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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 2780758" data-attributes="member: 6271">I would say that you are partially right. Feat acquisition is a significant part of balance in 3.x. But it is not the only thing. Spellcasters can multiclass, if they wish, but the price is one many will say is too high. So much too high that some Prestige Classes and/or feats that might sound a little too good exist merely to redress the problem. Skill points are balanced among the classes with a specific number of skills in mind. You will not find many new skills in 3rd party products. WotC, in revising 3.0 to 3.5, reduced the number of skills by making the tasks of some overly-specific skills into tasks on another. Some 3rd party products (I am thinking specifically of the very, very good Shaman's Handbook from Green Ronin) that HAD added new skills followed suit in revising those products to 3.5. You *will*, however, see lots of new things you can do with the existing skills. The Balance of Imbalances, as you put it, is indeed present to encourage cooperative parties of disparate characters (which is the reason I object to people urging rules changes toward an all-skills & feats structure instead of classes). The main abilities of many classes, though, are not available as feats. You cannot gain a spellcasting progression by taking a feat, for example (though you can gain 1/day uses of some spells). You cannot gain Bardic Music or Bardic Knowledge by taking a feat. You cannot gain the ability to Sneak Attack by taking a feat. You cannot gain the Druid's Wild Shape ability by taking a feat. Feats, Skill points, Class/cross-class skill designations, spell progression, and specific class abilities all form part of the balance process. Also, when classes gain bonus feats, it is usually from a specific list, not carte-blanche choice. Being a Fighter gets you bonus combat-oriented feats; it does not gain you feats that pertain to the Rogue's stealthy role. So, yes, while Feats are an important part of the balance, they are far from the sole key thing.</blockquote>

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