JoeGKushner
Adventurer
101 Feats is a mixed bag. With 101 Feats, not every one needs to be a solid hit or have application in all campaigns. The author correctly notes at the very beginning that feats are just another one of those little areas where the Game Master should be prepared to say no and that what works in one campaign may not work in another.
Having said that though, I’m surprised that there are no indications, perhaps visual symbols say, next to each feat to indicate the type of campaign that it might be appropriate for. Perhaps a frilly hat for Swashbuckling High Adventures, a Skill and Bones for gritty games, or other such symbols.
The book is 28 pages long in two-column format. The background of the text is very light grey. Side borders are slightly grayer edges while top and bottom borders are almost black. The layout is easy on the eyes. A few ‘bumps’ seem to be here and there. For example, on my copy, the L in Lethal on page 17 seem off and the C in charge and the H in hold among others like Dumb Luck where the D and L are off. The file I downloaded includes a text file and a PDF file. The e-book comes with extensive bookmarks including a breakdown of feats by type such as divine, epic, general, spelltouched and psionic.
Yes, that’s right, spellthouched feats, first introduced in Wizard’s of the Coast own Unearthed Arcana, get some expansions here. Now if only Wizards would open up some more of their game content so more could actually be done with it…
Some space is used in the reprinting of Swift and Immediate actions. I’ve long been annoyed when Wizards of the Coast does it but as it’s something not everyone is going to know, I can fully understand it’s use here.
Illustrations are sparse and generic. The illustrations are not there to illustrate feats. They’re there to take up space. Nothing wrong with that as they serve to break up the text but seeing some feats in action would’ve been better than a few static poses of various monsters.
Editing seems fair but could’ve used another round. For example, while looking under psionic feats, I found Master Inquisitor. It has a requirement of Inquisitor and mentions that the bonus here replaces the Inquisitor bonus. If Inquisitor is a feat here, I’ve failed to find it. Psionic Void has Psionic Hole as a prerequisite. Maybe these are right in the Expanded Psionic’s Handbook, but a reference to the SRD or the book they’re at would be nice. On Arcane Toughness, it mentions that you gain temporary bonus hit points but doesn’t mention how long those hit points last. Minor things but nothing that effected the overall utility too much.
One thing I noticed right away is that we have a lot of simple math in these feats. Heck, I was waiting for a chart with a listed DC by level with additional columns for common ability scores. For example, Staggering Blow allows you to attempt to stagger an enemy a number of times per day equal to your strength modifiers. The DC is 10 + one half your level (rounded down), plus your strength modifier. Something that’d be handy for quick reference as a chart no? Well, handy for lazy people like me anyway.
Another example would be Arcane Toughness allows you to sacrifice a prepared spell in exchange for the level of the spell times your Intelligence modifier. Simple math in and of itself isn’t the end of the game. However the game is complicated enough that well, I’d like to see as much prep work done ahead of time for time saving purposes as possible.
Some of the feats have a nice flavor to them and would help in crafting a world if taken into consideration in design mode. For example, if you wanted to work on something similar to the works of Robert E. Howard’s Solomen Kane, you’d make sure that Sense Injustice and Executioner of the Lawless were in play as the former allows you to sense evil and the latter to take them down with a damage bonus.
Some of the feats seem vastly under powered. For example, Disarming Smile provides a +2 circumstance bonus on bluff checks against those who don’t know you. Useful if you want bonuses of a different type than say a standard skill focus but extremely limited. +2 limited bonus vs. +2 on two skills or +3 on a single skill?
Cloak Feint has the same problem. It’s a nifty idea. You swirl your cloak about you to distract the enemy and gain +4 to your Bluff attempt while attempting a feint. That’s like Combat Casting in that it’s a limited use feat that’s not as good as the general skill focus feat that has applications in all situations and doesn’t rely on a material component, in this case, the cloak.
Some of the feats are so overpowered that I’d be interested just in sitting in a game session or two with them in play. For example, Lethal Charge, a feat requiring a modest 6 ranks of Ride skill and Spirited Charge (not detailed in this book), allows you to treat your attack as a coup de grace requiring the victim to save or die. Fighter’s Discipline gives you a fighter’s base attack bonus regardless of what class you’re in.
