Multiclass or prestige class?

[Bkos]

I'm a new player. Just started with a ranger. I want to add some illusion spells to him. Should I multi class in wizard/sorcerer (which one?) Or should I try to homebrew a prestige class? I'd be fine giving up some ranger perks, such as further favorite enemies.

Would a prestige build allow me to gain a couple rogue advantages too?

[Gruftzwerg]

I'm a new player. Just started with a ranger. I want to add some illusion spells to him. Should I multi class in wizard/sorcerer (which one?) Or should I try to homebrew a prestige class? I'd be fine giving up some ranger perks, such as further favorite enemies.

Would a prestige build allow me to gain a couple rogue advantages too?

muti-classing (& somtimes prestige classes too) is s difficult discipline for beginners.
Just mixing in this & that because you want some illusion favor here & some rogue flavor there, can lead you very fast into a total wasted build because instead of a jack-of-all-trades you become a master-of-nothing. Your spells are just weak low lvl while pure casters have more powerful spells on the same lvl. Pure Stealth-classes will have better spot/listen & hide/move silently scores, than just a rogues dip would do. The caster lvl will dump your attack bonus compare to full Base Attack Bonus (BAB) classes. Most classes rely on some feats to make good use of their potential, but you don't get more feats for multiclassing and have to choose which aspect of your class combo you wanna push.

That being said, now lets see why so many people do actually play multiclasses & make use of prestige classes (PRC).
- some base classes fall off of power at later lvls (not all) which is why most people consider multiclassing and than go into a PRC.
- most of the times when you multiclass, it will be to enter a PRC that has a mix of both base classes or have class ability requirements from them (e.g. Turn Undead, arcane/divine spellcating, sneak attack and so on..)
- PRC are specializing into things while giving up other things the base classes would have give them. So, you have an interest to get rid of those thing that you don't need for your concept, while trying to add things with feats and PRC that add to your concept.
- when designing a character you should first think about a concept and try to find rules (feats & PRC) that fits your ideas. Most people will know at start of the campaign, which base classes & feats they will take over the first 5-10 lvls (if the champaign goes that far ;) and plan the steps needed to enter their chosen PRC. Hardcore optimizers spend more time theorizing about their builds than actually play them (count me in here^^).

IMHO the best thing would be for you to give us more details about what your character concept looks like. Any fictional characters from movie/books can be used to describe what you wanna accomplish. Than we could try to tailor you a build around your ideas. Most things can be somehow fit into the D&D world, but sometimes what you want kicks in very late (lvls) or is to incompatible to fit into 20 d&d lvls.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Please note that there is a feat (Sword of the Arcane Order) that allows you to cast wizard spells from your ranger slots. While the exact specifics of how the feat works in unclear that will give you access to low level arcane illusion spells.

[Dagroth]

Simplest way... there's a Feat in the Forgotten Realms books called "Sword of the Arcane Order". It allows you to learn & cast Wizard spells in your Ranger spell slots.

[weckar]

Depending on how much you want - you are in luck with Illusion as most of its signature spells (Silent Image) are quite low level. A Beguiler dip would get you those spells a decent number of times per day while also giving you some minor rogue-like advantages such as unlocked skills and trapfinding.

[Bkos]

IMHO the best thing would be for you to give us more details about what your character concept looks like. Any fictional characters from movie/books can be used to describe what you wanna accomplish. Than we could try to tailor you a build around your ideas. Most things can be somehow fit into the D&D world, but sometimes what you want kicks in very late (lvls) or is to incompatible to fit into 20 d&d lvls.

Well my thought was to have a "ghost of the forest" type character. Someone who is in tune with animals and can create illusions and conjure fog and the like to disorient and trick enemies

[Gruftzwerg]

well, most "fog"-type spells are conjuration and not illusion to begin with.

Maybe have a look at the druids spell list (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/druidSpells.htm).
Starting at lvl 1 you get "Obscuring Mist". Druid is also the real nature/animal friend guy which would fit your description.

Imho it could be what you are looking for.
Than dip a few lvls into druid or ask DM to change complete into a druid.

[sleepyphoenixx]

You can get both the casting and the rogue skills in-class, so there's no need to multiclass at all.
Sword of the Arcane Order was already mentioned. For the rogue skills, Dungeonscape has an ACF that replaces tracking with trapfinding and disable device as a class skill.
There's also the Scout, which multiclasses well with Ranger thanks to the Swift Hunter feat but loses ranger spellcasting.