have any of you changed the toughness feat?

[Sanackranib]

I house ruled the toughness feat in my game to 1hp per level, whith the stipulation that it could be only taken once. it has not proved to be unbalanceing and still its not taken as a must have feat. so I'm wondering . . . have any of you DM's out there made similar adjustments?

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I think that version of the feat is in Complete Warrior - called Improved Toughness - we've been using it for a while as well, makes more sense to me!

The other version is the Arcana Unearthed one called Sturdy - you either get +con or +4 bonus in hitpoints - whichever is higher. Using that in our AU game and it seems fine.

 

[Thanee]

Yep we had changed Toughness to 1hp/lvl in 3.0 already. Still noone took it, but hey, some at least considered it then.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Whitemage Bishieboy]

i house ruled it to provide hp=to fort save,and made it a prereq for improved toughness.

actully a funny thing about this,it proves that either A.con is underpowered B.improved toughness is broke and should always be taken.
con improves 2 things and 1 skill,compare that to ANY OTHER STATISTIC!compare the benefits of great constitution(an epic feat) verus improved toughness(a non-epic feat)

its really rather funny xP

 

[mercucio]

i house ruled it to provide hp=to fort save,and made it a prereq for improved toughness.

actully a funny thing about this,it proves that either A.con is underpowered B.improved toughness is broke and should always be taken.
con improves 2 things and 1 skill,compare that to ANY OTHER STATISTIC!compare the benefits of great constitution(an epic feat) verus improved toughness(a non-epic feat)

its really rather funny xP

Not really. A higher Con also improves your Con checks. Fatigue and exhaustion are a real b*tch, especially when your players do lots of fighting or traveling. HP isn't everything

 

[Keska]

My group has been using Toughness that way (1HP/level) since Neverwinter Nights came out.

 

[Arkhandus]

Getting 1 HP per level from the Toughness feat, though, only makes it appealing at higher levels you see. I would make that an Improved Toughness or Greater Toughness feat instead, with Toughness as a prerequisite. I prefer to change Toughness itself to granting +4 HP each time it's gained, or +5 HP with the caveat that it cannot be taken more than once every two levels, so a mage can start with decent hit points and keep it up over time, but can't end up with as much or more than the party barbarian. Another option is to change Toughness so that each time it is gained, it grants HP equal to 4 or the character's total base Fortitude save, whichever is higher at the time the feat is taken. This makes it's power more proportional to the class of whoever takes it; classes with high Fortitude saves have decent or good hit die types and will get proportionately the same benefit at middle or high levels.

 

[Nifft]

I give my players base Fort save +1 hp. Thus 1st level Warrior types (and Clerics & Druids) get +3 HP at 1st level, up to +13 at 20th level. For non-Warrior types, the bonus goes from +1 to +7 at 20th level. For mixes, it could be higher or lower.

-- N

 

[Sanackranib]

I think that the 1 hp per level seems to work well. it is a feat that improves slowly over time which I like and encourages those non fighters to pick it up at 3rd or 6th level effectivly adding a hd worth of hp. obviously its of more value after 3rd level since its retroactive and only fighter types will even consider it at 1st level. it also allows for a game mechanic that lets the characters get better. the wizard or rogue after spending a lot of time adventuring with the fighters has gotten a bit tougher - but will never get as tough as a fighter.

in my game this feat replaces all versions of the toughness and improved toughness feats and may only be taken once, though need not be taken at level 1. This will never be a "Must Have" feat and with the limited feat options open to non fighters I wanted a way to boost it without having to take a series of progressively better toughness feats

 

[Dragonblade]

I modified Toughness as follows:

+1 HP/level (max +20). It is retroactive if taken at a higher level.