Updates:
9/8/2009 - Added revised assassin and eldritch knight PrCs.
8/28/2009 - Changed swashbuckler to medium BAB and two good saves. Also restricted its ability to use Extra Granted Maneuvers and added some Int synergy class features.
8/27/2009 - Edited ranger based on some suggestions. Most notably, removed a few of the less useful space-taking abilities like Instinctive Cartographer and Pathfinder. Also removed some of the clutter from Dragon Shaman, so it no longer gets Low-Light Vision, Darkvision, and DR/magic.
Introduction:
In my opinion, there are numerous classes in 3.5 that have a lot of potential but are just not fun. You end up doing the same thing over and over with very little variety, unlike casters or ToB classes who have numerous options in battle. I also despise dead levels and try to remove them wherever I go, as well as limit MAD where I see it, since both of these come at the detriment of the classes that have them. Thus, this is my attempt at fixing a few a few classes to make them more fun to play.
A warning I should make first: I'm of the philosophy that balance isn't really the most important aspect of D&D. This isn't PvP, so in my opinion, it's not that important that casters are Tier 1 while ToB is only Tier 3, as long as everybody can have fun and nobody's out to break the game. And so, these revised classes will have a higher power level than before. Generally, I'm aiming for a ToB level of power, though some may over or undershoot this measure. Nothing should be more powerful than full casters though (unless they already are full casters), and nothing should be more powerful than wizard/cleric/druid.
Base Classes:
Dragon Shaman
Marshal
Ranger
Soulknife
Swashbuckler
Prestige Classes:
Arcane Archer
Assassin
Dragon Disciple
Eldritch Knight
Illumine Soul
Soulbow