Are there any PrC 'brewers here with some tips? Or that can point me to some discussions thereof? Does Paizo's Paths of Prestige have any design commentary on creating new PrCs or provide guidelines. Feel free to post a sample approach also...
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I haven't actually made any, but I can share some thoughts based on how I select PrCs that I might want to actually take...
* Don't overdo the entry requirements. Make it so that if during the course of a campaign you realise that PrC would be appropriate, that you can scrape together the requirements in 3 levels or so. So easy on the five-part feat chains. Requiring 5 ranks in a skill is much kinder. I think requiring 2 feats is about right; it can be done in three levels, if you decide in the middle of the campaign to go for that PrC.
* I like PrCs that might fit more than one different base class. For example, Harrower makes sense for a Sorcerer, but also works for a Bard or Oracle.
* Strong flavor. In the RotRL campaign I'm aiming for the Cyphermage PrC because it really fits the campaign flavor.
* Avoid empty levels. Every level of the PrC should do something interesting. Don't put too much on level 1 or 10, spread things out.
* Don't feel obligated to write 10 levels if 3 or 5 suffice. Inheritor's Crusader is a perfectly acceptable PrC with only 3 levels that lets you put a particular spin on a Paladin; a sort of mini-archetype.
* If you want to make a PrC for caster classes, just put full casting progression in there. Seriously. As a wizard it's too much of a loss to get two or three empty levels. As a bard your spell progression is slow as-is; if the PrC does it at 2/3 of the normal speed (Arcane Archer), then that means that your spell progression doesn't keep up with CR anymore and that it's just a vanity exercise. Cyphermage and Harrower are examples of how to do it right (with regards to casting progression).
* You can do interesting things with class skills. Shadowdancer is quite nice for Fighters because it grants them Perception and Stealth and a lot of skill points.
* If you intend a PrC for particular classes, consider carefully if it advanced some of their level-dependent abilities. For example, bards are poor multiclassers because if you do, your Performance stagnates. Oracles have the same problem with Curses, and Witches with Hexes.
* Read a lot of PrCs, and read reviews of them on this forum. Shamelessly copy those abilities that seem to work well, instead of trying to invent (and balance) everything yourself.
All very good tips, so this deserves a dot as well as a fave.
I'd add that if you DO make a Prestige Class for a specific class, you need to accomodate said class appropriately. One example is a Witch PrC that advances the Hex ability (and/or other level-dependent abilities) in some manner, unless the abilities of the Prestige Class itself are around as strong or better than Hexes. If it's the latter, it would be okay to give up Hex progression. Giving full casting progression to a Caster PrC (with very few exceptions) is a good example of this phenomenon as well.
Hey thanx for the info so far Ascalaphus and Icyshadow!
I'm really wanting some idea about PrC with fairly strict requirements (say two class abilities) and which of these "prior" abilities (from the classes before becoming the PrC) to advance in the PrC and how often.
So if the reqs were (to make up an easy example) Sneak Attack and Rage how do they get advanced? Only one of them and every other level or each every alternate level? I know making a rage-sneak attack in this example would be very PrC but I'll get to the mashing later...
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Well, there's quite a lot of precedent for advancing Sneak Attack in a PrC. For example, the Arcane Trickster and the Assassin.
You can gain additional rage powers through a feat, but what a Barbarian-continued PrC really wants is for the PrC to count as barb levels for the purpose of Rage Power qualification. The Rage Prophet has such a power already.
Requiring two specific class abilities can be okay if you really intend for your PrC to be a fusion of those two classes, but be careful. There's a bunch of archetypes (Vivisectionist alchemist) and I think also some PrCs that give Sneak Attack. Meaning that merely requiring SA doesn't mean people will actually have rogue levels.
Very good points, thanks Asc! What has crystallised from your post for me:
"... for the PrC to count as (xxx class) levels for the purpose of (xxx ability)
qualification..."
"that merely requiring xxx ability doesn't mean people will actually have xxx class usually associated with that ability levels."
Other questions/thoughts:
*I see some caster PrCs (arcane archer) don't have "+1 existing class level" on their progression at every level. Is this a function of balancing the PrCs' funky new powers with the advancement of the spellcasting class(es)?
*On looking at the arcane archer, it appears you could become one without having a casting class if you are a race that can cast a first-level spell naturally. No reason to do so as you would not benefit from added spells/day, but definitely very weird.
*i had some other questions on choosing good/bad saves and BAB progression, but that all seems fairly obvious...
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Good/bad saves, BAB/HD: those tend to be intuitive. A warrior PrC needs good BAB, a stealth/style/grace PrC needs a good Ref save.
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# of skill points per level is a bit shadier. Look at the existing classes: some get a lot of ranks per level because they're truly skill oriented (rogue, bard). Some of them get a decent amount but nothing spectacular (druid, barbarian). Some of them get few ranks, but are expected to have high Intelligence to compensate (wizard, witch). And then there's some classes that just get very few ranks, which can be a problem for them: fighter, cleric, sorcerer.
So if you expect your PrC to be taken by low-intelligence classes, maybe 4+int is a good number of skill points per level. If they're especially skill-based, increase it to 6+, if they're expected to have high int it could be lowered to 2+, but be careful with that.
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Limited spell progression PrCs: I personally don't like them. Arcane Archer is a good example: it works just fine for a ranger or fighter with 1 level in arcane spellcaster, who merely dabbles in magic. But if you took a bard (who can qualify based on his own BAB and spellcasting), then 2/3 spellcasting speed compared with the bard's already so-so spell progression means that you basically stop being a serious caster and focus purely on archery; I don't like that.
As for becoming Arcane Archer through racial abilities: that doesn't work in most cases. AA requires that you can cast 1st level arcane spells, while races tend to give spell-like abilities. Those aren't good enough for this. (There might be an obscure race that can actually cast such spells, but it's normal design to make them spell-like instead of spells.)
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Anyway, did you have some idea about a specific sort of PrC you want to make?
I do have a specific combo in mind. I'll get a few other things out of the way first and then post up a rough draft for review. It's a bit niche and quite specialised (A 3PP Alternate base and an archetype of my own mashed together) but a nice tweak on a real-world activity. Thanks again Ascalaphus...
One thing I've heard is very good is LPJ's Prestige class creation handbook.... lemme find it.
It is for 3.5, but prestige classes haven't changed that much.
I've made a couple before and can't really add much that Asc. hasn't already said. I'd second the full spellcasting suggestion and say watch your bonuses. I made an intimidator type PrC and basically used spells like fear and others to mirror the powers off of; that way if a 5th level spell gives a spellcaster a certain amount of fear power then a martial PC in this PrC would have about the same power, only as a special ability they can use a few times a day.
There is nothing wrong with a 3/4 casting PrC. If arcane archer and dragon disciple even, had full casting, then it would unbalance the character who took it. If you are getting full BaB and d10s for HP, then you are not a full caster... You are a fighting class now. AA and DD are just as they advertise, they give fighting potential to casters, and casting potential to fighters.
In the base classes, you see 9,6, and 4 lvls of spell progression. This is roughly translated into full, 3/4, and 1/2 spell progression in a PrC. When designing your PrC you need to determine what kind of casting the class does. If you are a full caster coming into a 1/2 casting PrC, then you are looking to Gish it up.
Personally I prefer PrCs that give a 4 spell lvl progression in the class, but that seemed more prevalent in 3.x.
You could do something like:
1) +1 caster level
2) +1 spell level
And so on, it might be a little complex, and certainly unorthodox, but it gets the intended effect across.