Has an explanation of the philosophy behind the design of the classes/feats/PrCs/etc. and/or the reason they were included been released/discussed anywhere?
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Has an explanation of the philosophy behind the design of the classes/feats/PrCs/etc. and/or the reason they were included been released/discussed anywhere?
No, nothing like that exists, although it's an interesting idea. Maybe if we ever get the chance to do DCII we'll look into doing a design/conversion diary? I think that would be a lot of fun! :)
I really am confused by some of the design philosophy around what's a Prestige Class and what's a Class in the Dragon Compendium. It's really strange.
The Deathmaster, for example, is essentially a specialist cleric of Orcus, but is a class (unlike just about every other specialty cleric). The Battle Dancer is a former slave who has learned a secret slave martial art, so shouldn't there be a requirement that the character have been a slave before they get it? That feels like a Prestige Class to me. Ditto with the Mountebank. Just about every other character option I've seen that deals with pactmaking is a Prestige Class that requires the character to have make a pact with the right kind of entity. Not so here, apparently. Weird.
On the other side there are Prestige Classes that feel like Classes. The Arcanopath Monk, for example, doesn't seem like anything a first level character couldn't be--just a monk who hates mages and has learned an art to counter them. Not all that different from a spellthief or a warlock really. Likewise the Cerebrex seems more like a class too--magic users who enhance their faculties with magic and share a deep love of puzzles.
I guess I don't get how these decisions get made. They just seem really counterintuitive to me.
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I guess I don't get how these decisions get made. They just seem really counterintuitive to me.
The decision was really simple for us. Those classes that first appeared in Dragon as prestige classes appeared in DCI as prestige classes. Those classes that first appeared in Dragon as standard classes appeared in DCI as standard classes.
Although I agree with you that some should probably be one or the other, in order to be non-arbitrary we just held to that system. :)
The decision was really simple for us. Those classes that first appeared in Dragon as prestige classes appeared in DCI as prestige classes. Those classes that first appeared in Dragon as standard classes appeared in DCI as standard classes.
Wow. That is pretty simple *L*. I had figured a lot of these were adaptions from 2nd edition kits and things. I didn't realize they were already set up as Prestige Classes and things...
So I guess for my info, just making homebrew stuff or if I plan to submit something someday--is there some official guideline for what should make something a Class versus a Prestige Class?
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Contributor
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Wow. That is pretty simple *L*. I had figured a lot of these were adaptions from 2nd edition kits and things. I didn't realize they were already set up as Prestige Classes and things...
It's deceptive in its simplicity, actually. Some of the standard classes might have been kits (I don't know, as Mearls took care of that part of the book). I'm not sure.
So I guess for my info, just making homebrew stuff or if I plan to submit something someday--is there some official guideline for what should make something a Class versus a Prestige Class?
Well, if you plan on querying something to Dragon I highly recommend focusing on prestige classes. We rarely run standard classes and while we don't run many prestige classes any more, we run many more of them than standard classes.
There isn't an official guideline as to what should be a standard vs. prestige class. I think it has more to do with how you picture the class in the campaign world and what a potential editor might want to see. In general, people are far more open to prestige classes than standard classes, but not every editor feels the same way. (I, for example, vastly prefer standard classes over prestige classes.)
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I was initially pleased with the emergence of the third edition D&D yet I found that all the new cool stuff (my fav was the magic weapon spell which allowed your nobody wizard to knock up a temp magic weapon) yet the dominant likes of the product were already being used with D&D Basic-Immortals. My first level wizards were using a magic missile variant spell which allowed them to pass themselves of as Ninja with enchant a ninjastar, Shepherds with magic missile rocks, and assorted other psycopaths who could penatrate the armor of the local adventurer who happened by to violate their sheepherd.
Frankly we had everything we were being sold in hardback form and more from years of creativity during Gaming with the old system.
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In general, people are far more open to prestige classes than standard classes, but not every editor feels the same way. (I, for example, vastly prefer standard classes over prestige classes.)
I don't get to play D&D all too often. Everyone working and having busy lives nowadays, it's difficult to get a group of players together on a regular basis. So I usually find myself starting new adventures with new players at first level.
Prestige classes look all cool, but they're pretty much useless to a group of first level characters. And if your campaign never reaches 5th or 6th level, then you're never going to see any prestige classes in your games.
Standard classes, on the other hand, offer cool new abilities and roleplaying opportunities right from the start! Therefore, I find standard classes much more useful than prestige classes I'll never qualify for.
I noticed Knights of the Raven prestige class recently in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Accompanying text states "The mechanical prerequisites for this prestige class are intentionally easy to meet, to encourage one or more PCs to adopt the class over the course of the adventure". Prerequisites include: a good alignment, +4 BAB, ability to cast 1st-level divine spells, plus a story element. The adventure is recommended for levels 6-10, and a sixth level character could easily qualify for this prestige class. I guess anything lower than that, and you might as well make it a standard class than a prestige one, but it was good to see this approach, a prestige class tied to the adventure campaign, aimed squarely at the player characters.
An interesting variant we've tried in our group are campaigns where all Prestige Classes are considered classes. It turned out great. In fact the problem with most of the Prestige Classes out there is that while they are colorful and cool--the requirements are so stiff that it just isn't worth the hassle. In a Prestige Class campaign characters can just start right in as an Arcanopath Monk or an Arcane Archer. It wasn't overbalanced or wierd at all. In fact it was very fun.
In general over time I've become somewhat frustrated with Prestige Classes, mostly tossing out non-story requirements entirely. You become an Assassin when the assassin's guild takes you in and teaches you their secrets. That's it. Now the more competant and infamous you are--the more likely that will happen.
I just hate characters having to wait forever to get Prestige Classes that aren't ever worth it. Prestige Classes are fun. They should be everywhere and easy to become. The more of them around the better the game is and the more real the setting feels.
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Prestige classes look all cool, but they're pretty much useless to a group of first level characters. And if your campaign never reaches 5th or 6th level, then you're never going to see any prestige classes in your games.This factor also drastically limits the value of prestige classes in representing cultural differences.
I guess this is what racial levels are good for - in effect, 3-level prestige classes that may be taken at first level. These could be good if interesting enough for a character to take instead of a standard class level - perhaps could be used to represent something culturally like Ravenloft's Vistani (gypsies).
I also think the Dark template sounds interesting for a character to take in place of a standard class level, provided it's justified with a suitable story hook, as suggested in Tome of Magic. I have a fighter/rogue/monk city goblin character (Eberron Mark-of-heroes campaign) I'd love to apply this to.