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Characters / Dungeons & Dragons Classes: Third-Edition Prestige Classes

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This is the character sheet for Prestige Classes Dungeons & Dragons introduced during its 3rd Edition and 3.5 Edition. Go to Dungeons & Dragons Classes if you want to check out the classes introduced in other editions.


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     Alienist 
A Prestige Class introduced in Complete Arcane. The Alienist is a spellcaster who summons things from beyond and deals with things man was not meant to know.
  • Body Horror: Alienists tend to grow eyes, tentacles, or mouths where there previously were none. Any Familiar the alienist has develops them first.
  • Dragged Off to Hell: A 9th-level Alienist does not age. The tradeoff? At the moment they should have died of old age, they are brought to the Far Realm.
  • Eldritch Abomination: You get to summon minor ones. You also need to meet one first to qualify to become an Alienist.

     Arcane Archer 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. This is an elf-specific class that mixes spellcasting with bow-wielding skill. Later returned as a Fighter subclass in 5e.
  • Mage Marksman: Downplayed. Only a minimum of arcane spellcasting is required to become an Arcane Archer and levels in the class don't directly improve it, instead focusing more on its own unique Special Attacks. While they do get the ability to cast area spells through an arrow, their weak spellcasting means this will usually be a fairly minor add-on. It's possible to play a focused spellcaster who takes only 2 levels of Arcane Archer in order to improve their area spells, but this is clearly Not the Intended Use (nor is it possible until high levels).
  • Magic Enhancement: Any nonmagical arrow they shoot becomes a magic one.
  • One-Hit Kill: Their most dangerous attack is an arrow that is effectively this, although they can only carry one at a time.
  • Rain of Arrows: Their 8th level class feature Hail of Arrows lets them make a single attack against up to 10 targets within bow range. Compared to similar abilities it is usable only once per day, but has much greater range.
  • Roboteching: Eventually, they can shoot arrows that completely ignore cover or can pass through intervening obstacles to hit someone.
  • Simplified Spellcasting: Shooting an arrow imbued with an area spell is always a standard action with no verbal, somatic or material components, even for spells that normally have long casting times (e.g control weather) or require expending valuable resources as material. However, the class's martial-centric entry requirements make it unlikely that you will know many high-level spells that can take advantage of this.
  • Trick Arrow:
    • At 2nd level they get the ability to channel an area spell through an arrow, increasing its maximum range and potentially allowing it to be cast more quickly.
    • Actually Defied by its Enhance Arrow class feature. Because it only works on arrows with no existing magical properties, and grants a Boring, but Practical bonus to attack and damage rolls which doesn't stack with any such bonus applied to your bow, an arcane archer is better off applying the more exotic enchantments to their bow rather than their ammo.

     Arcane Trickster 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. This class mixes spellcasting ability with trickery akin to that of the Rogue class. Returns in 5e as a Rogue subclass.
  • Glass Cannon: Sneak Attack and arcane spellcasting ability means they can pack a lot of punch.
  • Magic Knight: Magic rogue, technically, but they can dish out a whole lot of physical and magical pain.
  • We Need a Distraction: One way to interpret their "Impromptu Sneak Attack" ability, as using a minor magic trick to catch people off guard.

     Archmage 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Archmagi delve deeply into the workings of magic, learning to eke out more abilities from their spells.
  • The Archmage: Obviously. In this case, Archmagi are magic users who are so good at what they do that they learn how to add extra effects to their spells- like a Counterspell reflecting spells on their caster rather than just negating them, adding extra damage or range, or altering elements of the spell such as its area of effect or damage type.
  • Attack Reflector: The "Mastery of Counterspelling" high arcana upgrades their Counterspells into this.
  • Emergency Weapon: The "Arcane Fire" high arcana lets them break down a prepared spell into a blast of Pure Energy which, while not particularly strong, has full effect against enemies resistant or immune to spells.
  • Power at a Price: At each level they learn an advanced spellcasting technique called a "high arcana" by permanently sacrificing one of their daily spell slots.

     Assassin 
(See the Assassin entry in the "1st through 3rd Edition Core Classes" folder)

     Auspician 
A prestige class from Faiths and Pantheons. A chaotic spellcaster who uses the power of luck to strengthen himself/herself and manipulate the luck of both friends and foes alike.
  • Luck Manipulation Mechanic: The granted power of the Luck Domain (a requirement to enter the class), allows one re-roll of the die per day. However, you must take the second result of the roll, whether it's worse than the original roll.
  • Winds of Destiny, Change!: Most, if not all of the Auspician's special abilities (both magical and extraordinary) revolve around harnessing the force of luck.

