Some rules-bending feats

[Quip]

Not sure what you'll think of these, especially the last one.


Anger Management [Rage]

Even at the peak of your fury, you dont let down your guard.
Req: Ability to Rage, Wis 13+
Effect: You negate the -2 penalty to AC while raging.


Powerful Form [Wild]

Your natural strength is conferred to your wildshapes
Req: Ability to wildshape, Str score 5 higher than races norm
Effect: You wildshapes gain a bonus to strength for every two natural points of strength you possess above your races norm


Dexterous Form [Wild]

Your natural dexterity is conferred to your wildshapes
Req: Ability to wildshape, Dex score 5 higher than races norm
Effect: You wildshapes gain a bonus to dexterity for every two natural points of dexterity you possess above your races norm



Battle Trance [General]

You can achive an absolute calm in the midst of battle.
Req: BAB 7+, Int 17+, Expertise, Concentrate 5+
Benifit: For a number of rounds equal to your int modifier, you may "take 10" on all attack rolls. Both fumbles and critical hits cannot occur, even if ones threat range is (somehow) 10-20 or better
Special: This ability cannot be used during a rage.

 

[Mike Sullivan]

I like the last one a lot -- more than the rest of 'em.

And it's a good thing you put in the bit about fumbles and crits, because yes, you can get a critical thresh down to 10 (Scimitar, Keen, Improved Crit, Weapon Master PrC from Oriental Adventures).

 

[Crothian]

They middle two are way too powful. An elven Druid could start with a 20 dex and get +10 dex to all his forms, that's way too good and very easy too do. Same applies with strength.

 

[Quip]

Thanks Mike, thats my fav as well.

Yeah I thought the wild feats might be a little much, though you need invest in the high ability score in the first place... Well I guess +10 to strength is a bit stronger in certain forms. Whats a good way to tone it down? One half as many points? Or just have a maximum value, of +4 or so?

 

[Crothian]

First, I'd up the prerequite so it's not so easy to get. A limit might be good because with books like Savage Species you can play a race that has a really high strength or dexterity.

Maybe first require one or two of the Wild feats from MotW

 

[Quip]

What if the requirement and bonus worked not off the druids total ability score, but how much higher than normal for its race? A Half Orc with Str 15 would get just as much benifit as a Halfling with Str 11... its kinda wierd but it makes a sort of sense. Plus it would effectively cap the benifit to a more managable level, and not give any advantage to unusual races.

Thing is, is it unbalanced to let a druid with Str 16 become a brown bear with Str 33? Its just as much stronger as a Druid with Str 5 would normally become.


My original version of Anger Management negated the AC penalty completely, would that have been too strong?


Also about the Battle Trance feat, I just kinda pulled the requirements out of a hat, would it be a bad idea to lessen it a bit? BAB a couple points less perhaps?

 

[Crothian]

Actually, I like the idea of a weak druid turning into a strong bear. Why should what the druid usually looks like effect the change? That's sort of the purpose for the change. I'd just have the bonus equal the score -10 then divided by two. Cap it at +5. These feats in the hands of a Shifter can be frightening.

I'd allow that orginal anger management, I think one feat to negat a -2 penatly is good balance.

If your lessening something with battle trance it should be concentration which is not a lcass skill for fighters.

 

[Quip]

Yeah its cool when a weak druid gains huge strength as a bear, relying on the nature of the bear rather than their own. The idea of the feats though, is that you adapt part of your own personal nature to that of your wildshape.

Anyways, you'll notice I made a bit of a compromise. One half effect like you suggested, but still based on how high above norm the druids abilities are. I dont think a cap is really necessary, the highest possible bonus is +6 at 20th level if you dedicate all your bonus points. (I wouldn't count inherent bonuses from wishes, BTW)

Anger Management effect was increased, and Battle Trance can now be gained by a 7th level fighter.

 

[haiiro]

Yeah I thought the wild feats might be a little much, though you need invest in the high ability score in the first place...

Only if you play with the point buy system for attributes -- "investing" a lucky die roll doesn't makes good balancing factor, IMO.

I really like Anger Management, and I think your current version of it is just fine.

I don't like the two wild feats, essentially for the same reason that Crothian mentioned in his most recent post (why should the druid's stats affect the outcome?). Making them balanced enough to be playable also seems too problematic, but YMMV.

I think Battle Trance is a neat idea, but I think it would work better as a PrC ability than a feat. There are a lot of other things I'd want to look at before giving you a real opinion on this feat -- stuff like Rapid Shot, Whirlwind Attack, PrCs like tempest, etc.

 

[Maximillian]

The Anger Management feat is cool, but I'd slap a prerequisite on it (Maybe Extended Rage from MotW...), because it's one of those feats that falls under the "why the hell not?" category.

Haiiro: Re: "Investing"
When you put a rolled 16 or higher into dexterity as a druid, you're investing. Unless you rolled three or more stats that high, you're giving something up. Druids need wisdom for sure. Druids need Charisma in order to effectively handle animals and use animal empathy. After that, it's a toss up between the remaining four. Do you want a lot of skills, a lot of AC, a lot of Hit Points or a good melee attack? I think Intelligence and Constitution come out ahead of either strength or dexterity, since you can always plan to wild shape, not wading into a fight unless you've taken a form with a good shot. Your dexterity and strength see so little real use when you play a druid after level five that putting a high stat into those areas is a real "investment."

Quip: Re: Strong like Bear
I agree. I like that a weak druid can become strong (see above), and I have someone in my game doing just that right now. But I might point out, as an example of your idea of investing yourself, the OA Bear Warrior prestige class. My game doesn't have bears, but it has similar enough creatures, and the party's longest lived character is a halfling barbarian who took this prestige class. He's already immensely strong for a halfling (16 str at 8th level), and when he uses the PrC's ability, he adds the bear's modifiers to his existing stats. This is the sort of thing you're going for? You've taken the reverse approach, but the effect is the same. What I might suggest is thinking about how much affect this has. Anyone who's going to take the feat is going to put at least a 15 into their stat (before modifiers), otherwise it's worthless. That gives them a +1 to hit and damage. Better than Weapon Focus, but with more prereqs. The higher it goes, the better the bonuses, but one has to consider the ramifications... If you drop a rolled 18 into that stat, you're only getting a +2 to hit and damage, and you wasted a valuable stat. I'd say they're totally balanced.