What are Presige Classes Anyways?

Gamer asks if someone could explain the concept:

Yeah i was wondering what prestige classes ARE and how the whole system works. and maybe if someone could give examples of prestige classes too…

from the DMG:

“Prestige classes allow DMs to create campaign-specific, exclusive roles and positions as classes. These special roles offer abilities and powers otherwise inaccessible to PCs and focus them in specific, interesting directions. A character with a prestige class will be more specialized yet perhaps slightly better than one without.”

Some examples are the anti-paladin and the assassin. For the assassin, for example, you create a rogue, and when you meet certain requirements (in this case: evil alignment, 8 ranks of move silently, 8 ranks of hide, 4 ranks of disguise, and then murder someone to join the assassins), you may opt to become an assassin.

Hope that helps!
bOb 🙂

Bob McCabe
Writing & Design