Feat at every level

[IronWolf]

I looked through some of the past posts and didn't see any mention of this, please excuse me if I missed previous discussion on this. As many of you probably know Andy Collins has made mention of a new feat at every level.

I am currently playing in a campaign where we get a feat at every level. It is a lot of fun and really allows you to actually get to use some feats. What do other folks think about this? Good idea? Bad idea? Why? Why not?

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Its a a pretty good idea IMO becuase it gives you a cool new ability every level. On the other hand if you only use feats from the PHB it's going to be horrible, which is why you need to use alot of other sources and even encourage PCs to come up with their own feat ideas. In my last game I gave out feats every odd level. Only problem it would severly weaken the fighter and to a lesser degree some of the other classes that get bonus feats. And unless you have a few hundred feats to draw from it's not going to be as fun.

 

[genshou]

A feat at every level seems like more than I'd ever give out, but the Pledge of Tyranny rules give a feat at every even level instead of every 3. IME, it encourages players to choose feats they might have otherwise considered a "waste of a feat," such as Endurance, Run, Skill Focus, Toughness, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and yes, even Blind-Fight. Again, IME, these are feats that are definitely not underpowered (well, except for maybe Toughness...), but most of my players never pick up a single one of them, because they feel too crunched for PrC qualifications and getting to the top of a feat tree.

If you want to keep Fighters on par with the other characters getting more feats, just give the Fighter class more bonus feats. In Pledge of Tyranny, Fighters get their normal bonus feats plus one at 3rd and ever 6 levels after, and one at 7th and every 6 levels after. Essentially, it's an extra feat every 3 levels, but I didn't ever want to give out 2 Fighter feats in one level. Not surprisingly, my player chose Fighter as one of his gestalt classes, even though the other doesn't add much on to it statistically.

I've already lost the possibility of brevity, but I'll get to the point now. If you want a feat at every level in your games, go for it! In fact, give monsters more feats as well, so they can pick up nasty ones like Knockdown for those times when the heroes just shouldn't be standing in one square while getting tail-thwacked. Just make sure to have a large number of feats to be chosen. There's a netbook of feats out there somewhere that can help a great deal with this.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Words From a Master ....

"New feats are a hell of a drug ...."​

 

[Li Shenron]

We never went as far as giving a feat every level, but in one campaign last year I gave a feat at every odd level instead of every three, plus some extra skill points, just because we only had 3 characters.

It wasn't a huge advantage (10 feats instead of 7 on a 20-level range, it's only 3 extra feat after all) but the players definitely liked the idea because they were able to afford some interesting combos which usually require very high level.

IMO if the game gave a feat every level it would be a great improvement. Lots of feats add flexibility rather than power, and that would just make the PCs more interesting and versatile; of course they could also be used for straight power...

I think that the very only reason why this could be a problem is the Fighter class. It currently gives 11 bonus combat feats, raising the total to 18 which is +157% or about twice-and-half as another character. With 20 base feats, the Fighter would only give +55% so it would be weaker overall that before, and something should be planned to compensate, but what? Even more feats wouldn't be so useful when you already own 31!

Humans also should be given some compensation, for the bonus feats isn't as good when you are getting 20 instead of 7 later.

But overall, it's definitely a good idea. Much better that just "buffing up" characters with high point-buy which is very common.

 

[IronWolf]

Its a a pretty good idea IMO becuase it gives you a cool new ability every level. On the other hand if you only use feats from the PHB it's going to be horrible, which is why you need to use alot of other sources and even encourage PCs to come up with their own feat ideas.

The DM of the game I am in allows a wide variety of material from 3rd party sources. So we have a plethora of feats to choose from!

 

[IronWolf]

IME, it encourages players to choose feats they might have otherwise considered a "waste of a feat," such as Endurance, Run, Skill Focus, Toughness, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and yes, even Blind-Fight.

This is what I have seen happening with my character (dwarven cleric). He has already taken skill focus and Great Fortitude.

 

[shaylon]

I like the idea, especially since my wizard is in this campaign. There are so many feats out there now that you really limit yourself by playing inside the normal rules. Also it gives an opportunity to pick feats that you never had a thought to try because you were stuck down a chain of feats to get that really uber one at the end.

I think it is a great idea. Now what feat do I pick next?

-Shay