Prestige conundrum 3.5

[GutterFace]

So next campaign is being run by 3 Dm's. in a vast world campaign that will last for the better part of a year.

so this will be our first experiment with Prestige since a lot of our group is fairly new but have played enough to get it together now.

i have some questions i will break into sections. any insight would be awesome.

1) Zhentarim Skymage i know its 3.0; is there a way to get it to work for 3.5 or any way to convince DM's its an acceptable option?

2) Marshal/Beast Heart Adept. i love the flavor of this Prc. is it worth it? (i know Marshal is a bum but i would love to try). also can i ride one of my Beasts as a mount?

3) ahhhh Sandshaper. i thought i wouldn't do this but i had some questions. like since i can make moving parts with a higher DC check couldn't i end up making a Siege crossbow? or make sand shaped ammo? can i make sand caltrops appear at the feet of my enemies? or shape armor spikes on my friends? is this all possible or just a pipe dream?

[Answerer]

1) Zhentarim Skymage i know its 3.0; is there a way to get it to work for 3.5 or any way to convince DM's its an acceptable option?
Strictly speaking, it's 3.0 that has not been updated for 3.5, and is therefore RAW-legal in a 3.5 game. Most DMs are (reasonably) leery of 3.0 material though. The Skymage, as I recall, is quite powerful but not absurdly so.


2) Marshal/Beast Heart Adept. i love the flavor of this Prc. is it worth it? (i know Marshal is a bum but i would love to try).
Define "worth it." What power level are you trying to keep up with? It won't be as good as a Druid, if that's what you mean. It may even have a hard time keeping up with your typical Fighter or Barbarian, since yeah, Marshal's a bit substandard. Bard may serve your desires better than Marshal; Bard is freaking awesome.


also can i ride one of my Beasts as a mount?
Yes, you can. Usual rules for riding an animal apply, though you may have an easier time controlling it in battle than you would otherwise.


3) ahhhh Sandshaper. i thought i wouldn't do this but i had some questions. like since i can make moving parts with a higher DC check couldn't i end up making a Siege crossbow? or make sand shaped ammo? can i make sand caltrops appear at the feet of my enemies? or shape armor spikes on my friends? is this all possible or just a pipe dream?
The rules for shapesand are... extremely vague and poor. Sadly. Most of this are questions to ask your DM rather than us. Personally, I'd allow all of the above, mostly because none of it even begins to compare to the pure spellcasting power of the class, so you might as well get use out of the more flavorful bits.

[GutterFace]

thanks for the insight. i will have to thing about it. i do like your suggestion for bard for the Beast Heart adept though. very cool.

as for the sandshaper it was just an after thought. if the DM's allow it i think the skymage will by my number 1 pick.

if not then bard/Beast heart adept.

thanks again!

[strider24seven]

The Zhentarim Skymage is actually one of the more powerful prestige classes ever printed, behind the Incantatrix and Shadowcraft Mage of course.

Let us take a look at what the Zhents get:
-Full Spellcasting
-Free extra spells/scrolls every level
-6 bonus feats over 5 levels
...and the real winner of the class:
-1 mount of unrestricted type or race, so long as it flies and has HD less than Class level + CHA mod + 1 and the ability to share spells. The obvious choice being dragons of course.

In terms of conversion:
-Do the standard skill conversion for class skills (Innuendo->Bluff, etc)
-Remove the Scry skill prerequisite... you can replace it with knowledge (arcana) if you want

That's it... it's very 3.5 compatible once you change the skills. Just be careful with the mount that you let the skymage have.

[GutterFace]

you have made me a very happy man with this :)

i was able to pawn off SandShaper to a friend because he thinks its like an Earthbender. so let him go wild. he's got a good imagination so that would be fun. throwing up walls for cover ha ha.

[Answerer]

you have made me a very happy man with this :)

i was able to pawn off SandShaper to a friend because he thinks its like an Earthbender. so let him go wild. he's got a good imagination so that would be fun. throwing up walls for cover ha ha.
Sorcerer is the best entry for that, by the way. Or Bard going for Sublime Chord. You want to take advantage of those 43 spells known as best you can!

[GutterFace]

yea i was basing it off how long/level we were going to play for. Bard with Blasphemous Utterance on a Nightmare would be hilarious :)

Sorc is my back up.

thank you again Answer man!