Post by fang_of_fenris on May 25, 2008 14:51:36 GMT -5
Some of you may already know that I recently re-discovered what is possibly the most broken of prestige classes in D&D books. It say it even stands up to the cheatery of Nine Swords characters.
Being a reformed munchkin, I now understand that playing broken characters is usually more likely to kill the fun in a game than actually add to it. Still, curiosity drove me to see how much I could max out this class (up to level 20), and I must also admit that I love the basic idea that the class promotes.
In page 108 of the Races of the Wild book, you will find it. The Arcane Heirophant, it is called. The basic premise behind this class is that it emulates the Mystic Theurge from DMG 3.5 in that it allows full spell progression for one diving casting class and one arcane casting class simultaneously. However, with the Mystic Theurge, that's the only feature. All other aspects of the arcane/divine classes is left behind. This generally makes the Cleric the preferred divine class over (let's say) the Druid, because the Druid leaves behind so many aspects in taking the prestige class (like progression of her Animal Companion or Wild Shape). I believe the Arcane Heirophant was made to fix that.
The Arcane Heirophant also receives full spell progression for one arcane & one divine class, but it also allows a few more distinct features. 1) Arcane Spell Failure % for druid armor is negated, 2) the character continues adding her levels to her progression for Wild Shape, and one more juicy bit: 3) rather than having a semi-powerful Animal Companion and a semi-powerful Familiar, the player treats her former animal companion as both an animal companion AND a familiar and adds her prestige class levels to both advancements! The old familiar gets to boot at no penalty to the character.
This is my favorite feature, hands down! I've always liked the Druid class for the way that it allows for shape-shifting to match the situation while seeking the aid of bestial friends with kick-ass abilities. In an odd and less-cute way, it kind of reminds me of why I live Kirby games so much. The only real downer to it all is that, while the Animal Companion is one hardy brute at high levels, it's still a dumb beast that you have to program with tricks. On the other hand, the Familiar is an interesting twist to the normal spell-casting that puts a few more tricks up the Sorcerer/Wizard's sleeve while giving him an intelligent ally, but it only takes one misstep from a Familiar, and squish, the caster has to make a new one while grumbling about XP loss.
Someone finally asked, "why can't we meld these two concepts together to make a completely bad-ass Companion Familiar?" To this question, my response is something along the lines of "Do it! Do it! Oh, dear gods, do it now!" And when I found out they did, I was in a rush to make a character out of this prestige class. Only problem was, I forgot what book it was in about seven months ago and, having assumed it was anywhere but in the "Races of..." books, didn't find it until this week. Basically, it works and I like it, but there's one feature that's just too powerful.
The Mystic Theurge idea worked because it combined spell power at the cost of a few other features. And yet, even with Mystic Theurge, there was no way that a character could achieve 9th level spells in both arcane and divine fields by 20th level. The character had to choose one or the other, be a little weaker in both fields but more even-spread.
This limiter should apply to Arcane Heirophant as well, but it's still a little too powerful. After all, the extra abilities tip the scale a little bit. However, the ultimate cheatery is to suppliment the Arcane Heirophant with (yes, I went there) final levels in Mystic Theurge! You see, with that combination, the character actually CAN reach 9th level spells in both Druid and Arcane spells, AND she still gets the extra benefits! One or two feats on the side, and she also gets to keep her Wildshape and Companion Familiar progression almost as if she had full advancement in everything.
So, basically, while HP, B.A.B., Saves and Skills remain more or less the same throughout and the combo costs a few extra feats, it is possible to make a character that gains the better part of both Druid and arcane simultaneously at full progression!!!
And now, the part where I theoretically solve the problem. I figure that the Prestige class has committed the crime on both mechanical and character-developmental levels of reaping the benefits of straying from the main path without counting the costs. True, the companion familiar is just better than previous options, but I like it that way because it represents an amalgam between natural wisdom and arcane lore. On the other hand, I think it's only fair to imagine that a Druid who dabbles in arcane magic should lose some of her progression in Druid spells while probably never achieving a very powerful progression in her arcane casting. That should be the cost. So, rather than progressing in both spell categories all the time can be replaced by four levels when only Druid spells progress and two levels when only arcane spells progress. Also, if you're going to take the wildshaping ability seriously, you should also scale it back two levels in the progression, because the Druid is straying from her focus on nature (even though the prestige class claims there's nothing unnatural about arcane magic). After that, I imagine that the class would be more or less balanced. Oh wait, one more thing. Because of the high level of similarity this prestige class has to Mystic Theurge, I think the two classes should be mutually exclusive.
