So I've been doing a little research on prestige classes, and I've dicovered that there are quite a few existing PRCs which are appropriate for the setting; in particular the Mammoth Rider, the Horizon Walker, and the Bloodmage (sorry Squish, looks like Paizo beat you to the punch for your Blood Priest class).
As I mentioned in the Skype call, I feel like we've done plenty of world-building by now, at least for most regions. I feel that our first priority, at least for now, should be getting Crossroads ready to playtest, since it's better to catch mistakes earlier rather than later. But this will require that we actually finish designing all the classes we're making, and finalize the list of "official" classes and prestige classes which are appropriate for the setting. I'd actually like to start a conversation about this, so I've compiled a list of PRCs which I think are compatible with the Crossroads setting. I think that there's a case to be made for most of these, but if you disagree, let me know. I haven't had time to examine each one in detail (there are dozens of them), but again, nothing has been written in stone yet.
- Arcane Archer (esp. useful for Natives with levels in Hunter)
- Arcane Trickster (Native myths are full of trickster-spirits)
- Assassin (no matter the era, somebody's gonna want someone dead)
- Bloodmage (perfect for Aztec priests of violent deities)
- Chevalier (possible replacement for the Paladin?)
- Coastal Pirate (what more needs to be said?)
- Collegiate Arcanist (needs refluff for Natives, but otherwise OK, I think)
- Dark Delver/Divine Assessor (we probably don't need both; they're pretty similar)
- Deep Sea Pirate (what more needs to be said?)
- Duelist (perfect for Columbia campaigns, and probably Fusang as well)
- Evangelist (useful pretty much anywere, really)
- Harrower (refluff as Voodou fortune-teller)
- Holy Vindicator (useful for Knights Hospitaller, and possibly Scarred Monks too)
- Horizon Walker (refluff as Coureur des Bois)
- Low Templar (useful for Scarred Monks)
- Mammoth Rider (this one seems tailor-made for Tuniitaq)
- Master Chymist (perfect for both Columbia and Fusang)
- Master Spy (the colonies were rife with spies; see the Culper Ring)
- Natural Alchemist (highly useful for Medicine Men)
- Pain Taster (mainly Aztec priests and Scarred Monks, and maybe some really weird Fusangese monks)
- Pathfinder Chronicler (really fits the theme of the whole setting)
- Rage Prophet (great for Vinland campaigns)
As long as we're on the subject of classes, is Monk not going to be an official class? Because if they are, then that opens up the Brother of the Seal PRC.
And for that matter, what about the Alchemist base class? It's not on the list yet, and I get that alchemy was definitely on its way out by the mid-1700s, but I really can't think of a better class for Benjamin Franklin to take levels in.