I need help designing a prestige class

[Frosty]

I'm wanting to design a prestige class for wizards for one of my playes in my campaign. Thematically, he likes to be teacher (has ranks in profession in fact) and he likes being a team player. So, I immediately though of Incantatrix. But, I'm not going for *that* high powered of a campaign, and the fluff doesn't quite match. Therefore, I'd like to make up a 5-level prestige class that gives a wizard the ability to help out his entire team, and perhaps add in some version of the Cooperative Metamagic ability of the Incantatrix so he can help the Cleric in the campaign as well.

Right now these are just random ideas, but I'd like some feedback. I want this class to be solid in both fluff and mechanics, but not broken.

Frontier Mentor

Prerequisites: Able to cast 5th level arcane spells. Spellcraft 12 ranks. Knowledge (any 2) 12 ranks. Profession (teacher) 10 ranks. Any 2 metamagic feats.
Hit-dice: d4
Base Attack progression: As Wizard
Saving Throw progression: Bad Fort, Bad Reflex, Good Will
Skills per level: 2+int
Class skills: As Wizard, + any 2 that the player picks upon entering this class for the first time.

Custom

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |

Spells

1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Telepathy 100ft, Share Saves|

+1 level of existing arcane

2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3|Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Share magical information|

+1 level of existing arcane

3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3|Share Metamagic, Grant Spell Resistance|

+1 level of existing arcane

4th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Bonus Feat|

+1 level of existing arcane

5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Grant Superior Spell Resistance|

+1 level of existing arcane

[/table]

Class abilities:

Telepathy (Su): You gain telepathy out to 100ft.

Share Saves (Su): As an immediate action, twice per encounter, you may give one of your saving throws a penalty for 2 rounds. In return, you give an ally within 30 feet of you a bonus to the same saving throw until the beginning of your next round. The penalty and bonus granted starts out at 3, and increases by one, up to a maximum of +5 given at class level 3.

Share magical information (Su): You project an aura 30 feet around you. If an ally within the aura has less ranks in Spellcraft than your ranks in Spellcraft divided by 2, that ally is treated as if having half of your ranks for the purposes of identifying a spell being cast and identifying existing spell effects.

Skill Focus (spellcraft): You gain skill focus (spellcraft) as a bonus feat at level 2.

Share Metamagic (Su): Twice per day, you must be adjacent to an allied spellcaster and ready an action to help that ally cast a spell. You may attempt to augment the ally's spell with one of your metamagic feats that is not a Sudden metamagic feat. To do so, you must succeed on a spellcraft check of DC 15 + 3*modified spell level. If you do not succeed, the attempt is wasted, although the ally's spell goes off as normal. If you do succeed, you must expend an unused spell slot equal to the metamagic slot adjust of the metamagic you just applied.

Grant Spell Resistance (Su): Twice per day, as an immediate action in response to a spell being cast, you may grant yourself or an ally within 30 feet of you Spell Resistance equal to 12 + X. where X is your Caster level, but with a maximum of your Character level +5. This SR is good only against that spell being cast, and goes away once the spell is resolved.

Bonus Feat: At 4th level, you may gain a feat that you meet the prerequisites for.

Grant Superior Spell Resistance (Su): The Spell Resistance granted by Grant Spell Resistance now works even against some spells that don't allow Spell Resistance. For example, attack spells like Glitterdust and Orb of Fire would have to punch through the SR before it can affect the target of this ability. Spells like Entangle and Web are not affected.

[Dode]

Overpowered in the RSoP manner.

No drawbacks whatsoever except you have to max 1 useless profession skill and 2 skills that every mage has maxed anyway.

[monty]

Shouldn't this be in the Homebrew forum?

[Frosty]

Overpowered in the RSoP manner.

No drawbacks whatsoever except you have to max 1 useless profession skill and 2 skills that every mage has maxed anyway.

It is supposed to be better than the standard wizard. I'm running a high powered campaign, but not *cheese*-powered campaign. This is supposed to be Incantatrix Lite I guess. But what do you think of the class abilities themselves?

Hmm, I think I'll lower the saves to as Wizard and the skills per level to 2 + int.

[Swooper]

I think you need to define better the 'Grant Superior Spell Resistance' ability. You give examples for which spells are affected by it, but you don't explain why. Also, you need to fix the table since you appearently (sp?) nerfed the Reflex save.

Balance wise... It's probably where you aimed it at. I'd take this rather than plain wizard, but with all the fantastic wizard PrCs out there I would rather take one of those than this.

[Tengu]

Overpowered in the RSoP manner.

No drawbacks whatsoever except you have to max 1 useless profession skill and 2 skills that every mage has maxed anyway.

