What Prestige Classes do you find most interesting

[Wartex1]

Everyone knows about overpowered prestige classes like the Ur-Priest, Sublime Chord, and Hulking Hurler, but what Prestige classes do you think are the most interesting or underappreciated?

[StriderITP]

Master of Nine and Master of Masks always interested me, despite how generally weak they are. Master of Nine because I like having a boatload of maneuvers, Master of Masks because it has one of the few ways to actually make Exotic Weapons not a total waste of time and resources.

[Venger]

Everyone knows about overpowered prestige classes like the Ur-Priest, Sublime Chord, and Hulking Hurler, but what Prestige classes do you think are the most interesting or underappreciated?

I'm a big fan of luckstealer. it's not going to break any campaigns, but it has a mechanic to pull off infinite luck rerolls, so it's not too bad.

[Hiro Quester]

Swiftblade has always intrigued me. I like playing a Gish type, and swiftblade is designed for that role. Some intriguing class features.

Plus it has lots of role-playing potential, as a speed-freak addict who hates waiting, always impatient to get his haste-high.

[Nifft]

Chameleon for me. Justifies an otherwise wasteful stroll through low-level multiclassing, plus it's a fun class to play.

Others that are neat...

- Cataclysm Mage (from one of the Eberron books)

- Arcane Hierophant (from Races of the Wild)

- Thrallherd (from the Expanded Psionics Handbook)

- Jaunter (from a module ... uh, Expedition to Demonweb maybe?)

[Venger]

Chameleon for me. Justifies an otherwise wasteful stroll through low-level multiclassing, plus it's a fun class to play.

Others that are neat...

- Cataclysm Mage (from one of the Eberron books)

- Arcane Hierophant (from Races of the Wild)

- Thrallherd (from the Expanded Psionics Handbook)

- Jaunter (from a module ... uh, Expedition to Demonweb maybe?)

chameleon is the best class. it's my favorite too.

jaunter is indeed from expedition to the demonweb pits.

[ayvango]

I have few favourite classes in terms of mechanics uniqueness. They are not necessary powerful, but definitely fun to play: swift blade, telflammar shadow lord, chameleon, master thrower, drunken master.

[Chronikoce]

Alienist. It's got so much flavor and it's fun to roleplay.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Mind Mage! The only theurge worth playing!

Swiftblade! Incantatrix! Telflammar Shadowlord!

I like Master Specialist because it fits well to an academic structure, with apprentices at level 1-3, masters at 4+, and archmages at 14+.

True Necromancer + Yathrinshee is a favourite of mine, too. And Horned Harbinger, for a dip.

Ordained Champion, Ruby Knight Vindicator, prestige paladin.

[Albions_Angel]

Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil

Its a pig to get into, but its a super cool, 7 level class that, by the end, renders you almost immortal. And in such a thematic way. I can see a caster, striding across the battlefield, waving their hand to bring up shimmering bands that disintegrate incoming spells and weapons. And then, when faced with another powerful caster, they can turn their own spells against them, forcing them through each of the 7 veils.

[Ellrin]

I love the idea of the Cerebrex from Dragon Compendium, but the execution is a bloody mess. The class abilities are weak and/or use some oddball mechanics that are for no particular reason more difficult to achieve than more typical mechanics, and it's a primary casting chassis with only half casting progression.

The whole "unparalleled mastery over your own mind" schtick is really cool, though. Just wish the written content was better.

[flappeercraft]

Drunken master has some interesting fluff.

Abjurant Champion is also a pretty interesting class and powerful enough to stay relevant regardless of optimization.

[Wartex1]

I like the Malconvoker and Walker in the Waste, but after looking up the Alienist, that seems really neat too.

[Sajiri]

I always liked fochlucan lyrist, I dont know why. It was a bit of everything but had this nature/bardic flair to it.

I also liked daggerspell mage and shaper (I like magic and melee hybrids, particularly with a dual wield theme if you couldnt tell).

