Has there been or is there any intention of detailing a prestige class for the Pathfinders? If I have missed it somewhere (such as elsewhere on the board i'm sorry, but I don't recall seeing one.) I've seen the details regarding the Wayfinder. Does a character follow a certain belief to be a Pathfinder, whilst continuing in their current class or is it something that must be worked for?
Creative Director
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Has there been or is there any intention of detailing a prestige class for the Pathfinders? If I have missed it somewhere (such as elsewhere on the board i'm sorry, but I don't recall seeing one.) I've seen the details regarding the Wayfinder. Does a character follow a certain belief to be a Pathfinder, whilst continuing in their current class or is it something that must be worked for?
Eventually, Pathfinder prestige classes seem inevitable. There won't be a single "Pathfinder" class though... we'll probably do something like a "Pathfinder Scout" or "Pathfinder Tomb Delver" or some such. That way, we don't limit being a Pathfinder to the requirement of having levels in a less specialized "Pathfinder" prestige class, and allows for characters of ANY class to be a Pathfinder.
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That way, we don't limit being a Pathfinder to the requirement of having levels in a less specialized "Pathfinder" prestige class, and allows for characters of ANY class to be a Pathfinder.
Hehe good, I hate to see a "generic" prestige class created and then have a character that doesn't even use the abilities of that prestige class used as the representation for said class like a certain prestige class in a certain hardcover campaign setting book using a certain half-elf fighter/rogue that hates/mistrust magic... who's prestige class grants level of spellcaster. :P
Maybe you can come up with a "Template PrC" or "Prestige Path" idea.
Or just something like 4 PrCs (Pathfinder Bodyguard, Pathfinder Explorer, Pathfinder Priest, Pathfinder Spellslinger)
Exactly my beef with classes/prestige classes. People just do not fit in well organized, square boxes…well…unless you cut them up in little pieces.
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Exactly my beef with classes/prestige classes. People just do not fit in well organized, square boxes…well…unless you cut them up in little pieces.
Some prestige classes are givens though. Red Wizard of Thay, Purple Dragon of Cormyr, Knights of Silver. These are specific classes meant for a specific type of hero who join specific types of Orders. A rogue isn't going to become a horse riding full plate wearing hero fighting for king and glory.. which is what 99% of the Purple Dragons are. :)
However, when you have an organization (not an Order) that has agents instead of knights, wizards, or clerics, generic prestige classes are needed. Unfortunately Wizards has create just as many prestige classes linked with Orders as they have for free roaming heroes.
Free roaming heroes don't have all those hormones that processed heroes have.
I think that really hits the nail on the head. Some organizations are specific enough that it makes sense to have a "one size fits all" PrC for them. For example, in FR a Red Wizard PrC, and in Dragonlance a Wizard of High Sorcery PrC.
But organizations like the Harpers, Moonstars, Zhentarim, Legion of Steel, and the like need more "specialized" types of PrCs, if they need them at all. The Arilyn example was perfect here.
And why the heck did we need a Grey Hands Enforcer PrC in Waterdeep? The Grey Hands were just suppose to be high level adventurers that Waterdeep keeps on retainer to deal with "special" threats.
Or why Thayan Slavers and Thayan Gladiators needed PrCs, where there was never anything that indicated that these were "orders" or specially trained individuals with any kind of standardized training.
Er . . . sorry . . . drifting here.
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Lately what they've been doing instead is affiliations and alternate class features. Take the Lightbringers guild from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft as an example. A rogue who joins it can get an alternate class feature (even retroactively) that allows them to do 1/2 sneak attack damage to undead (kind of neccessary for a Ravenloft campaign)
That might even be the best way to do it in Pathfinder. Maybe the guys at Paizo could develop their own faction/affiliation system that's better than Everquestd20 or PHB2's that could work in some of those elements. This is espescially good if there are going to be a lot of groups like the Hellknights and Pathfinders so they won't have to make PrCs for everyone.
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But organizations like the Harpers, Moonstars, Zhentarim, Legion of Steel, and the like need more "specialized" types of PrCs, if they need them at all. The Arilyn example was perfect here.
Bah! I was hoping someone that wasn't from Candlekeep would pick up on my rant.. oh well. :)
Or why Thayan Slavers and Thayan Gladiators needed PrCs, where there was never anything that indicated that these were "orders" or specially trained individuals with any kind of standardized training.
Those are the exact prestige classes I thought didn't need to exist, along with others. And if they spent their time working on something else instead of those, other prestige classes would have been better (hello War Wizards of Cormyr) or whole books would have been better.
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Lately what they've been doing instead is affiliations and alternate class features. Take the Lightbringers guild from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft as an example. A rogue who joins it can get an alternate class feature (even retroactively) that allows them to do 1/2 sneak attack damage to undead (kind of neccessary for a Ravenloft campaign)
That might even be the best way to do it in Pathfinder. Maybe the guys at Paizo could develop their own faction/affiliation system that's better than Everquestd20 or PHB2's that could work in some of those elements. This is espescially good if there are going to be a lot of groups like the Hellknights and Pathfinders so they won't have to make PrCs for everyone.
We are drifting further and further away from the original topic, nevertheless I have to chime in:
Maybe WotC's move wasn't that bad (for them): Affiliations etc. aren't part of the OGL (to my knowledge), PrC are, though. So Paizo either had to devise a new affiliation system (which would be therefore most probably incompatible to PHB II) or had to live with a series of base class modifications and/ or new PrC...
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Maybe WotC's move wasn't that bad (for them): Affiliations etc. aren't part of the OGL (to my knowledge), PrC are, though. So Paizo either had to devise a new affiliation system (which would be therefore most probably incompatible to PHB II) or had to live with a series of base class modifications and/ or new PrC...
I personally thought the idea behind the PHB2 Affiliation system (which I believe was recycled in Cityscape) was awesome, but the execution stunk. A new (or previously existing) OGL one would be great. I believe Everquest d20's Faction system is OGL though I'm not sure, that could be modified to add rewards for high faction besides the social bonuses it currently grants.