Prestige Class

Prestige classes are a set of player options from the Dungeons & Dragons 3e DMG and other supplements. They are character classes with a specific set of requirements that a typical first-level character will not qualify for. Thus, they are typically taken as a multi-class at a later time.

The original intent of prestige classes was something like creating a specialty profession for a particular DM's game, with a unique set of abilities not found in the core rules, yet relevant to the setting. In practice, they are really just another way for powergamers to spend all their time optimizing their character sheets so they can have as many kewl powurz as possible.

They do however serve one useful function: they make it easy to spot munckins in Dungeons & Dragons 3e. All you have to do is read a player's character sheet. If his list of classes reads like a reject Yu-Gi-Oh monster ("I SUMMON DWARF MONK PSYCHIC WARRIOR!"), then he is a weeaboo munchkin who thinks Katanas are Underpowered in d20.