Endur said:
The issue is Feat-itus, namely that the creators of the feats don't have the same numbers of feats available for every style of play.
How many feats can a fighter get to modify a weapon's attack? How many feats if the weapon is a great sword? a rapier? a dagger? a longbow?
What if your weapon of choice is a fireball? How many feats can you use then?
It is possible for an archer to have ten or more archery feats all come into play when he shoots an arrow. Can the Wizard use ten feats in tossing his fireball? Can the Bard use ten feats in singing a song? Can the Rogue use ten feats in picking a pocket?
As has been stated, there are more fighter-based feats because that is the focus of their class. Rogues have skills and sneak attacks, Wizards have spells and metamagic/item creation, clerics have spells and domains and undead-related stuff, etc etc etc. There is a wide variety of spells, skills, and domains, so fighters get a wide variety of feats as their class features.
Without even getting into non-adventuring aspects of the game, every class has an equal amount of versatility. Wizards can use feats to modify spells, create items for use in adventuring, and make sure those spells are more effective for them. Clerics can use feats for modifying spells, use turning attempts for a wide variety of actions, and even for being quite capable in throwing-down combat. Rogues can use feats to keep the party out of harms way or help to guide the party to defeat opponents easier, focus their specialized benefits in combat, or become even better at using magical items normally reserved for spellcasters. You get my point.
In a straight-up head-to-head grudge match that many people seem to "judge" character types by, they are shortchanging the value of other classes and the values of working together as a group. In these grudge matches, the fighters should usually win; that is what they are generally specialized in. Similarly, the fighter should lose when it comes to a duel of magic; the wizards win those (generally).
Additionally, if you blow all ten feats into using your rapier better, your character better be at the top of his game....when he can use his rapier. Similarly, a wizard can take Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Empower Spell, Spellstrike (ceremonial), Spellcasting Prodigy, and other feats to be bad-assed with his Evocation spells. In the end, expecting each and every one of your ten feats to come into play everytime you are in a fight seems like it defeats the point of feats, in my opinion. I have felt that they are there to help round out and personalize a character - not to make him uber-kewl. That is what higher levels are for.
