E6+5 - Now with Prestige! (PEACH)

[Solaris]

Pretty much as described, this is essentially E6 with five pseudo-epic levels added in to permit prestige classing. After sixth level spellcasting advancement is basically ground to a halt, hit point accrual slows down, and saving throws don't increase as swiftly. The BAB is the only thing that progresses as in vanilla D&D.

Although I designed this modification of the E6 system to suit a prehistoric game setting, it suits most of the sorts of games that work well with E6 without being as much of a straightjacket on character creation.


Base Levels
Characters can achieve a maximum of 6th level in a base class. This follows the normal rules for d20 and E6. The base classes of D&D are available. With further development, they'll in most cases be supplanted or replaced by classes designed specifically for the E6+ rule set. These classes are designed to condense key and important class features down into six levels.

Characters gain a new feat at 1st, 3rd, and 5th levels (but not at 6th level). In effect, feats are gained at every odd-numbered level and not every three levels. This is more apparent in the prestige levels.

Prestige Levels
After reaching 6th level, characters can progress up to 11th level in a prestige class, which has reduced prerequisites (if necessary) in order to be obtainable to begin at 7th level, and their total levels reduced down to 5 (with important iconic abilities brought down to earlier, if need be, and an eye towards eliminating dead levels). Levels 7-11 can be prestige class levels, base class levels, or any mix of the two. The intent is to introduce more breadth of ability than scale of ability, expanding the character's options without expanding too many numbers like hit points, saving throws, and above all spellcasting power.

Hit Points and Hit Die: Hit point accrual is also greatly reduced. d4 and d6 grant 1 hit point, d8 and d10 grant 1d4 hit points, and d12 grants 1d6 hit points. Constitution modifiers still apply.

Base Attack Bonus: Base attack bonus continues to progress normally. A class with a full progression grants +1 each level, a class with average grants +0.75 each level, and a class with a poor base attack bonus grants +0.5 each level. Characters will gain iterative attacks as in standard D&D.

Spellcasting: Caster level progresses normally and the character gains additional spells known (if applicable), but they do not gain access to 4th-level spells or higher. At each level in which a prestige class grants an increase to the character's caster level, the character gains an additional spell slot in any level of spell he can cast. These are bonus spell slots (and so are not doubled by a ring of wizardry), and a character can gain up to 3 bonus spell slots in any given spell level through prestige class progression.

Saving Throws: Saving throws experience a reduced progression. The poor saves have no increase with level (gaining +0 at each level). Good saves increase +1 at the first level in the class, then +1 at every even-numbered level after that.

Abilities: Upon reaching 7th level, the character may spend experience points to increase their ability scores (in addition to the ability increase gained at 8th level). Each increase improves the ability score by +1.



Ability Score
Cost of Increase


8 or below
100 EXP


9
250 EXP


10
500 EXP


11
750 EXP


12
1,000 EXP


13
1,250 EXP


14
1,500 EXP


15
2,000 EXP


16
2,500 EXP


17
3,250 EXP


18
4,000 EXP


19 or above
5,000 EXP


For example, a character with a Wisdom of 6 could increase his Wisdom to 10 by expending 550 experience points (100 to 7, 100 to 8, 100 to 9, and 250 to 10), and increase his 18 Strength to 20 by expending 9,000 experience points (4,000 to 19, 5,000 to 20).

Skills: Skill ranks still max out at 9 (for this reason, skill tricks are suggested for using excess skill points). Skill points can also be purchased for 200 experience points each.

Feats: Characters gain a new feat at 7th, 9th, and 11th levels. They can also purchase feats for 5,000 experience points each upon reaching 7th level, and qualify for epic feats as though they were epic-level characters (with skill rank requirements reduced to a maximum of 9). The DM should eliminate game-breakers (like anything involving epic spellcasting).

[Jormengand]

Spellcasting: Caster level progresses normally and the character gains additional spells known (if applicable), but they do not gain access to 4th-level spells or higher. At each level in which a prestige class grants an increase to the character's caster level, the character gains an additional spell slot in any level of spell he can cast. These are bonus spell slots (and so are not doubled by a ring of wizardry), and a character can gain up to 3 bonus spell slots in any given spell level through prestige class progression.