     Beastmaster 
A prestige class that focuses on rapport with animals, buffing animal companions and giving the character animal-like abilities.

     Blackguard 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Blackguards are evil divine warriors much in the way that Paladins are good ones. While anyone can enter the class if they meet the requirements, it is largely designed for Fallen Paladins who choose not to Atone, giving them bonuses when they trade in Paladin levels.
  • Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Tends to be pronounced in D&D media not as "blaggard", but as the separate words "black guard".
  • Back Stab: They receive the rogue's Sneak Attack ability, though at a slower progression.
  • Black Knight: Their usual aesthetic involves plenty of dark coloured armour to contrast the generally shiny paladin armour.
  • Bond Creature: Receives a "fiendish companion" which serves as an Evil Counterpart of the paladin's special mount, though they can also select small, sinister animals normally available as Familiars. An ex-paladin of sufficient level also receives a second companion in the form of a skeleton or zombie.
  • Discard and Draw: A paladin of 11th level or higher who becomes a blackguard can immediately convert their paladin levels into additional blackguard levels (up to the class's maximum of 10), though this reduces the number of compensatory abilities for being an ex-paladin as appropriate. Levels in the Gray Guard and Shadowbane Inquisitor Prestige Classes also count as paladin levels for this purpose, which can result in a character who makes the trade being in the unusual situation of having levels only in prestige classes.
  • Evil Counterpart: They are essentially paladins of evil, and many of them were once paladins who fell from grace.
  • Fallen Hero: Paladins who have forsaken their Lawful Good alignment gain special bonuses upon becoming blackguards in order to compensate for the loss of their Oathbound Powers.
  • Healing Hands: Not by default, but a blackguard with at least 3 levels in paladin regains their Lay on Hands ability.
  • Obvious Rule Patch: Some of blackguard's entry requirements are rather specific (including the Improved Sunder feat and ranks in the Hide skill), making it difficult for the majority of fallen paladins to qualify; added to that, the compensation abilities that they gain for keeping their levels in fallen paladin aren't particularly strong. The Shadowbane Inquisitor prestige class from the later-published Complete Scoundrel is entered more easily at lower levels, covers some of blackguard's requirements as part of its advancement, and has abilities which aren't lost on falling but still count towards paladin level for determining the blackguard's special bonuses.
  • Summon Magic: One of the abilities gained by ex-paladins is the ability to cast a weak summoning spell once per day.

     Dragon Disciple 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Dragon disciples draw out their innate dragon lineage to gain the powers of a dragon.
  • Artistic License – Biology: Levelling up by, essentially, altering your genetic code to emphasize specific traits is pretty cool, but very hard to roleplay while making any sense.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: For sorcerers. A combat focused bard can get a lot out of this class but a sorcerer is just going to lose advancement in their spellcasting in order to go from bad to mediocre at combat.
  • Breath Weapon: Breathing fire or lightning etc. is a draconic trait.
  • Draconic Humanoid: Dragon disciples become more and more physically similar to true dragons as they gain levels, eventually gaining the half-dragon template.
  • In the Blood: The fluff says that spontaneous spellcasting is only possible if you have some draconic heritage (though more commonly it says this is an in-universe theory by sorcerers, or indicates that there are other heritages possible — dragon is just the one that gets the most focus). This prestige class is about tapping into it.
  • Magic Knight: Requires minor spellcasting to enter, and uniquely grants extra spells per day but without expanding their repertoire or making their spells any stronger. As a result of their weak magic, most dragon disciples will rely more on self-buffs and broadly-useful Utility Magic rather than casting spells on their foes directly.
  • Power Gives You Wings: Their dragon lineage eventually grants them wings. Notable in that human sized half-dragons don't normally possess wings, which only grow on creatures of larger size categories.
  • Spiritual Successor: The Dragon Devotee from Races of the Dragon is a shorter prestige class which grants the similar-but-weaker Draconic template, as well as a handful of boons which either make it easier to qualify for Dragon Disciple (minor arcane spellcasting if you don't have it, Knowledge [arcana] as a class skill) or serve as quality-of-life upgrades for it (the ability to cast 1st level arcane spells while wearing armor). The book even acknowledges this, as the low entry requirements for and access to spellcasting granted by Dragon Devotee allow classes that otherwise would not qualify for Dragon Disciple (such as fighters) to move on to that prestige class.

