D&D General Which 3.0/3.5 Prestige classes would make good 5e subclasses? (+)

[J-H]

Still a fighter with two good magic weapons.

You probably don't want to hear about the 13th level rogue in my Baldur's Gate II game. I think he's carrying about 7 magic weapons around right now.

 

[Zardnaar]

it's better while you still have one attack.
at level 5 it falls of for fighter
at level 11 is way worse and at lvl17 it's awful compared to 2Hander
and you don't get off hand attack on your second Action with action surge, even with Nick mastery.

for ranger's it's better while you can have HM on and you are having Elven accuracy

and you need 2 good magic weapons vs. only one magic weapon

Depends on how DMs do it. Don't underestimate accuracy boosts eg eleven accuracy on champion.

My test was level 12, magic weapons similar to DMG. Also remember great weapon is one trick pony. They suck at range dial wielder pulls out a bow instead.

 

[Zardnaar]

You probably don't want to hear about the 13th level rogue in my Baldur's Gate II game. I think he's carrying about 7 magic weapons around right now.

AD&D only 2 good magic weapons?

One of my players 2E 12/13 Fighter/thief iirc. Dual Wielding.

Cleared out dragon, marilith, lich one after the other solo 1 round each.

5E you'll probably have magic weapons but can't guarantee specific ones.

 

[J-H]

It's 5e. He's mostly using the Short Sword of Backstabbing +2 (+2 short sword, +2d6 sneak attack) and the Tuigan Bow +1 (Short Bow +1 of speed).

 

[Horwath]

Depends on how DMs do it. Don't underestimate accuracy boosts eg eleven accuracy on champion.

you would probably be better with rapier+shield on champion+elven accuracy.

My test was level 12, magic weapons similar to DMG. Also remember great weapon is one trick pony. They suck at range dial wielder pulls out a bow instead.

I'll do the 13th math on champion+elven accuracy for perma(+)advantage plus piercer feat
dueling rapier is about 1 pt higher DPR than TWF, with dual wielder feat, TWF goes up 9 DPR if Bonus action is available and it still uses a feat more for the build.
with action surge rapier+shield again goes ahead as its extra damage per hit kicks in and there is no extra attack for Nick mastery and Dual wielder feat in Action surge.

at 17th level rapier+shield is better in any situation.

and again, you only need one good weapon vs two weapons.
I.E:
+2 rapier and +1 shield vs +2 shortsword and +1 scimitar
then you have +2 AC over Dual wielder

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm honestly not sure if there's any real way to implement it...

But I really, really liked the Geomancer PrC from 3.5e. It was absolute crap if you were playing a regular game, but amazing if you were doing gestalt. See, it required that you have both arcane and divine spellcasting...but it would only advance one track. This sucks, to put it mildly, since the Mystic Theurge PrC is a double-progression class with the same requirements...and it's generally regarded as Pretty Bad already.

But...since it wasn't a double-progression PrC, it was perfectly fine to progress it on "one side" while progressing the other spellcasting type on the other side (per the official gestalt rules...which a lot of tables ignored but still!) Its greatest feature was that it let you blend together the best characteristics of your casting traditions, other than which stat gave you bonus spells (though that had a workaround via an obscure feat): you could cast arcane spells up to [Geomancer level - 1] with no arcane spell failure chance, and you could choose which benefits applied to which spell pretty much however you wanted, basically erasing the distinction between "arcane" and "divine" magic. It also had a whole bunch of "Drifts", where you would get progressively more powerful inherent features, as your body took on the essence of the land through which the ley lines flow.

I played a really really cool character in a high-level (and then epic) 3.PF game where we used mostly PF rules with 3.5e content allowed if reviewed by the DM, where I put together an (IMO) really fun, thematic character built around this "all magic is magic" thing. Menhir Savant PF Druid archetype (all about ley lines) and Planar Shepherd on one "side"; Exploiter Wizard archetype (taking the Void school, which also does ley line/magic-bending stuff), Geomancer PrC, and Archmage PrC on the other "side". With the aforementioned feat workaround to make all aspects of my Druid spells key off of Intelligence, I had the world's nerdiest planar-astronomer druid, for whom both his magic and his body were malleable.

I know a 1:1 copy of this simply wouldn't work in 5e--it doesn't have ASF penalties, for starters!--but it would be really cool to see a "Geomancer" Wizard subclass that is to Druid what the Theurgy subclass is to Cleric: a little dabble of Druid-like flair and flavor, the ability to scribe Druid spells (assuming you can find any!), and then your subclass features can start out as Ley Line benefits, and add Drifts as you become more and more attuned with the land--less "wild shape" and more "wild attunement."

