Prestigious paragon paths
Filed under D&D 4E Preview on April 23, 2008
Keywords: 4E, Dungeons and Dragons, paragon paths
Today’s Dungeons & Dragons 4E excerpt provides a sneak peak at paragon paths. A PCs career is divided into three tiers: heroic, paragon and epic. The paragon tier encompasses levels 11-20.
As the article states, paragon paths are 4E’s version of prestige classes. I never liked the idea of prestige classes being used by players, a likely artifact of my distaste for 2E’s kits. It also had to do with the 3E DMG’s treatment of them. The original intent behind them was to allow the DM to add some flare to his NPCs.
I’m a fan of the tiers, though. This is partly due to nostalgia. The division hearkens back to the old D&D box sets. I also like the implementation of paragon paths in relation to the base class advancement. It was either or with prestige classes; you had to pick a level in your base base or a level in your prestige class. Paragon paths grant their benefits alongside those of your base class. It’s still either/or with multiclassing, but I think that balances the fact your already accessing features from two base classes.
The specific paths listed are really only snapshots of their features, so it’s hard to form an opinion of them. They’ll certainly go a long way toward diversifying PCs.
WotC appears to have changed their stance on feat prerequisites with 4E, if the paragon feats are any indication. Race is now a factor in whether or not you are eligible for a certain feat, which was a no-no in 3E.
Other than that, I’m looking forward to getting the full view of these paths. My gaming preferences make epic destinies a superfluous mechanic, but I expect paragon paths will get some good use. What do you think of paragon paths?
