BadMojo
First Post
Rage Feats, published by Reality Deviant Publications and written by Christopher Urinko, is a collection of nearly 80 feats that are built around the Rage class ability. This 20 page color PDF also includes 3 feats specifically for the Whirling Frenzy variant class ability and 10 for the Totem Barbarian class variant (both OGC from Wizards of the Coast's Unearthed Arcana).
The PDF itself is a 20 page, bookmarked color document. The interior art is sparse but of good quality and the fonts used are easy to read. Reality Deviant has also included a Rich Text Format version of the product and a "print friendly" version that will be easy on your ink budget. These little extras make me feel that the publisher had ease of use at the gaming table in mind when this product was written. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see bookmarks in a 20 page PDF.
The feats themselves are, for the most part, quite good. There are a number of racial feats that allow expenditure of a daily use of the Rage ability to provide a benefits that fit the flavor of races such as Human, Elf and Dwarf. There is one feat per race, and the selections include some uncommon choices like the Half-Dragon, Duergar and Tiefling. These feats generally enhance existing racial abilities, for instance, the Dwarven Rage feat increases the bonuses to resist bull rush or trip attempts and the Elven Rage feat builds on the innate Elven resistance to spells of the Enchantment school.
One of my favorite concepts in this PDF is the use of short feat chains for styles of combat based on animals. These consist of a "Stance" feat as prerequisite and then one additional feat. The Cheetah Stance feat is emphasizes speed and acts as one of the prerequisites to Charge of the Cheetah. The Elephant Stance chain focuses on toughness and enhances natural armor and damage reduction.
I like the style and execution behind these "Stance" feats, although I do think that Charge of the Cheetah feat, which allows a full attack at the end of a charge action, may be a bit powerful compared to the other feats in the book. The thought of a charging, power-attacking, greatsword-wielding barbarian is truly a frightening one. As a caveat, I haven't playtested this feat, so I only give my opinion from looking at it on paper.
There are also feats available for multi-class characters that use the Rage ability to enhance other class abilities, including bardic music, Turn Undead, Favored Enemy, Sneak Attack, psionics and arcane or divine spellcasting. These feats make a multi-class barbarian character much more appealing and add a nice level of synergy between the barbarian and other classes, especially spellcasting ones.
The addition of feats that allow you to transfer the benefits of your rage ability to a familiar, mount, ally or thrall are a neat idea, as are the Infusion feats. The Infusion ability, originally presented in RDP's "Summoner Feats" allow you to extend your rage ability to summoned creatures. You do not need RDP: Summoner Feats to use the Infusion feats presented in this product, as all of the applicable material for the Rage-based Infusion feats has been reprinted in the Rage Feats PDF.
My criticisms of this product are few and minor. I think that quite a few of the racial feats are so exotic that they'll most likely never see play in the average game. Also, several of the feats use an expenditure of a Rage use to boost a save, or enhance a skill such as swimming. While these are certainly not overpowered, they seem somewhat bland. Given a non-human, single class barbarian's lack of feats, I doubt many players will take a feat that enhances climbing speed or provides a minor bonus to one saving throw.
Those minor criticisms aside, I think Rage Feats is an excellent product and provides a lot of value for the price. The PDF is very well organized, care was obviously taken to make sure the product is easy to use and the feats are generally interesting and useful. I'm currently playing a barbarian character, and I'm certain that I'll make use of several of the feats presented here.
The PDF itself is a 20 page, bookmarked color document. The interior art is sparse but of good quality and the fonts used are easy to read. Reality Deviant has also included a Rich Text Format version of the product and a "print friendly" version that will be easy on your ink budget. These little extras make me feel that the publisher had ease of use at the gaming table in mind when this product was written. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see bookmarks in a 20 page PDF.
The feats themselves are, for the most part, quite good. There are a number of racial feats that allow expenditure of a daily use of the Rage ability to provide a benefits that fit the flavor of races such as Human, Elf and Dwarf. There is one feat per race, and the selections include some uncommon choices like the Half-Dragon, Duergar and Tiefling. These feats generally enhance existing racial abilities, for instance, the Dwarven Rage feat increases the bonuses to resist bull rush or trip attempts and the Elven Rage feat builds on the innate Elven resistance to spells of the Enchantment school.
One of my favorite concepts in this PDF is the use of short feat chains for styles of combat based on animals. These consist of a "Stance" feat as prerequisite and then one additional feat. The Cheetah Stance feat is emphasizes speed and acts as one of the prerequisites to Charge of the Cheetah. The Elephant Stance chain focuses on toughness and enhances natural armor and damage reduction.
I like the style and execution behind these "Stance" feats, although I do think that Charge of the Cheetah feat, which allows a full attack at the end of a charge action, may be a bit powerful compared to the other feats in the book. The thought of a charging, power-attacking, greatsword-wielding barbarian is truly a frightening one. As a caveat, I haven't playtested this feat, so I only give my opinion from looking at it on paper.
There are also feats available for multi-class characters that use the Rage ability to enhance other class abilities, including bardic music, Turn Undead, Favored Enemy, Sneak Attack, psionics and arcane or divine spellcasting. These feats make a multi-class barbarian character much more appealing and add a nice level of synergy between the barbarian and other classes, especially spellcasting ones.
The addition of feats that allow you to transfer the benefits of your rage ability to a familiar, mount, ally or thrall are a neat idea, as are the Infusion feats. The Infusion ability, originally presented in RDP's "Summoner Feats" allow you to extend your rage ability to summoned creatures. You do not need RDP: Summoner Feats to use the Infusion feats presented in this product, as all of the applicable material for the Rage-based Infusion feats has been reprinted in the Rage Feats PDF.
My criticisms of this product are few and minor. I think that quite a few of the racial feats are so exotic that they'll most likely never see play in the average game. Also, several of the feats use an expenditure of a Rage use to boost a save, or enhance a skill such as swimming. While these are certainly not overpowered, they seem somewhat bland. Given a non-human, single class barbarian's lack of feats, I doubt many players will take a feat that enhances climbing speed or provides a minor bonus to one saving throw.
Those minor criticisms aside, I think Rage Feats is an excellent product and provides a lot of value for the price. The PDF is very well organized, care was obviously taken to make sure the product is easy to use and the feats are generally interesting and useful. I'm currently playing a barbarian character, and I'm certain that I'll make use of several of the feats presented here.
