[DarkRanger]

I wanted to bring attention to the following:

So along those lines, I want to get YOUR opinions on what classes, if any, could use some attention and/or modification. Which classes do you see seldom played? What classes to people seem to gravitate to more than others? Why is that? What do you think could be done to even the balance between them? What have you seen done on other PWs in regard to class balance you really liked? What, if anything, backfired? I am primarily looking for ideas that move a class closer to D&D implementation, or else convince me they are needed because the class is essentially broken/overpowered/underpowered/implemented incorrectly in NWN/etc.

And now to provide a couple of examples:

Why do melee types gravitate more towards RDD/Weaponmaster over the Blackguard/Divine Champion/Purple Dragon Knight route for prestige classes? What can be done to balance that out?
Blackguard forces a person to distribute ability scores oddly to really shine(high charisma fighter type), Divine Champion to me seems fine as is for a second layer of fighter advancement, but people favor the extra damage over high saves and a once per day heal/anti undead attack. The only suggested change that springs to mind for me is forcing them to choose a deity and maintain the proper alignment or lose class abilities. As for Purple Dragon Knight, not sure what to say about it. Removal of alignment restriction and/or granting them fortitude/will or even all as primary saves might get one or two people to create one.(Perhaps accompanied by a name change to something more generic. Bodyguard because of the heroic shield feat? Commander because of the group buffs? I can't come up with something perfect for a new name)

Why do Harpers rarely ever take any levels in Harper Scout? Do you feel the prestige class is broken? If so, what do you think could be done to fix it so Harpers will take levels in their prestige class?
Can't really comment directly on this one.

Is there anything wrong with the Dwarven Defender PrC or is it just due to a shortage of dwarves that it rarely gets played?
It looks good to me, I think it's just a lack of dwarf PCs in general.

etc.

These are just some examples of discussion, by all means if you have some ideas of your own please feel free to add.

Also pale master is severely underwhelming due to losing caster level, and only useful in 40 level power builds, though retaining full progression would create the opposite problem of why NOT take it.

For the blackguards

* Give them actual spell-casting powers like Paladins get(this is in line with pnp from what I hear)

Assassins could be given full BAB progression to reflect the fact that they're more focused killers than standard rogues. Also more skill points, though maybe not as many as rogues still. Agree with Hellstrom's feat related suggestions, also an idea about death attack, perhaps change it to;

Chance of instant kill against a target not engaged in combat who isn't aware of your presence.(not sure what a good DC would be, though a reflex save would be most logical I think)

In other words, the perfect skill to assassinate with.