Prestige Classes
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Prestige Classes cannot be applied for on-creation. Prestige Classes have no mechanical requirements on CoA, per say, but there are exceptions for in-character reasons.
The classes listed below will provide some tips on how to go about earning them, but these are not set in stone. It's best to be creative and unique in your approach.
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Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer is an honored position in the elven armies or warbands, especially in the three elven nations of Faerun. Arcane Archers learn to express their use of the art through ranged combat, imbuing their favored weapon with a wide variety of magical effects.
Requirements:
- Must have a minimum of one level in a class capable of casting arcane spells.
- Must have a minimum of 4 levels in the base class(es), always.
Benefits:
An Arcane Archer can expect to receive a unique bow and other gear when earned.
Tips to earn:
- Demonstrate a good understanding of elf culture
- Show yourself to be a leader / champion of the elven community
- Attract a trainer with your reputation and complete the tasks set by him to earn the class
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Assassin
The assassin is a master of dealing quick, lethal blows. Assassins often function as spies, informants, killers for hire, or agents of vengeance. Their skill in a variety of dark arts allows them to carry out missions of death with shocking, terrifying precision. Many Assassin Guilds train their best in the arcane, granting them some spell-like abilities to make them even more feared and efficient.
Requirements:
- Must have an evil alignment
- Must have performed at the very least, one assassination. These are usually FD kills, but SD might be acceptable in some cases.
- It is not permissible to FD when you would usually Subdue, for no other reason than to earn this class.
Tips to earn:
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Assassinations must be done for impersonal reasons. Gold is a common motive, but it could also be ideology or commands. For example, some evil churches maintain assassins to eliminate enemies of the faith.
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Gain notoreity in the underworld as the "go to" person for assassinations, enough that you are contacted by a professional guild and offered training in this prestige class.
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Blackguard
A blackguard is a force of evil, who understands the cosmic nature of the war between the forces of light and darkness, and willingly chooses to serve darkness. He is first and foremost beholden to uphold the principles of evil in the world, and increase its influence. Any other allegiance, even to a God, comes only after this.
For a simple analogy; If an evil paladin is a dark jedi, then a Blackguard is a Sith Lord, now transcended mere use of the dark side to become an adherent to philosophies that bring about darkness.
Requirements:
There are no mechanical requirements, apart from having an evil alignment.
Benefits:
Patronage of your fiend will come with a wide variety of intangible and tangible benefits.
Tips to earn:
This is a very difficult prestige class to earn.
- Be widely and legitimately feared on the server as a force of evil. DMs expect considerable amount of attention to your PC / group, and they should be widely talked about, opposed, or feared.
- Lead or organize a group dedicated to your greater aims. This shouldn't be a namesake group, but flavorful, active and have accomplished interesting goals in pursuit of your aims.
- Gain the patronage of an evil outsider to sponsor your powers as a Blackguard. This must be an outsider of real power. For example, Balor or Pit Fiend level fiends. These can be either Devils, daemons or demons depending on your alignment.
Please note, paladins are powered by Gods, while Blackguards are powered by fiends. It is possible to be a Blackguard in service to a God, however, as many evil Gods have fiends serving them, who may intercede on the God's behalf to sponsor Blackguards.
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Divine Champion
Divine champions are powerful individuals in the service of a specific deity. Divine champions come from all sorts of backgrounds and are united solely by their dedication and a loose set of shared skills, though all are considered holy warriors of their various churches, dedicated to the protection of holy sites, priests, and pilgrims, as well as leaders in any crusades.
Benefits:
Divine Champions can expect to receive considerable support from their churches, both in influence and in the form of special gear.
Requirements:
No mechanical requirements (BAB, Feats, Skill ranks etc.)
Must have a minimum of 4 levels in the base class(es), always.- Must be the exact alignment as your deity
- Weapon focus in your deity's favored weapon, or an acceptable substitute
- Divine champions generally have some sort of martial background, but this is not necessary; Any class is eligible.
Tips to earn:
- Be generally renowned for your deeds on behalf of your deity
- Perform a great task for your church, or on behalf of your deity
- Understand what championing your deity's will in the world actually means, and create a compelling and creative path based on this.
