How often do you use Toughness?

[Creamsteak]

I've found that the only time I take Toughness, it's for creatures with one or two hit-dice and low HP. The only time I use the feat at all is for one shot adventures, and Kobolds/Orcs/Goblins that need the slight hp boost in order to make an encounter last.

The feat apparently hasn't been changed from 3.0 to 3.5, which bothers me a bit, because it's just not a feat for PCs to take. It may help those with small hit dice (wizards/rogues/bards/sorcerers), but it doesn't help at all if your a fighter or barbarian, who could very likely negate the usefullness of the feat with a good or bad hp roll. Those classes with the small hit die also tend to need every feat they can get, so toughness is more than often overlooked.

I'd rather see toughness give a long term benefit, like +0.5 hp per level (+1 hp per 2 character levels), or something similar, so that it has a constant benefit. Taking the feat can be easily regretted for any PC characters after a certain level.

Anyway, that's how I feel.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

My players would only take it at low level or if they played Wizards/Sorcerers. It's just not that wonderful once you get up there...though the other feats in that chain(they're in MotW) are definatly improvements. And since I started allowing them in my games, Toughness has seen more use.

 

[Crothian]

I've taken it twice (out of 4 characters). The two who did were a fighter/rogue/assassin and a Bard/Lasher, the two who didn't were my Ranger and cleric/oozemaster (although I'm thinking of picking up tougness for my 9th level feat for the oozemaster).

Sure it's not the best feat out there, but sometimes it's more then about numbers.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Taking the feat can be easily regretted for any PC characters after a certain level.

I see this as a matter of philosophy. It's a great feat for helping ensure that 1st-level characters live to become 2nd- and 3rd-level characters. And that's a point in your career where you just can't bounce back from being dead. Anyone who isn't going to be able to appreciate that fact without regret once they're safely past that level range shouldn't take the feat, I'd advise. I don't have a problem with that.

 

[HellHound]

Me response is really a house rule...

I use Toughness as presented in the Everquest Player's Handbook.

Toughened [General]
The character is unusually hard to kill.
Benefit: The character gains a number of hit points equal to 1 + the character's base Fortitude save bonus (as found on the level progression charts for each class). Thus a 5th level warrior who takes this feat gains 1+4, or 5 hit points. This bonus to hit points increases retoractively as the cahracter gains levels and his base Fortitude save increases, so that when the above warrior reaches 6th level (and his base Fortitude save bonus increases to +5) he gains another bonus hit point from this feat.
Special: A character may gain this feat only one time.

 

[Creamsteak]

Me response is really a house rule...

I use Toughness as presented in the Everquest Player's Handbook.

I like that.

 

[John Crichton]

HellHound - That is some good stuff. Very Rasputin-esque. I just may yoink that...

 

[Kichwas]

In Mutants and Masterminds I use it quite a lot. In DnD3.0; never, nor would I ever.

For 3.5? Only if they've done something to make it useful.

 

[Slomoot]

I don't think toughness is horrible.... Just not that great. Most players should be able to do something more exciting with a feat than gain 3 hp. In the long run getting 3 hp pales in comparrasion to getting feat such a power attack or any of the meta-magic feats.

 

[HellHound]

The downside with this feat is it replaces the entire Toughness feat group from Masters of the Wild. Which means no characters with four 'Dragon's Toughness' or whatnot.

The way around that is the 'HARDCORE' feat from Librum Equitis volume 2 (which I wrote before EQ PHB came out).

HardCore [General]
You are as tough as they come, able to take punishment that a
raging, hardened barbarian would cringe at.
Prerequisites: Toughness, Con 15+
Benefit: When you gain this feat, add your current base
Fortitude save +1 to your hit point total.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times; the benefits stack.

This version keeps Toughness as the source feat (something the toughness feats in Masters of the Wild didn't do), as well as replacing all the 'toughness' feats from said book with a single feat with the same net effect.

The other problem with 'Toughened' from the EQ PHB is that it really encourages multiclassing in the fighter classes... each fighter class you pick up a single level in results in an immediate +2 hit points due to the feat.