Hobby Feats
hong said:
Prestige classes, feats or skills that are meant for a social-interaction-heavy campaign.
There's already been six million slice-n-dice weapon master PrCs, using the longsword, katana, ginsu knife or whatever. A few along the lines of those in the Ink and Quill pdf from Bastion Press wouldn't go astray.
I agree, I'm having problems figuring out what to call a prestiege class I'm working on that actually spends levels and levels of efforts to try and create an artifact, because there's about 40 "Artificer" classes out there of which NONE do what I have in mind.
As for the social feats, there's a thread on them hanging around the forum. I found them to be less than what I was looking for. I don't really want to have character design and rolepalying dictated by a feat. Social feats are a nice idea but they should be the kind that are open ended for the players to explore how they roleplay the use of the feat on their own, not just "You can make cutting and wittiy remarks at will."
Here's some ideas I'd really like to send to the Netbook of Feats:
Hobby Feat [general]
You have a hobby that you're enthusiastic about, and sometimes find ways to apply to real-life situations. Pick one of the following:
BodyBuilder/Sports Nut
You are constantly exercising, either on your own to improve your own body towards perfection, or with others, competing in sports for fun and the thrill of the game. As a result of your activities, you gain a +2 Lifestyle bonus to strength.
Dancer/Acrobat
You are lithe, graceful, and supremely talented when it comes to personal movement. You like to dance or do acrobatic tricks to entertain and impress sometimes. The constant flexibilty and feats of gymnastic prowess give you a +2 Lifestyle bonus to dexterity.
Endurance Runner
You like to run. You get to see the area you live in (or are passing through) and it's great exercise. You run at least once a day if possible usually at the same time of day. It's a good way to meet people too. Because of your dedication to exercise, you gain a +2 Lifestyle bonus to constitution.
Devoted Student
You study. All the time, and hard. You don't do it because you have to, you do it because you want to understand how things work and know what they do. You spend alot of time researching new things you experience, and talking with others about recent discoveries that you or they have made, and their implications. You are well informed in the latest developments and gain a +2 Lifestyle bonus to intelligence.
Philisophical Study
You tend to spend your time rather socially. You like to talk to people, and what better things to talk about than philosophy and its implications. Some people are put off by this, but it usually doesn't take long after coming into town to find the people who are interested in such debates. These debates are usually friendly, good natured discussions over how and why things are the way they are. A good place to meet new friends. Your constant pondering of the way of the world gives you a +2 Lifestyle bonus to wisdom.
Actor
You love to act. Whether it's in a theater, or just pretending you're someone you're really not. You do it all the time, sometimes just to mess with people, often to be convincing if there's anyone who'll appreciate it. Scouting the town for a theater is the first thing you do. You've studied the art, and learned the tools of the trade like voice control and expression control, and makeup. These skills carry over to your every day life, giving a +2 Lifestyle bonus to charisma.
Lifestyle bonuses are a generic bonus that stacks with everything else. You cannot take the same hobby more than once, though you can have more than one at a time (to gain bonuses to more than one stat).
However, there is a price to be paid for this. You are expected to roleplay these actions being done by your character, in game. The DM shouldn't come back to you after dealing with another character's shopping trip, ask "So what was your character doing while everyone was out shopping?" and get "Uhh.... sitting in the tavern.... drinking... I guess." If the DM feels you are not roleplaying your chosen hobby feat the benefits of the feat may be revoked indefinately until you begin doing the actions described in the feat on a regular basis again. This won't stop you from picking up a different hobby if you decide you like that one better. This happens sometimes. You do not need to take a second feat, the existing (currently defunct) feat can be used for the purposes of the new hobby. You can have the single hobby feat generate more than one bonues but getting enough roleplaying done to maintain more than one would be difficult. I don't think anyone besides experienced heavy RPG campaigners would want to try it.
Keep in mind, roleplaying for the purposes of these feats is up to the discresion of the player. There's no set formula of "oh I go to the edge of town and pick up heavy rocks, me strong!" Characters are encouraged to go seek out others with similar interests. DMs may wish to be aware of this and have some pre-made groups provided for a few of these.