One thing I would say is that this makes Dragon Disciple actually really, really good because it already does that, and is balanced around not really being a good caster class. This fix would make it be as good as any other 4/5 casting class, plus neat dragony bits.

More importantly, this makes Mystic Theurges/Cerebremancers/whatevers hilariously overpowered, because they get access to the highest spell level from two casting classes at no real cost - they end up with almost twice as many spells per day as a normal caster. In fact, you could just go wizard 3 cleric 3 psion 3 MT 2 and have 3rd-level casting twice and 2nd-level manifesting on top, if you were feeling really silly.

[Solaris]

One thing I would say is that this makes Dragon Disciple actually really, really good because it already does that, and is balanced around not really being a good caster class. This fix would make it be as good as any other 4/5 casting class, plus neat dragony bits.

That's a feature, not a bug. DD was what inspired the function, actually. I don't want to shut off spellcasting progression completely, and this seems to be the most efficient way to go about not letting it wander into the game-breaking levels. Given that ability score increases are available to anyone at this level, those are decreased in value leaving essentially the dragony bits to define the class.

If nothing else, that means Dragon Disciple is an attractive PrC option as opposed to... not so much.


More importantly, this makes Mystic Theurges/Cerebremancers/whatevers hilariously overpowered, because they get access to the highest spell level from two casting classes at no real cost - they end up with almost twice as many spells per day as a normal caster. In fact, you could just go wizard 3 cleric 3 psion 3 MT 2 and have 3rd-level casting twice and 2nd-level manifesting on top, if you were feeling really silly.

For a given value of power, yes. To my knowledge, there aren't a huge amount of action economy-breaking abilities that are available at these levels that permit the character to cast more than one spell per round. Thus, while the character has more spells and the natural increase of versatility that comes with it, they're still not rocking too many of the game-breakers and while they're good, they're not overpoweringly so. In a way, having a plethora of low-level spells is a good thing, as that prevents the 15-minute workday problem from cropping up quite so often.

The reason I cropped spellcasting at 3rd level was that was something of a sweet spot in my experience, where spells are interesting and powerful enough to make the earlier levels pay off, but still not so much that they completely render the rest of the party obsolete.

[Jormengand]

If nothing else, that means Dragon Disciple is an attractive PrC option as opposed to... not so much.
No, what it means is that Dragon Disciple is flat-out better than the other casting PrCs except MT. Want to be a gish? You go EK, right? Nope, you go DD. Not like you're losing any of your attacks out of it, and the strength bonus makes up for the loss of attack bonus. It's not just viable, it's better.

Though what you actually do is just pick up wizard levels on top of your sorcerer levels, because you end up better than anything else you could have done by PrCing.


For a given value of power, yes. To my knowledge, there aren't a huge amount of action economy-breaking abilities that are available at these levels that permit the character to cast more than one spell per round. Thus, while the character has more spells and the natural increase of versatility that comes with it, they're still not rocking too many of the game-breakers and while they're good, they're not overpoweringly so. In a way, having a plethora of low-level spells is a good thing, as that prevents the 15-minute workday problem from cropping up quite so often.

The reason I cropped spellcasting at 3rd level was that was something of a sweet spot in my experience, where spells are interesting and powerful enough to make the earlier levels pay off, but still not so much that they completely render the rest of the party obsolete.

Again, that would be fine, if everyone else got it. But there's just no reason not to go MT rather than straight wizard, because straight wizard gets fewer spells, off a smaller list. Hell, there's no reason not to go DD over straight sorcerer.

[SkipSandwich]

Again, that would be fine, if everyone else got it. But there's just no reason not to go MT rather than straight wizard, because straight wizard gets fewer spells, off a smaller list. Hell, there's no reason not to go DD over straight sorcerer.

Actually, if I'm reading this correctly, used as intended with E6 specific classes you can't progress past 6th level in any given base class. You can gain these psudo epic levels by multi-classing in a different base class such as Paladin 6 into Monk 5, but a Wizard6 would not be able to simply continue taking levels of Wizard and would have to either take levels of an appropriate prestige class (Archmage) or multi class or both.

