04-16-2015, 10:55 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-16-2015, 10:56 PM by dairius_chi.)
Personally, there are a lot of the PrC I feel make sense as Base Class Archetypes. SOLDIER is one I think works either way, I like the spacing of its abilities when it was made into a 20 level deal and the fact that it no longer hampers the progression of your base class.
That being said, when a PrC is made into an archetype it does break the variety a bit... More often than not the class I saw going into SOLDIER was a Fighter, BUT that wasn't the only option and so a lot of other SOLDIER builds were eliminated with that change... Fencer I also feel was a strange move, on the one hand if it becomes all about Feint + Sneak Attack, then yeah Thief fits, but it had up until now played more as a Fighter PrC for the Full BAB frontline play.
Samurai I was a little sad to see made into an archetype, I mean it works decently enough but I actually really liked a build I'd seen a friend run once of Red Mage 10/Samurai X, it capped out at 4th level casting and MP progression beyond then was staggered but they primarily used long-duration buffs and swift heals/damage so they managed to make their MP last since their combat capabilities without magic were still decent, what with being a Samurai.
Pathfinder has been trying for some time now to cut down on how much PrC are used, and as FFd20 is a PF system I feel it should reflect that. In PF Prestige Classes are generally reserved now for characters who focus on one aspect of something a Base Class already does, like Assassin, though they also try to keep it open to others such as Assassin no longer requiring Sneak Attack to enter, and cross-class skills being easier to handle... could go Barbarian 5/Assassin X, bit of an odd direction but hey damage is damage is damage.
Still, when it comes to big changes like this concerning classes it might be best if you lean on the community... even if it means delaying changes until you have enough sufficient opinions and points made, there's always the chance that you're changing something that didn't need to be done. It's hard building a system single-handedly, so maybe you should try to create an 'inner circle' of proof-readers and playtesters? Frankto did it for Nd20, Paizo does it for Pathfinder, it's a tried and true method.
That being said, when a PrC is made into an archetype it does break the variety a bit... More often than not the class I saw going into SOLDIER was a Fighter, BUT that wasn't the only option and so a lot of other SOLDIER builds were eliminated with that change... Fencer I also feel was a strange move, on the one hand if it becomes all about Feint + Sneak Attack, then yeah Thief fits, but it had up until now played more as a Fighter PrC for the Full BAB frontline play.
Samurai I was a little sad to see made into an archetype, I mean it works decently enough but I actually really liked a build I'd seen a friend run once of Red Mage 10/Samurai X, it capped out at 4th level casting and MP progression beyond then was staggered but they primarily used long-duration buffs and swift heals/damage so they managed to make their MP last since their combat capabilities without magic were still decent, what with being a Samurai.
Pathfinder has been trying for some time now to cut down on how much PrC are used, and as FFd20 is a PF system I feel it should reflect that. In PF Prestige Classes are generally reserved now for characters who focus on one aspect of something a Base Class already does, like Assassin, though they also try to keep it open to others such as Assassin no longer requiring Sneak Attack to enter, and cross-class skills being easier to handle... could go Barbarian 5/Assassin X, bit of an odd direction but hey damage is damage is damage.
Still, when it comes to big changes like this concerning classes it might be best if you lean on the community... even if it means delaying changes until you have enough sufficient opinions and points made, there's always the chance that you're changing something that didn't need to be done. It's hard building a system single-handedly, so maybe you should try to create an 'inner circle' of proof-readers and playtesters? Frankto did it for Nd20, Paizo does it for Pathfinder, it's a tried and true method.