Prestige Class Question

[Galvin]

Is there any minimum level you have to achieve before you can enter a prestige class? I was always under the impression that you had to have five base class levels before you can take any prestige class, even if you met all other requirements.

[Greenish]

There are no other entry requirements than the entry requirements.

[Devronq]

Greenish is correct but i would like to add that I'm pretty sure all PRC do require having (a minimum of) 5 class levels/HD but if you do find a way to meet these requirements at a lower level you can enter the PRC before level 5. but most of these methods are sorta cheesy if i remember correctly.

[Greenish]

Greenish is correct but i would like to add that I'm pretty sure all PRC do require having (a minimum of) 5 class levels/HD but if you do find a way to meet these requirements at a lower level you can enter the PRC before level 5. but most of these methods are sorta cheesy if i remember correctly.Entering Master Specialist after three levels of wizard requires you to take such a cheesy feat as Spell Focus. Entering Fist of Forest after four levels in a full BAB class requires PA, Great Fortitude, and Imp. Unarmed Strike, meaning you have to resort to utter gouda and play a human if you don't get bonus feats from class. Entering Church Inquisitor after three levels of cleric requires… basically nothing.

I could go on, but the point is, while most PrCs are designed to be entered after five or more levels, there are plenty that aren't.

[Malimar]

Survivor can be entered at level 2. To do that, your first level has to be Commoner. Hardly cheesy.

[Greenish]

Survivor can be entered at level 2. To do that, your first level has to be Commoner. Hardly cheesy.Using an obscure and rarely played non-PHB class to enter a 3.0 PrC from Savage Species? Why, that's the very definition of cheese!

[TuggyNE]

Greenish is correct but i would like to add that I'm pretty sure all PRC do require having (a minimum of) 5 class levels/HD but if you do find a way to meet these requirements at a lower level you can enter the PRC before level 5. but most of these methods are sorta cheesy if i remember correctly.

Most, but by no means all. Besides the aforementioned examples, there's the racial paragon classes. There's at least as many PrCs available below ECL 5 as there are that require more than that, I think.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

All of the Racial Paragon Classes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm) from UA can be taken at 1st level, without using any cheese at all. You could actually make a half-orc or half-elf character with all three levels in two racial paragon classes, then start taking another prestige class afterward and have no levels in any base classes at all.

[Chronos]

Stoneblessed, from Races of Stone, can be entered by almost any base class starting at level 3. They even say in the description that it's specifically designed to be early and easy entry, because the main purpose of Stoneblessed is to qualify you for other things, and they wanted to make sure you'd have a chance to take those other things.

[Eldonauran]

Most* prestige classes are designed to be entered into no sooner than 6th level, by the majority of races/classes. Some races have an edge that lets them qualify sooner.

Since the use of prestige classes are an optional rule available to the DM (see the DMG if this surprises you), I'd have no problems limiting the characters to having a certain number of class levels before entering a prestige class.

[Lucid]

Though I don't think the designers intended it, but the Walker in the Waste from Sandstorm can be entered by a level 3 Cleric with the Sand domain.

[Chronos]

Though I don't think the designers intended it, but the Walker in the Waste from Sandstorm can be entered by a level 3 Cleric with the Sand domain.
Depends on how you read the requirement. The requirement is
Spells: Ability to cast at least three spells of the Sand or Thirst domain as divine spells.
Without some serious cheese, no 3rd-level character can cast three spells of the Sand domain, and no 3rd level character can cast three spells of the Thirst domain. So if you interpret it as "Pick one of those domains, and be able to cast three spells from it", you need to wait for level 5. If, however, you interpret it as "able to cast three spells, each of which is on one of those domain lists", then you can use the two Sand domain spells, plus Dehydrate which is on both the Thirst domain list and the standard cleric list.

[Lucid]

Depends on how you read the requirement. The requirement is
Without some serious cheese, no 3rd-level character can cast three spells of the Sand domain, and no 3rd level character can cast three spells of the Thirst domain. So if you interpret it as "Pick one of those domains, and be able to cast three spells from it", you need to wait for level 5. If, however, you interpret it as "able to cast three spells, each of which is on one of those domain lists", then you can use the two Sand domain spells, plus Dehydrate which is on both the Thirst domain list and the standard cleric list. True, but if you follow that interpretation a Druid (like the sample character) wouldn't be able to enter after 5 levels.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time Wizards made an example character that didn't qualify either. :smallamused:

[Big Fau]

6 of the PrCs in Dragonmarked (Cyre Scout, Deneith Warden, Shadow Hunter, Silver Key, Storm Sentry, and Valadis Beastkeeper) have prerequisites that can be met as early as 3rd or 4th level, allowing you to start advancing in the PrC by 4th or 5th.

If you can find a way to get Trap Sense +1 on a 1st level Rogue, you can even enter the Silver Key PrC at 2nd level (provided you can use Flaws to get Dodge).

[Greenish]

Most* prestige classes are designed to be entered into no sooner than 6th level, by the majority of races/classes. Some races have an edge that lets them qualify sooner.
It isn't usually anything to do with race that lets you qualify for the PrCs before 5th level.


Though I don't think the designers intended it, but the Walker in the Waste from Sandstorm can be entered by a level 3 Cleric with the Sand domain.That's one of the examples I had in mind, but I left it out since…


6 of the PrCs in Dragonmarked (Cyre Scout, Deneith Warden, Shadow Hunter, Silver Key, Storm Sentry, and Valadis Beastkeeper) have prerequisites that can be met as early as 3rd or 4th level, allowing you to start advancing in the PrC by 4th or 5th.For that matter, the mother of all Dragonmarked PrCs, Dragonmarked Heir, can be entered after three levels in any class.