Author Topic: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?  (Read 19463 times)

Offline LordBlades

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #60 on: December 05, 2011, 03:20:53 AM »

For example I could have in my setting an organization that's known for their specific abilities (a prestige class with some cool and unique class feature). Only members of this organization can become <name of the PrC>, because they don't teach it to anyone and their abilities are to unique to be self thought. So my players couldn't take the PrC and refluff it.

What if somebody kidnaps one of the members and 'convinces' him to teach it to an outsider? There are plenty of ways to do that, and if the abilities of the PrC are any good, and the organization has some history behind it, somebody would have probably done that already.

Offline ImperatorK

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #61 on: December 05, 2011, 05:54:43 AM »

For example I could have in my setting an organization that's known for their specific abilities (a prestige class with some cool and unique class feature). Only members of this organization can become <name of the PrC>, because they don't teach it to anyone and their abilities are to unique to be self thought. So my players couldn't take the PrC and refluff it.

What if somebody kidnaps one of the members and 'convinces' him to teach it to an outsider? There are plenty of ways to do that, and if the abilities of the PrC are any good, and the organization has some history behind it, somebody would have probably done that already.
Doesn't matter. If I, as the DM, want a PrC to be special, there are no exceptions.
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Offline LordBlades

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #62 on: December 05, 2011, 06:53:28 AM »

Doesn't matter. If I, as the DM, want a PrC to be special, there are no exceptions.

That hurts the internal consistency of the world somewhat though, but yeah I get your point.
I personally attach fluff benefits to the PrCs I want special, unless mechanical benefits really make sense to be restricted (such as ability granted by a god only to a certain group). For example if I have a PrC that represents the knights of order x, whose signature ability is 'be awesome', any PC can with enough effort discover 'be awesome' on their own, or track down somebody who did(effectively taking the PrC). However, unless they're actually a member of order X they wouldn't actually get the benefit of actually having the support of the other knights in times of need.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 07:03:47 AM by LordBlades »

Offline veekie

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #63 on: December 05, 2011, 11:05:09 AM »

For example I could have in my setting an organization that's known for their specific abilities (a prestige class with some cool and unique class feature). Only members of this organization can become <name of the PrC>, because they don't teach it to anyone and their abilities are to unique to be self thought. So my players couldn't take the PrC and refluff it.

What if somebody kidnaps one of the members and 'convinces' him to teach it to an outsider? There are plenty of ways to do that, and if the abilities of the PrC are any good, and the organization has some history behind it, somebody would have probably done that already.
Depends on what the prestige class abilities source from, this could be a little on the thin side.
-Training/Knowledge(dervishes, etc). Much better to get an actual splinter faction from the main organization rather than to kidnap someone. You need to meet the training requirements(which outsiders probably don't know about) and then undergo extensive training. Pretty easy to get access.

-Initiation(lots of the magical PrCs). You need to perform a particular ritual or some similar rite to unlock the powers. This has obvious limitations, since each would-be member would need to meet the requirements for the ritual, know about it, and have access to the required location. If you need to be knighted at the Silver Flame, welp.

-Sponsorship. The powers are sourced from a sponsor, you're out of luck. Gods, demons lords, council of ancestor ghosts, etc, you need their ongoing support to get the abilities and they can exercise judgement.

-Talent/Bloodline. Easy to fluff, hard to 'steal'. You're born with it, or not.
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Offline caelic

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #64 on: December 05, 2011, 08:37:37 PM »

I'm curious; what systems do you play that are better for customization? I'm looking to branch out!


Well, right off the bat, there's the Hero System.  You literally build EVERYTHING from the ground up.  It's got a fairly steep learning curve, and it's as susceptible as D&D 3.5 to abuse, but with a good group, it can be used to create just about any character.

Offline TC X0 Lt 0X

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #65 on: December 05, 2011, 09:38:17 PM »

I'm curious; what systems do you play that are better for customization? I'm looking to branch out!


Well, right off the bat, there's the Hero System.  You literally build EVERYTHING from the ground up.  It's got a fairly steep learning curve, and it's as susceptible as D&D 3.5 to abuse, but with a good group, it can be used to create just about any character.

I have a personal preference for Valor (not High Valor), though that thing is still in BETA (and appears that it may be stuck there indefinitely) so not many people know of it, and it may be a bit too Weeaboo for most.
Still it appears to be a overall balanced System in general.
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Offline LordBlades

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Re: How do you treat Prestige Classes in your games?
« Reply #66 on: December 06, 2011, 02:49:02 AM »

For example I could have in my setting an organization that's known for their specific abilities (a prestige class with some cool and unique class feature). Only members of this organization can become <name of the PrC>, because they don't teach it to anyone and their abilities are to unique to be self thought. So my players couldn't take the PrC and refluff it.

What if somebody kidnaps one of the members and 'convinces' him to teach it to an outsider? There are plenty of ways to do that, and if the abilities of the PrC are any good, and the organization has some history behind it, somebody would have probably done that already.
Depends on what the prestige class abilities source from, this could be a little on the thin side.
-Training/Knowledge(dervishes, etc). Much better to get an actual splinter faction from the main organization rather than to kidnap someone. You need to meet the training requirements(which outsiders probably don't know about) and then undergo extensive training. Pretty easy to get access.

-Initiation(lots of the magical PrCs). You need to perform a particular ritual or some similar rite to unlock the powers. This has obvious limitations, since each would-be member would need to meet the requirements for the ritual, know about it, and have access to the required location. If you need to be knighted at the Silver Flame, welp.

-Sponsorship. The powers are sourced from a sponsor, you're out of luck. Gods, demons lords, council of ancestor ghosts, etc, you need their ongoing support to get the abilities and they can exercise judgement.

-Talent/Bloodline. Easy to fluff, hard to 'steal'. You're born with it, or not.

I was referring exclusively to skills that can be taught.
If it requires something (a certain bloodline, race, favor of somebody etc.) then there's little you can do about it. You either have it or don't.

But if there's something a certain organization teaches (the ability is based on the accumulation of a certain knowledge, or certain training) a determined enough outsider has plenty of means to get it. Kidnapping and interrogating a member was just an example.