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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Axiomatic Unicorn" data-source="post: 140463" data-attributes="member: 1974">SHARK,First, if you have a fun game and you and your players enjoy it, then cool.  But nothing you stated justifies ignoring the rules, to me.You have described the feats as being the result of years of training and experience.  This concept dhould be captured in the idea of ranks, not feats.  Reading your response I am more convinced than ever that you should just say that every adult hobgoblin has gained 3 or 4 levels of fighter by maturity, as a result of his hard life.  (as mmadsen has already suggested, though his example should get a couple more feats)If their muscles and cordination are superior to a human's they should have more bonuses to STR and DEX, which would lead to built in bonuses in Climb, swim, tumble, jump and others.  Then you get the same abilities you want, without breaking the rules.Just because side-by-side and team flanking only add a "modest bonus", it does not follow that every single 1 HD hobgoblin deserves to have them both.  Simply state that these are very common feats for hobgoblins to take, and massed groups of them who are all trained to fight using these feats are well known.  Giving them to every single hobgoblin not only breaks the rules, but forces a grating homogenity on the race, that makes little sense.You are also correct that most of the feats are not cross compatible.  Most of them will never be used in the 2 to 3 rounds the hobgoblin survives.  If you give every hobgoblin weapon focus in the one weapon that hobgoblin is using, they will be just as effective in play as they are now, but will be much closer to staying within the rules.  So why not do it?  Also, it is easy to end run the rules in a few places.  For example, if you just state that the Khandar  is a common weapon for hobgoblins and therefore is a martial weapon for them.  But I am not familiar with this weapon's stas.  If it is a mechanically superior weapon, that is probably not a good idea.  If the weapon requires a feat slot to fairly justify, then it follows that hobgoblins must spend the effort of acquiring the feat. Just because all of his neighbors have also gone to the trouble, does not imply that they should for any reason get it as a free feat.  The effort spent mastering this weapon could have gone into something else.  "Free Feats" throw this concept away.Lastly, I would encourage you to seriously re-think the toughness feat.  Do you realize that you are actually making the hobgoblins weaker versus PCs?  Low level humanoids tend to be cannon fodder.  The only chance a single one has to kill a PC is a lucky crit.  This chance makes 1 HD MM orcs and hobgoblins a threat to low level parties.  Giving the PC fighter and the hobgoblins both this big batch of hit points, takes the hobgoblins biggest combat edge out of play.  Also, you have really screwed magi.  Spells like magic missile and fireball become far less effective with this, everybody gets 10ish HP extra rule.</blockquote>

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