There was another big one Im sure Im forgetting, but its not even 7am yet so I cant remember

[Menzath]

schtick is really cool, though. Just wish the written content was better.

That's how I feel about so many PRC's the thematic qualities are amazing, the execution is lackluster.

And for that purpose I love groups of PRC's that interact in odd and unintended ways.

Like using prestige bard to get into sublime chord to single class qualify for ultimate magus. I am now a firm believer in prestige bard.
Or classes that change your race/template when they shouldn't be able to, so nothing makes sense.

I still haven't found a way to become a master of many forms before lvl 5 without severe cheese sadly.

[Someguy231]

One of my fave Prestige Classes is Occult Slayer.

[Nifft]

I always liked fochlucan lyrist, I dont know why. It was a bit of everything but had this nature/bardic flair to it.
Take a look at the Green Whisperer PrC in Dragon Magazine (#311, p.69).

5 levels, 3/4 BAB, advances both Bard and Druid casting, and advances all Bard features (music & knowledge). Only 4 skill points per level, but that's a small price for what you get.

It's a perfect segue from Bard + Druid into Fochlucan Lyrist.


One of my fave Prestige Classes is Occult Slayer.
Yeah that's a great class.

I wish it were higher power sometimes, but it's pretty good at what it does.

[Wartex1]

Oh, and aside from single Prestige Classes, what combos do people find most interesting? It could just be multiple PrCs, but it could also be a PrC with a specific class entry like Walker in the Waste with Spirit Shaman (I've always wanted to use it with an Urban Druid and have them make a city of Undead, but I could never get the prerequisites with U. Druid).

[SirNibbles]

I love the flavour of the Skullclan Hunter (Miniatures Handbook, page 20). The execution is pretty good too, though not very powerful for high-op games.


That's how I feel about so many PRC's the thematic qualities are amazing, the execution is lackluster.

And for that purpose I love groups of PRC's that interact in odd and unintended ways.

Like using prestige bard to get into sublime chord to single class qualify for ultimate magus. I am now a firm believer in prestige bard.
Or classes that change your race/template when they shouldn't be able to, so nothing makes sense.

I still haven't found a way to become a master of many forms before lvl 5 without severe cheese sadly.

Execution is certainly the biggest shortcoming of so many classes. Whether the class is hampered by absurd entry requirements, pointless abilities, or some other stupidity, you can count on a good idea not being done well.
___

Totem Shape (arguably) gets you into MoMF at level 2 and it's not too cheesy.

[Telok]

I've always loved the look and feel of that magic tattoo monk PrC. Pity it's terribly underpowered on top of the usual unfocused monk chassis.

[NecroDancer]

Dirge Singer is a great bardic necromancer prestige class with some unique songs that are worth losing 5 spell casting levels. The capstone is flavorful and fun.

[Kantolin]

Stonedeath Assassin is really cool. I generally house rule their meld with stone feature, which is central to the class, as 'At-will' and not 'Once a day', haha.

And then Master of the Unseen Hand is quite fun. Sadly, you have to wait until level 10 to get in (Minus shenanigans), but hey. MotUH seems particularly neat for a Psychic Warrior in concept, although I haven't actually done that (Psywars get telekinetic maneuver just in time), and then it helps your BAB.

[Gruftzwerg]

Bloodstorm Blade, cause it opens up so much cheese to throw your weapon and let it still count as melee attack.


Oh, and aside from single Prestige Classes, what combos do people find most interesting? It could just be multiple PrCs, but it could also be a PrC with a specific class entry like Walker in the Waste with Spirit Shaman (I've always wanted to use it with an Urban Druid and have them make a city of Undead, but I could never get the prerequisites with U. Druid).

Combine BSB with any ubercharger build (see my ShurikenNado and Hammerdin of Moradin builds) and have fun. Being a ranged ubercharger is much safer (due to low AC -Shock Trooper) and deadlier (due to the reach).