[Solaris]

No, what it means is that Dragon Disciple is flat-out better than the other casting PrCs except MT. Want to be a gish? You go EK, right? Nope, you go DD. Not like you're losing any of your attacks out of it, and the strength bonus makes up for the loss of attack bonus. It's not just viable, it's better.

Though what you actually do is just pick up wizard levels on top of your sorcerer levels, because you end up better than anything else you could have done by PrCing.

~~~

Again, that would be fine, if everyone else got it. But there's just no reason not to go MT rather than straight wizard, because straight wizard gets fewer spells, off a smaller list. Hell, there's no reason not to go DD over straight sorcerer.

How is this different from standard D&D? Eldritch knight has always been rather underwhelming, flavor-wise, and while dragon disciple is now crunch-wise better than EK (instead of the reverse) it's still less better than non-spellcasting PrCs than 4/5 and 9/10 classes are in vanilla.

Mystic theurge does the exact same thing in vanilla. Considering the intent of this ruleset is to maintain a breadth of ability while keeping the top end low, I'm not seeing the problem there.

You're highlighting problems, sure, but they're not problems I'm trying to fix with this because they're rather intrinsic to D&D as a whole. There is always going to be a superior option whether it's vanilla 3.X D&D, E6, E6+5, or Pathfinder.


Actually, if I'm reading this correctly, used as intended with E6 specific classes you can't progress past 6th level in any given base class. You can gain these psudo epic levels by multi-classing in a different base class such as Paladin 6 into Monk 5, but a Wizard6 would not be able to simply continue taking levels of Wizard and would have to either take levels of an appropriate prestige class (Archmage) or multi class or both.

You read correctly. I thought about doing "epic" versions of the classes, or 'porting over Epic rules for them with suitable adjustments, but PrCs do that well enough for me.

[SkipSandwich]

You read correctly. I thought about doing "epic" versions of the classes, or 'porting over Epic rules for them with suitable adjustments, but PrCs do that well enough for me.

I feel the same way. I've always been interested in playing an E6 game, since I enjoy the challenge of overcoming the odds and besting numerically superior opponents through a combination of wit, planning and luck. Do you know if anyone has already done any E6 PrC conversions yet? If not I might try my hand at converting at least the SRD prc's to work with your system. Do you have a favored set (or sets) of pre-existing E6 base classes I should look at in that case?

[Solaris]

I feel the same way. I've always been interested in playing an E6 game, since I enjoy the challenge of overcoming the odds and besting numerically superior opponents through a combination of wit, planning and luck. Do you know if anyone has already done any E6 PrC conversions yet? If not I might try my hand at converting at least the SRD prc's to work with your system. Do you have a favored set (or sets) of pre-existing E6 base classes I should look at in that case?

I haven't seen any work done on E6 PrC conversions yet, at least not for the style I'm going with here. Something tickles the back of my brain for standard E6 PrCs, but I can't recall enough info on them to search for them.
If you want to do the SRD PrCs for this system, that'd be awesome.

I'm still working on the base classes. I did up some earlier ones for a specialized campaign setting (my prehistoric one), which rely on a number of house rules and setting assumptions and need a spot of adaptation to translate over to standard settings. The spellcasters are getting the least amount of work done, at least for now, while things like the barbarian and monk get their class features accelerated (and streamlined). I'm resisting the urge to homebrew new features, as my intention with this is to retain as much as possible without overdoing the 'fixes' so I can maintain ease of access, if that makes any sense.

I'm also looking at putting capstones into the classes, so that there's a benefit to taking all six levels rather than multi-classing. For the barbarian, it's getting mighty rage and DR 5/-.

[LIST=1]


Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special


1st
+1
+2
+0
+0
Rage*, illiteracy, fast movement


2nd
+2
+3
+0
+0
Uncanny dodge, trap sense +1


3rd
+3
+3
+1
+1
Indomitable will, DR 1/-


4th
+4
+4
+1
+1
Greater rage, trap sense +2


5th
+5
+4
+1
+1
Improved uncanny dodge, DR 3/-


6th
+6/+1
+5
+2
+2
Mighty rage, trap sense +3, DR 5/-

*: Might keep this as a 1/day, might make it more of an encounter power. Might key it off of action points, which I've always liked with E6. Not sure yet.

[SkipSandwich]

