Quickleaf
Legend
Hey, I'm working on some feats appropriate to a marsh/river environment. For those of you familiar with Egyptian Adventures, this is a fertile crescent called the Tashet. The marsh surrounds a river with many tributaries that are very easy to get lost in if you don't know the area. Here are the feats I've worked up so far. My concern is...are they balanced? And would any of these be better suited to a spell?
Lotus Step [General]
As a child you played games in the marshes of the Tashet, the most popular of which was the “lotus step” in which the object was to be the one who could sprint across the widest stretch of river by stepping upon lotus blossoms. Though you are no longer a child, the lotus step is part of you now.
Prerequisite: Balance 4 ranks
Benefit: When running (moving at least twice your base speed), you can use lotus blossoms/debris/ rocks/palm fronds as stepping stones to cross a narrow body of water or to reach a boat. You may use your Balance skill as a Jump skill when at the edge of a body of marsh water (or other water source with suitable “stepping stones”) for the purpose of making horizontal jumps across the water. You double the roll on your Balance check when attempting this. If you succeed to reach the opposite shore (or boat) you may make another move action; you do not end your movement as a normal Jump check. Failing means you fall into the water after half the distance is covered.
Marshfeet [General]
You’ve lived your whole life in the Tashet and you’ve adapted to getting around the marsh.
Benefit: It only costs you 1 square of movement to move into a shallow bog or area of marsh undergrowth, and only 3 squares of movement to move into a deep bog, area of heavy undergrowth, regardless of your size. Moving through a hedgerow only takes 3 squares of movement (or 1 if you succeed a DC 12 Climb check). When in a bog, marsh, or undergrowth the DC for your Move Silently checks is not increased by 2; it is treated as normal. Even in heavy marsh undergrowth the DC of your Move Silently checks is not increased by 5, but is treated as normal. When traveling overland through trackless marshland you move at your base speed, and when going through swampland you move at three-quarters your base speed, provided you are traveling by foot.
Rapids Runner [General]
After much trial and error, you've learned how to navigate boats down whitewater rapids. Perhaps you were a thrillseeking noble who practiced on the cataracts of the River Yor. More likely, you have been forced to swim rapids due to bad luck or escaping as a slave. Perhaps you are a smuggler, or a free slave helping to rescue other slaves, and your only recourse is to run the rapids. If you are from the Tashet, you are a local guide who knows the rapids
Prerequisite: Profession (boating) 4 ranks
Benefit: You are never surprised by a rapid and can always pull your boat over to the side of the shore to scout it out or portage. You gain +4 on Profession (boating) checks made when manuevering in a rapid. Any boat you are in gains temporary damage reduction 2/- against damage from rocks and strainers (fallen trees) encountered in a rapid. You may take 10 on Use Rope checks made to fasten or untie things in water (or underwater) even under duress.
Tashet Lore [General]
You know how to navigate the waters of the River Hapi and its many tributaries in the Tashet, and can take a boat where others could not.
Benefit: You are never lost while on the River Hapi, and ignore the normal penalties to finding your way on its tributaries. When piloting a boat with a draft no greater than 6 feet (e.g. small papyrus boat, raft, pot boat), you may travel through any part of the Tashet via small creeks. These creeks have no current, so you will need to move yourself with a paddle or long stick. When doing so, you ignore the penalties to movement that those on foot in the marsh would suffer.
Lotus Step [General]
As a child you played games in the marshes of the Tashet, the most popular of which was the “lotus step” in which the object was to be the one who could sprint across the widest stretch of river by stepping upon lotus blossoms. Though you are no longer a child, the lotus step is part of you now.
Prerequisite: Balance 4 ranks
Benefit: When running (moving at least twice your base speed), you can use lotus blossoms/debris/ rocks/palm fronds as stepping stones to cross a narrow body of water or to reach a boat. You may use your Balance skill as a Jump skill when at the edge of a body of marsh water (or other water source with suitable “stepping stones”) for the purpose of making horizontal jumps across the water. You double the roll on your Balance check when attempting this. If you succeed to reach the opposite shore (or boat) you may make another move action; you do not end your movement as a normal Jump check. Failing means you fall into the water after half the distance is covered.
Marshfeet [General]
You’ve lived your whole life in the Tashet and you’ve adapted to getting around the marsh.
Benefit: It only costs you 1 square of movement to move into a shallow bog or area of marsh undergrowth, and only 3 squares of movement to move into a deep bog, area of heavy undergrowth, regardless of your size. Moving through a hedgerow only takes 3 squares of movement (or 1 if you succeed a DC 12 Climb check). When in a bog, marsh, or undergrowth the DC for your Move Silently checks is not increased by 2; it is treated as normal. Even in heavy marsh undergrowth the DC of your Move Silently checks is not increased by 5, but is treated as normal. When traveling overland through trackless marshland you move at your base speed, and when going through swampland you move at three-quarters your base speed, provided you are traveling by foot.
Rapids Runner [General]
After much trial and error, you've learned how to navigate boats down whitewater rapids. Perhaps you were a thrillseeking noble who practiced on the cataracts of the River Yor. More likely, you have been forced to swim rapids due to bad luck or escaping as a slave. Perhaps you are a smuggler, or a free slave helping to rescue other slaves, and your only recourse is to run the rapids. If you are from the Tashet, you are a local guide who knows the rapids
Prerequisite: Profession (boating) 4 ranks
Benefit: You are never surprised by a rapid and can always pull your boat over to the side of the shore to scout it out or portage. You gain +4 on Profession (boating) checks made when manuevering in a rapid. Any boat you are in gains temporary damage reduction 2/- against damage from rocks and strainers (fallen trees) encountered in a rapid. You may take 10 on Use Rope checks made to fasten or untie things in water (or underwater) even under duress.
Tashet Lore [General]
You know how to navigate the waters of the River Hapi and its many tributaries in the Tashet, and can take a boat where others could not.
Benefit: You are never lost while on the River Hapi, and ignore the normal penalties to finding your way on its tributaries. When piloting a boat with a draft no greater than 6 feet (e.g. small papyrus boat, raft, pot boat), you may travel through any part of the Tashet via small creeks. These creeks have no current, so you will need to move yourself with a paddle or long stick. When doing so, you ignore the penalties to movement that those on foot in the marsh would suffer.
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