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One of my gamers has it in his head that a charcater can take more than one Prestiege Class, even if the requirements were met it would clash. so I have not allowed this to happen. I mean a Swashbuckler Dualist/Dread Pirate? Sounds good but some things you need to Role play, not just add a class to flesh out your charcater.
Well I ask this question in hopes of hearing if one CAN or CAN NOT have more than one Prestiege Class per character?
Thank you.
A very overworked DM
You can have more than one prestige class per PC if you like. If you don't then you certainly don't have to.
That's really up to you as the DM.
There are no rules against it, as long as the PC meets all the prerequites.
My house rule for PrC is:
A) 1 Prestige Class per PC.
B) The PC can pick up a second PrC if:
1) One of the PrC is a 5 level progression or less or
2) The PC has taken all levels of the first PrC
In all cases, I must approve the PrC, and the players should tell me five levels in advance. I'm fairly lenient on the time frame, especially when a new PrC comes out in a book or Dragon magazine.
This house rule allows things like a Wizard/Lore Master/Archmage or a Warmage/Havoc Mage/Eldritch Knight, and eliminates the possibility of a PC taking a couple of levels in several PrC to min/max the capabilities.
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Thank you! I really was hoping to hear that.
You both have been a huge help. I shall allow this for my players so long as they absoluteley meet the prerequisites.
I can see now how a Knight/Cavalier/ Purple Dragon Knight would work for example.
Or the Wizard/Loremaster/ArchMage.
I just want them to focus more on role playing than just beefing up thier character.
So thanks you two.
This has been something that has come up in my campaign. I've set the max number of classes per character to five. The only reason it's even that high is that I'm running an epic-level campaign and the prestige classes are running out of levels. :)
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The real question is not just the mechanical pre-requisites, but also the 'flavour' of the classes, and whether they mesh with the style of the campaign.
The example you give of Swashbuckler/Duelist/Dread Pirate seems to me to be 3 classes on the same 'theme', and (though I don't have the relevant books in front of me) it would seem that they would share many abilities. Indeed, it could be argued that the game designers are assuming that the Dread Pirates are made up mainly of ex-Swashbuckler/Duelists, have you considered that?
Such a character may well have a great Reflex save, and some serious stacking abilities with the cutlass/rapier, but he may turn out to be a real one-trick pony. Have his ship boarded by skeleton pirates, and see where his fancy finesse technique gets him, when he's forced to bash them apart with a belaying pin!
I can think of more abusive combos to watch out for, like a single level of monk, or a sorcerer taking a couple of Paladin levels, so as to get +5 on all his saves (high Cha, don't you know!).
I say see how it flies!
This has been something that has come up in my campaign. I've set the max number of classes per character to five. The only reason it's even that high is that I'm running an epic-level campaign and the prestige classes are running out of levels. :)
Huh ? IIRC, there were guidelines to expand PrCs into Epic Levels somewhere, if they have ten levels to start with. Or didn´t I get the joke ?
Stefan
The rules allow you to take as many classes and PrC's as you want, as long as you qualify. You could be a Rogue, Fighter,psion, Swashbuckler, duellist, dread pirate, shadowmind if you had the requirements.
If you don't want to deal with it, than your word is law. I know several DM's who don't allow PrC's at all.
Huh ? IIRC, there were guidelines to expand PrCs into Epic Levels somewhere, if they have ten levels to start with. Or didn´t I get the joke ?
Stefan
There are guidelines, but I'm too lazy to do the work for 'em. :D Besides, they can always progress in their base classes.
Rules say you can take as many prestige classes as you like, just as long as the DM lets you. My own ruling is that you can play anything you want just as long as you can make a sensible character from it. Joining a prestige class ought to mean something.
I also prohibit the Feral template and anything with more than two arms, but that's another matter.
There are guidelines, but I'm too lazy to do the work for 'em. :D Besides, they can always progress in their base classes.Huh ? IIRC, there were guidelines to expand PrCs into Epic Levels somewhere, if they have ten levels to start with. Or didn´t I get the joke ?
Stefan
I seem to remember that somewhere were epic PrC progressions published, but I don´t quite remember where.
