Post/Author/DateTime	Post
aelryinth 12-22-07, 09:02 PM	So that they are, in fact, SUPERIOR to Class abilities, as they should have been all along, I've been motivated to rework the Spec Tree as something more in line with 4E feats. To wit, 4E feats are generally equal to at least two 3.5 feats, OR a higher level class abilty, AND they tend to scale much better or be more inclusive. All the feats below are to be considered Fighter Bonus Feats. Weapon Focus Your initial training with a weapon has paid off. Req: BAB+1 Benefits: Choose a single weapon or weapon like attack form (rays and missile weapons are acceptable). You gain +1 TH with that weapon. You gain Quick Draw with the weapon if it is a melee weapon. If it is a crossbow, you gain Rapid Reload. Special: You may choose this feat multiple times, for a different weapon each time. Weapon Specialist You are now a master of your weapons. Req: Ftr/4, Weapon Focus. Benefits: You gain a +2 to damage with all weapons that you have Weapon Focus with. With an hour of training per day, you may switch your Weapon Spec tree weapons from one weapon to another, as you prefer. If you do not specify a weapon you are practicing with, the tree defaults to the first weapon you took Weapon Focus with. Greater Weapon Focus Your weapon Skills start to really shine through. Req: F/8, Weapon Specialist. You gain a further +1 TH with all weapons you have Focus in. You also gain the Improved Critical ability for those weapons. If you have the Improved Critical feat, or the weapon is Keen, you instead gain a +4 bonus to confirm all critical hits. Improved Critical You can deliver incredibly lethal blows with surpassing ease. Req: +8 BAB Benefit: The threat range for all weapons you wield is doubled. This benefit does not stack with Keen, or other abilities that increase a threat range, unless specifically stated otherwise. IF the weapon is Keen, then you instead gain a +4 bonus to confirm all critical hits with the weapon (replaces Power Critical) Greater Weapon SPecialist Your mastery of weaponry borders on the inhuman. Req: F/12, Greater Weapon Focus You gain an additional +1 TH and +2 to damage with any weapon that you wield. If you wield a weapon in which you have Weapon Focus, then you may make devastating strikes with it. A number of times per day equal to your BAB-10/2 (i,.e at BAB 12, 14, 16, etc) you may declare maximum damage on any successful attack, bypassing the die roll for damage. This does not affect any critical hits (roll damage normally) or extra dice of dmg (for example, SA damage). Weapon Mastery - Unchanged. Weapon Supremacy - Unchanged, except make it a Fighter Bonus feat, and specifically unalterable with Weapon Specialist or Aptitude feats. There! That puts the fighter's weapon feats right in line with class abilities for the level they are gained at. Also, it redefines the Fighter as a Weapon Specialist and not just specialized in a Weapon (we leave that for Weapon Supremacy). Improved Critical becomes worthwhile to take for non-Fighters (and now stacks with Keen in its own way), becomes automatic for Fighters using Focused Weapons. We get Quick Draw in our primary weapons, we get to cause max damage like the weapon master, and the higher level weapon specialist increases his damage with ALL weapons, not just one. Now THESE are some feats decent for the level they are taken, and worth spending feats on. This is how they should have looked all along. I'm of the opinion that if what we see as 4E feats were given to us now for 3.5, many of the FIghter problems would simply go away, as would the need for many PrC's. A PrC would be redefined as a melee class where you get half a feat per level! ==Aelryinth
Obsidianjaerc 12-22-07, 09:40 PM	My opinion is that we should see how 4e handles feats before we say how 4e handles feats. :P
Kouk 12-23-07, 12:36 AM	My opinion is that we should see how 4e handles feats before we say how 4e handles feats. :P Yeah, that Elf racial feat seemed pretty darn weak in the preview article. +2 to hit on a rerolled attack 1/encounter? Doesn't scream "Twice as powerful as 3e" to me.
aelryinth 12-23-07, 01:00 AM	They already posted the improved Toughness, and Uncanny Dodge as af eat...the former is now Toughness + Improved toughness, and the latter is Uncanny Dodge+ Alertness. Racial feats? Eh, something you can probably choose as you go up in levels as a freebie. These are the real feats! ===Aelryinth
sapient 12-23-07, 03:29 AM	The discussion of 4E aside, I think these improvements are good. They DO make the fighting feats better - for fighters as well as for other classes that may have access to them. And, on a whole, they serve to balance fighting to magic at mid- to high levels of play.
InkBlot 12-24-07, 12:41 PM	Toughness and Alertness were truly subpar feats before. It's no surprise that they're powering up those feats. Also, 4e Alertness doesn't do everything 3e Uncanny Dodge does; 4e Alertness only works for surprise rounds. The intention of the designers is that feats will not be as cool as class features. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20071126 When we started talking about feats for 4th Edition, we already knew that we wanted the bulk of a character’s powers—the exciting actions he performs in combat—to come from his class. Even character classes that hadn’t traditionally offered class-based power options (that is, non-spellcasters) would now acquire these special attacks, defenses, maneuvers, and so on directly from their class’s list of such abilities. Also, there's no indication that racial feats are anything other than feats that you need to be a certain race to get. The things races get for free (upon leveling up) have been consistently refered to as racial powers. Rampant speculation, yadda, yadda, 4e forums, blah, blah.
aelryinth 12-25-07, 12:18 AM	You are ignoring the fact that the two feats posted are 1) available at low levels 2) and they replace and upgrade two DECENT feats/class abilities...Improved Toughness, and Uncanny Dodge. THEN they stack the subpar feats on top...toughness, alertness. And I'm not looking at 4E class abilities...I'm looking at how they are redoing feats, and how such compare to 3.5 class abilities. They've obviously rethought the value of feats through and through...as proven by later books coming out getting decent stuff that's actually workable and usable. ===Aelryinth