Another option is to combine BSB with a Duskbalde to apply touch spells at range (e.g. Shivering Touch, see signature).

[StreamOfTheSky]

Master of Many Forms: I love shape-changing focused characters, and this is as focused as you can get.

Warshaper: Above, plus gets cool/gross abilities like shuffling organs around internally and sprouting tentacles in the darndest places.

Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil: Never even used the personal warding, would be fine w/ removing it. I liked it for the wall and area wardings to protect allies; a sort of arcane protector, not two things usually placed together.

Drunken Master: It's just fun. Threatening with absurdly long ladders or troll gut rope is hilarious.

Dervish: Even if it was outclassed later in 3E, I just love the fast and flashy style of combat. 3E melee is way too static. First class to really let you somersault around and still do a lot of damage. I actually never even used it w/ 2 scimitars, I enjoyed using a guisarme for reach-tripping antics as foes try to catch back up to me.

Shadowcraft Mage: I love the whole concept and beginning to think of illusions as real, plus it just adds so much versatility. It's not powerful aside from cheese (shadow miracles, mainly), but it's like the bard of primary casters, lets you do a lot of stuff on the fly.

Master Thrower and Bloodstorm Blade: Usually take both together, but I like them for similar reasons. Lets you do a ton more things with thrown attacks, most notably combat maneuvers (trip shot via MT; w/ BB you can do any weapon-based maneuver and combine w/ knockback and dungeoncrasher fighter to smash enemies into walls with spoons or whatnot).

Thrallherd: No idea how it isn't evil by default, but that's how I play it. Like Xykon, sacrificing minions b/c you can always get more.


Another option is to combine BSB with a Duskbalde to apply touch spells at range (e.g. Shivering Touch, see signature).
i've always wanted to play a Duskblade with like...3 levels in Dervish and Whirlwind Attack feat (you get that far in Dervish, and you've already met all the requirements for it), to be able to do the full attack channel spell while moving between each attack and w/ WWA being able to hit every enemy in the room. Shame there isn't an "Extra Dervish Dance" feat.
Of course, that's using the accepted rules interpretation that you can only channel spell each enemy once in a single casting + full attack. If your DM lets you unload onto one guy repeatedly, the above build is losing CL and feats just to do something worse than you already can (focus firing).

[Kantolin]

Oh, and aside from single Prestige Classes, what combos do people find most interesting? It could just be multiple PrCs, but it could also be a PrC with a specific class entry like Walker in the Waste with Spirit Shaman (I've always wanted to use it with an Urban Druid and have them make a city of Undead, but I could never get the prerequisites with U. Druid).

To jump into this half actually, an idea I've wanted to do but never got off the ground is a Warlock/Shadowcaster/Mystic Theurge. Requires a bit of a generous reading from the DM, but the idea is you use Shadowcaster to qualify for both sides of Mystic Theurge - then once you're /in/, you less ambiguously can use it to progress Warlock. This would get you some at-will function from warlock, and some extremely limited per-day mysteries from shadowcaster, and the flavor syncs up very well. Not a very powerful combination at all, since neither shadowcasters nor warlocks are breaking worlds, but neat for theme.

Similarly, some form of Spirit Shaman / Binder would be very fun to play - I'm not completely sure how I'd combine the two, mind you, but I'm sure there are options for it somewhere. But the idea of being in a very community-focused society that has communal spirits and 'lost' spirits is such good flavor that something definitely should be done there. ^_^

[Malimar]

Renegade Mastermaker and Fleshwarper, for basically the same reasons.

[Gruftzwerg]

i've always wanted to play a Duskblade with like...3 levels in Dervish and Whirlwind Attack feat (you get that far in Dervish, and you've already met all the requirements for it), to be able to do the full attack channel spell while moving between each attack and w/ WWA being able to hit every enemy in the room. Shame there isn't an "Extra Dervish Dance" feat.
Of course, that's using the accepted rules interpretation that you can only channel spell each enemy once in a single casting + full attack. If your DM lets you unload onto one guy repeatedly, the above build is losing CL and feats just to do something worse than you already can (focus firing).