- As a simple example, several lay swords of the church set out in search of a holy grail, the divine champion is the one who overcame all trials and retrieved it successfully.
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Purple Dragon Knight is now known as the Knight prestige class.
Requirements:
Be Knighted by a Legitimate Authority. This can include: Nobility, Royalty, Dragons, Planar Beings, etc...
Display a powerful code of conduct that they adhere to (we want this in writing.)
Behave in a consistent and honorable manner.Benefits:
Benefits depend on the individual who bestows you the title. As a Knight of Cormyr, you would receive nobility. As a Dragon's Knight, you would receive other benefits..
Tips to earn:
Swear Fealty to a Higher Power and behave in a consistent, honorable manner.
Note: You may have the title of 'knight' but not have earned the prestige class. This is completely up to the DM team as to whether you adhered to the traditional knightly values the prestige class represents.
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Weapon Master
Perfection is found in the mastery of a single melee weapon. A weapon master seeks to unite this weapon of choice with his body, to make them one, and to use the weapon as naturally and without thought as any other limb.
Requirements:
- Atleast 4 levels in a martial base class to be maintained, always. A fighter (3) / weapon master (x) for example, will not be allowed. A Weapon master should have basic training in arms before becoming a master, so a minimum number of levels in the base class(es) is mandated.
Tips to earn:
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Build a real, nuanced philosophy about combat. A weapon master is not a simple warrior, he has transcended simple combat into an expression of thought. For example, one type of weapon master is one who views combat as an expression of his inner harmony, strictly controlled, every movement perfect and minimal to achieve the desired aim. Another might embrace the wild abandon of battle-lust, finding his mastery in unbridled emotion or berserker rage. Be creative, build something tangible and interesting. You will be expected to detail this philosophy in your application.
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Use only a single type of weapon, and use it in creative ways. Roleplay and show how you are mastering using the weapon in a wide variety of scenarios in a wide variety of ways.
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Build a reputation for your skills with your weapon of choice. You shouldn't be a spear-fighter, you should be the spear-fighter.
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Find a weapon master for your weapon of choice, and either convince him to train you, or defeat him in single combat.
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Try to add something new. Simply following these instructions is unlikely to be very interesting, but they serve as the bare minimum to even be considered.
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Pale Master
"There are some who dwell in two places at once, those who dance upon the edge of doom, flirting with life and death. Enter the Palemaster, an individual who has truly gained true mastery over the gray pall of death, and can make the dead dance to his flute, and the living dread his tune."Mechanical Requirements:
- None, any class can reasonably become a Palemaster with a strong enough story, however, having some manner of arcane background or necromantic assistance helps. Divine Classes are feasible.
Tips to earn:
- Build a reputation as a practioner of necromancy and animation. Make strides in research and basically tell a unique story with undeath as a reocurring theme throughout the narrative.
Examples (you may use these):
A Sunite Seeking to create the most beautiful individual by using the parts stolen from high charisma PCs to construct a potent flesh golem that will seduce and enamor anyone who looks upon it.
A vengeful Hoarran Necromancer who seeks vengeance on a society who (perceivably) unjustly executed his brother by animating his body as a revenant under his control then killing each of the persons responsible.
A Jergalite Paladin who uses his command over undead to launch a holy Crusade against wanton, wild, and willful undeath who refuse to bend knee before the King of the Walking Dead.
A follower of Velsharoon seeking forbidden knowledge and the power that it will grant him.
A Warrior of Tempus who wishes to make his body more durable by grafting onto his body the parts of those who fell in battle beside him so he can add his strength to his own….and so on.
Benefits:
-Extra Consideration Towards rolls and ritualss related to necromancy, undeath, and animation.
-A powerful undead companion that is customized to your person.
