I admit to being a stereotypical female gamer and I enjoy some of the fluffier prestige classes.
Some of my favorite ones are:
-Diplomancer (from Book of Eldritch Might II) I played this one for a couple years
-Muse (from Kingdoms of Kalamar Players Guide (neede work to be perfect though) I am playing a Bard/Muse right now and I love the idea of the class.
-Heartwarder (from Faiths and Pantheons)
-Dark Hunter (from Gwendolyn's article Fey feature)
-Spymaster (Complete adventurer)I like the idea of playing a consumate actor
What ae everyone else's favorites and why?
I like spellcasters, and my preferences in prestige classes show it. Interestingly enough though, I very rarely actually get around to taking levels in a PrC. But my two favorites are:
Mystic Theurge (DMG): lots and lots of magic...what else can I say?
Daggerspell Mage (Complete Adventurer): I love magic, and the idea of crossing levels of rogue (or ninja!) appeals to me. I also think I could make do with the bonuses I'd get despite losing several wizard levels for the multiclassing. I haven't tried it out yet, but want to soon.
I would be similar to flushmaster with my leaning toward the arcane, but with out accepting the dilution of that power (sorry, no rogue mix for me!)
Incantatrix (Player's Guide the Faerun)
Archmage
Mystic Theurge (alright... so even this one is tough in that it lowers the upper levels of power for the mage, but the breadth of spells that affords makes it a very good choice)
Sean Mahoney
I like the Loremaster, Mystic Theurge, Maester, Contemplative, and those types. I like playing support characters who have uses outside of combat, or are intelligent and intersting to talk to. In combat, I use them to buff fighter-types and rogues in the party, as well as cast defensive spells for everyone.
Whether I like a PrC or not is more based on flavor than power. I liked the Fatespinner (Tome & Blood, Complete Arcane) when I first saw it. Same with the Master of Shrouds (Defenders of the Faith, Libris Mortis). The Mindspy (Complete Warrior) is another favorite.
I can only go by those that the players in my campaign are using.
The Pious Templar is a nice change from a typical Paladin.
The "Divine Trickster", as opposed to the "Arcane Trickster", at GiantITP.com is one the cleric is using, very fun.
Also, the Dragon Disciple was interesting before he had to quit for school. (though a bit power-hungry)
If I were to play one, I'd definitely choose the Shadow Dancer.
Love that shadow walking stuff.
- WC
I have to agree with Rainbowspryte(?) in that i like the fluffy spellcasters as well. I'm not so sure about things like Shadowdancer, but for the most part her list sounded pretty good.
Yeah I like the flavourful ones too!
I like the idea of using setting specific PrClasses too! Feats and PRClasses are the best parts of d20/D&D I think!
I guess my favorite is Mystic Keeper from Dragon #326
I'm a big fan of the Loremaster, Harper Scout, and Dwarven Defender.
I think these three classes (granted, among some others) do a great job of embodying the true idea behind prestige classes: its not necessarily about getting all the extra abilities, but its about thinking "what if Wizards didn't spend all their time making potions or developing meta-magic?"
I think they are very good examples of different slants on regular classes rather than just being new classes in and of themselves.
-Rob
I'm pretty much a full time DM so my favourite prestige classes re generally something thats going to bring my players to tears and cause dice throwing.
That said if I where running a player I'm in the Mystic Theurge Camp. Whenever I played in 2nd edition I went straight for the multi-class Cleric/Mage. Sure you loose the armour but the armour was always a big mistake anyway...it made you delusional...you actually started thinking you could go toe to toe with the bad guys like some kind of fighter...you can't...and the bad guys came with can openers at later levels. The fighters hit so often and dished out so much damage that they would kill the evil enemy before they could really hit their stride with the can opener but the cleric was just so much tinned meat.
Hence the Cleric/Mage was the way to go...
