Prestige Class options

[zephyrkinetic]

Preface: I am running a D&D 3.5 game, and the players are at a point that I want to start introducing prestige classes. I am making it a bit of a plot point that, generally speaking, a prestige class is "introduced" to a character by having someone of that prestige class meet the character who would take it. In other words, I'm sort of showing each player the "option" of a prestige class for their character. (Naturally, if there were a particular one they really wanted, I would be willing to help them seek out the appropriate experts, but for the purposes of this question, that's not the point.)

So, one of the players is playing an Earth Genasi druid, currently level 5. What are some not-terribly-powerful prestige classes that would fit into the mix of the earth genasi/woodsy druid category? I've been leaning towards Earth Dreamer (Races of Stone), but I'm not fully sold. Anyone know of anything that would be a better fit? If it helps, the NPC who introduces her to [prestige class] is an Earth Elemental.

[Falcon X]

this isn't a perfect option, but if you check the prestige Tier list:
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5198.0

In general, if you stick to +0 or +1 classes on the list, you should be doing fine for game balance.
Now, just check the lists under books that are applicable, such as Savage Species, Races of the Wild, Complete Champion, Masters of the Wild, and other books that are thematically appropriate.

Also, if you're looking for expanded options, Dragon Magazine 311 is the one most appropriate for Druids.

[Rebel7284]

Druid is one of the few classes that tends to be best if staying pure druid (outside of optimization drips such as Druid 17/Holt Warden 1/Sacred Exorcist 1/Contemplative 1). Planar Shepherd is considered the best Druid prestige class.

[zephyrkinetic]

this isn't a perfect option, but if you check the prestige Tier list:
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5198.0

In general, if you stick to +0 or +1 classes on the list, you should be doing fine for game balance.
Now, just check the lists under books that are applicable, such as Savage Species, Races of the Wild, Complete Champion, Masters of the Wild, and other books that are thematically appropriate.

Also, if you're looking for expanded options, Dragon Magazine 311 is the one most appropriate for Druids.

Thor's Hammer, that's a ton to slog through. I'll give it my best, though, thanks.


Druid is one of the few classes that tends to be best if staying pure druid (outside of optimization drips such as Druid 17/Holt Warden 1/Sacred Exorcist 1/Contemplative 1). Planar Shepherd is considered the best Druid prestige class.

I realize that, but the point of the campaign is not to reach Level 20 at maximum power.

[eggynack]

Holt warden (CC, 84) is kinda woodsy, and is reasonable on a dip, and you could always open up stonespeaker guardian (RoS, 127) to races outside of goliath or feral gargan. Rebel is correct though, in that there are only four or so good druid prestige classes, and about four or five others that are good on a dip. The list of prestige classes that are both good (this list includes neither stonespeaker guardian, nor earth dreamer), and earth themed has pretty much nothing on it. I'd probably just do the holt warden thing. I've always liked that class, even without contemplative attached.

[BowStreetRunner]

Holt Warden (Complete Champions) is one that might fit.

However, I would caution against using this approach at all. There are several reasons against it:

First of all, the prerequisites for every prestige class are generally fairly specific, so there is no guarantee the character will even have an easy time gaining entry into a specific PrC. It is generally a good idea if a player intends to take a PrC to start planning toward that progression from level 1.
Additionally, every PrC changes the focus of the character's build and might not work with the player's concept at all. A straight Druid is a very different character than a Druid / Earth Dreamer or a Druid / Holt Warden. Unless it actually makes the character better for the player, it probably won't be considered a positive option.
Finally, straight class builds are normally a bit more powerful than a multi-classed character, whether using base classes or PrCs. While there are notable exceptions, most PrCs require careful planning in order to work with a character's build and not detract from the overall power-level. So again, unless the player has been planning this from level 1, it may actually make the character weaker in the long run, and thus less desirable from the player's point of view.

[Kennisiou]

It really depends on what your Druid likes doing. There are lots of options for Druid prestige that, while generally considered weaker than straight Druid 20, are still unquestionably strong builds that all do things that are rewarding and fun to play -- a great example of this being going Druid > Master of Many Forms (Complete Adventurer) to massively expand the number of things you can wildshape into as well as the number of times/day you wildshape. Earth Dreamer (Races of Stone) could be an interesting PrC for expanding on the Earth Genasi fluff, but is honestly not all that powerful.

[zephyrkinetic]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I've decided to go with the Stonespeaker Guardian, and wave the racial prerequisite. To settle some points raised:
A) While I understand this is a minority opinion, I'm not interested in how powerful/optimized a build the players end up with. We likely won't even get to Epic level in this campaign, and if we do, I don't expect anyone to be able to one-shot Elminster when they get there. I was looking for something that would tie in with the PC's lineage (Earth Genasi) and the encounter (Earth Elemental). The Warden was a close second, but I like the Guardian a little more from a flavor perspective.
B) Not to worry, I'm not railroading anyone into a particular Prestige Class, merely opening up the option for them to start taking one if they like. For what it's worth, this encounter is the end result of one of two options, the other of which takes them to the Tree Ghost Tribe, where the party's Barbarian will have the option of becoming a member, and taking the associated Totem Prestige Class. Later on, the other players get their own Special Times.

Thanks again.

[eggynack]

A) While I understand this is a minority opinion, I'm not interested in how powerful/optimized a build the players end up with. We likely won't even get to Epic level in this campaign, and if we do, I don't expect anyone to be able to one-shot Elminster when they get there. I was looking for something that would tie in with the PC's lineage (Earth Genasi) and the encounter (Earth Elemental). The Warden was a close second, but I like the Guardian a little more from a flavor perspective.
It's not really about epic levels. Druids that PrC out into subpar prestige classes tend to feel those effects sooner rather than later. I mean, at some point you could probably just pick up an amulet of wild shape, and that'll get you pretty well covered in those terms, and the animal companion doesn't matter much at 20, so PrC's aren't quite as harmful from an endstate perspective.

As for stonespeaker guardian specifically, it's not all that un-powerful, so things should be fine. It's a lot worse when you need LA to enter, but you get wild shape advancement, and casting advancement, and the abilities aren't the worst, so the only real downside is the feat tax. Druids are pretty feat starved, after all. The skill list has knowledge (religion) on it too, and that's sometimes important if you want to chain PrC's together. Maybe he can pop by contemplative and pick up a thematically suited domain. I actually don't even know which domain has a bunch of spells that aren't on the druid list and are thematically suited, but it's a reasonable thought. Anyway, long story short, druids are pretty adaptive and resilient, so you can screw with their build a lot and not fall apart. It's neat.