-Various Undead Grafts that you create or are rewarded to you by your patron.Note: The Palemaster is not a mere Necromancer, nor is he THE Necromancer, he is a person who has embraced undeath as a way of life and seeks to overcome mortal limitations by replacing them with the powers of undeath. Meaning, anyone can animate the dead, anyone can summon spirits, but the Palemaster is the mixture of the two, who has mastered the artifice of fleshcrafting, or spirit binding, to the point where he is neither undead or alive, but walking the path of true enlightenment in the knowledge of the dead, living, and undeath.
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Dragon Disciple
_"Lad, Dragons are creatures with the longest memories of any living being. They reside in caves, not because they are primitive and savage, but to seclude themselves from a world that is so far beneath their majesty. Let me tell you, if you ever were to look upon a Dragon, your heart would stop, and you would find yourself sinking to your knees, weeping tears of majesty as you gazed upon it.
Men tell of Dragon Slayers, and aye, they do exist, but the men I admire most are those who value such beauty enough to preserve, and serve it."_
Requirements:
No mechanical requirements. All classes may be Dragon Disciples.
RP Requirements: You must have some manner of draconic patron, or performed some manner of deed that could in theory awaken the latent bloodline within you.
Tips to Earn:
Dragons are rare, powerful creatures, vain, greedy- and of varying alignments. Your dragon doesn't even need to exist in the module, you must simply fulfill its aims as you perceive them and impress the Dm team with a creative narrative as you pushed the agenda of your Dragon, or tell the story of your tale as it involves the said Wyrm in question.
Appropriate Concepts:
A Dragon Slayer who inundates and bathes in the blood of each wyrm he slays in order to protect himself from the dragon in the future.
A sorcerer who seeks to awaken their magical bloodline and embrace their heritage.
A Bard Who Seeks to tap into the primordial memory of his ancestry and tell the most ancient tale of all, the act of creation.
A Knight who believes that no creature is more regal or noble than that of the Noble Wyrm, and swears his oath of service to a majestic beast, and goes forth to create a fief and kingdom in its name.
And so on…Benefits:
The patronage of a dragon
This can include:
Select pieces from the hoard
The privilege of being eaten if you fail. -
Harper Scout
"It is said evil moves in shadows and waits for good become to become content, placcid, and fat with the fruits of their labors. We are the eyes that spy on the Shadows of the World, the ever watchful owls who can see even in the moonless nights, who hear where evil crawls and creeps. We are the Harpers."
Requirements:
No Mechanical Requirements.
RP Requirements:
You must be invited by an existing Harper NPC.
Tips to Earn:
Provide information to thwart evil to Champions and Warriors who are more open about it.
Be an intrigue based PC whose connections and subterfuge let him move where others cannot.
Membership is Secret.Benefits:
Find Out In Game…
((I think spiffy went for our april fools joke early this year. The Harpers don't exist, they are nothing but a tale your parents told you when you were bad as a child to scare you straight. Nothing to see here at all- CF))
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Dwarven Defender
The Dwarven Defender represents the tenacity of their race, both in discourse and combat. They are often sponsored in some way, be it through a holy purpose, direct acknowledgement of one of the Morndinsamman, or the patronage of dwarven society. In combat, the defender will often utilize their shields or their own bodies as solid walls, daring their foes to crash upon them and flounder. The Defender is often the first line of defense called upon by their respective Holds, willing to sacrifice themselves if it means the preservation of their people and their culture. Defenders for this reason are often considered the "unmovable pillars upon which Holds are built."
Requirements
- Sponsorship from a dwarven deity or high nobility (ex., King or Queen). Sponsorship of a single Laird does not count, though the collective acknowledgement from multiple Lairds might.
- Must demonstrate clear leadership skills and capacity among other dwarf PCs. Being able to accomplish this without DM assistance is a must.
- Furthermore, the prospective dwarven defender should be a representative of dwarven societies and agendas within and around Arabel.
Benefits
- Prestige and recognition among virtually all dwarven societies you may encounter in-game.
- A weapon or armor to signify your status.
- Potential for other perks based on story and current setting.
Tips to Earn
- Champion the dogma of one of the Morndinsamman as a paladin.
- Earn the favor of the monarchy of Thunderholme through brave adventures.
- Unite the Lairds against a single major cause.
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Update to the PDK Prestige Class.