Action points are great, they let you run games that are of higher base lethality with less risk of accidentally killing off a pc in a non-climatic encounter.

I would say do a little of both, Rage 1/day with the option to spend an action point for additional uses past the 1st.

I've got some free time coming up tomorrow and monday, so I'll try and get some converted prc's posted up by then. Most of them should be fairly easy, though some will require significant reworking either because they rely on things you just don't get in E6 (thaumaturgist revovles aound the use of planar ally, a 4th level spell) or possess other balance issues (Shadowdancer's Summoned Shadow is especially powerful against low CR foes that lack the means to combat it's incorporeal nature)

[SkipSandwich]

1st up is the Assassin

Assassin
Hit Die: d6
Requirements
Alignment: Any Non-Good, an Assassin who becomes good may no longer advance as an Assassin, but they retain all class features previously earned.
First change from vanilla, only because I prefer more open alignment requirements
Skills
Disguise 4 Ranks, Hide 8 Ranks, Move Silently 8 Ranks

Special
The character must kill someone for no other reason than to join the assassins.

Class Skills
The assassin’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level
4 + Int modifier.


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Features
1st +0 +0 +1 +0 Sneak Attack +1d6, Death Attack, Poison Use, Spells
2nd +1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Save Vs. Poison
3rd +2 +0 +2 +0 Sneak Attack +2d6, Uncanny Dodge (Improved)
4th +3 +0 +3 +0 +4 Save Vs. Poison
5th +3 +0 +3 +0 Sneak Attack +3d6, Hide in Plain Sight


Class Features

All of the following are Class Features of the assassin prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Assassins are proficient with the crossbow (hand, light, or heavy), dagger (any type), dart, rapier, sap, shortbow (normal and composite), shuriken, and short sword. Assassins are proficient with light armor but not with shields.
aside from the addition of shuriken to the proficiency list, no change
Sneak Attack
As the Rogue ability of the same name.

Death Attack
If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin’s choice). While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the assassin’s class level + the assassin’s Int modifier) against the kill effect, she dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the assassin. If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds.
If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save) or if the assassin does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before he can attempt another death attack.

Poison Use
Assassins are trained in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade.

Spells
Beginning at 1st level, an assassin gains the ability to cast a number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, an assassin must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so an assassin with an Intelligence of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Assassin bonus spells are based on Intelligence, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the assassin’s Intelligence bonus. When the assassin gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Intelligence score for that spell level.
The assassin’s spell list appears below. An assassin casts spells just as a bard does.

Save Bonus against Poison
The assassin gains +2 bonus to saving throws against poison at 2nd level, this increases to +4 at 4th level.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
Starting at 3rd level, an assassin retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)
If a character already possesed Uncanny Dodge then they gain Improved Uncanny Dodge instead (see below)
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
The assassin can no longer be flanked, since he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the assassin. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the assassin can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).
If a character gains uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge, and the levels from those classes stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su)
At 5th level, an assassin can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as he is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, an assassin can hide himself from view in the open without having anything to actually hide behind. He cannot, however, hide in his own shadow.


Assassin Spell List
Assassins choose their spells from the following list:
1st Level
disguise self, detect poison, feather fall, ghost sound, jump, obscuring mist, sleep, true strike.
2nd Level
alter self, cat’s grace, darkness, fox’s cunning, illusory script, invisibility, pass without trace, spider climb, undetectable alignment.
3rd Level
deep slumber, deeper darkness, false life, magic circle against good, misdirection, nondetection.


