A question to those that give the expertise feat for free

[Dr_Ruminahui]

So at 15th level, you would take -2 off all defenses and -3 at 25th level???

I imagine so... that's how I'm doing it for my campaign, though they've only just hit 8th level so it hasn't come into effect yet other than the -1 I applied at 5th level.

 

[KarinsDad]

I'll either do this in the monster builder or note it once I print the monster out.

You print off all of your monsters? If so, then it works.

But, I run a WotC adventure here (hardcopy), a Dungeon magazine PDF there (off the laptop), and I don't print them out.

So, it's more of a hassle to put in yellow sticky notes for the hardcopy and to remember it for the .PDFs than it is to just have CB handle it for me.

My PCs rarely change up weapons or implements and if they do, I still have to go into CB to slot weapons into their main hand. It's not too hard to add the house rule new feat once in a blue moon (in fact, for our current 6 PCs, I've never had to do add it a second time for a new weapon/implement).

And my players have never used an alchemical item. They just don't want to be hassled with stuff like that. I even have a house rule for ritual and power scrolls and only one player has taken advantage of that (and even then, has only used one scroll).

 

[Talysian]

I've found most WOTC published adventures to be horridly grindy. I tend to either rebuild all the encounters if I run them, or just don't run the pre done stuff. So far besides a few gems in dragon, I re-adjust all encounters done by wotc.

 

[Mentat55]

I give all of my PCs a +1 bonus to attack rolls at 5th, 15th, and 25th level. So I go one better than Expertise. This applies to all attacks, regardless of weapon, implement, or power, so things like Dragon Breath, bull rush, and like also get the bonus.

I've also thought about making the adjustment on my side of the screen, both to defenses and to the monster's attack bonuses against Fort, Ref, and Will. I may try this during my next campaign.

 

[Tarrl]

I would be curious to hear how that goes Mentat55

 

[BobTheNob]

I give a +1 bonus at paragon (11) and another at epic (21). You can still take the feat, but it only give a flat (non scaling) +1. But I do it for defences as well (whilst nerfing out some Masterwork armor bonus)

So, you get +2 for free, but an increase that to +3 with a feat pick.

ALL feats that have scaling +toHit OR defence (basically anything that scales yet correlates to a d20 roll) is brought back to a non-scaling +1

 

[Zinovia]

Math Expertise

I give the characters Math Expertise for free, and ban the Expertise and Paragon Defenses feats. Math Expertise grants them a +1 bonus to all attacks and all non-AC defenses at levels 5/15/25. We implement it in the Character Buiulder with Expertise and Paragon Defenses. This has worked out very well so far. No matter what their Int score, all characters in my game are math experts!

In future games it might be easier to adjust monster defenses. I usually print out the stat blocks because I am adjusting enemies to reduce combat grind (reduced HP, increased damage). I'd be a little worried about forgetting to make the adjustment when i run out of a module or printed book. I forget enough stuff about the monsters when I run them already, especially interrupt and reaction powers. I'd hate to forget to adjust the defenses, although it would likely be easy to remember compared to specific powers.

 

[CovertOps]

I have a lot of players at my table (6+ depending on who shows up any given game session). Because of this and other factors I have had combats take up to 4+ hours. This has led me to use nothing but custom monsters. HPs are multiplied by 7/10 (~30% reduction) and all damage is multiplied by 10/7 (~42% increase). Since I am making these changes anyway it's no big deal to just lower all defenses by 1/2/3 while making the other changes. Expertise is not allowed in my game. Anything that reduces the custom rules that the players need to know is a good thing especially when it comes to using CB.

 

[DK]

Are they really necessary?

I have a question: are expertise feat really necessary? There are a few thread about high level play and the common complain seems to be that high level 4E play is a cakewalk, that people kill solos with a yawn and so on.... so, are expertise feat really necessary????

 

[TheClone]

Our 4e DM (which is fellow named here after some archchancellor) grants us one freely chosen expertise feat for free. We should have gotten it at level 5. He said it was because he finds it strange to have some "must have feats", like needing an expertise feat to keep up with monster defenses. I can definitely say the same, because I find it strange to calc the monster stats always by assuming all players do have a certain feat and then it does the math.