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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herschel" data-source="post: 5530340" data-attributes="member: 78357">First off: He's a contributor. He wasn't one of the game's designers. It's on his personal site, it's not from WotC or any official source. It's no more germain than Claudio or Ari posting opinion on the game design (and I like their stuff) or anyone else, for that matter.   Secondly, it's an opinion piece and thought exercise and speaks about characters in a vacuum. Again, teamwork, leaders, tactics, etc. are more influential and more powerful that the standard expertise feats. It's also VERY myopic in its scope, take this section:  "As a DM, I find it annoying when my monsters can only hit on an 18+, but if the options are available to players, it behooves them to insulate their characters from attacks so who can blame them. Consider the 6th level laser cleric from the PH. An optimized cleric (say a dwarf) should have a 21 Wisdom by this level granting a +5 bonus. Add half the level for another +3. Add +1 from class and the character has a 19 Will. Now add in the neck slot item, which ought to be another +2 to bring us up to 21. Then add Superior Will and we’re at 23. A typical level 6 monster that can attack will has a +9 bonus, so it’s only going to hit the character on a 14 or better." First: He makes a hyperbolic statement, then goes on to prove his statement was (way) off.  Second: He specifically mentions optimising by buying a post-racial 20 in your primary stat. That's generally a: not overall optimal and carries a large opportunity cost, and b: again myopic. Sure, the Will defense rocks, and daze & stun can be somewhat (again inaccurate hyperbole on his part) mitigated but at a cost to Fortitude, Reflex, HP/surges, possibly AC (though the dwarf will likely be in heavy armor anyway), skill checks, riders, other feat prerequisites, etc.  Third: He mentions optimising characters, something a lot of gamers don't really do, have not needed to do and still survived to tell the tale. Then his final line sums up again that it's his opinion: "Ah. Well this is all mental masturbation isn’t it? So rather than talk circles around myself, what do you think about feats? Are they integral to the play experience? Or do you find yourself choosing the same sorts of feats over and over again?" So again, there is no "proof" to your assertion. </blockquote>

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