So over the weekend reading a few threads on the boards claimed there wouldnt be any prestige classes in the new "Ultimate" books.
So is this true is Paizo slowly doing away with prestige classes and replacing them with Archtypes and Alternate Classes?
I hope not I know I was one of the people who enjoyed 3.5 prestige classes (i know in the end they made way to many)
Im sure people will say oh you can just use the 3.5 ones but most of us at our game table like to only use the Pathfinder stuff even though there is almost complete 3.5 library in my attic.
I know people claimed they were either to powerful or to specific and didnt like them.
I personally enjoyed planning my characters around prestige classes, most of my 3.5 characters were designed that way and I hope I can still do that with Pathfinder and offical Paizo products
I think the thought is that MOST prestige classes should be campaign specific. The post you read is probably the same one I read. Paizo will make more prestige classes in the future, but there will not be 10+ in every book, and some books may not have any.
No need to fear. :) There will be more, just not "too many."
I do not think that paizo will do away with prestige classes. I do believe that such classes will be limited in number and carefully weighed before being put into print.
There are some concepts that simply do not work as base classes or alternate classes -- the mystic theurge is an easy example (and many would argue that it doesn't work as a prestige class either). Such cases have not been fully explored in my opinion and offer a means to give multiple character types access to a background driven mechanic that they simply could not achieve with a single class, or simple multi-classing.
By including prestige classes paizo gives a means of achieving a type of character from multiple methods that either wouldn't work normally or shouldn't be limited to a single class. The designers at paizo know this (after all prestige classes do continue to come out, as the APG demonstrates) and will (in my opinion) continue to use this tool as it is needed.
So over the weekend reading a few threads on the boards claimed there wouldnt be any prestige classes in the new "Ultimate" books.
So is this true is Paizo slowly doing away with prestige classes and replacing them with Archtypes and Alternate Classes?
I hope not I know I was one of the people who enjoyed 3.5 prestige classes (i know in the end they made way to many)
Im sure people will say oh you can just use the 3.5 ones but most of us at our game table like to only use the Pathfinder stuff even though there is almost complete 3.5 library in my attic.
I know people claimed they were either to powerful or to specific and didnt like them.
I personally enjoyed planning my characters around prestige classes, most of my 3.5 characters were designed that way and I hope I can still do that with Pathfinder and offical Paizo products
I don't think they are going away. I think that they are going to be more setting focused. Where I have not heard that there will be any in the new Roleplaying books. There will be 4 in the new Campaign Setting. I also expect several in the World Guide to Tian Xia.
I was thinking we would see the majority of them in the Golarion books, I was just asking
I do like being able to play the character i want and specialize him even if the campaign never hits level 6.
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It appears Paizo is certainly battling the 'Prestige Class Bloat' subject. And it appears prestige classes, are, well, ... prestigious.
They've set a stage where we might see prestige classes for:
- organizations (Hellknights, Pathfinders, Bloatmages)
- specific themed ideas (shadowdancer, stalwart defender)
- religious orders or churches
- cultural paths (harrower)
I'm interested to see if they do any more geographic/cultural prestige classes (mammoth riders, linnorm berserkers, etc).
I've been borrowing/retooling/modifying prestige classes for my homebrew campaign, and I have about 12 total for my world ... and right now, that seems good. I'd hate to go above 20 at any point.
I think the issue lies in usability. Paizo recognizes that alot of play happens at low to mid levels. Their own product lines reflect that. Prestige classes are only useful mid to high levels. Archetypes in my opinion are a far better way to fill that specialization niche that PrC's filled in 3.5. In pathfinder I think PrCs are far more suited to specific organizations like the Pathfinder Society, or the Hell Knights. Those are situations where story requires you to enter them later in your career. You are a warrior first, then you become a hellknight. Where as for something like say a ninja, you want to feel like a ninja from day 1 not be a rogue untill 7th level where you start being a ninja.
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I was thinking we would see the majority of them in the Golarion books, I was just asking
I do remember reading a quote from a Paizonian (sorry, I don't remember exactly where) that mentioned that prestige classes were more campaign-specific, and that they would be primarily found in Golarion campaign-type books. I would not be surprised if the Campaign Setting hardcover included some prestige classes.