Level --- Spells Known --- Spells per Day ---
1st---2nd---3rd --- 1st --- 2nd --- 3rd ---
1st 2 ------------------- 1 --- --- --- --- ---
2nd 3 -------------------- 2 --- --- --- --- ---
3rd 3 --- 2 ------------- 3 --- 1 --- --- ---
4th 4 --- 3 -------------- 3 --- 2 --- --- ---
5th 4 --- 3 --- 2 --------- 3 --- 2 --- 1 ---

[Zale]

So something like this?

Eldritch Knight
Hit Die: d6
Requirements
Weapon Proficiency: Must be proficient with all martial weapons.
Spells: Able to cast 2nd-level arcane spells.
Base Attack Bonus: +4

Class Skills
The eldritch knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str) and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at Each Level
4 + Int modifier.


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Features
1st +1 +1 +0 +1 Armor Use, Arcane Strike, Bonus Feat
2nd +2 +2 +0 +2 Martial Arcana, + 1 Caster Level
3rd +3 +2 +0 +2 Spell-Strike 1/day, +1 Caster Level
4th +4 +3 +0 +3 Martial Arcana, +1 Caster Level
5th +5 +3 +0 +3 Martial Arcana, Spell-Strike 3/day, +1 Caster Level


Class Features

All of the following are Class Features of the Eldritch Knight prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Eldritch knights gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Armor Use (Ex): An Eldritch Knight is more adjusted to spell-casting in armor. They suffer no arcane spell penalty while wearing light armor or using a light, or lighter, shield.

Spell Strike (Su): By channeling their arcane power to a less subtle effort, an Eldritch Knight can strike down foes. So long as an Eldritch Knight has at least one first level spell or higher available to cast, they may use a swift action to cause all attacks they make this round to deal an additional amount of fire, cold, electric or acid damage equal to their intelligence modifier.

Once an Eldritch Knight has used this ability, they must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again.

Bonus Feat: At 1st level an Eldritch Knight may choose a bonus feat from the Fighter or Wizard bonus feat list.

Hello actual class features. The armor use is something that EDKs should have got anyway; the Spell Strike is just a fun, but not overwhelming, ability.

Spells: At every level but the first, an Eldritch Knight increases their caster level, effectively stacking their Eldritch Knight levels with their levels in their previous spell-casting class. They gain additional spells known (If applicable), but do not gain access to 4th-level spells or higher. At each level in which the Eldritch Knight gains an increase to caster level, they gain an additional spell slot in any level of spell they can cast. These are bonus spell slots (and so are not doubled by a ring of wizardry), and a character can gain up to 3 bonus spell slots in any given spell level through prestige class progression.

Martial Arcana (Su): An Eldritch Knight selects one of the abilities below at each level they gain a Martial Arcana. Unless otherwise stated, they may not gain the same Martial Arcana twice.

Armor of Enchantment: So long as the Eldritch Knight as at least one first level spell or higher available to be cast, they reduce the Arcane Spell Failure of any medium or heavy armor they wear by 10%; they reduce all armor check penalties they take by their intelligence modifier.
Weapon of Enchantment: An Eldritch Knight gains a competence bonus to attack and damage equal to the spell level of the highest level spell they have available to be cast.
Arcane Vigor: At the start of each encounter, an Eldritch Knight gains temporary hit-points equal to their caster level. These hit-points last for a number of rounds equal to their intelligence modifier. The amount of temporary hit points they gain is reduced by two for each encounter per day after the first. This reduction is removed whenever the Eldritch Knight recovers their spells.
Arcane Reach: So long as the Eldritch Knight has at least one second level spell or higher available to be cast, they increase their reach by five feet.

Inspired by the Archmage's arcana, but with less losing spell slots. This may need a look at, but they were mostly made to try to promote synergy between the arcane caster side of the PrC and the fighty/stabby side.

Spell-Strike (Su): A number of times per day as shown on the above table, an Eldritch Knight may channel their arcane potential to allow them to surpass the normal limits of spellcasting. An Eldritch Knight may spend a use of Spell-Strike to cast a spell as part of an attack or full-attack. This spell takes no additional action, resolving as part of the attack. If the spell targets a creature other than the Eldritch Knight, it must target the creature the Eldritch Knight is attacking, or include them in it's area of effect.

So this. This is basically a once-a-day quicken linked to stabbing things. It improves to a thrice a day ability at level five.