So, what does everyone think of my erratta?
Being a reformed munchkin, I now understand that playing broken characters is usually more likely to kill the fun in a game than actually add to it. Still, curiosity drove me to see how much I could max out this class (up to level 20), and I must also admit that I love the basic idea that the class promotes.
In page 108 of the Races of the Wild book, you will find it. The Arcane Heirophant, it is called. The basic premise behind this class is that it emulates the Mystic Theurge from DMG 3.5 in that it allows full spell progression for one diving casting class and one arcane casting class simultaneously. However, with the Mystic Theurge, that's the only feature. All other aspects of the arcane/divine classes is left behind. This generally makes the Cleric the preferred divine class over (let's say) the Druid, because the Druid leaves behind so many aspects in taking the prestige class (like progression of her Animal Companion or Wild Shape). I believe the Arcane Heirophant was made to fix that.
The Arcane Heirophant also receives full spell progression for one arcane & one divine class, but it also allows a few more distinct features. 1) Arcane Spell Failure % for druid armor is negated, 2) the character continues adding her levels to her progression for Wild Shape, and one more juicy bit: 3) rather than having a semi-powerful Animal Companion and a semi-powerful Familiar, the player treats her former animal companion as both an animal companion AND a familiar and adds her prestige class levels to both advancements! The old familiar gets to boot at no penalty to the character.
This is my favorite feature, hands down! I've always liked the Druid class for the way that it allows for shape-shifting to match the situation while seeking the aid of bestial friends with kick-ass abilities. In an odd and less-cute way, it kind of reminds me of why I live Kirby games so much. The only real downer to it all is that, while the Animal Companion is one hardy brute at high levels, it's still a dumb beast that you have to program with tricks. On the other hand, the Familiar is an interesting twist to the normal spell-casting that puts a few more tricks up the Sorcerer/Wizard's sleeve while giving him an intelligent ally, but it only takes one misstep from a Familiar, and squish, the caster has to make a new one while grumbling about XP loss.
Someone finally asked, "why can't we meld these two concepts together to make a completely bad-ass Companion Familiar?" To this question, my response is something along the lines of "Do it! Do it! Oh, dear gods, do it now!" And when I found out they did, I was in a rush to make a character out of this prestige class. Only problem was, I forgot what book it was in about seven months ago and, having assumed it was anywhere but in the "Races of..." books, didn't find it until this week. Basically, it works and I like it, but there's one feature that's just too powerful.
The Mystic Theurge idea worked because it combined spell power at the cost of a few other features. And yet, even with Mystic Theurge, there was no way that a character could achieve 9th level spells in both arcane and divine fields by 20th level. The character had to choose one or the other, be a little weaker in both fields but more even-spread.
This limiter should apply to Arcane Heirophant as well, but it's still a little too powerful. After all, the extra abilities tip the scale a little bit. However, the ultimate cheatery is to suppliment the Arcane Heirophant with (yes, I went there) final levels in Mystic Theurge! You see, with that combination, the character actually CAN reach 9th level spells in both Druid and Arcane spells, AND she still gets the extra benefits! One or two feats on the side, and she also gets to keep her Wildshape and Companion Familiar progression almost as if she had full advancement in everything.
So, basically, while HP, B.A.B., Saves and Skills remain more or less the same throughout and the combo costs a few extra feats, it is possible to make a character that gains the better part of both Druid and arcane simultaneously at full progression!!!
And now, the part where I theoretically solve the problem. I figure that the Prestige class has committed the crime on both mechanical and character-developmental levels of reaping the benefits of straying from the main path without counting the costs. True, the companion familiar is just better than previous options, but I like it that way because it represents an amalgam between natural wisdom and arcane lore. On the other hand, I think it's only fair to imagine that a Druid who dabbles in arcane magic should lose some of her progression in Druid spells while probably never achieving a very powerful progression in her arcane casting. That should be the cost. So, rather than progressing in both spell categories all the time can be replaced by four levels when only Druid spells progress and two levels when only arcane spells progress. Also, if you're going to take the wildshaping ability seriously, you should also scale it back two levels in the progression, because the Druid is straying from her focus on nature (even though the prestige class claims there's nothing unnatural about arcane magic). After that, I imagine that the class would be more or less balanced. Oh wait, one more thing. Because of the high level of similarity this prestige class has to Mystic Theurge, I think the two classes should be mutually exclusive.
So, what does everyone think of my erratta?