Building a character via Feats.

[Tetsubo]

Has anyone ever built a character purely on Feat purchases? For example bought a type of spell casting, weapon abilities, armour abilities, etc. In essence taken a Lego blocks approach to a character build. For that matter has any third party company done such a set of D20 rules?

 

[Krieg]

The closest things to what you are looking for are probably the two superhero games...Mutants & Masterminds and Silver Age Sentinels D20 or Buy The Numbers a .pdf availabe on RPGNow.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Has anyone ever built a character purely on Feat purchases? For example bought a type of spell casting, weapon abilities, armour abilities, etc. In essence taken a Lego blocks approach to a character build. For that matter has any third party company done such a set of D20 rules?

When needed, we use Career Paths. There are a few in the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide, and I wrote up quite a few to go into our upcoming Isle of Svimohzia supplement.

For example:

Zazahnii Mercenary Crossbowman

Zazahni’s notorious mercenary crossbowmen have been the deciding factor in major battles for the last two generations. Their reputation for honoring a contract, their steadfastness in battle and their willingness to go anywhere and fight anyone made them a famous force in a short time. They always bring excellent equipment with them, including good armor, a supply of bolts and shields.

Before the veterans induct a newcomer as a full soldier, the trainee must spend time as a shield bearer for a seasoned crossbowman. The shield bearer wears light armor and carries a large melee weapon, such as an axe or greatsword, in case an enemy manages to get too close.

The average Zazahnii crossbowman is well-trained, well-equipped and ably led. The typical order of feats is as follows:

1st feat - Improved Initiative
2nd feat - Point Blank Shot
3rd feat - Precise Shot
4th feat - Rapid Shot
5th feat - Far Shot

Vital skills include Craft (bowmaking), Hide, Spot and Tumble.

 

[Turanil]

For that matter has any third party company done such a set of D20 rules?

Power Gamer's 3.5 Warrior Strategy Guide

A really excellent book (available both in pdf and printed) that I just purchased and recommend. However, it's only about fighter types, not spellcasters.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The FR version of Career Paths are Regional Feats, it seems like, where instead of giving you character building suggestions, they give you one clearly better feat that, I dunno, would give you a potential insta-kill with crossbow bolts or something.

With the heapin' helpin' of featses out there, it's not hard to build a character based around it, and the specialty preists in my campaign *require* it (they get bonus feats related to their deity, but must choose a deity, locking them into pre-determined feat choices, basically). The Samurai Schools do, too.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Has anyone ever built a character purely on Feat purchases? For example bought a type of spell casting, weapon abilities, armour abilities, etc. In essence taken a Lego blocks approach to a character build. For that matter has any third party company done such a set of D20 rules?

I don't think the feat mechanic is robust enough for what you're asking for, which is basically a classless system.