You need to go Duskblade 13 to be able to use Arcane Channeling with a Full Attack (cause Whirlwind needs a Full Attack).
A 2lvl dip into BSB is enough, since you'll only use WW/round and don't need the lvl4 returning ability for multiple attacks per round.
Which leaves 5 lvls for Recaster to get Shivering Touch and empower/maximize.

Now you can use WW with a range of up to 50ft. WW will distinguish between friend and for and you can use your Recasters free metamagic ability to boost Shivering Touch. Almost everything will die in a single Hit unless it has extraordinary high Dex (no Save no SR).

________________

Drunken Master: since it got mentioned by others, yeah I really like the fluff too. But imho the downside is, that it looks like a monk prc (due to requirements) but doesn't progress any monk stuff at all (unarmed dmg, movement speed, ac..). Thus imho only the 2lvl dip for Stagger is what most of the time remains to be useful. You can still "drink like a demon" and are now the most mobile ubercharger that you can build.
As a lil sidenote here, the Drunken Master can use his improvised weapons with BSB to throw his unarmed strike + imp. weapon dmg (regular unarmed strike only count as a weapon and thus wouldn't be able to do this, with improvised weapons you have "real weapons" who can profit from the throwing & returning abilities of BSB.

[Psyren]

Evangelist - now you can have a "divine flavored X" where X is quite literally any base class you want, without sacrificing the power of X. Coming up with boons for other god/class combinations is a lot of fun too.

[Drakevarg]

Dervish/Master Thrower is a fun combo if you like being able to make like 20 attacks per round.

Walker in the Waste is also pretty badass because who doesn't want to be a lich with five phylacteries?

And of course there's Frenzied Berserker/Bear Warrior. Not enough rage? Just add more rage.

[noce]

I like Umbral Disciple.
It has flavour, it has enough power, it has versatility to adapt to situations.

Ghost-faced Killer: oh, the flavour.

It's a pity I hate roguish concepts, otherwise I would certainly play those prcs.

[Wartex1]

Walker in the Waste oozes with flavor plus is pretty strong too, which is why I like it.

If only I could figure out a good way to play one with an Urban Druid. Imagine an Urban Druid of a dying desert city that goes to greater and darker lengths to preserve it, ultimately choosing a path of undeath and turning everyone into mummies.

[Calthropstu]

Thrallherd and uncarnate. I love the idea of a master manipulator hiding behind a limitless supply of willing followers. And the uncarnate is a unique class that has so much potential for interesting fates after the campaign is over.
For arcane, I love the fatespinner. It's a "doom has come for you" pronouncement kind of class with some serious punch.
I also like the spellthief class for its interesting fluff.

[Venger]

Walker in the Waste oozes with flavor plus is pretty strong too, which is why I like it.

If only I could figure out a good way to play one with an Urban Druid. Imagine an Urban Druid of a dying desert city that goes to greater and darker lengths to preserve it, ultimately choosing a path of undeath and turning everyone into mummies.

arcane disciple and southern magician is ugly, but it works

[Luccan]

Hexer, because NPCs with unexpected spells is never not going to be fun. Plus it can also be qualified for with a couple PC classes, which is interesting for what was clearly intended to be a NPC prestige class.

I liked the Tattooed Monk. Though it isn't great, the powers you get are cool and I could see implementing them as purchasable magic tattoos.

I always liked the Spellsword, though now I know it doesn't make a great gish, I think it comes closest representing what I wanted out of such a thing: A heavily armored knight who can cast a variety of spells. It's a shame that doing that is a poor option.

