New Feat: Exotic Melee Weapon Training

[Cap'n Kobold]

Yeah, but only a few weapons are desirable. Rapier, Greatsword, Greataxe. Halberd if you have polearm mastery. Longsword if you go sword and shield. Battleaxe or Warhammer if you are dwarven cleric. I wanted to make it so that a greater variety of weapons were effective - especially ones like mace, flail, moringinstar, and war pick.

Hmmm. I've not seen a character use a morningstar yet: They're basically just a larger mace. I've seen the others used, generally because they fit concepts rather than mechanical optimisation.
If making them appealing to optimisers is the goal, why not just change their stats to bring them up to the level you believe the other weapons are at?
Requiring a feat before you can get full use out of a less-optimal weapon is not going to make them more appealing to optimisers, except when that feat allows a specific combination that is much better than the existing level of balance.

 

[Caliban]

Hmmm. I've not seen a character use a morningstar yet: They're basically just a larger mace. I've seen the others used, generally because they fit concepts rather than mechanical optimisation.

The flail, morningstar and war pick are basically the same weapon, just for a different damage type. I've never seen anyone use them, or the mace unless it was a magic weapon they found.

If making them appealing to optimisers is the goal, why not just change their stats to bring them up to the level you believe the other weapons are at?
Requiring a feat before you can get full use out of a less-optimal weapon is not going to make them more appealing to optimisers, except when that feat allows a specific combination that is much better than the existing level of balance.

Well, originally this came about because I was trying to think of a way to add exotic weapons back in the game without requiring you to spend a feat for each one, and it evolved into this as I thought about the concept. Instead of creating a bunch of new weapons with minor mechanical advantages, you can use existing weapons in new ways to get a minor mechanical advantage, and it (hopefully) makes a wider variety of weapons more appealing to players.

Most players in my group like to optimize to a lesser or greater extent. I personally prefer more flexibility in options over pure optimization. This feat seems like a good compromise to me. I only regret that I'll likely never be able to use it on my own characters.