[Solaris]

Good idea with giving the eldritch knight class features, Zale. I rather like them.

Here's the arcane archer. I reduced the BAB requirements down more than strictly necessary to permit greater flexibility in the classes. It can have about three levels of wizard and three levels of a full-BAB class and still achieve entry, though I've done nothing to increase its spellcasting capabilities.

Arcane Archer
Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To qualify to become an arcane archer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Elf or half-elf.
Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow or shortbow).
Spells: Ability to cast 1st-level arcane spells.
Class Skills
The arcane archer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

The Arcane Archer


Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special


1st
+1
+2
+2
+0
Enhance arrow


2nd
+2
+3
+3
+0
Imbue arrow


3rd
+3
+3
+3
+1
Seeker arrow


4th
+4
+4
+4
+1
Phase arrow


5th
+5
+4
+4
+1
Hail of arrows, arrow of death



Class Features
All of the following are class features of the arcane archer prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The arcane archer is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields.

Enhance Arrow (Su): At 1st level, every nonmagical arrow an arcane archer nocks and lets fly becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magic weapons created by normal means, the archer need not spend experience points or gold pieces to accomplish this task. However, an arcane archer's arrows only function for her.
At 2nd level and each level of this prestige class thereafter, the enhancement bonus improves by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 5th level.

Imbue Arrow (Sp): At 2nd level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place an area spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell’s area is centered on where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow’s range rather than the spell’s range. It takes a standard action to cast the spell and fire the arrow. The arrow must be fired in the round the spell is cast, or the spell is wasted.

Seeker Arrow (Sp): At 3rd level, an arcane archer can launch an arrow once per day at a target known to her within range, and the arrow travels to the target, even around corners. Only an unavoidable obstacle or the limit of the arrow’s range prevents the arrow’s flight. This ability negates cover and concealment modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action).

Phase Arrow (Sp): At 4th level, an arcane archer can launch an arrow once per day at a target known to her within range, and the arrow travels to the target in a straight path, passing through any nonmagical barrier or wall in its way. (Any magical barrier stops the arrow.) This ability negates cover, concealment, and even armor modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally.
Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action).

Hail of Arrows (Sp): In lieu of her regular attacks, once per day an arcane archer of 5th level or higher can fire an arrow at each and every target within range, to a maximum of one target for every arcane archer level she has earned. Each attack uses the archer’s primary attack bonus, and each enemy may only be targeted by a single arrow.

Arrow of Death (Sp): At 5th level, an arcane archer can create an arrow of death that forces the target, if damaged by the arrow’s attack, to make a DC 20 Fortitude save or be slain immediately. It takes one day to make an arrow of death, and the arrow only functions for the arcane archer who created it. The arrow of death lasts no longer than one year, and the archer can only have one such arrow in existence at a time.

Noting the way saves work, arcane archer's arrow of death is actually one of the better save-or-die effects available. It sits nicely as a PrC capstone.

[Jormengand]

This is just an idea, but might solve some of the Dragon Disciple's problems:


Dragon Disciple Warrior
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+1+2+0+2Natural Armour Increase (+1)
2nd+2+3+0+3Strength Bonus (+2)
3rd+3+3+1+3Breath Weapon
4th+4+4+1+4Wings, Strength Bonus (+2), Natural Armour Increase (+2)
5th+5+4+1+4Dragon Apotheosis

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d12

Requirements
To qualify to become a dragon disciple warrior, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Race
Any nondragon (cannot already be a half-dragon).

Base Attack Bonus
+6

Languages
Draconic.

Special

The player chooses a dragon variety when taking the first level in this prestige class.

Class Skills:
The dragon disciple warrior’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Speak Language (None), and Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armour Proficiency
Dragon Disciple warriors are proficient with their own natural weapons, and all simple weapons.