     Dread Pirate 
A prestige class from Complete Adventurer. Dread pirates are swashbuckling scourges of the sea with fearsome reputations.
  • Bad Boss: "Motivate the Scum" allows dishonorable dread pirates to motivate their crew by killing a helpless individual. If the individual is one of the dread pirate's own crew, the bonus is doubled.
  • The Dreaded: Dread pirates who so choose can take advantage of their fearsome reputation for boosts to Intimidate.
  • Dressed to Plunder: The character in the illustration sports full pirate regalia, with beard, bandana, breeches, and Badass Longcoat.
  • Pirate: "swashbuckling scourges of the sea" and all that.

     Dwarven Defender 
A dwarf-only prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Dwarven defenders are stalwart crusaders for the dwarven cause that can become living walls if needed.

     Enlightened Spirit 
The "redeemed Warlock" prestige class in Complete Mage. Turning their backs on continuing down the fiendish path, they instead walk towards the light. An Enlightened Spirit trades away invocation progression for a suite of celestial based abilities.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: Can turn Eldritch Blast into a Spirit Blast or Holy Blast, which deals extra damage to undead or evil outsiders.
  • Omniglot: At 4th level, an Enlightened Spirit gains the Tongues ability, which can be turned on and off at will.
  • Redemption Promotion: Turning away from darkness to light grants them new abilities.

     Fiend-Blooded 
A prestige class introduced in Heroes of Horror. Fiend-Blooded are humanoids whose ancestry traces back to the union between a fiend or half-fiend (usually an evil outsider such as a devil or demon) and a humanoid/mortal partner. With training, they can awaken the power of their fiendish heritage.
  • Acquired Poison Immunity: At 3rd level, "Blood of Fiends" grants resistance to poison and reduces damage done by poison, and the class' final ability, "Fiendish Exaltation" grants complete immunity.
  • Black Magic: If a Fiend-Blooded doesn't choose a spell with the Fire descriptor via Fiendish Sorcery, he/she can pick any one spell (from any spell list), as long as the spell is from the schools of Necromancy, Illusion, or Enchantment.
  • Damage Reduction: Gained when the capstone ability (Fiendish Exaltation) is acquired.
  • In the Blood: Only spontaneous (and humanoid) casters with traces of fiendish blood need apply.
  • Playing with Fire: "Fiendish Sorcery" allows a Fiend-Blooded to learn any spell from any class list as long as the spell has the Fire descriptor.

     Fleshwarper 
Introduced in Lords of Madness, these freaky dudes are all about grafts — taking bits of other creatures, and sticking them on yourself... or any guinea pigs you can find.

     Frenzied Berserker 
Barbarians who rage even more than normal, entering a powerful, but uncontrollable, frenzy.
  • Berserk Button: Taking damage has a chance of triggering the character's frenzy.
  • The Berserker: to the point where once he runs out of enemies, he starts attacking the rest of the party.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Steps up the barbarian rage required to take the class in the first place. While in a frenzy, the frenzied berserker can't die of hit point damage.

     Gray Guard 
"How're we supposed to see the pally comin' when 'e wears armor blacker than ours?"
—Griv "Goblin Father" Chos, unfortunate cultist guard

A prestige class from Complete Scoundrel. These are paladins who fight dirty and can smite virtually anything.


  • Anti-Hero: A class requirement. There's just no way these brutal and hard-assed paladins can be considered classic heroes.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Invoked: gray guards exist specifically as paladins with the capacity to go against the Paladin's Code under extenuating circumstances, so the bad guys cannot take advantage of the limitations it regularly imposes on them. Any bad guy that tries to use the Paladin's Code against a Gray Guard to force him to "play nice" is in for a RUDE awakening when the Gray Guard punches his teeth in.
  • Good Is Not Nice: These are experienced paladins who combat evil by whatever means necessary. The illustration shows a gray guard strangling a necromancer with his bare hands in a scene that looks like it's referencing Darth Vader in A New Hope.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Debilitating Touch lets you use Lay on Hands to cause pain, and the entry suggests use in interrogation.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: Notable in that their smite evil can, at high enough level, let them effectively smite anyone including other Lawful Good paladins.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: These are (most likely) paladins who have discarded the nicer aspects of the Paladin's Code in order to dispense justice by less pleasant means if necessary
  • Lawful Good: invoked Class requirement. Violating the code of conduct costs them their powers, but doing so in service to the faith negates the experience requirement of an atonement spell, until they reach their 10th level in gray guard.
  • The Paladin: The vast majority of entries are paladins (it requires class features that, among the Player's Handbook classes, only paladins have).