 

[Stormonu]

Besides the 3E prestige classes, there are some 2E kits that I've brought over as subclasses for 5E. In fact, I think a lot of subclasses were inspired by the 2E kits more than 3E's prestige classes. Some of these already exist, I'm just listing the ones I think would make a viable subclass.

Barbarian

• Brushrunner
• Brute
• Forest Lord
• Islander
• Plainrider
• Ravager
• Wizard Slayer

Bard

• Gallant
• Herald
• Jester
• Jongleur
• Loremaster
• Meistersinger
• Minstrel
• Riddlemaster
• Skald
• Thespian

Cleric
- All the various "domains"

Druid

• Avenger
• Beastfriend
• Guardian
• Hivemaster
• Shapeshifter
• Totemic
• Dreamwalker
• Flamespeaker
• Seer
• Ulogo

Dwarf

• Animal Master (Ranger)
• Axe For Hire (Fighter)
• Clansdwarf (Fighter)
• Hearth Guard (Paladin)
• Battlerager (Barbarian)
• Rapid Response Rider (Rogue)
• Sharpshooter (Rogue)
• Temple Guard (Cleric or Monk)
• Vindicator (Paladin)
• Pest Controller (Rogue)
• Vermin Slayer (Ranger)
• Wayfinder (Rogue)

Elf

• Archer (Fighter)
• Wilderness Runner (Fighter)
• Windrider (Fighter)
• Spellfilcher (Wizard)
• Bladesinger (Wizard)
• Huntsman (Ranger)
• Collector (Rogue)
• Infiltrator (Rogue)
• Undead Slayer (Fighter/Rogue/Cleric)

Fighter

• Beast Rider
• Cavalier
• Gladiator
• Myrmidon
• Outlaw
• Pirate
• Samurai
• Swashbuckler
• Wilderness Warrior (gets Druid spells, akin to the Eldritch Knight)

Gnome

• Breachgnome (Barbarian)
• Goblinsticker (Fighter)

-Mouseburglar (Rogue)
-Tumbler (Rogue/Monk)
-ImageMaker (Wizard)
-Vanisher (Wizard)

• Buffoon (Rogue)
• Stalker (Ranger)
• Rocktender (Cleric)
• Treetender (Cleric)

Halfling

• Forestwalker (Fighter/Ranger)
• Sheriff (Fighter)
• Tunnelrat (Rogue)
• Bilker (Rogue)
• Leaftender (Cleric)

Paladin

• Chevalier
• Divinate
• Envoy
• Equerry
• Errant
• Ghosthunter
• Inquisitor
• Medician
• Militarist
• Skyrider
• Votary
• Wyrmslayer

Ranger

• Beastmaster
• Falconer
• Feralan
• Forest Runner
• Giant Killer
• Greenwood
• Guardian
• Justifier
• Mountain Man
• Pathfinder
• Sea Ranger
• Seeker
• Stalker
• Warden

Rogue

• Assassin
• Bandit
• Beggar (King)
• Bounty Hunter
• Buccaneer
• Burglar
• Cutpurse
• Fence
• Investigator
• Scout
• Smuggler
• Spy
• Swashbuckler
• Swindler
• Thug
• Troubleshooter

Warlock
- Witch

Wizard

• Militant
• Mystic

-Wu Jen

 

[Corinnguard]

Wilderness Warrior (gets Druid spells, akin to the Eldritch Knight)

I wonder how much of the Eldritch Knight subclass would need to be reskinned to make a 5e Wilderness Warrior.

 

[the Jester]

I have a version of the cancer mage for warlocks, where the tumor is the character's patron.

 

[Baron Opal II]

PrCs were a wonderful idea executed almost maximally poorly.

I love, genuinely truly love, the concept of PrCs. But I understand why folks today are intensely, viscerally opposed to even the notion of them. They were one of the most obvious and emblematic demonstrations of many of 3rd edition's weakest, worst, most broken, most badly-designed elements.

Indeed. I still prefer PrC to subclasses, but I re-wrote the 5-6 that we used most often. Along with 2-3 PrCs for the foes.

My troglodyte ooze cleric (I forget the official name of the PrC) was hilarious, especially when he used gelatinous cubes as "secret" doors.