[Rijan_Sai]

While it's not a popular choice, I am fond of the Necrocarnate. Yes, it slows chakra progression from the Incarnate by 1 level, and yes, it has no base essentia gain, but you can get a lot more then you would otherwise by stealing borrowing the souls of your defeated foes! And it lasts 24 hours, so you should be ready to go at any time! (Works best with a little cheese: if you can convince your DM to allow the Chicken Infested flaw, (even better if you can convince them that an April Fool's joke meant for commoners is actually a viable flaw for anyone...) you can use that to power up at night, and be at full power all day!)
(Sure, maybe it delays them from getting into the afterlife, but only for one day! They'll be fine! What? The whole "twisting and torturing the souls to fuel necrocarnum" thing? They were "bad guys" to begin with, right? Just think of it as "giving them a taste" of the torment in the hells (or abyss) that they're headed to anyway!)

Also, as a fan of Gazebo Jones (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=9823824), the combo of Drunken Master and Thrall of Julibex is rather fun! (Although I would probably change up the progression to something like Monk 2/Incarnate 2/ToJ 4/DM 4/ToJ 9/X 3). Note that there is a bit of "ask your DM," as a Warforged might not be able to qualify for Drunken Master due to their immunity to poison...

[DungeonDelver]

I always liked the idea of the Elocator. I know it's not a great PRC, but the idea of a super mobile, always levitating character seemed fun and ripe for gameplay and combat opportunities.

[Sleven]

I tend to tie interesting and fun together. Classes that grant new or unique ways interact with spells, abilities, or the world around you are great. That's why I have no problem with PrCs like Incantatrix and Planar Shepherd. All you need is a DM capable of challenging the players and a gentleman's agreement not to break the game wide open. I don't see how Sublime Chord is broken at all.

That being said, there are a large number that I enjoy the fluff of just as much as the abilities they grant. A few of those are:

Silver Pyromancer
Void Disciple
Jaunter
Master of Nine
Heartfire Fanner

[StreamOfTheSky]

You need to go Duskblade 13 to be able to use Arcane Channeling with a Full Attack (cause Whirlwind needs a Full Attack).
A 2lvl dip into BSB is enough, since you'll only use WW/round and don't need the lvl4 returning ability for multiple attacks per round.
Which leaves 5 lvls for Recaster to get Shivering Touch and empower/maximize.

Now you can use WW with a range of up to 50ft. WW will distinguish between friend and for and you can use your Recasters free metamagic ability to boost Shivering Touch. Almost everything will die in a single Hit unless it has extraordinary high Dex (no Save no SR).

Yeah, it's a high level build, 16+ (I figure at least 3 Dervish levels so you get 2 dances per day at least), part of the reason I've never gotten to try it. I guess BSB + Duskblade works, but just isn't the same...
I was trying to see if Binder w/ Paimon's dance of death could work with Duskblade, since you can get those levels in a lot sooner and with only a 2 level dip (granted, you still need Duskblade 13 for the full attack channeling, but it'd just be nice to have the move + full attack earlier in general), and have the ability every combat at least once. But the wording for dance of death just doesn't work, iirc.

[DrKerosene]

The Charlatan prc from some Dragon Magazine. I would love to play it in a low-magic and/or eberron game.

Also Verdant Lord seems fun.

[weckar]

I really like the Geometer. It's a great dip, and a good concept overall. I just have never managed to justify taking more than a few levels in it.

[Nifft]

I always liked the idea of the Elocator. I know it's not a great PRC, but the idea of a super mobile, always levitating character seemed fun and ripe for gameplay and combat opportunities.

Elocator is so close to being a good PrC.

It just needs a reason to be in melee combat, so that the flanking perk and the Spring Attack chain are actually rewarded. Getting a bunch of Sneak Attack dice, for example, or having access to ToB Maneuvers.

Also, the "dimensional spring attack" thing needs to be a power, not a 1/day ability.

[Andreaz]

Swiftblade has always intrigued me. I like playing a Gish type, and swiftblade is designed for that role. Some intriguing class features.

Plus it has lots of role-playing potential, as a speed-freak addict who hates waiting, always impatient to get his haste-high.