     Incandescent Champion 
A prestiege class from Magic of Incarnum. Incandescent Champions are strongly good-aligned warriors and knights who utilize the Soul Magic of Incarnum to protect others from evil and tyranny. Their connection to the magic is such that they literally glow when using their abilities, eventually being able to turn into light for brief periods.

  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The entire concept of the class from name to description and to abilities may bring to mind a particularly famous Dark Souls character, Solaire of Astora. Though he is also a goodly knight who dreams of becoming "Grossly Incandescent," the prestiege class predates him by a number of years. Made somewhat funnier by one of the most direct ways of qualifying for the class being a single-classed "Soulborn"
  • Knight in Shining Armor: Although it doesn't require you to be a knight, the famous in-universe Incandescent Champions are. One sample organization for the class is even a knight order
  • Light Is Good: The class glows with power, and requires you be good
  • Power Glows: All over this class, starting with a smite-like ability that emits light when it is charged and going all the way up to a transformation into luminescent energy.
  • Phosphor-Essence: Even illustrated in the class picture
  • Soul Power: As an incarnum class, their powers come from soul magic
  • Tim Taylor Technology: Their "Incarnum Overload" ability allows them to briefly raise the Cap on how much essentia they can invest into a receptacle, allowing a single one of their incarnum-based abilities to function at above-maximum power until the start of their next turn.

     Keeper of the Cerulean Sign 
A prestige class in Lords of Madness. A Keeper uses the "Cerulean Sign", an ancient rune that embodies the power of the natural world to hunt down and defeat aberrations and cults worshiping them.
  • Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: The cerulean focus, which a prospective keeper must make in order to take levels in the class and use its abilities. It usually is made as an amulet, though it can be personalized by making the sign in the form of a mantle, ring, medallion, or periapt.
  • Detect Evil: "Detect Aberrant Taint".
  • Words Can Break My Bones: A 3rd level Keeper can use "Word of Revelation" to dispel illusions cast by aberrations (or aberration cultists) and deal charisma damage.

     Knight of the Sacred Seal 
A prestige class introduced in Tome of Magic. For the martial-minded Binder, these individuals have formed a special bond with a single vestige. This bond grants them abilities beyond what normal binders receive from making pacts with vestiges.
  • Guardian Entity: The vestige the knight chooses as his or her patron. Binding a patron vestige is automatically successful (the vestige cannot influence you and you can freely suppress its sign).

     Master Alchemist 
Appears in Magic of Faerûn. For the spellcaster who dabbles in mixing potions, elixirs, and alchemy, he or she can create potions and oils beyond normal limits.
  • Item Caddy: Can eventually learn to brew potions of up to 9th level spells, identify alchemical substances faster, and brew more potions at a faster rate and reduced price.

     Master Astrologer 
A prestige class that appears in Dragon Magazine Issue 340, that has the power to manipulate the stars.
  • Star Power: At 10th level, once per day the class allows a spell to be cast not only at caster level 4 higher than normal and increase any save DCs by 4, but also increases all numeric effects, both fixed and variable, are increased by 50%, which stacks with metamagic feats.

     Master of Radiance 
A prestige class in Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. A divine caster who draws on the energy of the sun to better combat undead foes.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: At 2nd and 5th level, the class grants Searing Light and Sunbeam as spell-like abilities.
  • Light 'em Up: Sun powder for radiant damage!
  • The Power of the Sun: Fluff-wise the class is usually taken by druids who revere the Sun, but is open to clerics who worship Light or Sun deities (such as Pelor or Lathander), or other divine casters who can use Daylight and worship Light or the Sun as an ideal/force of nature.
  • Turn Undead: Advances the character's turning effectiveness if he/she has the ability from other sources.
  • Weakened by the Light: Can project an aura of light which debuffs undead and creatures with light sensitivity, as well as empowering their spell-like abilities while the aura is active.

     Mystic Theurge 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Mystic Theurges are adept in both the arcane and the divine.
  • Can't Catch Up: The traditional entry into this class requires 3 levels in a divine spellcasting class and an arcane spellcasting class. This is about 3 level each before you qualify for this prestige class. If you take 10 levels you become a 13th level divine and 13th level arcane caster at level 16, allowing you to cast 7th level spells where a dedicated caster is 1 level away from their 9th level spells. And that's to say nothing about the class features you're missing out on.
  • The Red Mage: Probably the purest example D&D has to offer, since the mystic theurge casts both cleric and wizard spells, but will never be as good at either as a single-class character of the same level.

