Using other ability scores for AC boost.

[TessarrianDM]

Would it be unbalancing to allow a feat that duplicates the monk's ability to apply his Wisdom bonus to AC (and making said feat a bonus feat for the monk class, instead of a class ability)? What about other ability scores?

Ideas:

Strength of the Mountains: This feat grants the ability to add your Strength bonus to your AC. This bonus would not apply to touch attacks.

Body of Iron: This feat grants the ability to add your Constitution bonus to your AC. This bonus would not apply to touch attacks.

Enlightened Tactician: This feat grants the ability to add your Wisdom bonus to your AC. This bonus would not apply when you are flat-footed.

Prescient Tactician: This feat grants the ability to add your Intelligence bonus to your AC. This bonus would not apply when you are flat-footed.

Turn on the Charm: This feat grants the ability to add your Charisma bonus to your AC. This bonus would not apply when you are flat-footed.

 

[Slapzilla]

As a switch from 1st level, I don't think a feat is needed. A Bard with a Cha instead of Dex bonus seems a fair trade to me. A Barbarian with a Con instead of a Dex bonus makes perfect sense too. If you wanted to add an ability at a lter time, sure, create a feat but a straight switch from first level? No feat. You'd have to be tight on which classes could switch from Dex to what ability for free. A Druid with a Str bonus may or may not make sense. If you spend a feat to add to your Dex bonus, you get it in any case. Very worth exploring. Figure out what type of AC bonus you'd get, too (Not deflection or dodge, of course).

 

[eamon]

These feats would be overpowered. Judging by weapon focus and dodge, at best you can expect a feat to provide a boost of 1 AC, and only if it high prereq maybe slightly more if at all. So a feat such as you suggest should be capped at a boost of 1AC, but could be taken multiple times. Even then, it might be overpowered. I would leave this particular bonus in the camp of the monk, which balances it with severe restrictions (and the fact that a level dipper actually needs to spend a level to gain it at all).

 

[Quartz]

Far too powerful, even for an Epic feat. Consider a barbarian with Str 28 (18+4 levels+6 enhancement) - she'd get +9 AC from a single feat, more when raging.

If you want this, consider designing a prestige class like the Duellist for the character.

 

[Slapzilla]

I still think a switchout at 1st level would be fine. Lowering the bonus to +1 ac replicates the dodge bonus and even if the type of bonus changed (deflection, natural armor etc) I'd never spend a feat on it. As written in the OP, increasing the bonus does take away a cool thing from the monks and opens it up too wide. I think theres a good idea here, so keep thinking.

 

[shurai]

I agree that they're overpowered compared to default D&D. I have trouble imagining a wizard in typical dungeon-crawling campaign not taking the Int-based one, for example. Any fighter-type who wants a high armor class is going to love these. Too much. So, I'd ramp them down.

The other thing I'd definitely do is give a type for each bonus. Unnamed bonuses stack with everything, which is too strong for such a powerful set of feats.

If it were me, I'd dampen them a bit:

1) Split the benefits into regular, Improved, and Greater versions -- the regular is +1 fixed bonus and requires 13+ in the related ability, the Improved is half the ability bonus rounded down, and the Greater version is the full bonus. Three feats for an awesome AC is probably okay, given that feats are scarce from everyone but fighters, and fighters have lots of other good choices for feats.
2) Each feat has a prereq that isn't too useful (like perhaps Iron Will for the Wis-based feat, for example), and most importantly isn't on the fighter bonus feat list.
3) Each bonus has a specified type, intended to cause stacking trouble later on. (Say, the strength-related feat could be Deflection, representing the strong guy powerfully swatting away the attacks. This way the cleric later on can't really cast Shield of Faith on him later, it wouldn't do any good.

I do think these are nifty good ideas, though. I think it makes the game more realistic in a way, because I can see the other abilities being directly useful for defending oneself from attacks.

I would also change the Charisma-related one to some kind of intimidation thing in the flavor text. Like the visage of the character is so stone-cold badass that enemies have trouble fighting them as hard as they'd like. Think of it as the samurai stare-down.

I'd also change the strength-based feat to something that would have them using their strength to block attacks more firmly or knocking them away more strongly. This is also just a flavor text change, really. : ]

 

[Slapzilla]

I would also change the Charisma-related one to some kind of intimidation thing in the flavor text. Like the visage of the character is so stone-cold badass that enemies have trouble fighting them as hard as they'd like.

Or maybe they are just so pretty that you just can't bring yourself to hurt them!

 

[shurai]

Shurai hands Slapzilla a freshly picked brace of

tags.

; ]