Roleplay and PrC

[Altalazar]

Heh,

For some reason I thought you were gonna ask something about Roleplaying and the People's Republic of China.

I guess the difference between PrC and PRC is quite large, at least for me.

But, of course, I'm into Political Science,

- Rep.

Heh- When I saw PRC I thought "Passengers/Riders/Crew" from Advanced Squad Leader.

But to the topic at hand - I think it REALLY varies based on the PrC - some of them seem to lend themselves to a special joining of an order or some such thing. Others seem to be tied to traumatic events or some such things (like seeking revenge against Undead or what have you) and some seem to be perfectly logical as just another path in life someone could choose to take on their own.

I don't think there is any general rule that would apply to all prestige classes because of those differences. I really think it all depends on how that PrC fits into the world and what makes the most sense.

 

[Trickstergod]

It depends on the prestige class, or for that matter, the base class. As it is, here's my general take on things:

If there's someone in the party who already has the base class that a character wants to pick up a level in, then they can just do it. There's someone on hand who could be helpful, that they've been able to pick up a few things from, and it helps to keep the game flowing.

Furthermore, if a character class is a natural progression off of abilities they already have, then they can multiclass as they wish. A Ranger could readily multiclass into a Rogue or Fighter, as I see it, whereas a Barbarian might be able to readily go into a Ranger or Druid. So long as it's conceivable the character naturally flow from one class into another, that's fine. The same would go with, say, a Cleric/Wizard into a Mystic Theurge. It's just the natural progression of what they've been doing.

A number of prestige classes that are attached to groups also assume that not all, or even most, of those in the group have the prestige class. As such, if a character in one of my games is already a member of a group with a prestige class, they don't need to seek out training to pick up the prestige class. Already having been a member, and working at the prerequisites for the class, represents turning ones abilities towards refining what the prestige class will eventually offer. Besides, it doesn't make sense to try training to be, say, a Loremaster by going out and schwacking monsters. If someone wanted to be a Loremaster, they'd be training in a library or the like, not playing whack a mole in a dungeon. So I allow leeway for field training, as it were, as someone looking to enter certain prestige classes wouldn't be adventuring in the first place, and certainly wouldn't be using the logic of "If I kill some monsters for a few years, I'll eventually be able to become a better diviner." Or something crazy like that.

Anyway, short little blurb on things, there you have it, my minds currently a bit out of it, so I'll leave with just those previous words.

 

[Cbas10]

I'm with several others. Depending on the Prestige Class, there can be varying amounts or role-playing or other special circumstances involved. However, there is almost always at least some sort of instructor, mentor, or organization involved. Commonly, I will allow players to start to roleplay these relationships (petitioning, training, etc) long before they can actually take the class. Thus, when they finally have all of the prerequisite skills and such, they have made the first step to the path of the PrC's special benefits.

Sometimes I will heap on more role-play requirements to a PrC here or there, but will provide similar benefits, too. For example, in my games, in order to take the Archmage PrC, one must be accepted into the ranks by other archmagi (Dragonlance's Towers of High Sorcery influenced my games a little). This sometimes required a test of sorts, as well as types of "background" checks. In exchange for going through this, they would receive discounts on spell research, expensive components, magic item development, etc.

 

[nopantsyet]

In my game, there's got to be roleplaying, regardless of whether the PrC has an organization attached. But that's not really a problem with my players, as they tend to maintain a parity between what's on their sheet and what they do in-character.

 

[A'koss]

All the PrCs in my game are also campaign specific. Characters do have to petition a master, or an organization, usually long before you even meet the game requirements of the PrC. IMC, you also have to be the right kind of person to join most of these PrCs and some of them have very strong biases (rational an no) or require some sort of test on the character's part. It all helps in creating a living, breathing world.

A'koss.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

In my campaign worlds, with only a few exceptions, every prestige classis attached to one or more organizations. I ask players to give me advance warning when they are interested in a prestige class so that I can present them with an opportunity to become affiliated with that organization.

I also require advance warning, so I can work the PrC into my game. Currently I have one PC who's for Sacred Fist, and worked the organization into his background (a monastery that trains Sacred Fists,) and another who's going for Weapon Master. He just last session mentioned wanting to start searching for another Weapon Master to start him along that path, which he'll find soon.

Basically, it depends on the PrC, as to whether I require in-game justification/RP. A PrC that I see as organizational, or particularly exotic, will require more of an effort to join. Purple Knights, Red Wizards, Mage of the Arcane Order, etc. Other PrCs seem more like natural progressions of existing talents, and thus will still require a trainer (all new classes do IMC,) but not as much RP/justification. Classes such as Thief-Acrobat, Shifter, and Archmage seem to fit into this mold.

 

[Nightfall]

So trick I am curious. Where do you fall on then some of the SL related Pr-classes? I know the group based ones are fine by you, but what about say...Spirit Walker, or Bounty Hunter?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Considering the amount of time a character has to spend to prepare to enter a Prestige Class, it doesn't seem all that sudden or unlikely to me.

I also talk with my players about where their characters are heading, so I can generally make sure they get the opportunities to develop into the Prestige Class or Classes they're looking for. The involvement I have with my players in creating and advancing their characters is why I'm generally so fast and loose with allowing Prestige Classes. I have plenty of opportunity to head off abusive combinations (or just flat stupid classes) at the pass.

I generally start a game between 4th and 8th level, so characters also have most of their base classes selected by the time we start play, if not a level or two in a Prestige Class.

 

[Dogbrain]

All prestige classes in my campaign are culture-specific and part of some segment of society. It is not possible to automatically join them.

 

[Voadam]

It has varied in our campaigns.

We did one to reflect my character's history when we converted from 2e to 3e. He just picked up EK when we went to 3.5 without altering any story issues.

He chose not to become a witch hunter out of OA because of the roleplay requirements the DM threw onto the class availability (joining a specific church order) and another PC in the campaign did a big story thing to become a chained templar of Cuthbert, including taking on a big quest we are helping him with (He's now about six levels into the homebrew prc and the quest is not over yet, he only needed to pledge to the quest and begin it to enter the class).