BSF
Explorer
Huh, there are a lot of PrC's out there that I don't particularly *like*. But, it really isn't because I think they are, necessarily, broken. It is because I don't think they have any flavor, or too little flavor, or the wrong flavor for my campaign.
But, that is my game. I want people to choose PrC's in my game because they have an in-character reason, not just that they want to tack on some new abilities. If they don't have a good in-character reason, I want to work with them to introduce one into the storyline. Then we figure out how the PrC can work.
Of course, this isn't to say that some PrC's aren't broken, or unbalanced. I had a player that wanted to make a PrC that had a special ability to whack off any limb that he wanted. The requirements were ridiculously low, didn't include things like Weapon Specialization and Improved Crit and didn't have any flavor.
I looked at it and tried not to dismiss it out of hand. Instead, I pointed out to the player that the d20 mechanics tend to avoid targeting specific body parts and that the "concept", while cool, wasn't very enjoyable to play. Especially when I pointed out that I would consider the PrC fair game for an NPC opponent. The player seemed to be trying to get a quick-win solution, but didn't want to use the Improved Disarm tree of feats because he had chosen to make his fighter based character dumb (8 Int). He figured it would be easier to whack off the opponents arm, then he couldn't draw a new weapon either. So, it was a collection of unique combat feats with no requirements that would not make it the default choice for any sword wielding fighter in the game and no flavor to explain how the PrC would exist.
I guess I would consider that very broken.
But, that is my game. I want people to choose PrC's in my game because they have an in-character reason, not just that they want to tack on some new abilities. If they don't have a good in-character reason, I want to work with them to introduce one into the storyline. Then we figure out how the PrC can work.
Of course, this isn't to say that some PrC's aren't broken, or unbalanced. I had a player that wanted to make a PrC that had a special ability to whack off any limb that he wanted. The requirements were ridiculously low, didn't include things like Weapon Specialization and Improved Crit and didn't have any flavor.
I looked at it and tried not to dismiss it out of hand. Instead, I pointed out to the player that the d20 mechanics tend to avoid targeting specific body parts and that the "concept", while cool, wasn't very enjoyable to play. Especially when I pointed out that I would consider the PrC fair game for an NPC opponent. The player seemed to be trying to get a quick-win solution, but didn't want to use the Improved Disarm tree of feats because he had chosen to make his fighter based character dumb (8 Int). He figured it would be easier to whack off the opponents arm, then he couldn't draw a new weapon either. So, it was a collection of unique combat feats with no requirements that would not make it the default choice for any sword wielding fighter in the game and no flavor to explain how the PrC would exist.
I guess I would consider that very broken.