Natural Armor Increase (Ex)
At 1st and 4th level, a dragon disciple warrior gains an increase to the character’s existing natural armor (if any), as indicated on Table: The Dragon Disciple Warrior (the numbers represent the total increase gained to that point). As his skin thickens, a dragon disciple warrior takes on more and more of his progenitor’s physical aspect.

Claws and Bite (Ex)

At 2nd level, a dragon disciple warrior gains claw and bite attacks if he does not already have them. Use the values below or the disciple’s base claw and bite damage values, whichever are greater. When making a full attack, a dragon disciple uses his full base attack bonus with his bite attack and claw attacks.

SizeBite DamageClaw Damage
Small1d41d3
Medium1d61d4
Large1d81d6

Ability Boost (Ex)

As a dragon disciple warrior gains levels in this prestige class, his strength increases as noted on Table: The Dragon Disciple Warrior. These increases stack and are gained as if through level advancement.

Breath Weapon (Su)
At 3rd level, a dragon disciple warrior gains a minor breath weapon. The type and shape depend on the dragon variety whose heritage he enjoys. Regardless of the ancestor, the breath weapon deals 2d8 points of damage of the appropriate energy type.

The DC of the breath weapon is 10 + class level + Con modifier.

A line-shaped breath weapon is 5 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 60 feet long. A cone-shaped breath weapon is 30 feet long.

Wings (Ex)
At 4th level, a dragon disciple warrior grows a set of draconic wings. He may now fly at a speed equal to his normal land speed, with average maneuverability.

Dragon Apotheosis
At 5th level, a dragon disciple warrior takes on the half-dragon template. However, apart from his flight, all of his class features are subsumed by the greater benefit of the template, rather than stacking with them.


Dragon Disciple Mage
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
Bonus Spells
1st+1+2+0+2Natural Armour Increase (+1)
0
2nd+2+3+0+3Charisma Bonus (+2)
1
3rd+3+3+1+3Breath Weapon
0
4th+4+4+1+4Wings, Natural Armour Increase (+2)
1
5th+5+4+1+4Half-Dragon Apotheosis
0

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d12

Requirements
To qualify to become a dragon disciple mage, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Race
Any nondragon (cannot already be a half-dragon).

Skills
Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks.

Languages
Draconic.

Spellcasting
Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells without preparation.

Special
The player chooses a dragon variety when taking the first level in this prestige class.

Class Skills:
The dragon disciple mage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency
Dragon Disciple warriors are proficient with their own natural weapons, and all simple weapons.

Natural Armor Increase (Ex)
At 1st and 4th level, a dragon disciple mage gains an increase to the character’s existing natural armor (if any), as indicated on Table: The Dragon Disciple Mage (the numbers represent the total increase gained to that point). As her skin thickens, a dragon disciple warrior takes on more and more of her progenitor’s physical aspect.

Claws and Bite (Ex)

At 2nd level, a dragon disciple mage gains claw and bite attacks if she does not already have them. Use the values below or the disciple’s base claw and bite damage values, whichever are greater. When making a full attack, a dragon disciple uses her full base attack bonus with her bite attack but takes a -5 penalty on claw attacks. The Multiattack feat reduces this penalty to only -2.

SizeBite DamageClaw Damage
Small1d41d3
Medium1d61d4
Large1d81d6

Ability Boost (Ex)

At second level, the dragon disciple mage's charisma increases by 2. This increase is gained as if through level advancement.

Breath Weapon (Su)
At 3rd level, a dragon disciple mage gains a minor breath weapon. The type and shape depend on the dragon variety whose heritage she enjoys. Regardless of the ancestor, the breath weapon deals 2d8 points of damage of the appropriate energy type.

The DC of the breath weapon is 10 + class level + Con modifier.

A line-shaped breath weapon is 5 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 60 feet long. A cone-shaped breath weapon is 30 feet long.

Wings (Ex)
At 4th level, a dragon disciple mage grows a set of draconic wings. She may now fly at a speed equal to her normal land speed, with average maneuverability.

Half-Dragon Apotheosis (Ex)
At 5th level, a dragon disciple mage takes on a limited version of the half-dragon template. Her breath weapon deals 4d8 points of damage, and she gains +2 to strength, intelligence and constitution. She gains energy resistance 20 instead of energy immunity. She is immune to sleep effects but not paralysis effects and has low-light vision but not darkvision.