Should prestige classes be better than base classes?

[Nightfall]

So what, not being able to hug fluffy bunnies?

 

[Psion]

For reference/comparison, this thread was had recently:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=179622

 

[Nightfall]

Psion,

Yeah but you know us En world poster. If someone already made a thread about it, by god, we'll make the same one, with the same words only with more emphasis!

 

[Laman Stahros]

Laman,

Not even with Halfling Outrider? Or Blood Magus?

I did say "in the main". Overall, I can't find any major fault with any of the PrCs that WotC has put out. Some do not fit my homebrew world (Blood Magus, I'm looking at you. ), and WotC needs (needed) to own up to their errors better (BAB less Halfling Outrider, anyone?).

I would not mind if, in 2010+ when 4e comes out, the base classes were 10 level classes (or less) and it was normal to take a PrC. I think that is more what Cyberzombie was thinking of back then.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Unfair! No one is allowed to post my ideas whilst I am away! I protest! They came forward in time and stole my idea!

I'd feel bad about it if I hadn't been away for a year or so.

Oh, and you're both fluffy bunnies.

 

[Destil]

I don't like this for 'power curve' reasons when running campaigns.

It hurts over the long term, because at one point your PC is underpowered, and later they're overpowered. It makes things aquard at varying points of the campaign.

For an adventure or one shot it's not a big deal. Over the course of a long campaign the power fluxes are annoying IMHO and I'd prefer just more focused prestrige classes.

 

[airwalkrr]

This is not a debate about what is -- the designers of 3.5 have explicitly stated that they're trying to balance the prestige classes against the base classes.

Have they? I thought quite the opposite.

 

[Sejs]

Depending on two factors, cost of admission and narrowness of focus, I'd say that a PrC should be better than a base class in its area of expertise.

The other side of the argument being: base classes should be worth sticking with on their own merrit. Going into a PrC shouldn't be a given, it should be a decision you have to think about.

 

[Ourph]

PrCs (IMO) should be easy to get into (no wasting feats or taking useless skill combinations) and should be no better than advancing in a base class. I don't like the whole "suck to rock" paradigm where you have to gimp your character until level 5 or so in order to be better than average at level 10.

Personally, I would like to see more base classes rather than more PrCs. The Warlock, Warmage, Scout and Beguiler are great examples of niche-fillers with new takes on the old archetypes that give the players a new paradigm to explore without completely overshadowing the core classes.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

No, but they should offer something wildly different to be occassionaly extraordinary. Hopefully a future edition won't have the same multiclassing problems this one does.