Adding feats to Castles & Crusades

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

One of the concerns raised by some of my 3E players about converting to C&C is that they don't feel they'll be as excited about leveling up when there are no feats and prestige classes to look forward to.

I know some people have added feats back into C&C, and I was looking for how they did it and what tweaks, if any, they made to 3E feats along the way. (Fighters, obviously, will be particularly affected by how this works.)

Secondarily, how have other people dealt with the "we want leveling up to be cooler" concern in C&C?

Thanks.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Secondarily, how have other people dealt with the "we want leveling up to be cooler" concern in C&C?

Every time his PC levels, give the player a cookie. When each PC in the group has leveled, throw a party (this could range all the way from "party hats, charades and fondue" to "hookers and blow," depending on your group's concept of "party").

 

[Treebore]

Leveling is already cool enough. When your BtH goes up, or you gain new spell abilities, saves increases, skill modifiers increase, or gain a new class ability, your getting more powerful. Some games put on so many bells and whistles that people forget what really matters.

As for feats, I got rid of them in terms of how they are awarded (by level), I make them do SIEGE checks to pull it off, and when they succeed often enough, then I award it to them as a permanent character ability. So for my games, when they SUCCEED in pulling off some "feat" 25 times, they gain it as a character ability. So it is like a class ability, but is for that character.

So if they try and cleave, succeed at it 25 times, they then do it without a SIEGE check. Then they can work towards something like great Cleave.

This method is applicable to anything "feat like". Fighters and other fighter types seem to earn one about every 3 levels. Spell casters tend to earn theirs about 1 every 4 levels.

About 7th or 8th level they start earning one every other level, since the rate of leveling slows down so much.

 

[rkwoodard]

Siege Check

I do it close to Treebore. Players can try any combat trick or spell modification listed in the D&D Books, the check modifer is the Level requirement of the feat. So, the higher the level the more they can pull off on a regular basis.

Well, this is how I plan to run it, as soon as I get some gamers (my old group gets together now maybe 2 a year).

RK

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As much as I appreciate that you feel my 3E players are wrong to feel the way that they do, the goal here is to entice them to want to convert to C&C, not to say "screw you, you're wrong to want leveling-up to feel better" and not play C&C at all.

 

[Treebore]

As much as I appreciate that you feel my 3E players are wrong to feel the way that they do, the goal here is to entice them to want to convert to C&C, not to say "screw you, you're wrong to want leveling-up to feel better" and not play C&C at all.

Well, your always welcome to take it as a personal attack if that is how you want.

I thought I was saying games put so many bells and whistles on it that people forget what really matters about leveling up.

Then I went on to say how I adapted Feats to my game.

 

[JeffB]

I hear what tree was saying- I don't think it was intended as a "malicious" comment.
I also have done similar- You want to try something? try it- why do you need a feat? describe it, and roll for it.

I do understand many players want to have something crunchy and concrete written down on a character sheet, but I'm definitely not one of those types.

Another thing is I have borrowed is the narrative style of "feat"/ability/item from HeroQuest/HeroWars game. You make up a title for your characters ability or item (in HW/HQ it can actually be just about anything, including retainers/followers) , and then it is defined in play over time- you just be as creative as possible using it. Your ability might have a name like, IDK, "wrath of the sun god". You may use it at times to bring down intense sunlight and burn undead to a crisp, light up a dark room or night (within reason of course), focus it on an enemy's eyes, turn your sword into a blade of fire, or maybe use as a minor curse upon a recurring enemy NPC. Anything that sounds pretty plausible and the GM can say OK to without it being too over the top powerful for the character level. Of course it takes good players, and a good GM to adjudicate, but it's ALOT of fun because it can be the ultimate creative spur of the moment "do something cool". Very different than..."..I guess I'll go with power attack again"

 

[Moleculo]

Just curious, do your players want to convert? Or are you spearheading the transition? While I think the multiple maneuver option posted above is an awesome mechanic, it certainly doesn't really couple with leveling up per se. If players are primarily interested in making cool choices while they level up, then C&C might not be the best choice for then. They might be better off with Pathfinder, 4E, or sticking with 3E.

Have you approached it from the "trust me, you won't miss it" angle? By adding the feat system on, you run the risk of having to suffer the effects for the duration of your game (adjusting difficulty, adjudicating which feats are good, giving npcs feats, etc), when the point was simply to entice players to play the game. Have you tried running a test game for the group yet?

 

[pawsplay]

Well, your always welcome to take it as a personal attack if that is how you want.

I think the OP was just restating their objective. AD&D had proficiencies. Basic D&D had weapon masteries and General Skills. I can see how someone might look at C&C and think, "I wonder how this would taste with feats?"

 

[Erekose]

At the end of the Castle Keeper's Guide there are optional rules for introducing "Advantages" in C&C which are essentially feats. It is suggested that they are giving uniformly to all classes or instead of class abilities (and hence given at different frequencies depending on the class).

Examples are given for a range of advantages equating to feats for race, combat, magic, etc.

If you are interested in this I'd definitely recommend picking up the CKG which is full of great optional material (to give a sense of the book it is the nearest one I've read in terms of flavour to 1E DMG).