My favorite PRCs are, in no particular order:
Warrior
Dread Commando from Heroes of Battle
Dervish from Complete Warrior
Deepwood Sniper from Masters of the Wild
Peerless Archer from Silver Marches
Divine
Pious Templar
Divine Crusader
Divine Oracle (All from Complete Divine)
Fist of Raziel (From BOED) (More Smiting! And Still MOre Smiting!)
Arcane
Incantatrix from PGF
Fatespinner from Complete Arcane
Mage Killer from Magic of Faerun
Force Adept from Complete Arcane
Archmage from the DMG
Arcane Trickster from the DMG
Daggerspell Mage from Complete Adventurer
Rogue
Dungeon Delver (Classic, fun to crush with the joy of Grimtooth's)
Assassin
Gladiator (All those free improved feint feats really make a character nasty)
The rage mage from dragon magazine not sure which issue. A mad raging mage throwing fireballs and lightningbolts, got love it!!
Only prestige class I've realy gotten a chance to play was the True Necromancer (newer version out of Libris Mortis). I like it a lot and hope to continue advancing that character (doubt I'll ever get the chance though)
Arcane Trickster always looked pretty cool. There was a kit in the Complete Book of Elves I think that was a thief/mage type that I loved playing, and for the longest time the AT was the closest thing to it in third. Spell Thief is realy close too, but I think the Gutter Mage (Book of Roguish Luck) takes the cake.
Some of the prestige classes from Plot and Poison look pretty good too, especialy the evocation specialist thingy.
If I had a lot of faith in the DM I would love to play a changeling Chameleon, but my current DM dislikes both the race and class, so no time soon...
My personal favorite prestige class is the tattooed monk. I like this class because it gives you all of the monk special abilities and bonuses, plus you get lots of cool powers to use as backup such as breathing fire and rerolling d20s. Very cool prestige class and I would recommend it to any monk or maybe a fighter character(if you want a challenge). One of my characters was a tattooed monk/soulknife which I managed to get to epic level (level 23 I think) after some very hard work. This class is definitely the greatest and when you get to higher levels it gets even better! :) You can find the stats for this class in the Complete Warrior or the Oriental Adventures campaign setting or maybe online.
I Just can't get enough of being a Halfling Outrider. I am playing two of them in different campains and one is a fighter the other is a ranger and they just freaking rock!
I love ShadowDancer because it's that in and out-not seen or hit thing that I love, but my personal recent Favourite, was the 5 lvl Druid/7 lvl Shapeshifter Prestige Class. She was the best secondary character. Need a good fighter...Suddenly I'm a hag or a Dragon(abeit a small one). Need a diplomat...here's the nymph with 25 Cha. Need a...Well you get the picture. My favourite moment was when she turned into a pegasus to fly the fighter around during a battle, cause he was the only one who could hit the black dragon. I nearly died from acid, but it was awesome.
Ghost Faced Killer. Because it is named after a rapper.
I think there are some very cool prestige classes; the Geomancer, the Cavalier, and the Loremaster are my favorites though.
I don't know a lot of non-WotC Prestige classes, though, because I read very few of them. Most seem poorly designed or horribly broken, and I have to steer my players away from such monstrosities.
I admit to being a stereotypical female gamer and I enjoy some of the fluffier prestige classes.
What are everyone else's favorites and why?
I adore the Chameleon ('Races of Destiny') for both (a) the flexibility and (b) the backstory that comes with it (it reminded me very much of the idea of the 'Tribe' from the 'Otori' book series by Lian Hearn).
Next up for me, though, is my nature-lovin' Druid/Conjurer/Arcane Hierophant; add in some wonderful feats (Spell focus (conjuration), Augmented Summoning, and the feat that allows you to attempt to heal with every spell cast in a natural surrounding... I've lost the name of that one...) and I'm a happy camper-to-be.
The other PrCs that I've played so far have included the Invisible Blade (which rocks for a rogue type) and my better half is playing a kick-butt Sorcerer with levels in Force Missile Mage (from a Dragon magazine) and is soon to also break into Argent Savant with that character...
Hmmm.......That's a tough one......Favourite Prestige Class eh?...hmmm....