Some that I’d question, not outright ban mind you, include feats like Intelligent Defense. It gives you an insight bonus on your Armor Class equal to your Intelligent bonus. I say I’d question it because many feats of this type work on the assumption of stat bonus X replacing current status bonus Y as opposed to augmenting it. Others like Unnaturally Healthy work on the meta functions of the game allowing you to roll your hit dice twice and selecting the better of the two. Not a promise of unnatural health mind you but certainly a bit better than standard options.
Of course, tastes vary from player to player. Some of the feats I thought of the ‘even’ amount of power and interesting description include Untouchable. You’re in motion while fighting and thanks to the prerequisites of 8 skill ranks of Tumble, I can see it in action. It provides a +2 dodge bonus that’s in addition to the standard dodge bonus granted by the Tumble skill. Some seem like common sense feats that I’m surprised I haven’t seen before like a feat to allow non-rogues to find Traps with a DC higher than 20.
Or Reflexive Shot where if you have your bow ready for combat, you get to fire before initiative is resolved. For some reason, it reminds me of the old days it does.
One of the thing I found interesting about the book though, was its use of Reserve Points, another concept from WoTC Unearthed Arcana. See, Reserve Points are for those low magic games where magical healing isn’t the norm. It also saw use in Iron Heroes as that was a high powered, low magic fantasy game that relied on heroes not having “time to bleed” so to speak. Reserve points act as extra hit points that fall into play after your regular hit points are depleted. This allows the party to in essence have double the hit points and have more encounters per day without a cleric. They add some math to the game but are easy to use once in play.
Options here include spending reserve points to overcome different statuses such as ability damage , ability drain, shakened or sickened among others. A nifty little use to showcase some vitality lost but combat ability regained. Another option is further uses of class ability. Something popular in many fiction tales as it mimics the ‘weary’ cleric trying to off just one more turning. Some of these uses burn reserve points up permanently and are perfect for a low magic high fantasy campaign.
Overall an interesting volume. Ease of navigation thanks to the bookmarks and the text file, make it easy to navigate. With some more appropriate art and some more all purpose feats, I’d easily see this series continuing.
Having said that though, I’m surprised that there are no indications, perhaps visual symbols say, next to each feat to indicate the type of campaign that it might be appropriate for. Perhaps a frilly hat for Swashbuckling High Adventures, a Skill and Bones for gritty games, or other such symbols.
The book is 28 pages long in two-column format. The background of the text is very light grey. Side borders are slightly grayer edges while top and bottom borders are almost black. The layout is easy on the eyes. A few ‘bumps’ seem to be here and there. For example, on my copy, the L in Lethal on page 17 seem off and the C in charge and the H in hold among others like Dumb Luck where the D and L are off. The file I downloaded includes a text file and a PDF file. The e-book comes with extensive bookmarks including a breakdown of feats by type such as divine, epic, general, spelltouched and psionic.
Yes, that’s right, spellthouched feats, first introduced in Wizard’s of the Coast own Unearthed Arcana, get some expansions here. Now if only Wizards would open up some more of their game content so more could actually be done with it…
Some space is used in the reprinting of Swift and Immediate actions. I’ve long been annoyed when Wizards of the Coast does it but as it’s something not everyone is going to know, I can fully understand it’s use here.
Illustrations are sparse and generic. The illustrations are not there to illustrate feats. They’re there to take up space. Nothing wrong with that as they serve to break up the text but seeing some feats in action would’ve been better than a few static poses of various monsters.
Editing seems fair but could’ve used another round. For example, while looking under psionic feats, I found Master Inquisitor. It has a requirement of Inquisitor and mentions that the bonus here replaces the Inquisitor bonus. If Inquisitor is a feat here, I’ve failed to find it. Psionic Void has Psionic Hole as a prerequisite. Maybe these are right in the Expanded Psionic’s Handbook, but a reference to the SRD or the book they’re at would be nice. On Arcane Toughness, it mentions that you gain temporary bonus hit points but doesn’t mention how long those hit points last. Minor things but nothing that effected the overall utility too much.
