Regional Feats Standard?

[JoeGKushner]

Now that the Forgotten Realms have put Regional Feats in the headlines (forgetting about the ones for Kara-Tur, the updated ones for L5R, and Greyhawk), how many people think that Ebonron will have them? I'm sure that it will. It's just going to be another thing assumed to be part and parcel of the game.

I guess I'm really wondering about non-official settings. After all, many campaign settings like Scarred Lands have specialty prestige classes that come from certain regions. Unique feats that can only be taken at first level don't seem that far a stretch.


"Vesh Born": A true son of Vesh whose destiny is the Vigil Watch, this character gets +2 to Initiative, Move Silenelty and Survival.

 

[Darklone]

I wouldn't mind. I love Montes AU "talents", e.g. feats that can only be taken at first level. GIVE ME MORE OF THEM!

 

[hong]

The idea of more powerful abilities that are meant to "round out" a character, and that you can only get at 1st level, is basically the kits of 2E revisited. Not a particularly great idea, IMO.

So let's say you have this regional feat that gives a big bonus if you use an axe. The idea is that you have to be from region Blarg, which supposedly embeds your character into the setting and gives your DM plot hooks and stuff. In play, this just means that anyone who wants to twink out an axe fighter will suddenly come from region Blarg. They could be just as colourless, personality-wise, as before, but they now get a bonus freebie. They are no more "embedded" into your world than they were before; you have no more plot hooks to work with than you did before. You've just escalated the power level in your game just a little bit, and elevated the risk that people who don't take a regional feat will be left in the shade.

All of these are just the stock-standard arguments for why kits were not such a great idea.

Regional feats also present an additional problem if you're using a homebrew world. Do you allow these feats, which are tied to specific regions in published settings, into your homebrew? If so, there's the issue of how you assign them to your own regions. If not, that means WotC spent a lot of time and resources making something you're not going to use, and you'd (probably) much prefer they spent those time and resources making things you _do_ want to use (and you're willing to pay money for).

Despite all that, personally, I'll probably end up using these regional feats. They don't seem powerful enough (yet) to completely unbalance the game, and as a latent gearhead I'm intrigued by the possibilities they present. I'll probably also remove the regional restriction (but still limit it to one per character, taken at 1st level). There aren't that many regions in my world to start with, and I'm not too worried about enforcing stereotypes.

 

[Deadguy]

I agree. Done well, Regional or Background Feats can make a very flavoursome addition to a game. I was in two minds when I first saw the revised Forgotten Realms regional feats, but I think I now understand the reasoning and would suggest something similar for any game. That way you can highlight the distinctive characteristics of a given region (e.g. a nation that produces many fine Wizards with a feat that grants, say, bonus spells).

The alternative is Arcana Unearthed's approach of giving an extra feat at first level and requiring it to give the character some distinctive trait. Of course the two could easily be combined, guaranteeing noteworthy traits in individuals from a particular region.

Yes, I hope other producers go with this idea and work with it to make distinctive cultures.

 

[Kesh]

I was really hoping Regional Feats would be part of UA. It'd be interesting to see if they make them part of Eberron.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Regional/1st-level feats are great if built properly. I would say "used properly", but I come from the school of thought that assumes the entire group is formed of power-hungry powergamers with one hapless roleplayer DM whos fun is consistently ruined by powergamers taking advantage of bad rules.

So let's say you have this regional feat that gives a big bonus if you use an axe. The idea is that you have to be from region Blarg, which supposedly embeds your character into the setting and gives your DM plot hooks and stuff. In play, this just means that anyone who wants to twink out an axe fighter will suddenly come from region Blarg. They could be just as colourless, personality-wise, as before, but they now get a bonus freebie.

Agreed. Which is why all 1st level feats should either not be directly related to combat and/or they should have some sort of disad built into them. So Blargians gain +1 to hit with an axe, but their dimwitted and gullible nature gives them -2 to Sense Motive and Intimidate checks (No point in penalizing a combat character with Diplomacy or other non-combat-cool roleplay skill).

