Good [insert time of day], all, long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I run a hybrid 3.5/PF campaign with mostly WotC generic D&D, Eberron, and settingless Pathfinder material. The campaign started as 3.5 with all the splatbooks and we eventually incorporated Pathfinder in order to close the biggest holes in 3.5 - Polymorph/Wildshape cheese, Disjunction shenanigans, etc
I've read a large portion of the handbooks on the handbooks sticky-post at this point, and PCs and NPCs alike in my campaign steer clear of any class below tier 3, except as a dip or as part of some elaborate, tier-raising multiclass or PrC build (the Swift Hunter PC in a previous campaign was plenty happy with her classes). ToB classes have replaced normal melees in my campaign and Factoti, Bards, Beguilers, and Vivisectionist Alchemists have replaced Rogues.
With tier 1&2 demoted from cheese-eaters to just plain demigods, is it possible to use magic items, UMD, +tier PrCs, and skillful play to keep characters that started on Tier 3 classes relevant into the mid teens? I've got no illusions about anybody competing with 9th level spells - I've already made it clear in my game that nobody except maybe the BBEG will ever have L9 spells.
I'm compiling a list of ways to get characters that begin their careers in tier 3s into a position of being high-end tier 3s/low-end tier 2s by the mid-late teens while keeping 3/4 BAB or better. Here's what I've got so far:
PrCs: (I grabbed most of these from the tier-increasing PrC list)
Divine Crusader (earliest possible entry, a good domain pick, and some domain-adding PrCs will give a full BAB character access to spells up to 9th level)
Ur-Priest (Doesn't require any specific class abilities to enter, and the spell progression is, of course, absurd)
War Mind (non-psi entry), since you can get in at level 6, PsyWar powers up to level 5 which means most of the really good stuff plus Expanded Knowledge to add some utility powers
Dip one level into a tier 1 or 2 caster class and then go into Abjurant Champion, Unseen Seer, RKV, Sacred Fist, Jade Phoenix Mage, etc - any awesome gish class that doesn't require you to have a bunch of levels invested in a pure caster class
Sublime Chord (doesn't get good BAB but Bard/Sublime Chords start looking like tier 2 casters)
Chameleon
My maybe list includes a bunch of PrCs that include their own casting up to level 4-5 spells - stuff like Disciple of Thrym, Vadalis Beastkeeper, Pious Templar, Slayer of Domiel, Holy Liberator, Ebonmar Infiltrator, etc
If anybody knows of a compiled list of PrCs that include their own spellcasting, that would be awesome.
I also thought about ways to get UMD and then buy wands, eternal wands, and schemas for the most common utility spells. Skilled classes could even pick up scrolls and schemas for decently high-level utility spells.
Am I aiming too high, here? It just seems to me that with some combination of a spellcasting PrC, re-usable magic items, and ways for tier 3 spellcasters to add spells from other classes to their list, tier 3s might be able to have a spell or spell-like selection that rivals a lower-end Sorc or Favored Soul along with the special tricks unique to their class, which might allow them to sneak into the low tier 2.
Thoughts?
If this isn't already a handbook somewhere, is anyone interested in the possibility of me starting one?
Thanks!
-facep0lluti0n