complete mage: fey feats way powerful?

[brehobit]

OK,
The by 9th level character with the feats "fey heritage" "fey skin" and "fey legacy" gets
the following:
+3 on saves vs. enchantments
DR 3/cold iron (stacks with warlock DR)
cast confusion, diminsion door and summon nature's ally V all as spell-like abilities each 1/day.

Does anyone other than me think this is just a bit too much? DR 3 at 9th level is nice, and 2 *good* 4th level spells and one good 5th level spell is a lot. Compare it to a greater dragonmark...

Also, at _1st_ level a human could have DR 2/cold iron (I have on in my game, a warlock of course). Those two feats (fey heritage and fey skin) have to be some of the most combat-optimal feats you can take for a 1st level human....

Thoughts? Am I missing somethng?

 

[Crothian]

Not its not that great. once a day abilities do not impress me much and DR while nice is also not game breaker.

 

[Psion]

A barbarian can get X/- DR, so that's not so unprecented.

But the fey and fiendish heritage feats that turn a non-caster into a fairly handy caster of mid level spells seem pretty useful to me. I'd call it strong, possibly too strong. It'd take a lot of levels for such a character to match that otherwise.

 

[Cedric]

Once you consider the other things a spell caster could have used those 3 feats on...it doesn't impress me that much.

But keep in mind, I don't have Complete Mage yet.

 

[BryonD]

I think three quite useful spell like abilities are too much for one feat.
Dimension door alone is such a strong utility that it may be a strong feat.

The other two really don't bother me at all.

 

[brehobit]

Once you consider the other things a spell caster could have used those 3 feats on...it doesn't impress me that much.

But keep in mind, I don't have Complete Mage yet.

You don't need to be a caster (or anything in particular) to get these feats. Open to all....

Mark

 

[Cedric]

You don't need to be a caster (or anything in particular) to get these feats. Open to all....

Mark

Regardless, I can think of better things to do with three feats. Don't get me wrong, they aren't bad. And if I want to do a "fey" theme'd character, those seem like a lock.

But I don't look at them and go, "oh! have to have those!"

 

[Nonlethal Force]

As most things, it depends on the campaign. Sure, those feats are nice in combat. But they sure aren't going to make the character shine outside combat. Those kind of feats are some of the easiest to defeat. Make the characters do some actual RPing [RPing that is true to their ability scores, mind you!] and skill rolling to get to where they want to go.

Personally, I have few problems with the balance in any of the complete books - even Complete Divine. As a DM, I feel it is my job to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each of the characters. Typically, if a character gets very strong in combat, they are likewise poor out of combat. The opposite is also typically true. Additionally, most characters designed for standing toe-to-toe with enemies are susciptable to some kind of magic. Those who are magic resistant often can't stand up too long in a melee fight.

For me, the key isn't deciding what's broken. The key is to allow people to shine sometimes and exploit their weaknesses at others. For me, that's what makes the game fun. So I would ask in return: What is the human warlock bad at? [My guess is that since this is a warlock that list shouldn't be too hard to come up with. ] Now do some of that rather than combat. You won't feel like those feats are really all that.

Disclaimer: Notice that throughout this post I stress allowing characters to shine through their strengths and be challenged by their weaknesses. That balance is extremely important IMHO.

 

[Psion]

As most things, it depends on the campaign. Sure, those feats are nice in combat. But they sure aren't going to make the character shine outside combat.

I tend to think effects like dimension door are pretty useful for solving problems outside of combat, too.

 

[WarlockLord]

I tend to think effects like dimension door are pretty useful for solving problems outside of combat, too.

Hoo yeah. I use that to bypass walls & junk all the time (i.e. prison breaks, etc.) and quick getaways. Also, make a styistic entrance to the grand ball or whatever. Very useful. Summon natures ally V can be used out of battle to solve things too. This leaves confusion, which is only good in combat, but sure as heck fun to use!