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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lonely Tylenol" data-source="post: 1929575" data-attributes="member: 18549">I don't see the need for these classes to have more than a few PrCs available.  I mean, why are there prestige classes in the first place?  Two reasons, really, aside from the whole "game world organization" fluff: specialization and differentiation.  Bob the fighter is good with a bastard sword, but Dave the exotic weapon master gave up some generic fighter options to specialize, making him really good at the bastard sword, but maybe not quite as good at some other stuff.Jeff the wizard is just like every other wizard.  He has a spellbook, a familiar, casts fireball, etc.  Howard the alienist is weird and unique, setting him apart from the average wizard thanks to his alternate class trajectory.For both of these modifications, the classes mentioned have little to benefit from prestige classes.  It's hard to specialize when you're already a specialist.  Unarmed fighting?  It's hard to get better at that than a monk.  Swatting people with swords made out of psionic energy?  Can't beat a soulknife.  It's likewise hard to differentiate yourself from a class that's already pretty darn weird.  The monk's got a few options there, mostly from the vast genre of kung fu movies, but what would a weird and unique soulknife even look like?  He's weird and unique enough.  Differentiation would really just be further specialization, which for a class that's already a specialization, would just be more limiting than it's worth.However, for the generic classes--fighter, spellcaster, sneaky guy, divine servant, there's a lot of room for modifications.  There are vast reams of genre fiction to sift through in order to find interesting archetypes to emulate, and the classes are broad enough that specialization or differentiation doesn't totally change the trajectory they initially had.Prestige classes are good for adding options and flexibility to classes that could play out in multiple ways even without PrCs, but aren't so good at enhancing specialists, because they have more to lose for each further specialization they undergo.</blockquote>

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