One thing I noticed right away is that we have a lot of simple math in these feats. Heck, I was waiting for a chart with a listed DC by level with additional columns for common ability scores. For example, Staggering Blow allows you to attempt to stagger an enemy a number of times per day equal to your strength modifiers. The DC is 10 + one half your level (rounded down), plus your strength modifier. Something that’d be handy for quick reference as a chart no? Well, handy for lazy people like me anyway.
Another example would be Arcane Toughness allows you to sacrifice a prepared spell in exchange for the level of the spell times your Intelligence modifier. Simple math in and of itself isn’t the end of the game. However the game is complicated enough that well, I’d like to see as much prep work done ahead of time for time saving purposes as possible.
Some of the feats have a nice flavor to them and would help in crafting a world if taken into consideration in design mode. For example, if you wanted to work on something similar to the works of Robert E. Howard’s Solomen Kane, you’d make sure that Sense Injustice and Executioner of the Lawless were in play as the former allows you to sense evil and the latter to take them down with a damage bonus.
Some of the feats seem vastly under powered. For example, Disarming Smile provides a +2 circumstance bonus on bluff checks against those who don’t know you. Useful if you want bonuses of a different type than say a standard skill focus but extremely limited. +2 limited bonus vs. +2 on two skills or +3 on a single skill?
Cloak Feint has the same problem. It’s a nifty idea. You swirl your cloak about you to distract the enemy and gain +4 to your Bluff attempt while attempting a feint. That’s like Combat Casting in that it’s a limited use feat that’s not as good as the general skill focus feat that has applications in all situations and doesn’t rely on a material component, in this case, the cloak.
Some of the feats are so overpowered that I’d be interested just in sitting in a game session or two with them in play. For example, Lethal Charge, a feat requiring a modest 6 ranks of Ride skill and Spirited Charge (not detailed in this book), allows you to treat your attack as a coup de grace requiring the victim to save or die. Fighter’s Discipline gives you a fighter’s base attack bonus regardless of what class you’re in.
Some that I’d question, not outright ban mind you, include feats like Intelligent Defense. It gives you an insight bonus on your Armor Class equal to your Intelligent bonus. I say I’d question it because many feats of this type work on the assumption of stat bonus X replacing current status bonus Y as opposed to augmenting it. Others like Unnaturally Healthy work on the meta functions of the game allowing you to roll your hit dice twice and selecting the better of the two. Not a promise of unnatural health mind you but certainly a bit better than standard options.
Of course, tastes vary from player to player. Some of the feats I thought of the ‘even’ amount of power and interesting description include Untouchable. You’re in motion while fighting and thanks to the prerequisites of 8 skill ranks of Tumble, I can see it in action. It provides a +2 dodge bonus that’s in addition to the standard dodge bonus granted by the Tumble skill. Some seem like common sense feats that I’m surprised I haven’t seen before like a feat to allow non-rogues to find Traps with a DC higher than 20.
Or Reflexive Shot where if you have your bow ready for combat, you get to fire before initiative is resolved. For some reason, it reminds me of the old days it does.
One of the thing I found interesting about the book though, was its use of Reserve Points, another concept from WoTC Unearthed Arcana. See, Reserve Points are for those low magic games where magical healing isn’t the norm. It also saw use in Iron Heroes as that was a high powered, low magic fantasy game that relied on heroes not having “time to bleed” so to speak. Reserve points act as extra hit points that fall into play after your regular hit points are depleted. This allows the party to in essence have double the hit points and have more encounters per day without a cleric. They add some math to the game but are easy to use once in play.
Options here include spending reserve points to overcome different statuses such as ability damage , ability drain, shakened or sickened among others. A nifty little use to showcase some vitality lost but combat ability regained. Another option is further uses of class ability. Something popular in many fiction tales as it mimics the ‘weary’ cleric trying to off just one more turning. Some of these uses burn reserve points up permanently and are perfect for a low magic high fantasy campaign.
Overall an interesting volume. Ease of navigation thanks to the bookmarks and the text file, make it easy to navigate. With some more appropriate art and some more all purpose feats, I’d easily see this series continuing.
