D&D 3E/3.5 Why prcs in 3.5 were kinda dumm.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Empath Negative

First Post
1-3:bard
4-5:druid
5-10:fochlucan initiate
11-20:fochlucan sage

Never really saw anything like that... And that was dumb.

For prcs with bizarre or ridiculous requirements having a built in initiate prc wouldve rokd.

But no. You had to go your own way. Have you broken anyhomes up lately? Just five minutes, the worm, your honor. Him, and me, alone.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


Prestige classes were dumb because characters stopped progressing in their original class, and as you mention, because of their funky prerequisites. That was accounted for in 4e.

Paragon Paths in 4e were dumb because they were not optional and had to be taken at fixed point of time (level 11), no matter whether that made sense or not.


For a fixed approach:

1) The game element must not be tied to single levels. A range of level might be alright.

2) The element must be completely optional and expand the character instead of substituting for other elements such as class.

3) The element should have in game prerequisites like contacting a teacher, traveling to a certain place or something like that.

4) A disadvantage associated with membership might be a good idea to make sure that the game element is considered optional.

In short, it should have much the same properties that were propagated for magic items.
 


Actually, I agree that Prestige Classes were a poor idea, but not for anything like the reasons the OP described.

My big issue was that most PrCs were intended to represent some sort of society in the game. So, you didn't just pick up the class; you were assumed to be inducted into the order, given access to the mysteries, and so on.

The problem was that in order to join the order you had to be at least 6th level (or thereabouts), and within the framework of the 3e rules characters of 6th level were already somewhat superhuman - they were the Lancelots, the Aragorns, and the Batmans (Batmen?) of the world. They were generally amongst the most powerful individuals in the region, they're even more unusual for there being an entire group of them... and now there are supposed to be enough such characters for there to be entire societies of such characters? And not just one such society, but many?

Basically, the demographics didn't work.

---

For all that, I didn't think the mechanics of the PrC were inherently flawed - classes are just building blocks for modelling a character, so what does it matter if a character had one class, four classes, or twenty classes for that matter? (Granted, the balance was often not right, but that's another issue again.)

And I didn't even think the concept of the "society you join and gain access to their secrets" was a poor one - just that those should have appeared at much lower level (maybe 2nd, or even 1st), and could perhaps have been modelled better with feats (or even 2nd Ed style kits).

Ultimately, though, I was never a fan of PrCs. I felt that 4e's Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies did a better job of expressing a similar idea. And, even then, I felt the same could probably have been better modelled without any sort of a "modified class" at all - just give access to the feats, powers and class features themselves, and let the player get on with building the "best fit" for the character he has in mind.
 

PrCs wher dumb because D&D seperate aspects of the game behind hard wall. There was "no way" to learn magic without to taking a caster class if you where a caster.

Also many specializations and adjustments to class features was available as feats or base class features.

All the half this/half that and "Supah Specialization" PrCs were unnecessary it multiclassing worked.

Paragon Paths were okay except they were not optional.
 

1-3:bard
4-5:druid
5-10:fochlucan initiate
11-20:fochlucan sage

Never really saw anything like that...

Agreed.

And that was dumb.

Indubitably

For prcs with bizarre or ridiculous requirements having a built in initiate prc wouldve rokd.

Or it might have sucd

But no. You had to go your own way.

The Way of the Amerigo shall not be hindered

Have you broken anyhomes up lately?

Yep - then I dumped her for a chic with mo cash.

Just five minutes, the worm, your honor. Him, and me, alone.

Left is death.
 

Pro tip: try not to call something "dumm." Particularly not in a thread thats basically an edition war waiting to happen.

I'll swing this shut as soon as I'm not on a tablet.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.
Remove ads

Top