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My last post received some sound replies, especially from DeathQuaker – thank you very much, so I’ve decided to revise my approach to the subject and post what I would like to see in Pathfinder and how it could possibly be achieved.

Broken up into several posts, for your convenience.

First point; Prestige Classes:
I previously stated that I really miss the feeling of achievement when I finally got into my prestige class. This didn’t come from expected power gain, but from a genuine sense of – for lack of a better word: Yay! I had achieved something for my character that I had set out to from the beginning of the campaign.

First problem: We sorely lack more generic prestige classes in Pathfinder.

By generic I don’t mean things like the ones the old 3.5 books where filled with to the point of overflowing. I mean instead classes like a Guild Thief, Dragon Slayer or Demon Hunter, classes that are solid in concept, but broad in organizational possibility.

I quite like the Paths of Prestige, but it is very specific in scope, limiting itself only to prestige classes for organizations in Golarion. The problem with it is that while I can make quite the awesome Aspis Agent, I cannot make a Guild Thief without seriously re-fluffing – and sometimes re-crunching – large parts of the class.

A more generic approach will allow us to make our own societies that fit our own worlds better.

So a bunch of generic classes that would scream out for being included in an organization and therefore be real prestigious classes, in the spirit of the original intent.

Second problem: Prerequisites.

Prestige classes are known – and hated – for their, often, strange or excessive requirements, which often makes little sense to most of us. A class like the Master Spy has a good Will save and gain a few abilities that help out with preventing mind control, and yet, it has Iron Will as a requirement.

What I propose is that prestige classes eliminate feat requirements, keeping the base attack and skill prerequisites and adding story prerequisites.

Example: Dragon Slayer would have a base attack requirement, knowledge (arcana) and probably survival and knowledge (dungeoneering) as well. Then it would have the story requirement of having to slay a dragon of a certain hit dice, to turn theory into praxis.

Now anyone can fulfill a base attack requirement and a reasonable skill requirement, but you’d have to go find an actual dragon to fulfill the story prerequisite and gain entrance into the prestige class. So we’re back at having a feeling of fulfillment.

Remember: I know that I can easily covert 3.5 stuff; I’m doing it quite often already. The problem with this is that if we keep recycling the old stuff, nothing new will come along. So if we keep milling the same old grain, we will end up having nothing left.

When Pathfinder first came out I was very excited, to say the least. Here was a brand new core rulebook, updating the classic races and classes, implementing CMB/CMD and updating a rather annoying skill system. It was the promise of a new dawn and my group embraced it immediately. It was glorious.

Now, some four years later, I am getting bored with it. Why you may ask? Allow me to explain.

During the reign of 3.5 we had a truckload of options. I would scour the books for hours upon hours for the perfect feat, prestige class or spell for precisely my concept, my character could be precisely as I envisioned him and all it took was me doing something I loved, going through the books.

Now I know that many of you hated the many … many, books of 3.5, citing such things as power creep, feat creep, spell creep and so on. But the thing Wizards gave us was choice. We were free to use and abuse, or to forbid and restrict as we ourselves saw fit. True, wizards was pumping out books like there was no tomorrow and some of the material where downright insane, but we had options and it was up to us to sieve through it to find the gold.

Pathfinder has given us a wonderful – and much needed – upgrade for the core rulebook and some great new classes, but they are losing steam. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the things they do, especially when they make material for Golarion. But when we talk new core material things doesn’t seem to move very much. For a long time it has seemed to be due to Paizo still wanting to be the small company who is every geek’s friend and as such they have been reluctant to drop the kiddy gloves and make things interesting.

But they’re not that small company anymore they’ve become the publishers of one of the best selling RPGs in the world, adding staff at an insane rate, leaving behind their small-business days. They’re the big boys now and they should act like it. Being a big boy in the RPG business means having visions and acting upon them, not holding the hands of scared geeks, who keep on ranting about such horrible monsters as the creep.

I realize that I can just use my 3.5 material with Pathfinder – and I do, modified of course, but I miss seeing something new, something interesting, Paizo started out so strong with the Core Rulebook.
Prestige classes and races are high on my personal list, but also gear, interesting magic items and all the other little things that inspire world building.

In short: I miss vision and inspiration.

It would suit Paizo to put on the bigger shoes and get things done. Hinting to musings on psionic magic and making corrections to existing material – such as the recent update/new juju oracle, is wasteful and a cheap tease, when that time could be spend getting the ACG playtest going as they promised almost a month ago

I know that not all personnel can be included in getting the playtest ready and on the website, but when I look at how many people can be crammed into making a single, 64 pages, PDF, I find it amazing that it usually takes a month or two from the playtest is announced to it actually getting started.

Wizards easily put out about one core book a month, having 3-4 people make the entire book and getting it on the marked, granted, it had its bad sides, but mostly it was good. When Paizo makes a book it takes a year, includes 10-15 people and so much hinting and teasing that I begin to lose interest long before the PDF is ready for purchase. I miss the days when I could get new options for my world building almost as often as I felt the want/need, instead of this slow, boring, extended wait every time a new book is announced.

Thanks to Paizo for all you have done so far, it has been - mostly – great, but you need to step up your game, be the big boys you have become, not the geek-pleaser on the side.