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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dkyle" data-source="post: 5897360" data-attributes="member: 70707">Feat like in the sense that class features are "feat-like".  Not "feat-like" in the sense of being interchangeable options that can be freely combined, mixed, and matched.How abilities are chosen, what options are available, makes a big difference.  There's a big difference between a chunk of abilities, taken as a whole, that a designer made, and choosing a bunch of little abilities, combined however you please.Suppose a player is considering possible approaches:Character A uses a Theme, built as a unit, by a designer, to do a bunch of things that aren't necessarily feats.Character B uses a Theme, that is simply a package of feats.Character C doesn't use a Theme, and chooses feats freely.B can never be better than C.  It is, in fact, likely to be much worse than C.  Just as pre-gen characters are likely to be much worse than characters created by a knowledgeable player. In fact, for an experienced player, there's little point in even pretending that Character B exists, since the same build can be created as Character C.On the other hand, A might be better than C, or it might not be; there's not much basis to say which will tend to be better than the other.  This is like 4E Essentials' Slayer vs. the PHB Fighter.  The Slayer isn't just a prepackaged Fighter.  It's a whole different build, with it's own strengths.  Even though the Slayer is simpler, it's still a balanced and viable build.So, Character B is unfortunate because it reduces Themes to a new player option, only, and likely not a good one.  Most Themes are likely to end up being trap options, compared to custom feat selection.  The 4E Slayer is good as a new player option because it's simple, and about as effective as the more complicated options.  It's not a trap; it's a real, alternative choice.</blockquote>

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