But personally, I shy away from giving regional feat bonsues that are combat related or spell DC related. They are great, but open to abuse.

Regional feats also present an additional problem if you're using a homebrew world. Do you allow these feats, which are tied to specific regions in published settings, into your homebrew?

They shouldn't. I'm totally against that. There's no reason why someone should have to balanance Eberron with their Midnight game. Now if the DM makes the personal decision that the Blargian feat would work great with one of his homebrew countries, that's a different story.

 

[wocky]

What if every axe-wielding fighter is from Blerg? That's one of the things for which I like regional feats: they encourage characters to be representative examples of the different regions. Characterizing a campaign setting shouldn't be just the DM's responsibility; otherwise, player's just pick any region with a cool sounding name or concept.

On the other hand, I love the way in which the FRCS is full of flavour-oriented feats. For instance, my elven wizard character took up the regional feat "Cosmopolitan" to get "Diplomacy" as a class skill (Cosmopolitan lets you pick a non-class skill and make it a class skill) since he has a bit of a carreer in politics.

 

[Cheiromancer]

The idea of more powerful abilities that are meant to "round out" a character, and that you can only get at 1st level, is basically the kits of 2E revisited. Not a particularly great idea, IMO.

[Snip]

You've just escalated the power level in your game just a little bit, and elevated the risk that people who don't take a regional feat will be left in the shade.

All of these are just the stock-standard arguments for why kits were not such a great idea.

I wonder if two ranks of Knowledge (local) can be added as a pre-requisite to the regional feats. That would increase the cost enough to de-escalate things a bit. Heck, you could even let Knowledge (local) to be a class skill for everyone- though only when applied to their home region. Another bit of mechanics to embed a character into the game world.

 

[MaxKaladin]

Uh, by my reading of the FRCS regional feats are not free. Rather, they are feats you can only buy if you come from a certain region (and some other stuff that isn't relevant).

Did this change somewhere?

 

[reiella]

What if every axe-wielding fighter is from Blerg? That's one of the things for which I like regional feats: they encourage characters to be representative examples of the different regions. Characterizing a campaign setting shouldn't be just the DM's responsibility; otherwise, player's just pick any region with a cool sounding name or concept.

On the other hand, I love the way in which the FRCS is full of flavour-oriented feats. For instance, my elven wizard character took up the regional feat "Cosmopolitan" to get "Diplomacy" as a class skill (Cosmopolitan lets you pick a non-class skill and make it a class skill) since he has a bit of a carreer in politics.

Just a tidbit here, that may well be off topic.

Cosmopolitian no longer adds to your class skill list, it just gives you a +2 bonus to Bluff, Gather Information, and Sense Motive checks.

[quote="Cheiromance]I wonder if two ranks of Knowledge (local) can be added as a pre-requisite to the regional feats. That would increase the cost enough to de-escalate things a bit. Heck, you could even let Knowledge (local) to be a class skill for everyone- though only when applied to their home region. Another bit of mechanics to embed a character into the game world.[/quote]

As a sidenote, using Knowledge (local) 2 ranks as a require for a Regional Feat would make it impossible to take a Regional Feat at 1st level (you choose skills after feats at CharGen). Ignoring that, I also suspect that it would make the fighter and rogue themed Regional feats more 'accessible' (Fighters due to lack of many choices in skills, Rogues due to huge skill bank).

Personally, I'm of the opinion that instead of making a more vivid setting, it creates a more bland/generic/stereotyped setting. Prestige Classes serve the purpose of epitomizing the "Specialization Greatness" of a given region quite nicely in my opinion, and while the Regional Feats are more accessible, if the intent is for a region reknown for "everyone being known to be adept with an axe" would be better suited as an alternate "core race" (or forced flavor packet - ala OA Clan feats).