Four new feat suggestions

Iron Body, Iron Mind [General]
Prerequisite: Base Fort save +5 or higher
The character may choose to make a Fort save in place of any Will save (same DC), using his physical superiority to shrug off effects to his mind. The substitution to the type of save must be stated beofre the die is rolled.

Iron Mind, Iron Body [General]
Prerequisite: Base Will save +5 or higher
The character may choose to make a Will save in place of any Fort save (Same DC), using his mental reserves to shrug off physical effects. The substitution to the type of save must be stated beofre the die is rolled.

Greater Diehard [General]
Prerequisite: Diehard, Con 13
This feat allows a character to survive long after even the most rabid berserker would have perished. This feat allows the character to be alive (albeit disabled) up to a total of -10 minus the characters Con modifier hit points. For instance, Harun Ironjaw has the Greater Diehard feat and a Constitution of 16. When reduced to 0 or lower hit points, he functions exactly as outlined under the Diehard feat, but instead of being dead at -10 hit points, he instead is dead when he reaches -13.

[see below for updated versions]

For the first two feats, limit it to once per day and it's ok. As written, it is way too powerful. The third feat is fine, if a little underpowered.

Thanks for the input, this is basically my first try at making feats.

Point taken about the first two feats, but 1/day seems a little weak...maybe 2/day or 3/day?

And for Greater Diehard - maybe minus ten plus double the Con modifier? Or pehaps a negative score equal to the Con score (i.e. Con 16 = -16 before death)...

Hi Thurbane,

I'm rather undecided on the first two feats. I do agree that they should be limited to a small amount of times per day (1 or 2). You could probably have feat that was unlimited if you restricted the saving throw to only be against a particular effect (eg. You can make Will saves instead of Fort saves against diseases)

I think Greater Diehard should give a little more. Your idea on basing the threshold of death on the actual Con score is good. I would also have the feat negate the penalties of the disabled condition. I'd also add a Base Fortitude save requirement (say +4 or +5).

Nice ideas, btw.

Thurbane said:

Thanks for the input, this is basically my first try at making feats.

Point taken about the first two feats, but 1/day seems a little weak...maybe 2/day or 3/day?

And for Greater Diehard - maybe minus ten plus double the Con modifier? Or pehaps a negative score equal to the Con score (i.e. Con 16 = -16 before death)...

Click to expand...

10 + (2 x Con Mod) = Con score or (Con score - 1)

From that, we see that the first version in this post is the same as the second version... and would always be the same as the -hps equal to the con score or one less, if the player has an odd Con score.

Also, all of your currently posted versions of the Greater Diehard are SIGNIFICANTLY too weak. Spring Attack, Great Cleave, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Spirited Charge, Manyshot.... these require the SAME LEVEL of FEAT INVESTMENT as this potential feat.

These are VERY powerful feats, by and large. Most of them are the essence of a character's playstyle; PA/Cleave/Great Cleave is the classic Barbarian, and GTWF is a rogue's dream when he's flanking and rolling well so he can apply a lot of SA damage. Same with Spirited Charge and mount users, and Manyshot and non-sniper-type archers. The simple presence of these abilities on a charsheet says a lot about the character. Let's revamp the power level as a result.

I'm thinking something along the lines of deathless frenzy, in fact, though drastically toned down. FBs have a lot of problems, but they do get SPA and Deathless Frenzy, which are PA and Diehard on steroids, as class abilities. Unfortunately, those abilities are what define the pros of being a FB mechanically; the con is that you risk hurting and/or killing your own partymates when your frenzy activates. However, Deathless Frenzy is good enough for our purposes to use as a 'base' for our new Greater Diehard to be useful. We'll make it less powerful than the PrC's class ability, so as to not step on the PrC's toes, as this is only a feat, and not a highly specialized class, but try to keep it on a power level appropriate to a feat that requires sacrificing up to half of a character's feat advancement up to level 20, and one that is basically defensive in purpose.

OK, here's where I think it should be headed:

Greater Diehard

Prerequisites: Endurance, Diehard, Con 13

You do not automatically die at -10 HP, but rather, at negative HPs equal to your Con Score or 10, whichever is greater. 'Normal' Diehard rules continue to apply, so you cannot make strenuous actions without HP loss, though you now only die at your increased maximum.

Additionally, once per day upon entering negative hit points, you can also enter a 'deathless' Diehard state, which allows you to continue living your negative HPs are equal to -3 times your Con score. This state lasts a number of rounds equal to your Con bonus + 1. Once this state ends, if your hitpoints are below the normal maximum given by this feat, you die at the end of your turn.

You might want to check out my Extreme Diehard thread.

Sound of Azure said:

I think Greater Diehard should give a little more. Your idea on basing the threshold of death on the actual Con score is good. I would also have the feat negate the penalties of the disabled condition. I'd also add a Base Fortitude save requirement (say +4 or +5).

Click to expand...

This is just my opinion, but being able to negate the penalties of being disabled is worth a feat in and of itself.

Sure, that sounds plausible (and powerful) enough to be on its own.

Revised versions

Iron Body, Iron Mind [General]
Prerequisite: Base Fort save +5 or higher
The character may choose to make a Fort save in place of any Will save (same DC), using his physical superiority to shrug off effects to his mind. The substitution to the type of save must be stated beofre the die is rolled. This feat can be used once per day, and is expended whether the save is successful or not.

Iron Mind, Iron Body [General]
Prerequisite: Base Will save +5 or higher
The character may choose to make a Will save in place of any Fort save (Same DC), using his mental reserves to shrug off physical effects. The substitution to the type of save must be stated beofre the die is rolled. This feat can be used once per day, and is expended whether the save is successful or not.

Greater Diehard [General]
Prerequisite: Diehard, Con 13
This feat allows a character to continue fighting even the most rabid berserker would have perished. This feat functions identically to Diehard, except that the character is not considered disabled while on 0 or fewer hit points. In addition, instead of being dead at -10 hit points, his new death total becomes negative ten plus his Con modifier. For instance, Harun Ironjaw has the Greater Diehard feat and a Constitution of 16. He may functional as normal when between 0 and -12 hit points, but is dead when he reaches -13 or lower.

Another new feat suggestion

Efficient Dispatch [General]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +8
You are ruthlessly effecient at dispatching fallen foes. A character with this feat may administer a Coup De Grace to an elligible foe as a standard action, rather than a full round action. Additionally, this attack does not provoke attacks or opportunity. Only one Efficient Dispatch may be made per round, regardless of the number of attacks or actions that the character may have.
A fighter may select Efficient Dispatch as one of his fighter bonus feats.