Spend XP, get Feats?

[Cheiromancer]

What's a level of Hero? I guess it's from the supers book people are referring to. So, how does this solve the problem?

It's from the Four Colors to Fantasy superhero supplement produced by Natural 20 press (here in ENworld) and it is a commoner without skill points (wizard's BAB, 1d4 hit dice, poor saves). It gives you 8 hero points, which can be used to purchase various powers.

One hero point will give you two ranks in a skill; two hero points will give you a feat.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Spending xp to buy feats is an interesting idea that falls apart in implementation because it completely breaks the level system.

Buying a level of "hero" or some such class that gives feats and not much else makes much more sense.

Throwing the hero class as is into the mix can really screw with feat and PrC prereqs though.

 

[jmucchiello]

Had a thought... What if instead of an XP Cost it was an XP penalty like multiclassing? Say a feat creates a permanent 5% advancement penalty. Thus, over 20 levels a feat would cost 10,500 xp. You'd still have to limit it to once per level gained.

Joe

 

[Forrester]

Spending xp to buy feats is an interesting idea that falls apart in implementation because it completely breaks the level system.

Buying a level of "hero" or some such class that gives feats and not much else makes much more sense.

Throwing the hero class as is into the mix can really screw with feat and PrC prereqs though.

First of all, you can do a lot more with a level of Hero. You can buy attack bonuses, damage bonuses, bump up your movement rate (though that's probably too cheap in the system), even increase ability scores (3 Hero points for a +2 bump).

A good house rule would be that if you take a level of Hero, you can't spend more than half the points on any one thing -- so you could only buy two feats from it, for instance.

I don't think the world will end if someone ends up breaking into a PrC a level or two early. Many PrCs have BAB requirements, anyway, and taking a level of Hero doesn't exactly help your BAB.

 

[Trepelano]

Simple version:

If a character has enough xp to level- he may choose to level as normal or he may choose to drop his xp back down to the the starting point of his current level and take a bonus feat instead.

 

[Forrester]

Simple version:

If a character has enough xp to level- he may choose to level as normal or he may choose to drop his xp back down to the the starting point of his current level and take a bonus feat instead.

So you want to charge someone an ENTIRE LEVEL for taking a feat? No offense, but that's retarded. No one would ever do it. Ever. Hell, you normally get a feat every three levels -- so each time you level, it's like you're getting a third of a feat (not including all that other wonderfulness).

So you're basically giving this guy 2/3 of a feat for a full level sacrifice. Ooooooookay.

The more I think about it, a 300xp/level (arguably, maybe 250xp/level) cost just seems right to me. Limited to one feat per level.

(Though there's always the Hero class . . . )

 

[dead_radish]

I'm against spending experience. Possibly devoting experience to it (as in "500 experience this level will go towards a feat") and then requiring more XP to go up a level, or the hero class.

When you "spend" experience points, you basic get something for nothing. Granted, your allies will be gaining levels faster. Which means the average party level is kept down by you, yet you're not necessarily less effective. Which means overall, you're getting more experience for being lower level.

The problem with spending experience is that eventually, you get it back.

Something like the hero level makes you spend it for good - it's accounted for, not just lost and regained.

Just food for thought.

 

[Crothian]

I'm against spending experience. Possibly devoting experience to it (as in "500 experience this level will go towards a feat") and then requiring more XP to go up a level, or the hero class.

So, your against item creation feats and animal campanion advancement? Both od these require XP costs, and I can tell you it is not getting something for nothing.

I think the spending XP for feats can work, you just really need to have limiting factors on it. For instance you need to wait two levels after you qualify for a feat to gain it through paying XP. This would mean no one could buy a feat till third level. So, a 4th level fighter can get Weapon specialization as his fighter 4 feat, but has to wait till 6th level to get it through buying XP. Also, you would be limited to buying only 5 feats in your life time and you can buy no more then one a level. The cost is 200xp per level, but this is not a one time purchase. If you buy a feat at 6th level you pay 1200xp. THen every level after that you must pay an additional 200xp. THis way getting feats at low level doesn't allow for less XP to be spent. I reduced the cost because of that.