Comment on these feats

[Drawmack]

Originally posted by Steven

I'm formatting these to make them easier to read.

Positive Weapon Infusion
Pre-Requisite: Channeling Positive Energy Feat, Religion 3 ranks, Ability to Cast 2nd level Divine Spells, Ability to turn undead

Benefit: This changes the damage dealt by the weapon that has been Infused into a temporary conduit for the holy energies of the Positive Material Plane causing the weapon to do Holy Damage for 1 round. Each use of this ability uses 1 of the daily uses of turning undead available to the user.

I don't see a problem with this feat. It is pretty much just giving the cleric an extra use for their turning, though this could cause problems with the CR of a creature that can only be harmed by holy weapons, especially under the 3.5 dr rules.

Weapon Attunement (General/Fighter)

Pre-Requisite: BAB+3, Concentration 3 ranks, Base Will Save +2

Benefit: By taking 1 hour and meditating with a weapon that you are proficient in and succeeding at a Concentration check DC 15 at the end of the hour long period you can attune yourself to the weapon. This provides either a +1 to hit or damage for the next 24 hours. What the +1 affects must be chosen before the meditating. Failing the Concentration Check means that you cannot use this feat again for 24 hours. This bonus stacks with any existing bonus.

Special: You may take this feat multiple times each time it applies to a different weapon.


Here I have a question. Can I take the feat twice and spend two hours to get a +1 to both hit and damage? All in all I like the idea of the feat because it gives the fighter something to do while the casters prepare. Personally I think it might be a bit under powered it should make it a +1 weapon for the next 24 hours when in your hands able to beat +1 DR.

Surmise Battle

Prerequisite: Dexterity 13+, Wisdom 12+

Benefit: By using a free action every round and judging the actions of opponents for the their next round action you may add +2 to your initiative every other round. To use this feat you have to declare that it will be used in a given round as this is assumed to be your free action for the round.

I have a bit of trouble with this one. While I don't see it as overpowering or anything I see it as causing confusion and slowing battle. Initiative staying the same really increases the speed of battle but with this you'll have characters moving around in itiative, which takes the benefit away again.


Expert Flanker

Prerequisite: 12+ Int

Benefit: You are a learned Flanker. Anytime you are involved in a flanking situation with either a melee weapon or a missile weapon (if withing 30’) you may increase your flanking attack modifier by +2.

Special: Must have flanked at least a dozen separate opponents and scored a successful attack roll that dealt damage to each of them.


This I think could be unbalancing. Here is the reason why.

From the SRD
If a character is making a melee attack against an opponent, and an ally directly opposite the character is threatening the opponent, the character and the character's ally flank the opponent. A character gains a +2 flanking bonus on the attack roll. A rogue in this position can also sneak attack the target. The ally must be on the other side of the opponent, so that the opponent is directly between the character and the ally.

So a rogue with this feat gets a +4 to hit while flanking, plus they get sneak attack damage while flanking. This increases their chances of hitting by 10%. That's an extra hit every 10 rounds of battle, that deals sneak attack damage. Maybe you could give them some other type of bonus for flanking, but I don't like the additional +2. Maybe if you increase the prereqs so that level is involved through save bonus of BaB or something.

Chaotic Spell (Metamagic)

Prerequisite: Chaotic Alignment, ability to cast 4th level or higher spells.


Benefit: When memorizing spells you may choose any one spell to be memorized as a chaotic spell. A chaotic spell has a 50% to have the maximum affect (max damage) if there is a damaging roll (save allowed) or the DC of the spell increased by +3. This feat may be taken multiple times and each time it allows the user to memorize an additional Chaotic Spell (if you have taken this feat 2 times you may choose to memorize 2 chaotic spells from the list of spells you may memorize). There is a 50% that casting a Chaotic Spell will have the minimum result, or in the case of non-damaging spells the DC could be lowered by 3. Memorizing a Chaotic Spell takes up the normal spell level slot.

Special: If the character ever changes to a non-chaotic alignment he instantly looses the benefit of this spell until his alignment reverts to chaotic.

Your benefit text needs to be cleaned up a bit on this one, it repeats itself. In repeating itself it also contradicts itself, is the DC increased or decreased? Who decides if the roll is for max damage or DC change? When is the decision made? It should also make the spell take up a slot one higher level then the original spell.

 

[Steven]

cleaned up feats

I was half asleep when I posted these feats on here originally, sorry about the mess that was made. I re-wrote them and added re-posted them in comment on these feats II.

 

[Ravellion]

Strange that so many people missed this (especially since this was in the Rules forum earlier), but you can not flank with a missile weapon. For flanking, you have to 'threaten' an opponent. This is not possible with a missile weapon (except if you use them as melee weapons, -4 nonproficiency penalties for using arrows in such a way aside ). The glossary is unclear about this, but the SRD and the combat chapter are more clear, and the FAQ leaves no doubt.

Second, some of these requisites are even stats (12+). It is tradition, in order to spread the importance of stats to odd numbers a bit, to make all stat prerequisites as odd numbers. Nothing major, I agree, but still a valid complaint.

I think the attune with weapon shouldn't be based on concentration. Rangers have concentration as a class skill, but fighters do not. I think however that if one class should be able to use this it is the fighter. Since the power is limited, I would also make it weapon unspecific. Since to hit is on average far better than damage as wel, it is odd that you give people the choice. I really like the idea of that feat, but I think the execution is flawed - the people who you want to make it usable to have to use a cross class skill or multiclass to achieve the benefits efficiently. While others would be able to pick it up far more quickly than that.