Where's the Beastmaster?

[Winterthorn]

Okay. So here's the problem:

The Beastmaster prestige domain, as presented in Defenders of the Faith, is only accessible to the Contemplative prestige class. No other prestige class in DotF offers access to the Beastmaster prestige domain. Failing to find any obscure remark in DotF, or erratum to the contrary that I may have missed, that is what I've discovered thus far. (Rule Zeroing set aside.) This route of access IMO is not conceptually smooth, nor is it appropriate, when one reads the concept behind the Contemplative and compares that to the content of the Beastmaster prestige domain. It can be done, but there are certainly better choices of prestige domains for a Contemplative.

So, I thought at the time that I got DotF, that this new prestige domain would be more effectively dealt with in Masters of the Wild--seemed like a sensible expectation to me! I was even looking forward to it.

Tah-dah! No mention of any prestige class in MotW offering access to this seemingly relevant prestige domain!

Folks, have I missed an erratum? Did I overlook something published somewhere? It seems to me that at least one, if not more, of the prestige classes presented in MotW could have made some kind of a connection, no? Animal Lord? King/Queen of the Wild? Tamer of Beasts? Did ‘Masters’ Eckelberry & Selinker "forget" to put the Beastmaster prestige domain to good use in MotW? A whole column could have been saved for the discussion of prestige domains for druids, like said Beastmaster, instead of REPEATING-verbatim three spells from DotF: Blight, Briar Web, and Slime Wave! What’s with that? Repetition over continuity? Not appreciated.

[Aside] Forgive me. This is one of those glaring holes in design continuity that drives a generally forgiving guy like me absolutely crazy! Hence the tone of this post. [/Aside]

*Phew! Calming down now*

Does anyone here have sound suggestions concerning the application of this "forgotten" prestige domain?
[Before I start making my own Beastmaster prestige class (to exploit the poorly-applied-so-far prestige domain of the same name), I am hoping that we can come up with some good ideas on how to handle this... ]

Cheers anyway,

 

[Moon_Goddess]

See your missing the point of all the WOTC 3e books

The basic rule is NO continuinty. Someone who buys MOTW is supposed to be able to use all of the book, without having to go out an buy DOTF. That's why the reprints and the lack of any mention of DOTF material

The Rule for 3e is you only need to own the 3 core rulebooks. No other book will ever make refence to anything other than these three


As for the Prestige Domains, there are several you just can't get without using the Cotemplative, overall I love the idea of Prestige Domains, but they just didn't work.

 

[Carnifex]

IIRC, in the MotP, the Divine Agent gains new domains from their gods selection. Of course, it mentions nothing of the prestige domains from DotF but I'd probably allow those to be selected.

 

[Winterthorn]

The basic rule is NO continuinty. Someone who buys MOTW is supposed to be able to use all of the book, without having to go out an buy DOTF. That's why the reprints and the lack of any mention of DOTF material.

The Rule for 3e is you only need to own the 3 core rulebooks. No other book will ever make refence to anything other than these three.

Sorry, I wasn't paying much attention to that.

Then I think WotC needed to make an exception. The Druid in particular, straddles both the areas of faith and the natural world--more so than clerics of nature deities, I believe.
Besides, I'll wager most ppl have bought all 5 3E class books-- --in that light WotC could have dedicated, say 10% of the contents, towards connecting ideas between classes where meritted.
Ah well--maybe I make it sound easier than is actually possible.
*shrug*

At the least I'm inspired to be creative. A Beastmaster prestige class, complete with its own domain is the works...

I'll post it here for all to critique when I have the time...
*crosses fingers*

 

[hong]

There's a nifty huntmaster prestige class here:

http://srogers.home.mindspring.com/dnd/huntmaster.html

It's aimed more at rangers, but there's nothing stopping (multi-classed) druids taking it also.