Is Luck of Heroes balanced?

[SpikeyFreak]

You could play a Strongheart halfling and get luck of hero's with your bonus feat from the race.

Oh wait, that would be the same as a normal halfling.

--Balanced Spikey

 

[gfunk]

THis feat gives a +1 luck bonus to all saves. Is this better/worse/balanced with the other save feats ( iron will, lightning reflexes, and great fortitude)?

I was just kinda wondering what people thougt.

Well, no, it is pretty unbalanced.

But look at it this way . . .

It's like looking at the American military in its war against terrorism in Afghanistan and asking, "Are B2 stealth bombers balanced?"

Of course, we all know that the answer is no. But that's b/c our boys (like the fellas of Faerun) play be a *whole* different set of rules.

 

[SpikeyFreak]

Re: Re: Is Luck of Heroes balanced?

Well, no, it is pretty unbalanced.

But look at it this way . . .

It's like looking at the American military in its war against terrorism in Afghanistan and asking, "Are B2 stealth bombers balanced?"

Of course, we all know that the answer is no. But that's b/c our boys (like the fellas of Faerun) play be a *whole* different set of rules.

That's rediculous.

Just because it's a net +1 over the other "save" feats, doesn't make it 50% more powerful.

If you were playing a cleric and had to pick a feat, which would you choose? Lightning Reflexes or Luck of Heros? IMHO it's a toss up. The cleric can take lightening reflexes and get a boon on his one crappy save, or he can take Luck of Heros and not help his crappy save much, but help all three.

The feat is balanced, IMO.

--Freaky Spikey

 

[CRGreathouse]

Well, it gives +3 total instead of +2 total, but you can't choose where it goes and it doesn't stack with a luckstone.

Is Luck of Heroes the B-2 or the Taliban infantry?

 

[Crothian]

I think it's worse then the other saves that grant +2. You take a feat that gives +2 bonus to your worst save, that's a 6 level increase (it takes 6 levels to increase a total of +2 on the worst save progression). That is where the advantage is. I don't like to help out my best save as much as my worst. My best save should make most of them or I'm in big trouble.

 

[FANGO]

Luck of heroes, if it is left a luck bonus, is not balanced with the other +2 to one save feats. This is because in 3e, most every bonus you get is done as bonus squared (for magic items, for example) to determine how good it is and all that. The stacking rules enforce this. So luck of heroes, as it is written, provides +3 to saves total, but if you go by the squaring rule then the other feats add +2 (squared)=+4. I would say, however, that +1 to 3 saves is perfectly balanced with +2 to one save, but ONLY if luck of heroes isn't considered a luck bonus.

I should mention that I really dislike the way that stacking is handled in 3e, for the most part...some things obviously shouldn't stack, but saying that a halfling gets less of a bonus from having a luckstone than a human does doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[CRGreathouse]

saying that a halfling gets less of a bonus from having a luckstone than a human does doesn't make much sense to me.

I agree. If the rules said that, they'd be messed up.

Fortunatly, they don't.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Fortunatly, they don't.

To clarify for Fango - halflings receive a +1 racial bonus, not a + luck bonus, to saving throws.

-Hyp.

 

[KarinsDad]

I'd have to say that Luck of Heroes is not UNBALANCED, but it is more potent than Iron Will, etc.

I disagree with the posters who think that a +2 to your crappy save is worth as much as +1 to all saves.

Is one feat for +1 to all saves worth half as much as taking three feats to get +2 to all saves? If so, you are getting half the effect for a third of the cost.

It is obvious that a +1 to all saves through the life of the character is worth more than +2 to any single save.

Even if that +1 save is a luck bonus.

Yes, a luck stone will not stack with this. But, how many characters are walking around with luck stones? On the other hand, this feat does grant a luck stone ability to the character who takes it. And, if such a character acquires a luck stone, he could always sell it and still gain it's benefit.

Is Luck of Heroes unbalanced? No.

Is Luck of Heroes more potent than the core feats? Yes. But, just because it is more potent does not necessarily mean that it is unbalanced.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I'll agree with KD that +1 to all saves from 1 feat is better than +2 to all saves from 3 feats, but I don't agree with his conclusion.

The main purpose of the save feats is to shore up a single bad save, not to improve them across the board. I seldom see characters with more than one such feat.

Stacking with the luckstone is just icing.