Sword and Fist, Part 2

Okay, Chapter 2 of this book is all about new prestige classes. Nineteen of them, in fact. Note that in all the 2000 products, there were a total of seventeen. So in one book, we've more than doubled the number of available prestige classes. A sign of things to come...

So, let's run through them one a time with brief descriptions. We begin with the Cavalier. A late-addition core class in 1st edition, a kit in 2nd edition...the Cavalier is now a prestige class. He's great on a horse, of course, with most of his special abilities involving mounted combat and riding. And they are the nobility of the fantasy realm, at least most of the time. They get better Will saves than regular fighters, but you have to be a minimum of 8th level to qualify for this as the class requires a +8 base attack bonus as a prerequisite. So, this is not a class that will see much play in dungeon settings.

Next is the Devoted Defender. If you ever watched The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, there you go. This guy specializes in protecting other people, and gets several defensive bonuses including a +1 AC bonus every level. He also gets the better Reflex save progression as well as d12 hit dice. That's not too shabby. A 5th-level character can qualify for this prestige class.

Then we have the Drunken Master. This one looks to be taken right out of the Jackie Chan movies; alcohol will be involved in the character's abilities; the first ability gained is called Drink Like a Demon. Yeah, not being subtle with this one, are they? Most drunken masters are monks, of course, but unlike the basic monk, they get slower Will save progression. Monks can qualify for this by the end of 4th level.

Ah, the Duelist. This one actually does appear in Dragon #275, so this is a duplicate (and means our total new PC count is 18 rather than 19, but still just over doubling the number). These swashbucklers don't wear armor but get unarmored bonuses such as adding their Intelligence bonus to their AC. Instead of Fortitude, their best saving throw is, of course, Reflex. Make sure you have spare chandeliers in storage when these guys come to town. A character can qualify for this as early as 6th level.

Next up we have the Fist of Hextor. This is definitely not a PC for PCs. You have to worship Hextor, have restricted alignments allowed (none of them good), and a minimum of 5th level to qualify. Oh, and your weapon of choice is a spiked gauntlet. If you survive the initiation, you gain a few abilities, although they aren't as impressive as one might think.

The Ghostwalker. How to describe this guy? He's Clint Eastwood's The Man with No Name. In fact, if the bad guys learn his name, he loses some of his benefits. And he's got some sweet benefits. 6th level is the minimum to qualify, and the alignment restrictions are weird. Basically, you can't have only one neutral component in your alignment; lawful good is acceptable, neutral good is not. True neutral (which is neutral-neutral) is also allowed. Ghostwalkers are creepy as hell, usually on some sort of lengthy quest. They get better Will saves, and can even go ethereal at high levels. But only as long as they are anonymous.

Next is a more conventional archetype, the Gladiator. You have to be at least 5th level, and you have to have two feats from the fighter bonus feat list regardless of your class. They're basically pro wrestlers except the fights aren't scripted. So, they have Perform or Intimidate as a required skill (your choice), and you get temporary bonuses when the crowd is cheering for you.

The Halfling Outrider is our first racial-specific prestige class; it's for half-orcs only. The minimum qualifications include 5th level, a couple of mounted combat feats, and being a halfling. Like the cavalier, they get bonuses when on a mount. Unlike cavaliers, they are limited to light armor; they are more Mongol horse archer than they are knight in shining armor.

The Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom is quite a mouthful, and it's a class that really should come with a 'Greyhawk specific' disclaimer. Sure, you could use this as a generic class for a group of knights long past their glory days, but really. It's the Great Kingdom from Greyhawk, and stop pretending otherwise. These guys can be paladins as well as fighters, and they're mounted warriors like cavaliers but with a different set of special abilities. Also, they lose the fighter's better Fortitude save progression, getting better Will saves in exchange.

The Lasher...I remember reading the article on prestige class creation in Dragon 274, and it mentioned the possibility of creating a class based on a weapon such as the whip to make it a more interesting weapon. Well, here it is. And it's not quite as interesting as might have been expected. You can qualify for it as early as 5th level, and obviously you have to be proficient with a whip. The whip can be used for sneak attacks (like a rogue), trip opponents, do normal damage instead of subdual, and even use the whip like Zorro, grabbing things from a distance, snuff candles, that sort of thing. Okay, maybe it's more interesting than I thought. I love Zorro.

The Master of Chains is sort of like the Lasher, except he uses spiked chains. And this is not a friendly class; only non-good characters can qualify, and the number of feats required means that a fighter would qualify at 6th level; everyone else would take a lot longer due to the multiple feats necessary. These guys are very intimidating, with lots of ways to use a spiked chain. Even their hideouts and lairs have chains hanging from the ceiling for extra creepiness. And if that isn't enough, they'll even hang out with kyton devils because of their mutual chain fetish.