     Primeval 
Warriors from harsh and savage lands, primevals embrace their inner savagery and cultivate close links to a spirit animal. At the end of their character progression, they cease to be humanoids and become shapechanging magical beasts. Primevals are described in Frostburn.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Primeval class features tend to emphasize unarmed combat and discourage reliance on manufactured tools. Primevals do not gain proficiency with any weapon, armor or shield, but while in primeval form they have proficiency with their natural weapons. In addition, at tenth level, their natural attacks act as magic weapons, an ability that explicitly does not extend to weapon attacks.
  • Devolution Device: Primevals embrace their more primitive nature and gradually "devolve" into increasingly bestial, primal forms of their prior selves. In-game, this is represented through the Regression class feature, where the primeval loses a point of Intelligence and Charisma in exchange for one each in Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom three times over their character track.
  • Speaks Fluent Animal: A primeval can communicate with animals, although they're limited to members of the species they can the form of and of a few similar others. For instance, a primeval who can turn into a dire wolf can communicate with regular and dire wolves.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Primevals can take the form of a single animal species at will, although it must be a prehistoric beast such as a dinosaur, megafauna or dire animal. They can only do this once daily when starting out, but gain additional daily uses as they level up.

     Rainbow Servant 
A prestige class from Complete Divine. Rainbow Servants are the agents of the couatl on this world, a race of Lawful Good feathered serpents wanting to maintain peace and vanquish evil.
  • All Your Powers Combined: The main reason to pick this class. At levels 1, 4 and 7 the Rainbow Servant can learn and cast spells from the Good, Air and Law domains. But at level 10 they become able to learn and cast ALL spells from the Cleric list. This grants them light-oriented combat spells, healing magic, protection magic, buffs and all other spells a Cleric can normally use.
  • Detect Evil: A Rainbow Servant gets this at level 1, and Detect Chaos at level 7.
  • Good Wings, Evil Wings: From level 4 onwards they can use rainbow-colored wings for 4 to 10 minutes, depending on their Rainbow Servant level.
  • The Team Benefactor: The description of the class mentions that while a Rainbow Servant is allowed great leeway in their daily actions, they should be aware that a Couatl can drop into their lives at any moment to send them on some great quest. A DM can use this to introduce the party to a Quest Giver in an isolated area without resorting too much to a Deus ex Machina.
  • Telepathy: They learn Detect Thoughts at level 10.

     Sacred Exorcist 
Appears in Complete Divine. A spellcaster who can learn to banish ghosts and other evil spirits possessing the living, as well as specializing in fighting either undead or evil-aligned outsiders.
  • Detect Evil: At 2nd level, the exorcist gains the ability to use detect evil alignments at will, just as a paladin does.
  • Holy Burns Evil: Can pick up an aura that replicates the effects of Consecrate, and moves with the exorcist, eventually gaining Holy Aura as a spell-like ability.
  • Turn Undead: Advances turning if the character already has the class feature, or grants the ability to non-cleric spellcasting classes (such as sorcerers, wizards, shugenja, etc).

     Shadowdancer 
A prestige class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Shadowdancers are experts in hiding and using the shadows.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Shadowdancers are the most easily accessible for rogues and rangers, the two core classes that are best at stealth. However, the class has medium BAB and no sneak attack, gimping the main appeal of both the classes that would normally have use for its abilities.
  • Casting a Shadow: The main focus of their abilities. At higher levels, they can send their own shadow on the offensive.
  • Flash Step: As long as they enter and exit via a shadowed area.
  • Stone Wall: Gets a lot of defensive abilities, such as evasion, slippery mind and defensive roll, and a fairly good d8 hit dice, but gets no offensive abilities whatsoever.

     Soulcaster 
A prestige class in Magic of Incarnum. Combines the power of incarnum and arcane magic.
  • Soul Power: A soulcaster can augment their spells with essentia, making them more powerful and harder to resist.

     Sunmaster 
A prestige class from Lost Empires of Faerûn. Sunmasters claim the 3E sun god Lathander is really the ancient Netherese sun god Amaunator. 4E reveals they were right. They have great powers over light.

     Wild Soul 
A prestige class in Complete Mage. An arcane spellcaster who forms an alliance with the fey courts of either the Seelie (if good-aligned) or the Unseelie (if evil-aligned). The caster gains the ability to summon a wider variety of fey, outsiders and magical beasts for aid.
  • Status Buff: Summoning a creature from the expanded list grants the summoner several perks as long as the summoned creature stays alive for the spell's duration (increased speed, resistance to sleep and charms, and making the caster's illusions and enchantments harder to resist).
  • Summon Magic: Adds several creatures to the caster's Summon Monster list, some of which usually only appear in the Summon Nature's Ally line, such as the unicorn.

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