Redundancy in the character builder options

[Kzach]

Has anyone noticed lately that there seems to be a lot of redundant options popping up in the character builder?

Feats that do either very similar or even exactly the same thing, just with different names. Or feats that have different power levels so that one is a no-brainer and the other you wouldn't even dream of taking.

Same with prestige classes like the Chosen and the Demigod.

Methinks they're losing control of the beast...

 

[Ryujin]

That's not a Character Builder issue, it's a game issue that's being revealed by Builder.

Each of those options is slightly different. You gave the example of Demigod and Chosen. The features of those two EDs are identical, but the powers conferred by Chosen are different based on which god you are the "Chosen of..."

If you look at the 2nd level Warlock utility Beguiling Tongue and the skill power Arcane Mutterings. Depending upon your character build, one will be better than the other. My Warlock has a virtually maximized Arcana skill so for the same power slot I get Intimidate added to Diplomacy and Bluff, for the same skill total that a +5 would give me to just the two latter skills.

Sometimes the thing that looks less powerful is actually more powerful, given a specific build.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

what is needed is more options to decide beforehand which books are allowed, so that you can cut options down. (a simple checklist of sources to take feats from would help a lot)

also when retraining, there needs to be more structure, because of the mass of options available for certain builds.

 

[Ryujin]

what is needed is more options to decide beforehand which books are allowed, so that you can cut options down. (a simple checklist of sources to take feats from would help a lot)

also when retraining, there needs to be more structure, because of the mass of options available for certain builds.

Within CB it is possible to eliminate sources, simply by unchecking them in Manage\Campaign Settings.

 

[talarei07]

under campaign settings you can choose which sources you allow or dont allow

 

[DracoSuave]

Also, sometimes they go 'Wow, that feat does suck after all' so they build a better feat instead.

And sometimes the better feat has prerequisites, which narrows your build considerably. That's been a part of D&D4th design from the beginning, and isn't even considered an issue, but a feature.

Some more examples would be nice.

 

[Destil]

It's a problem with Dragon needing to meet a monthly page count, and the reason I don't allow anything from it into my game without prior approval.

Remove the dragon mag options and you still have some stupid redundancy (Expertiese and Focused Expertise are the most glaring, as they shouldn't be there in the 1st place), but it's not nearly as bad. Most of the problem is dragon articles that overlap with splatbooks, and generally the splatbook stuff is far better in these cases (looks like arena fighting styles will be cleaned up and used in MP2, for instance).