billbo said:
How powerful do you think each power-up is? Not nearly as powerful as a feat, correct? Perhaps half a feat? What?
I think the stacking plusses to
Bluff, Listen, Spot, Survival, etc., up to +10, as well as the damage bonus, are much more powqerful than you think, WHEN THEY CAN BE USED, and are thus about as handy as SEVERAL Feats, WHEN THEY CAN BE USED.
Alertness, for instance, gives +2 to
Listen and
Spot. It works all the time. Weapon Focus gives a bonus to hit and damage, and always works with any example of the selected weapon type. Favored Enemy (FE) does similar to both, AND MORE, but only works once in a while (when facing the FE).
Thus, it is both better and worse than a small set of Feats.
On the low end (above), it is worth about three Feats. On the high end, however, a Ranger with +2 vs. four FEs and +10 against the fifth receives a +10 bonus to all these skills, AND damage bonus?
So, FE is worth AT LEAST more than three Feats. How much more? Me no know!
Incidentally, however, I do not particularly like the FE mechanic, either.
YMMV.