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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 8679457" data-attributes="member: 19675"><p>I <em>really</em> liked feats and other abilities that granted supernatural/spell-like effects. Things like Alternative class abilities, Templates, Draconic/Marshall aura feats, Domain feats, Reserve and Heritage feats were very flavorful and were occasionally more useful than you’d expect. In late-stage 3.5Ed through to present day, it became pretty common for me to design characters around these quirky mechanics.</p><p></p><p>For instance, in one campaign where PCs were limited to using PHB classes only, I ran a human Sorcerer with a Paladinesque stat array…wielding a maul and wearing scale mail. None of his spells risked ASF because they lacked somatic components. When the PC was introduced, there were eyerolls as people wondered how the hell he’d contribute to combat. I mean, he needed a 16+ to hit most things with his maul because of his non-proficiency, and his spells had few if any combat applications.</p><p></p><p>That changed when he breathed lighting down a skirmish line of goblins, killing all but the leader.</p><p></p><p>See also my “Arcane Paladin” and a 2-headed cryo dog Hengeyokai fighter with all kinds of Fey heritage feats.</p><p></p><p>The characters required a lot of thought to design, in no small part because of the character requirements to select them. But the payoffs were characters that didn’t play like anything else.</p><p></p><p>Still, I realized that to survive to subsequent editions, those mechanisms would require overhauling to reduce PC creation complexity and general appeal. Many of them <em>seemed</em> to offer little benefit for their cost, only paid off in medium to higher levels, or worse, <em>declined</em> in utility as the characters became more powerful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 8679457, member: 19675"] I [I]really[/I] liked feats and other abilities that granted supernatural/spell-like effects. Things like Alternative class abilities, Templates, Draconic/Marshall aura feats, Domain feats, Reserve and Heritage feats were very flavorful and were occasionally more useful than you’d expect. In late-stage 3.5Ed through to present day, it became pretty common for me to design characters around these quirky mechanics. For instance, in one campaign where PCs were limited to using PHB classes only, I ran a human Sorcerer with a Paladinesque stat array…wielding a maul and wearing scale mail. None of his spells risked ASF because they lacked somatic components. When the PC was introduced, there were eyerolls as people wondered how the hell he’d contribute to combat. I mean, he needed a 16+ to hit most things with his maul because of his non-proficiency, and his spells had few if any combat applications. That changed when he breathed lighting down a skirmish line of goblins, killing all but the leader. See also my “Arcane Paladin” and a 2-headed cryo dog Hengeyokai fighter with all kinds of Fey heritage feats. The characters required a lot of thought to design, in no small part because of the character requirements to select them. But the payoffs were characters that didn’t play like anything else. Still, I realized that to survive to subsequent editions, those mechanisms would require overhauling to reduce PC creation complexity and general appeal. Many of them [I]seemed[/I] to offer little benefit for their cost, only paid off in medium to higher levels, or worse, [I]declined[/I] in utility as the characters became more powerful. [/QUOTE]
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