There's a lot of feats. How to get more of them to see play?

[Nyaricus]

In my games, I infact give out a feat every odd-numbered level. So, at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 you get a feat, for a total of 10 at 20th level.

There are two main points you need to realise about this method:

1. The length a normal campaign takes up AND
2. That NPCs need to follow the same rules.

For the former: most D&D campaigns, as reseached by WotC, will not last into high levels, and might last 6months to a year (or somesuch). You would be well served to note that by increasing the feats to one every-other level, that only a net 3 feats are gained, and that before 10th level (where most campaigns are played) you get one more feat - instead of your 6th level feat, you have a 5th and a 7th. So, really, game balance is not that thrown out of whack, especially for low-level play, which are the levels which most gamers play in.

HOWEVER, leading into Point 2, you must realise that NPCs need to have the same treatment as their PC counterparts, so that they aren't a complete pushover. Some may argue all they wish about the CR system, but all it ever was and is is a set of rough guidelines to what your characters should be able to face at any given level - and that if PCs have a net gain of power, so should their DM-run counterparts.

That is about all the advice I can give you on this. I have to say that it gives my players something to look forward to, and since I am projectig my currently-run campaign to go to 20th level or so (less, if anything) they are definitly looking forward to it.

Hope that helps!

cheers,
--N

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Well? There's lots of feats available. What is a balanced way to get more of them into play?

Kill more PC's.

With extreme prejudice.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I favour a more rapid acquisition of feats, myself - but there are also the retraining and rebuilding rules in the Player's Handbook II.

 

[chaotix42]

In my AoW game we run gestalt and a feat every level. It's fun. >_>

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

It's all about the Flaws! I'm a HERO system fan, so of course I like abilities related to Disadvantages or Limitations. The Unearthed Arcana flaws are good fun, each being worse than an equivalent feat but giving you a bonus feat you can use for something else. Dragon has been pretty good about putting these out, too.

Most of my NPCs end up with 1-3 Flaws because a) I want the feats for them and b) it gives them 'hooks' for PCs to exploit (if they're enemies) or help them out with (if they're allies).

I don't like increasing the total number of feats given out (say, to one per level) unless it's understood beforehand that Fighter is a dip class at most, provided it's allowed in the first place. Giving everyone 8 extra skill points/level, with no class/cross-class distinction, would step on the rogue's toes less than feat per level does the fighter's.

 

[Nyaricus]

In my AoW game we run gestalt and a feat every level. It's fun. >_>

Neat stuff, this I'm combine this with a 1-for-1 pointbuy of 90 points (I hate normal pointbuy ) or something like roll 5d6 drop the lowest two, or even roll 3d20, take the highest roll. Soemthign fun and hghpowered, to match

cheers,
--N

 

[Beckett]

My current setup is attribute points every third level, and feats every level that you don't get an attribute, with two feats at first (so three if human). The only problem is, I'm the person in my group most familiar with what feats are out there, and I'm also the DM 90% of the time. So, players tend to stick with what they know- feats like Weapon Focus, which are reliable but not interesting.

Don't forget to give monsters/NPCs the same feat progression.

 

[Darklone]

I give attribute increases every even and feats every odd level.

One extra feat (like Montes talents) at level1, but no feat at level 1 may have another feat as prerequisite.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

I dont run a game with more feats than normal (Though I did at one point allow the Cleric to get a Bonus Divine feat every four levels), but to get my players to take different feats, I sometimes build NPC villains that use newer feats that do things the players never knew about. So then they think "WOW! I can Do that with this or that." Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

It's all about the Flaws! I'm a HERO system fan, so of course I like abilities related to Disadvantages or Limitations. The Unearthed Arcana flaws are good fun, each being worse than an equivalent feat but giving you a bonus feat you can use for something else. Dragon has been pretty good about putting these out, too.

Most of my NPCs end up with 1-3 Flaws because a) I want the feats for them and b) it gives them 'hooks' for PCs to exploit (if they're enemies) or help them out with (if they're allies).

I don't like increasing the total number of feats given out (say, to one per level) unless it's understood beforehand that Fighter is a dip class at most, provided it's allowed in the first place. Giving everyone 8 extra skill points/level, with no class/cross-class distinction, would step on the rogue's toes less than feat per level does the fighter's.

I'm always taking flaws myself. Things like Noncombatant are great for a scrawny little wizard who can't figure out which end of the pointed stick to stab with, and Shaky is super for a barbarian who never stops clutching his greatsword.

However, flaws don't really help if what you want to do is climb a feat tree that has BAB or level prerequisites.