I have been playing around a lot with this Prestige Class, and have come to the conclusion that it is solely instituted to promote Munchkinism..
These are the directions I have taken with it so far, and this not include some of the more interesting things I have seen done in the two servers that I play online.
Bard/RDD/Arcane Archer: This was a build that I picked up from these forums. I always liked the AA class, so I had to try a build that had Dev Crit...He is scarily effective. I won't be going into vast detail here, this build is posted on the forums though, so maybe a moderator could point a link in that direction, as I don't know how to do it.
Bard/RDD/Rogue: Nothing like a rogue with Dev Crit. A successful Dev Crit on a sneak attack means you never saw what hit you. If, however, you should make your save, this char, due to 25 lvls of rogue, also has Epic Dodge, if your not really proficient with the weapons your using, you may never hit her, as with items that she has in the game she's in, her ac is over 100. That's as close as I could get to Immune to crits w/out playing a PM.
The following is not my build, but is intriguing none the less:
Sorc/RDD/Paladin: I believe this char would be a bane to undead across the realms. Not to mention the potential for wiping the floor with Red Dragons, relatively unharmed, due to the immunity to fire.
Sorc/RDD/Cleric: This was mainly a RP idea, based on the Aerie Character from Baldurs Gate 2. What do you know, she got her wings back... :D Best way to create Avariel chars as playing chars too, without the resource pack, which name eludes me at the moment. Feel free to post your favorite RDD based builds, I'd like to see what everyone else is doing.

I am trying out a Sorcerer RDD at the moment. My sorc is 8 while my RDD is 5. So far, I am still gutting out some things since I haven't consummated the RDD. :D

Now would it be wise to add another class? And the second question would be... will I ever reach level 40? :(

Currently, I have a monk that I took to level 22, then added a level of sorceror, then another level of monk (to select Ki strike +4 as a feat on the 24th character level). My plan is to eventually start taking levels in RDD since the armor, strength and other ability enhancements should be devastating for the monk.

What I still have not decided is how many levels, if any, of sorceror to take. I want the full 10 levels of RDD, have 23 levels of monk so far and need one more to get the Ki strike +5 feat. With the one level of sorceror so far, that is 35 of the max 40 character levels. I lean towards putting those 5 levels into monk, since I already have the use magic item (scrolls, wands, various magic user robes) ability from the one level of sorceror and with a charisma of 10, I will not be a powerful sorceror. Though I suppose I will get another 2 charisma from the RDD ability enhancements, and I could add points to charisma via the great charisma feat and use the periodic ability points in charisma.

Off Topic, but I have seen the term "munchkin" and "munchkinism." From context, it seems to refer to multiclassing to build a character strong in some ability, usually fighting, rather than for roleplaying reasons. What does the term actually mean? Where did the term come from?

As to the origin of the term, I cannot say, but what it means is that you have a character that is really good at one thing, killing. Whether through spells, or combat ability, that is the only purpose the char has. To go munchkin on your char, I would go ahead and fill out the build in monk. My big problem with the build overall is that I do not believe in multiclassing monks. It takes away from some of the abilities, and resistances that they get as they progress.
Bahamut, I would, if your char is elven, go with Arcane Archer, if not, if your alignment would allow, either blackguard, or CoT. As to reaching lvl 40, prob not in the OC's. I ran a char from SoU, through Hordes, and she only got to lvl 34 or 35, and I did every little quest I could find.

Witchdoctor: The term "munchkin" is like the term "cookie-cutter" builds in Diablo II? Bah from what I see the character is a powergamer LOL

robertthebard: I am a chaotic good human. I wish I could reach 40... I guess 35 is enough.

I see your point about not multiclassing monks, and in fact I have some regrets about even the one level of sorceror, though use magic items is a nice skill. I have a save just before leveling up to the sorceror and then monk and am debating going back. It isn't really that much of a loss since I had let experience points accumulate even after reaching the level up threshold from level 22, so that I had enough experience points to level up twice right away. I would just have to start the Isle of the Maker over again. I am also not looking forward to the 50% experience point earning penalty that I will suffer as soon as I take a level of RDD. If only sorceror or bard class were not a prerequisite for RDD.

You won't take the 20% hit for RDD itself, prestige classes do not count, you will, however lose it on the multiclass from monk to bard/sorc. The easy way around that is to be human, or, to keep the two standard classes within one lvl of eachother.
Edit: On the subject of that, in Icewind Dale 2 they had preferred classes, which would allow you to dual class without penalties, if your higher lvl class was the preferred one, I'm not sure if that applies here, or not. Enlighten me... :D

[ 06-12-2005, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: robertthebard ]

IMHO Powergamers are those players who try to make the most powerful character permitted by the rules. eg. to create a fighter with minimum intelligence and maximum strength the powergamer chooses a half-orc for even less intelligence and more strength.

Munchkin players will use any exploit/cheat/bug to make their character even more powerful. For example the Exploit Eddie build. When a certain cleric spell is cast it gives you a boost and an extra attack per round. If you cast it three times you get three extra attacks per round. Add that to a dual weilding kama monk with haste and flurry of blows and you get a character attacking 12-13 times per round [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

robertthebard

As for preferred classes: in NWN most of the various races have one basic (non-prestige) class which does not count for the XP penalty.
Dwarves = Fighter
Elves = Wizard
Gnome = Wizard
Half-Orc = Barbarian
Halfling = Rogue
For Humans and Half-Elves, they ignore the highest base class they have.

I am still trying to improve on a Sorceror/RDD/Dwarven Defender build before I post it... ;)

A Fav build is Halforc - Barbarian, Bard, RDD. It allows you to max out your strenght to the highest limit and get a massive dev crit save.

I have also combined a RDD with a PM to have a great melee character with immunity to crits and sneaks ( or will be in patch 1.66)

I didn't realize that prestige classes didn't count toward total number of classes in determining if you would suffer the experience point penalty. Cool. I could still do the monk/sorceror/RDD then and not suffer any experience point penalty, since I did originally make the monk human. The lack of XP penalty for dual classing was one of the reasons I choose a human, that and the initial extra feat and the skill point bonus. If prestige classes don't count toward the experience point penalty, then it would seem that humans would never suffer an XP penalty, as long as one of their classes were a prestige class.