Up next is the Master Samurai. Sure, why not? They lose the good Fortitude saves, but get both of the others in exchange. That's a fair trade, since their Fortitude save is already likely to be their best. 5th level is enough to qualify for this class, and they get Great Cleave for free at 1st level. At 2nd level, they get Supreme Cleave, which means they can start chasing people around with 5-foot steps every time they chop someone down. Interestingly, one of their required feats is Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword). The katana doesn't appear in the main weapon table, but it does appear in the Dungeon Master's Guide in Chapter 6, in the section on campaigning in different settings. So, it would be easy to just add the katana in, especially if you're planning to allow a character to be a samurai in the first place. I mean, you pretty much have to be running an Asian setting at that point, right?

Of course you are, because the next prestige class is...the Ninja of the Crescent Moon. Because why not? Most of these guys are monks, but fighters can qualify as well with some effort. Well, fighter/rogues could, at least; Move Silently and Hide are both required at 10 ranks to qualify for this class. I don't see a straight fighter getting those for a long, long time. These guys...well, they're ninjas. They have the same base attack progression as monks, but only get good Reflex saves. They make up for it with their other abilities, though. These guys are classic ninjas, complete with the kuji-kiri abilities and even ethereal jaunt at the highest level.

We've had a couple of exotic weapon specialists so far (Lasher, Master of Chains); now it's a more 'regular' weapon specialist, the Order of the Bow Initiate. This guy is getting all the ranged combat feats. Minimum level to qualify is 5th, and you're going to be an expert with the bow before they'll even consider you for membership. Like the Master Samurai, they get the good Reflex and Will saves but lose the better Fortitude progression. They can sneak attack with their bows, and can even use ranged weapons up close without triggering the dreaded Attack of Opportunity (dun-dun-dun!) Their coolest ability is the ability to bank a shot off a wall, thus avoiding cover penalties. It's not easy, but it's a hell of a move to pull off.

Then we have the Ravager. Like the Fist of Hextor, this one is deity-specific, and it's not a nice deity. It's Erythnul, so you're going to be either chaotic evil or only one step away. 5th-level characters can qualify for this, assuming they survive the initiation rites, too. They can make unarmed touch attacks that cause 1d8 damage; they have an aura of fear, and they can deal temporary Constitution damage at higher levels because they are so good at inflicting pain. Yikes. Don't mess with these guys.

The Red Avenger is another monk-focused class, with...a slightly skewed BAB progression that is slightly better than a typical monk but not as good as a fighter. 5th level is enough to qualify for this as a monk...no, wait, their BAB progression is slower than a fighter; it's 7th level for them. They get some interesting ki abilities like stunning shout and ki healing, and monks can freely multiclass with this PC without being able to return to their monk levels. Remember, paladins and monks can't multiclass to another class or prestige class and return to add more levels to paladin or monk later on. This is an exception to that rule.

The Tribal Protector is specifically a monster prestige class, more specifically humanoids and monstrous humanoids that aren't listed in the Player's Handbook except half-orcs. They get better Reflex saves, and also pick up a few bonus feats every few levels. Like rangers, they get skill bonuses in their home terrain, and can even pick a tribal enemy, which is a more restricted favored enemy. A 5th-level character can qualify for this class.

Up next is the Warmaster. This guy is a general; the Leadership feat is required to qualify for this class, along with being at least 7th level. This is not really suited for PCs, since it involves leading troops in mass combat rather than small adventuring parties. They get bonuses to their Leadership score as well as getting bigger and better strongholds as they advance in levels, all the way up to being in charge of a huge castle.

Finally, we have the Weapon Master. Another monk-specific (although not monk-restricted) prestige class, this one also lets monks switch back and forth from Weapon Master to monk. They get the fighter's BAB progression and d10 hit dice, but only get good Reflex saves. However, they are really, really deadly with their chosen weapons, with abilities like increasing the critical hit multiplier of the weapon, doing additional ki damage, or simulating feats such as Whirlwind Attack. But you'll need to be 7th level to qualify for this PC as a monk; a fighter could actually do it sooner due to the bonus feats available (6th level if human).

And that's it for the prestige classes. Quite a few of them, and lots of variety to give players some interesting options. I know that prestige classes caused a lot of problems back in the day; players would just 'dip' into a single level to get various qualifiers in order to min-max their characters, for example. But I think there's a really simple way to fix that abuse: Restricting the prestige classes by making them exclusive. Many of these PCs will be a part of a secret society (the Fist of Hextor or the Ninja of the Crescent Moon, for example) or be a truly elite order (Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, Order of the Bow Initiate) that has strict rules about who they let in. Just because a character meets the requirements for a prestige class doesn't mean that the members of that class want to let them join. Make characters earn their prestige classes; the benefits usually exceed what they could otherwise do as a base class, so don't hand them out like Hallowe'en candy.

Alright, that's all for tonight. The next chapter is a lot fluffier than this one, so we'll see what happens. Until then, don't try qualifying as a Drunken Master too often.