(in no particular order)
1. Quori Nightmare (from Races of Eberron): An awesome prestige class for psions or psionically inclined characters who want a bit of an edge (I don't really like kalashtars so I made it available to allraces)The ability to literally scare someone to death is just plain freaky! ehhe
2. Black Flame Zealot (from Complete Divine): A great prestige class for less than scrupulous characters, a love the mix of cleric and rogue and the fact that they get death attack and spell progression, they remind me of Silas from The Da Vinci Code, hehe...
3. Glorious Servitor (from Lost Empires of Faerun): The only reason I picked this is because I love Mulhorandi (Egyptian) aspects of D&D and this is a great example of one (why do set's servitors change into scorpions and nephtyhys into snakes, isn't set the god of snakes?, and no spell progression)
4. Walker in the Wastes (from Sandstorm): An awesome PrC both in ability and philosophy. Dessicating touch( 1d6 per 2 levels) is awesome and the ability to basically create a desert around you is amazing)Only problem is that it doesn't really tell you how to create salt mummies or sand golems:( oh well
5. Bone Collector (from Ghostwalk): Cool PrC, excellant for Aereni elf artificer (made one who got to 13th level) I like the way they make their items with a death motif and look like necromancers but are really the opposite.
6. Forest Master (from Faiths and Pantheons): This is High level(at least 13 ranks in Survival) and it's easy to see why, the abilities granted are amazing (improved mallet fighting, natural armor, oak strength, oakheart, forest might etc.) Great PrC for militant druids or rangers, and forest longevity doubles your maxmimum lifespan (now that's useful!)
7. (LAST ONE I SWEAR) Nentyar Hunter (from Unapproachable East):A strong five-level PrC with useful abilities but it's true greatness lies in the awesome spells they get (a ranger who can cast flame strike at level 10? Amazing
And that's all
TPO
Ps. (Don't have Complete Arcana yet, but Suel Arcanamach and Effigy Master sound cool!)
Don't hold your beath on Suel Arcanamach or the Effigy Master.
The Effigy master is real bleh, not very cool or useful.
The Suel Arcanamach is cool, but not really for wizard characters, though it has cool background.
Blood Frickin' Magus. transport ANYWHERE ON ANY PLANE INTO ANY BLOOD-BEARING CREATURE.
w00t.
Personally I can only go on what Ive played or seen played, because I tend to like the look of everything till I see its holes exploited.
Epic Game I played had several interesting combos: Barbarian/Sorceror/Frenzied Berserker(Epic)/Rage Mage
Wizard/Cleric/True Necro (Epic)/Mystic Theurge
Standard Games
Master of Many Forms
Ghost Faced Killer
Daggerspell Shaper
Foe Hunter(was 3.0 not 3.5)
Slayer of Domiel
Black Flame Zealot
Bladesinger
Order of the Bow Initiate(especially powered up with Ready Shot from Heroes of Battle)
thats a few. If I think of more Ill post them
My favorite?
Darkwood Stalker from Complete Warrior (i love killing orcs)
Frenzied Berserker from Complete Warrior (the frenzy thing is insane)
Blackgaurd from DMG (smite good... must smite the good...)
I have always been a fan of the Dragon Disciple, fave character was one, but I also like the Geomancer. With his ability to blend arcane and divine spells, he is one formidable opponent! I have friend that plays a deepwoods sniper very effectively. He's our one man archery division!
Simple is best..
Arcane Archer or
Eldritch Knight
cause I like the versality of fighting or casting a fireball.
In 3.0 I only wanted to play Sorcerers: "I'll play a fighter some time, but I've got 10000 sorcerers to play first."
With 3.5 I switched to Mystic Theurges. A MT is an even better sorcerer (even when played as a wizard). :)
I admit for years I have always played a Paladin, yet I am uncertain what prestige class of Paladin I wish to indulge in so any suggestions are welcomed. :)
try a gestalt cleric/wizard character from dmg2 instead of a mystic theurge. more kick for the punch with alot more advantages.
