Exchanging Feats

[Sekhmet]

I would also add that it should be a combat/metamagic related feat. Some feats like Iron Will and Toughness reflect the physical/mental improvement of the character and wouldn't make much sense to remove. Retraining from archery to mounted combat makes more sense than trading improved mental resistance with martial weapon training.

I'm not trying to restrict a player from trading a bad feat out for a feat he might get more benefit from, I'm just restricting a level 6 player (for example) from having three feats he could only get at level 6, or a level 21 player from having five Epic feats.

 

[Tovec]

I've started using that optional rule where a PC can exchange out one Feat when he goes up a level and is elligible for a new Feat (thus, an old Feat gets changed and a new Feat is gained).

This seems to be working out pretty well.

Are there any problems in the way of unintended consequences that I'm not seeing?

Opinions about this opitional rule, pro or con?

Do you also allow them to swap around skills however they please when they gain a level (and would gain more skill points)?

The only real issue I see is one of believability. I say that full well knowing I have allowed players to swap out feats. I have allowed them to do it in a few circumstances but certainly not every level (or every other, or ever 3) as the case may be.

Ways I have allowed:
Player approaches me saying that they dislike X feat. If it is significant and a real issue then they can often get it swapped on the spot. This would be a one time thing, and rarely more than one feat.
A player has a feat which is unbalancing or game breaking then I will often ask them to look for a new one.
If a player took a feat for which they do not meet the prereqs then I'll have them switch it for a prereq.
OR, a player can get different feats, swapping out multiple through the course of training. Through this method a player can get new feats too, ones beyond what they would normally have.

All of these are circumstantial and I am very aware of. None of them are: "You you can't manyshot anymore? Odd, why not? Oh, you leveled."

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I allow feat retraining in the games that I run, and it has not yet caused me any grief.

It is probably a good idea to make sure that prerequisite feats are not trained out, and that the new feats that are trained in are ones that the character would have qualified for at the time, but those two precautions may not be strictly necessary.

 

[Water Bob]

Do you also allow them to swap around skills however they please when they gain a level (and would gain more skill points)?

No swapping, but I do allow them to save their skill points and apply them as the game progresses. They don't have to allocate all skill point excatly when the achieve a new level.

I keep a tally. All RAW rules are kept. The only difference is that the PC can improve a skill right in the middle of the action.

My players like this, not having to "pre-think" what they'll need. And, I like it because it sees the skill point distributed on the skills that the PCs actually use.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

No swapping, but I do allow them to save their skill points and apply them as the game progresses. They don't have to allocate all skill point excatly when the achieve a new level.

I keep a tally. All RAW rules are kept. The only difference is that the PC can improve a skill right in the middle of the action.

My players like this, not having to "pre-think" what they'll need. And, I like it because it sees the skill point distributed on the skills that the PCs actually use.

There's a feat that allows that in Spycraft 2, but allowing it universally is cool, also.

 

[MadWand]

Retraining feats is perfectly fine. Just require that any feat retrained must meet prerequisites as if the PC was actually the level at which the original feat was taken, i.e. they can't take any more powerful feats then they would otherwise have had through normal levelling. In addition, they can't retrain any feat that is meeting a current prerequiste (for another feat or PrC, for example), and can't retrain any feat that has provided mechanical benefits that they will still benefit from (i.e., item creation feats, or any of those feats that allow wizards to scribe additional spells when they level up cannot usually be retrained).

It's important to allow retraining because it allows the less-optimized to change bad choices, and catch up to the players who know more about the system and thus didn't make any bad choices. Skills and some class features should be retrainable too (see the PHB II for details). Thus, retraining serves as an important balancing mechanism when there are players of different skill levels at the table, and serves to mitigate unhappiness with past choices when a player learns better. I know I'd hate to make a bad choice at early levels that screws my PC over for the entire game; it's nice to have the choice to fix these things and takes a lot of the pressure off of leveling decisions, making for a less stressful and more fun gaming experience.

 

[S'mon]

I allow 1 retrain per level, as per 3e PHB2 (and 4e). I don't expect any problems in my E5 game.