Stefan
I seem to remember that somewhere were epic PrC progressions published, but I don´t quite remember where.
Stefan
There are epic progressions for a handful of prestige classes in the Epic Level Handbook, and some of the "Complete" books include a progression for one prestige class from their big chapter. That's all I'm aware of. Most of it's pretty simple -- epic attack and save bonuses, same BSP and hit dice, repeating class features continue. Mostly it's monkeying around with the bonus feat list and rate that is irksome. Same thing goes for advancing new base classes to Epic Levels.
Personally, I'd like to see a competent, viable Epic Prestige Clss for spellcasters. The only one that gives full spellcasting (mandatory if you want a prayer of bypassing spell resistance at epic levels) is the Agent Retriever, which by the core rules is only accessible before absurdly high levels by ex-bards and Loremasters.
There's also Epic PrC progressions in the 3.0 to 3.5 PDF they released. I was flipping through it and saw epic progressions for Dragon Disciple and went "how the hell did I miss that?"
The are also covered in the Epic Lvl Handbook if I recall (only the ones from the DMG though).
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There is no limit to how many prestige classes a given character can have. One of the most exciting characters I've ever played was a Ranger/Wizard/Order of the Bow Initiate/Arcane Archer. Still another fun concept that I've played was an Abjurer/Incantatrix(Magic of Faerun)/Archmage. I've never seen a viable concept that includes THREE PrCs but, I suppose its possible. As long as the player can make a valid argument for why his character can pick up these prestige classes, I see no reason to deny it.
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I'm of the same opinion as Mr. Drain. PrC's should be chosen for character flavor, not munchkin game mechanics.
Reminds me of a picture I saw of the spiked chain with the caption below reading "Oh no, I'm sure you have a great in-character reason for choosing that weapon."
Also, the feral template should not be available to players at its normal level adjustment, imo.
I'm of the same opinion as Mr. Drain. PrC's should be chosen for character flavor, not munchkin game mechanics.
I'm not saying now that a player can't choose a PrC solely on the mechanics. What I am saying is that each prestige class has a certain flavour component, and some combinations that fit well mechanically might be too ridiculous to "taste" right flavour-wise. If you can make up a story to convince me why your rogue/assassin/alienist/ur-priest/mystic theurge is a valid character progression, I think you've earned it.
I do agree though, feral is overpowered for its level adjustment of +1, especially in the hands of a player character. +6 natural armour, +4 Strength, +2 Con, +2 Wis, +10ft speed, claws as longswords, Improved Grab and fast healing 2? It's a shade underpriced!
... If you can make up a story to convince me why your rogue/assassin/alienist/ur-priest/mystic theurge is a valid character progression, I think you've earned it.
I do agree though, feral is overpowered for its level adjustment of +1...
Heh, I knew a guy who, after discovering the feral template, went something like two months (at least) before he got sick of building characters with it, because it's just that strong. I wouldn't have anything to do with it because I generally wind up building characters for whom a -4 intelligence penalty is unthinkable. It was only something like a year or so later that he was discussing it with friends online and decided that you only gain the benefits of racial hit dice. Personally, I'd rather apply a scaling LA of, say, +1 LA/5 HD or some such.
That said, I'm of pretty much the exact same perspective regarding "weird" characters. I figure that if the character is appealing enough to the person to warrant a full, believable backstory (or even just a good try at a believable backstory) I'm willing to give it a chance, and if someone comes to me saying "I want to play this, but I'm not quite sure how it would fit into the setting", I'll do what I can to help them out. There's nothing wrong (in my opinion) with choosing anything (or even everything) about your character for mechanical reasons if you can back up those choices with a backstory and concept that makes it all work; how in depth it needs to be, obviously, depends on what kind of game you're playing. Grok the Barbarian with a scholar's outfit is about quirky enough for a standard dungeon crawl, but if the game goes on to political intrigue and the like, you're going to have to talk about why a guy in a scholar's outfit is running around bashing things with a heavy flail or greatsword.
Hey Drain leave characters with more than two arms alone cause ive been playing for a long time and so far the best character i have made combat/stealth wise is a Thri-Kreen ninja/fighter so watch it cause he could slap you 4 times before you realized he bit you