I would be similar to flushmaster with my leaning toward the arcane, but with out accepting the dilution of that power (sorry, no rogue mix for me!)
Incantatrix (Player's Guide the Faerun)
Archmage
Mystic Theurge (alright... so even this one is tough in that it lowers the upper levels of power for the mage, but the breadth of spells that affords makes it a very good choice)Sean Mahoney
I am currently playing a Forgottem Realms gestalt FtrRog10/Swb3/Master Thower3/Asn1 that is one step away from becoming a shade. The invisible Blade and spymaster could be next.
Blkhwk 421, force missle mage is from dragon #328. I too, find that class very interesting: with the right metamagic feats you will be able to fire off 6 max damage magic missles that can bypass Brooches of Shielding, Shield spells, as well overcome spell resistance more readily. This can happen as early as 6Wiz/3Fmm! Nothing like a guaranteed 30 points of damage each standard action. Has anyone build this yet? Curious to see what route you took (i.e 6 levels of wizard, or is there a more optimal build?)
Peace to you all
Blkhwk 421, force missle mage is from dragon #328. I too, find that class very interesting: with the right metamagic feats you will be able to fire off 6 max damage magic missles that can bypass Brooches of Shielding, Shield spells, as well overcome spell resistance more readily. This can happen as early as 6Wiz/3Fmm! Nothing like a guaranteed 30 points of damage each standard action. Has anyone build this yet? Curious to see what route you took (i.e 6 levels of wizard, or is there a more optimal build?)
Peace to you all
My fiance used a Sorcerer. The eventual path is to be a Sorcerer/Force Missile Mage/Argent Savant - so that each magic missile can do 1d4+2, and then he can empower/etc. Force Missile Mage is phenom for Sorcerers - yes, it takes slightly longer, but they have so many more uses of the magic missile spell to begin with, and the shield ability means not necessarily learning shield at all (since you end up with a once/day freebie of shield). Argent Savant also builds really nicely onto Force Missile Mage in the damage addition. He's looking forward to his first level of it, but already with two levels of Force Missile Mage, he's having a blast playing the character.
I typically have bard characters (though not gnomish ones), so my favorite PrC's have to be Bladesinger and the ... drat, I can't think of the name of the class... it was a bard PrC from Dragon Mag (the elemental one) that used sorrow, loss and cold spells as weapons through his music. Now that was fun.
Course, I also had a blast with the Doomguide (from FR F&P) - have a cleric and give up nothing to tote a bastard sword! Totally a niche character, as I recall, but I had fun giving out Kelemvor's justice to the bad guys and explaining it off as "it was their time..."
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I like all the Thrall and Disciple PrCs from the Book of Vile Darkness. They make excellent villains, both short and long term. Fist of Raziel from Exalted Deeds is another good one. Also, and even though it isn't a PrC, I like the Mariner from Dragonlance. It is the perfect 20-level character class for those who want to have a sea-based campaign.
Sorry it was from the Unearthed Arcana not the DMG2.
try a gestalt cleric/wizard character from dmg2 instead of a mystic theurge. more kick for the punch with alot more advantages.I would be similar to flushmaster with my leaning toward the arcane, but with out accepting the dilution of that power (sorry, no rogue mix for me!)
Incantatrix (Player's Guide the Faerun)
Archmage
Mystic Theurge (alright... so even this one is tough in that it lowers the upper levels of power for the mage, but the breadth of spells that affords makes it a very good choice)Sean Mahoney
I'm going with Warcry here - if I have to pick one only, my personal favorite is Rich Burlew's Divine Trickster. I find that if the party members get separated the Divine Trickster - with Rogue skills and healing ability - has the best chance of surviving. NPC's usually see Clerical types as the responsible type, and having a cleric dedicated to practical jokes (Trickery domain) is unexpected and quite fun to play.
Eh, lemme see here.
The Deepwood Sniper is always fun, and especially love the Bloodhound. The Bloodhound is wicked cool. I also like the Entropomancer, Streetfighter, Vigilante, Invisible Blade, Forsaker, and Cancer Mage