMs to customise PrC to their campaigns.

Rules for how to build a prestige class, how to build a feat, and how to build a monster were released in Dragon magazine following the release of 3rd ed.

 

[hong]

It depends on the campaign which you use. For a carefully crafted homebrew, #1 is best used. For a published setting, #4 is very important. For just H&S, beer and pretzels D&D, #2 comes into play. And #3 is important for any of these.

Also, these aren't mutually exclusive. I have a homebrew world, and I also have no qualms about letting people take PrCs that let they lay the smackdown. If it's what they want to do, why not let them do it?

And I also don't have the time to make up dozens of prestige classes to fill up all the niches around. If something like what I'm after already exists in a book, I'd be silly not to use it. Reinventing the wheel and all that.

 

[Khorod]

For the first few levels, particularly for newbies, having limited choices of classes helps keep the chaos down.

PrC's, even ones stripped of background, add flavor to the campaign. If you have a Weapon-Master PrC, you are saying your campaign has all manner of superbly skill weapon specialists in the mountains and military academies.

I believe the number of bland specialist PrC's should be kept to a minimum in any campaign, no more than a couple dozen. That allows those specialties to add the campaign's character indirectly.

Well-executed PrC's which are based on a background concept are almost always better. They might not fit into any campaign setting either in flavor or combination of special abilities, but those things make it much more of a roleplaying choice. Because as it stands, a weapon-master could be done with the right feat selection, and a Mystic Sword of the Durlash Mountains, with their mystique and their single-shot tree-felling, are just COOL.

IMO if you put more than several dozen PrC's on the house rules as available for anyone, its a mistake. Players with special needs can ask for special consideration.

 

[Khorod]

It also takes about 10 minutes at most to rework the background of an otherwise generic PrC.

 

[Olive]

I don't see why they can't fill both of those roles.


As for the more specilized type, that doesn't really have to be a PrC, but people seem less antsy about adding new PrC's to their game instead of adding new base classes.

i really don't like adding base classes... but i like PrCs

 

[ced1106]

Prestige classes serve the purpose for allowing players and characters to look forward to at higher levels.

Not to mention letting GMs create NPCs that players can't defeat because they've memorized the core books!


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Ron]

Rules for how to build a prestige class, how to build a feat, and how to build a monster were released in Dragon magazine following the release of 3rd ed.

As I said, a device to sell copies of Dragon magazine. It's outrageous that these articles weren't included in the DMG.

 

[Eben]

I'm with Oni on this one.

Some PrC are just variations on the normal character developement. Others are campaign bound. IMHO the first should be easily accessible, but have strict mechanical prerec's, the latter should be more limited and have prerec's that are achieved story-wise, rather than mechanically. As they are published, these latter sometimes have prerec's that are too strict to be used as they are. (Luckily I've managed to escape notice by the D&D police! Oops...)

 

[Hand of Evil]

They are a DM tool to create color and flavor for the game. In a way they are job descriptions and titles. Players are no longer just a fighter or a wizard, they are a Mordorian Knife fighter, or a Grey Seeker.

The DM should use them to define and flesh out his world and story.

 

[Psion]

My understanding of PrC's (based on Monte Cook's definition in the DMG) is that PrC's are primarily a tool for world-building. Most published PrC's seem to fit this role.

However, many published PrCs, especially those in splatbooks, seem to be mere specializations of core classes. EG thief acrobat, most forms of the assassin PrC, True necromancer. Often, such PrCs, while interesting and the kind of thing I want to use IMC, seem rather generic.

I think Monte's definition is nice in theory, but in practice, prestige classes really aren't that easy to do right. Heck, many people who get paid to do this stuff can't seem to do it right. Even if you do have what it takes, it can be a time consuming process.

I think in practice, the thing to do is take the prestige classes that fit the definition in your second paragraph and fit them into your world... give them a role to play. Add some background relevance to them, and tweak them to fit where necessary.

Although I don't like some things about FFG's path books, one thing I do really like about them is how each PrC is split into the mechanical details and a specific example organization that you can use or adapt... or dispense with. This gives the classes a great combination of adaptability and idea content.

Other examples:

• Is the mage of the arcane order generic to you? Take a look at the background behind it. Pick up a copy of the 2e "college of wizardry." Of course, you could have just as easily added your own details, or tweak it to fit your campaign (as FR did with the waterdeep guild mage.)
• In my campaign, the True Necromancer fits the religion of a death goddess in my campaign to a "t". True Necromancer is essentially a specialty priest class devoted to Kavishella.
• The bokor is a vodoo type mage that hails for an island in my game. I tweaked the bokor from Limrum Equitis 2 to fit my pre-existing image by adding a class ability (namely, they are denied death. They are allowed to make level checks if killed, and if successful, are automatically reincarnated in a random form.)