Swiftblade and Animus Master are my favorite gish prrcs. Mage Hunter lags behind, but it's great too.

[weckar]

Animus Master Source for this? Can't find it.

[Andreaz]

Path of War Expanded

[Telonius]

Geomancer. The idea is weird and has awesome fluff. Southern Magician makes its mechanical shtick kind of obsolete, unfortunately. But one of these days I'm going to stat out Discord using the full 10 levels.

[Velaryon]

I always liked fochlucan lyrist, I dont know why. It was a bit of everything but had this nature/bardic flair to it.

I also liked daggerspell mage and shaper (I like magic and melee hybrids, particularly with a dual wield theme if you couldnt tell).

There was another big one Im sure Im forgetting, but its not even 7am yet so I cant remember

Seconding Fochlucan Lyrist (though I don't like the name, the class itself is awesome). Sadly, the one time I tried to play one, the game didn't last long enough for me to actually get into the prestige class.

My favorite class with cool flavor but mediocre crunch has to be the Ghostwalker from Sword & Fist. It's a great "mysterious stranger" type of class, with a chassis that screams "recurring antagonist" to me.

I really like the Mindbender in concept, but it's just such a terribly designed class because it loses way too much spellcasting, provides no way to get around the blanket immunity to enchantment magic that is quite common and easy to use, and has several class features that do nothing more than duplicate spells that the character should already have.

[SwordChucks]

Drunken master is a ton of fun. I made a Gazeebo Jones clone in a Pathfinder game and seeing their faces when he turned into a ladder and beat them in the head or breathed fire was worth it.

I also love the idea of both the Shadowdancer and the Arcane Archer. Neither is very good but the concepts are salvageable.

The PrC that shows up in most of my 3.5 builds is the Fist of the Forest. There are a bunch of useful abilities in just three levels. If more PrCs were shorter like the FotF I think we would have better, more focused, classes that don't have to spread themselves so thin to stay on concept.

[Velaryon]

I've had a lot of fun with Drunken Master, but I'm not terribly impressed with the actual class abilities. Just more that it's a fun concept with a class that's functional-ish at the level of optimization my group plays at.

I agree with you about Shadowdancer and Arcane Archer, as far as them being cool ideas that are lacking in execution. I'd like to throw Duelist and Blackguard onto that pile as well.

Fist of the Forest is a solid class whose fluff never really appealed to me. Kinda has the opposite problem of the previously mentioned ones, at least for me.

[Sheogoroth]

Yathchol Webrider. I've been trying to find rules for making a web on a spider race or finding Web as a SLA for a rogue with no avail, but I haven't given up! It's very flavorful and unique.
http://dnd.arkalseif.info/classes/yathchol-webrider/index.html

[Menzath]

Shadow dancer is alright as a dip for the HiPS, but the overall features are a little to limited.
And arcane Archer with a gish that has (sp) ability spam can work well, warlock invocations and Eldritch blast do qualify you, though it would be a down grade from pure warlock.
The best might be arcane Archer 4/chameleon x.

And i LOVE the flavor of lurk, especially using a hand crossbow, but gawd is it terrible.

[Karl Aegis]

I like prestige classes that are basically just the base class with a different chassis for some reason. Eldritch Knight and Fist of Zuoken being prime examples.

[skunk3]

Duelist - especially with the Blade of the Duelist. (I think that's what it's called?) Not incredibly versatile or awesome but I just think it's super fun disarming everyone and watching them panic.

Red Wizard - especially focusing on dessication type spells. Really fun and brutal.

Eldritch Disciple - currently playing one and having a blast. (No pun intended.)

Reaping Mauler - when you want to hug people to death. Utterly scary with the right armor enhancements and stats.

Divine Prankster - you can literally kill people by making them laugh lol

Noctumancer

Risen Martyr - ON A MISSION

Void Disciple - really interesting IMO

Shadowcaster

Ardent Dilettante - In terms of flavor, I think this is one of the most interesting ones, period. However, it's not easy to get in to.