Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gez" data-source="post: 1714499" data-attributes="member: 1328">I thought a bit about the prestige classes, and how they've become too unwieldly over time. Also, the concept doesn't match the implementation always. PrC are, often, supposed to represent membership in a special organization, secret or not. So, it would be logical that  progression in the PrC would match progression in the organization's hierarchy. But this is not possible in D&D, where experience points are not directly related to social progresses.As a result, there was an interesting concept that was tried recently in the Planar Handbook. A PrC with multiple sets of prerequisites, at various levels. Kinda like a set of mini-PrCs that are meant to be taken sequentially.I wondered if it wasn't possible to make this kind of things more elegantly, and I have thought of feats.Feats have prerequisites, and they let you do things that other people can't do. Prestige classes have prerequisites, and they let you do things that other people don't.In other words, they're redundant. So, why not suppress prestige classes altogether and introduce them back as prestige feats -- feats that would require membership in an organization to be taken.You can see a step in that direction in the Player's Guide to Faerûn, with the Initiate feats. In 2e they had specialty priests for each deity. In 3e, they converted specialty priests as prestige classes. Now, in revised 3e, there are initiate feats that, while not exactly equivalent to the specialty priest PrC of 3e or kits of 2e, are a bit like them anyway.So, would it be possible to convert prestige classes into prestige feats? Take a PrC, look at what are its most distinctive features, and turn them into one to three feats.Let's take the examples from the DMG.Arcane Archer Initiate [Prestige]You are a member of an elite group of elven archer who imbue magic in their arrows to increase their marksmanship.Prerequisite: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (any bow), BAB 6+, Elf subtype, capacity to cast 1st-level arcane spells.Organization: The Arcane Archer, yadayadayada, inset stuff about your own version of them.Benefits: Any arrow that you shoot is considered magical when you shoot it. They have an enhancement bonus equal to your Cha bonus, with an upper limit of +5.Arcane Archer Squad Leader [Prestige]You have learned other secrets of the Arcane Archer brotherhood.Prerequisites: Arcane Archer Initiate, must have been promoted to the rank of squad leader.Benefits: You are now able to put a spell on an arrow. The arrow must be shot in the round following the casting. Once the arrow has reached its target, the spell takes effect, centered on the arrow. Spells that normally target the caster can be put on arrows the same way, and they will affect the target struck by the arrow.Arcane Archer Master [Prestige]You are now one of the masters of the Arcane Archer militia.Prerequisites: Arcane Archer Squad Leader, must have been promoted to the rank of master.Benefits: Once per day, you may use either the Hail of Arrows or Death Arrows effect.Arcane Trickster [Prestige]After an initiation ceremony that involved buying drinks for everyone, and mysteriously losing your purse; you have been taught the secrets of the Arcane Tricksters.Prerequisite: Non-lawful alignment, +2d6 sneak attack, 7 ranks in Decipher Script, Disable Device, and Escape Artist; and 4 ranks in Knowledge Arcane; ability to cast mage hand and at least one arcane spell of level 3+.Organization: Stuff about the AT and how to join them.Benefit: Ranged Legerdemain and Impromptu Sneak Attack each once per day.Special: Can be taken up to three times, number of times per day stacks.Archmage [Prestige]You are considered to be an Archmage, and that's no small feat.Prerequisite: copy those of the PrC, I'm getting lazy.Benefit: Choose one of the High Arcana features from the Archmage PrC. You can do it too, now!Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time you take it, you must select a High Arcana you haven't already have. Well, you can also select a High Arcana you already have, but that would be very dumb of you, because feats don't stack, so you would waste a perfectly good feat slot. Sheesh.Assassin Initiate [Prestige]You are a superninja-hashishin-thug of the Death Kult of Kali's Nightstalkers of Death!!!! You have real ultimate power!!!! Damn, you're so cool I've stained my pants.Prerequisite, Organization, Fluffy Bunnies: I guess you can guess.Benefits: Poison Use. If you have a spellcaster class, you can add the assassin spells to your spell list. Otherwise, you can just cast one first-level assassin spell as a spell-like ability once per day.Assassin Stalker [Prestige]Insert stuff about flipping out and killing people just because you look cool doing so.Prerequisites: Assassin Initiate, must have been promoted, yadayadayada.Benefits: Improved Uncanny Dodge, +3 save against poison. If you can't cast spells, now you can cast one second- and one third-level assassin spells each once per day as SLA.Assassin Grandmaster [Prestige]You don't like pirates, but hippos are your friends.Benefits: Hide in plain sight, +5 save against poison. If you can't cast spells, now you can cast one fourth-level assassin spell once per day as a SLA.And so on. What do you think?</blockquote>

Verification