[3.P] What is prereqs were instead HD-based?

[Endarire]

Intro
There are certain assumptions: Most PrCs can be entered at level 6 at soonest, and Weapon Finesse can't be taken at ECL1 by those who need it most.

Instead of doing a lot of finangling to fulfill prereqs, and to prevent early entry, what if all prereqs were simply based on HD? Of course, we'd prevent Inspire Greatness from qualifying and ban anything that gave inordinate amounts of HD. (Dusk giants, barghests, and electroshock therapy shambling mounds, I'm looking at you.)

This way, we could ignore the silly prereqs and take the abilities we wanted.

Special Cases
There would be some feats and PrCs that build upon at least one of their requirements. For feats, these sensible prereqs would stay. For PrCs, these sensical prereqs would either be required or granted at L1.

Examples Under This System
Case 1: Scaling Feats
Cleave has no prereq. If you have Cleave and at least 4 BAB, you also get Great Cleave.

Case 2: Sensible Prereq
The Master Specialist PrC (Complete Mage 70) requires Spell Focus, but grants Greater Spell Focus @3.

Case 3: Prereq as a L1 Ability
The Mage of the Arcane Order PrC (Complete Arcane 48) requires Cooperative Spell, a feat which is only useful with other casters who have this feat prepared applied to the same spell as you. Make it a L1 ability for any Mage of the Arcane Order.

[Gametime]

When you say "based on HD," do you mean directly (i.e. prereqs along the line of "4 HD") or indirectly (i.e. prereqs involving things that scale with HD, like BAB)?

Either way, it's potentially interesting. Would be quite a lot of work, but anything that a) gets rid of stupid prereqs and b) adds some measure of scaling to feats is dandy in my book.

[ffone]

The thing about Case 3 is that silly feats are sometimes deliberate 'entry fees' to PrCs. Not an ideal system (the character has a silly feat for a few levels and then 'catches up'), it'd be better to just tone down the class...but generally, the fact that you really want to ditch a prereq, like Dwarven Defenders' feats, is a reason *not* to do so.

I'd agree with the general premise, though, that prereqs are a complicated and far from ideal system. They also tend to exacerbate the gulf between new and seasoned players, since if the new guy learns of a PrC he'd like his char who move into, he most likely won't have the prereqs; you really just have to plan eh build from the ground up,

[The Shadowmind]

It would make sorcerer's and half-casters happy at being able to enter prestige classes (far) earlier. It would make most melee prestige classes far less reliant on feat taxes.

A scaling dodge.
Dodge Prerequisite 13 Dex.
You gain +1 dodge bonus to AC. This increases by +1 every 4 HD.
At HD 2: Gain Mobility
At HD 4:Gain Spring Attack.

[Endarire]

To clarify: HD-based prereqs would be listed.

For example, most PrCs would have a prereq of:
"HD: 5."

I disagree with the notion of feat tax, or anything that states, "Suck now, rock later/Rock now, suck later." If my progression is jerky, let it be because I found lots of classes I like and want to take instead of trading debatably worthless feats for a prize I may never achieve because of the campaign length.

[Prime32]

I have considered this. It allows you to play a character without having to plan out your build from lv1.

[Fitz10019]

...instead of trading debatably worthless feats for a prize I may never achieve because of the campaign length.

... or character death.

I like the idea, but HD5 seems low.

With feat requirements, it's clear that you have to have the feat(s) established before the first level of the PrC. What does HD5 mean? Starting a PrC at 5th level or 6th?

[Tael]

Sure, but if you're going to do it like this, make it ECL based, not HD based. No reason to further penalize LA.

[Endarire]

My prereqs mean you must have all prereqs before entering the class. The soonest you can enter most PrCs is L6, like now.