Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bhu 05-06-07, 01:07 AM	Gonna try my hand at it soon. I have a player playing a hexblade and theres not much out there for him as far as PrC's go. Any advice you'd give to someone starting out?
Karzach 05-06-07, 03:10 AM	Dragon Disciple in his case. But the big question to ask, though, what does he want to do with his character? PrCs are fine and dandy, but you shouldn't take one just for the sake of taking one, it should DO something for you. Well, to actually try and fill your request, here's some tips: 1) Steal. Steal again, steal some more. There's no need to reinvent the wheel, or rather game mechanics. if its possible a mechanic you want to introduce is being used by another class, find that class, take the mechanic, and tweak as necessary. Unless you're looking to publish this class, in which case only steal from the SRD. 2) Try and start with a concept in mind. What should this PrC do, how does it fit in with your campaign, etc. etc.. 3) Consider its role in a party. For the most part, there's 5, maybe 6 roles in a party that you need to consider. Tank, Arcanist, Priest, Skillmonkey, Support, and Support fighter. Consider what primary role this PrC is supposed to fill, then consider what secondary roles it can fill. 4) Consider what base classes will fill this PrC. In your case, you want a hexblade Prestige Class. That means this PrC shouldn't interfere with your hexblade abilities (beyond them ceasing to advance). If it does, it should have a specific reason for doing so, them replace it with something of equal value. 5) Try and avoid dead levels. I don't necessarily believe they are unavoidable, but they are not good things, to the degree of either "Well, that sucks" to "THIS CLASS IS COMPLETELY UNPLAYABLE BECAUSE IT HAS ONE DEAD LEVEL AT LEVEL 3!!!!1!!11!!!", depending on who you ask. Players can potentially spend weeks at one level, so each level should be reasonably stand alone.
Rinian2 05-06-07, 10:22 AM	To make a Prestige Class effectively, you need to remember that they aren't called Prestige Classes without a reason. The abilities of a PrC aren't the same old things that anyone can get just by picking up a feat or a magic item; they are the PrC's own uniqueness. Which isn't to say that every PrC needs to be completely different from every other PrC; as Marge and Homer once said 'our differences are only skin deep but our sames go all the way down' (or something like that!). Similar abilities are fine but they have to make sense in the context of your PrC. There are plenty of superhero PrCs available but my favourites are the ones that don't beef the character up just because. I haven't made many PrCs but I'm always thinking of the reasons that the PrCs I'm working on were created in the first place; the special abilities don't just appear from nowhere, they had to come from somewhere, which is why I will always have a Special requirement to enter any of the PrCs that I make and corresponding penalties for those that enter the PrC but don't adhere to its principles. I hope that helps (even just a little) and didn't sound too preachy. I think I somehow entered Sermon Mode...
Lotus Crane 05-06-07, 10:41 AM	First of all, do you or your player feel like you have to PrC? You realize that if you do, you'll probably never gain access to the aura of unluck or dire hexblade curse abilities, right? Not only is PrCing not necessary, for some characters, it actually makes you weaker than if you stayed with the original class. For example, druids and monks are generally strongest if they just stay in their class. The only time that PrCing is blatantly superior to sticking with your base class, is when your base class offers absolutely no unique powerful higher level abilities, or at least abilities that scale strictly with class level (as opposed to character or caster level). For example, fighter and sorcerer are classes that you're basically forced to leave as early as possible if you want to stay competitive. The hexblade, while not the most powerful base class, does have a number of unique and scaling abilities (aura of unluck, dire hexblade curse) which encourage you to just stay the course. You'd be losing the change to gain these abilities, if you leave for a PrC. If you or your player really feel like the hexblade isn't good enough though, consider the following semi-official fix by the original author of the hexblade: http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11088256&postcount=16 Also, get a sudden stunning weapon (DMG II) as soon as possible. They were practically invented for the hexblade.
bhu 05-06-07, 12:36 PM	Im not sure why he wants to multi class actually (he isnt incredibly familiar with 3.5, just 1.0 and 2.0). I have however at least talked him out of multiclassing into fighter.......