Truth to be told, 99% of non-gish arcane prestige classes are either like that, or not worth it (because of the never lose caster levels! mantra).

[Collin152]

Which is accurate? The descripton of the Ref save as bign bad, or the table making it as good as the will?

[Devils_Advocate]

Suggested tweak: Change "Able to cast 5th level arcane spells" to "Able to cast Rary's telepathic bond". What with the telepathy and all.

The sharing of magic, saves, and skill ranks and granting spell resistance stuff is not entirely unlike a wizard's relationship to his familiar. (That just seemed worth noting, for some reason.)

I think the Ref save should probably be poor.

Personally, I dislike the sort of exception-to-an-exception-to-an-exception oneupmanship that Grant Superior Spell Resistance engages in. "Haha! My spell resistance protects me from your magic!" "Haha! I'm using a spell that isn't effected by spell resistance!" "HaHA! I have a better type of spell resistance that works even against spells that overcome it!" "HaHA! This spell functions even in your improved spell resistance!" etc.

("Half the scientists in the universe were busily at work coming up with fresh ways of jamming its signals, while the other half worked busily trying to come up with fresh ways of jamming the jamming signals.")

Seriously, if you want SR to be able to work against stuff like acid arrow, you can just house-rule that it does. That would actually reduce the number of arbitrary exceptions. It's pretty stupid that it doesn't, anyway, not to mention how unbalanced it is that it makes conjurers better at direct damage than evokers at high levels.

[TempusCCK]

Eh, I could see this as a 1 level dip class, just for the telepathy.

[Frosty]

Yes, the Reflex is supposed to be bad

And yes, this class can also be a one-level dip class a la Mindbender if you really want to, although you can't take it until level 9, so you're not delaying Advanced Learning a much as desirfed for a Beguiler.

[Person_Man]

This should be in homebrew.

Class Skills need to be explicit. There is no class that just lets you pick them from a list.

Talking is a free action that you can do at any time (within DM discretion), and the class also gives you telepathy. So "share magical information" is a pointless ability.

"Share metamagic" is far too easy to abuse.

The formula for "grant spell resistance" is more powerful then any other class that grants spell resistance. The standard formula is 10 + class level (or less).

"Grant Superior Spell Resistance" is also too powerful.

The class doesn't lose any caster levels, and it doesn't require any weak/suboptimal feats to enter.

Your idea is a good one. But you can just roleplay a teacher. There's no reason to homebrew something so ridiculously powerful.

[Frosty]

Class Skills need to be explicit. There is no class that just lets you pick them from a list.

Not really. The generic classes from UA lets you select your own class skills.

Talking is a free action that you can do at any time (within DM discretion), and the class also gives you telepathy. So "share magical information" is a pointless ability.

So? Just because you can say something to someone it doesn't mean they know the jargon and can react appropriately. This will afford them a bit of magical knowledge to let them know what's coming at them, or exactly what the heck that wierd blue glow might be. Sure you can do it too, but what if you don''t have line of sight? This ability isn't supposed to be powerful. It's supposed to just be fun and fluffy.

"Share metamagic" is far too easy to abuse.

But far less abusable than the Incantatrix.

The formula for "grant spell resistance" is more powerful then any other class that grants spell resistance. The standard formula is 10 + class level (or less).

Bull. Clerics can cast a spell that does the exact same thing, at 12+class levels against one single spell as an immediate action. It's called Mystic Aegis. This ability just gives them that ability for free twice per encounter.

"Grant Superior Spell Resistance" is also too powerful.

Possibly, but then, a capstone ability should be good. I don't think it's any better than Improved Metamagic or the capstone of the Iot7v.

The class doesn't lose any caster levels, and it doesn't require any weak/suboptimal feats to enter.

The entry requirements can be tweaked a bit. I am tailoring this class for a specific character who is *not* min-maxing into Batman territory, and has already sunk feats into sort of suboptimal areas, so I'm not worried.

Besides, what kinda wizard would wanna take a prestige class that loses caster levels except as a dip?

[Frosty]

edit: double post.

[Behold_the_Void]

I'd make it require max ranks in two knowledge skills and skill focus in one or two knowledge skills. Still not huge for a Wizard, but makes it something someone might think twice before taking. Keep the profession requirement of course.

I'd change Share Saves to a bonus determined by your levels in Frontier Mentor, so +1/-1 at level 1 and +5/-5 at level 5.

There's no reason for this class to have any better saves than a standard Wizard, so drop the Ref. save.

Consider dropping the Bonus Feat to ensure you're sacrificing something else from just going plain Wizard and spread an ability up to level 4.