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Starsinger
2008-01-18, 05:14 AM
So.. I'm writing up a Shugenja, and well.. It suffers from the same problem as most primary casters.. After level 6 I have no reason to stay in this base class. After flipping through complete divine, I think the only classes Shugenja can qualify for are Contemplative (which requires Character level 10), Church Inquisitor (and my character is Chaotic Good, barring me from the class), and Divine Oracle.. which is just sort of bland.. Do you guys know any divine prestige classes that Shugenja can qualify for?

Frosty
2008-01-18, 09:46 AM
It'd be funny if a Shugenja multiclassed into a blood mage :p

Darrin
2008-01-18, 09:50 AM
Do you guys know any divine prestige classes that Shugenja can qualify for?

Hint: the best divine PrCs are almost always Forgotten Realms 3.0 PrCs.

Mystic Wanderer (Magic of Faerun, 3.0 PrC) is pretty decent for Cha-based divine casters, and fluff-wise isn't tied too heavily to FR.

For a more martial bent or an air-themed shugenja, I like Windwalker (Faiths & Pantheons) but it's geared more towards rangers. It also requires 3 or 4 not-very-shugenja-ish feats, and might have a lot of fluff issues.

For 3.5 non-FR PrCs, Loremaster might work, but like Contemplative requires ECL 10. Here's something to tide you over for levels 7-10:

Elemental Savant (Complete Arcane, p. 32). A Shugenja 6/Elemental Savant 4 doesn't lose any caster levels, and from there you can go into Contemplative or Loremaster.

Starsinger
2008-01-18, 11:51 AM
Hint: the best divine PrCs are almost always Forgotten Realms 3.0 PrCs.

Elemental Savant (Complete Arcane, p. 32). A Shugenja 6/Elemental Savant 4 doesn't lose any caster levels, and from there you can go into Contemplative or Loremaster.

Ah.. I don't own any forgotten realms books, FR leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. As for Elemental Savant, I'm playing a water shugenja and thus cannot qualify. But that was a good idea were I to have gone fire (although then I would be stuck being a divine caster who can't heal.)

Darrin
2008-01-18, 01:16 PM
As for Elemental Savant, I'm playing a water shugenja and thus cannot qualify. But that was a good idea were I to have gone fire (although then I would be stuck being a divine caster who can't heal.)

You could qualify if you specialized in Air, Earth, or Void. This would give you enough [fire] spells to qualify, and still leave you access to the healing spells under Water.

As I look back through the Shugenja spells, though... whoa, this has got to be the worst spell selection of any class/PrC ever... particularly gruesome that an elemental-based caster has almost no spells with any earth/air/cold/acid/electricity descriptors. WTF?

TheThan
2008-01-19, 12:33 AM
Yeah the Shugenja spell selection blows, I’ve gone through and rewritten the entire list from scratch.

CASTLEMIKE
2008-01-20, 05:41 AM
The best core PRC is Thaumaturgist IMO since it only requires knowing Lesser Planar Ally and Spell Focus Conjuration.

Really powerful with PLanar Ally form level 12 on for calling a Noble Djinni or Efretti for Wishes on the cheap with a single level dip (This works best with LG alignment for both creatures).

A Noble Djinni is ECL 16 (10 HD + 6 LA) so with a CG alignment from level 18+ you could have a Noble Djinni (Wish granting) cohort with 5 levels in Thaumaturgist along with being able to cast Miracles at that point and calling others with PLanar Ally.

The Loremaster PRC is pretty strong as Thaumaturgist will have fulfilled most of the prerequisite feats and it will provides specials at each level.

Divine Oracle - 2 is pretty strong since it will grant the PC a bonus domain and a variant Evasion.

Contempative - 1 is pretty strong since it will grant the PC a bonus domain.

Building to take 3 levels of the UA/SRD PRC Paladin would normally require a LG alignment would provide a lot of specials at the cost of a single casting level but it is really easy to plug in a CG Holy Liberator Paladin Variant as per UA and Paladin variant rules.

Edit: This is a little gray for some games but if arcane spellcasting of level 7+ spells is acquired in some fashion the Archmage PRC if the other prerequisties are fulfilled since the knowledge of level 5 spells from 5 schools doesn't specifically require that they be arcane spells like it does for the level 7+ spells.

mabriss lethe
2008-01-20, 05:58 AM
It'd be funny if a Shugenja multiclassed into a blood mage :p

That is a relatively valid approach, or something like it. In L5R there exists a type of Magic called Maho. Shugenja who dabble in it become Maho Tsukai. It showed up in D20 in OA as the Maho-Tsukai PrC. Later reinvented in UA as the Tainted Sorcerer. Opens up some nifty-nasty spells. I just don't like the taint mechanic in d20.