Bonus Feats for more iconic feel? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Bonus Feats for more iconic feel?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
DrOct
Oct 03, 2011 15:50:11 So I'm just toying with this idea in my mind, and I'm not even sure when I'll be running another campaign so this is mostly just a thought exercise, but here goes.

So I was thinking recently about 4e Wizards and how a friend of mine in my last campaign was a bit disapointed in her Wizard character. She felt like it just didn't quite feel like a Wizard like she'd hoped it would. I was thinking about this a bit, and while obviously a 4e Wizard won't ever quite work or feel like a wizard from previous editions, there might be some ways to make it feel a bit more like wizards from previous editions.

One thing I thought of that wouldn't likely unbalance gameplay too much would be to give a Wizard the "Expanded Spellbook" feat for free. This would let a wizard have a bigger choice of spells to choose from, which I think is at least one element of what made wizards feel particularly unique in previous editions, but I don't think it would unbalance things too much. I feel like it's a fun feat to take, but I'm not sure most players would actually take it on their own because of the high "feat tax" cost.

In my mind I'd give that as a bonus feat to anyone who played a Wizard of any stripe (Arcanist, Mage, or even Bladesinger).

Then I got to wondering if there might be other feats for other classes that would be interesting, and might make them feel a bit more "iconic" without necessarily unbalancing things, though I'm having trouble coming up with too many for other classes that would fit the bill. That being said there are a TON of feats out there so feel like there must be some that would be good fits for most if not all classes.

So if I were to start up a new campaign and planned to give everyone one free bonus feat, hand picked for their class, that would add an interesting, but not game breaking, element to their class, what would your suggestions be?

I guess to make things easier we can start with the most common classes, like Wizards, Clerics, Rogues, and Fighters, but certainly if there are any feats you think are interesting for other classes I'd love to entertain those as well, I'm sure whenever I run my next campaign we'll have a pretty wide range of classes represented.
#2
BohoMojambo
Oct 26, 2011 21:12:28 As a nod to Rogues being the "skills monkey" of previous editions you could give them the Jack of All Trades feat.
#3
Crimson_Concerto
Oct 26, 2011 21:37:51 Hmm... Well, I think it would be better to give your players options. Maybe as a Wizard they can pick either Expanded Spellbook or Arcane Familiar? Maybe as a Fighter they have the option of either Plate Proficiency or Superior Weapon Proficiency? Maybe as a Rogue they can select either Evasion or Trap Sense? Maybe as a Cleric you can choose any Divinity feat?
#4
DrOct
Oct 26, 2011 21:53:33 I'd be happy to give them a choice, just generally looking for things that will be neat and flavorful, but won't give them a huge boost in terms of their effectiveness. All of these are good suggestions! (I like the Jack of all trades idea too!
#5
ciaran
Oct 26, 2011 23:44:12 Expanded Spellbook might do the trick, but what came to my mind was to do it regularly, and then allow the wizard to inscribe any number of additional ones into her book that she finds during the course if the campaign - from npcs and scrolls. This would still ultimately leave control in the hands of the dm. I would still allow the feat, but disallow retraining of daily and utility powers.
#6
DrOct
Oct 27, 2011 8:26:16 Hmmm... that's an interesting idea!
#7
ciaran
Oct 27, 2011 9:01:56 If you want to go wild you could add encounter attacks to the spellbook too. Depending on if your group is optimize-heavy or optimize-light, this may or may not disrupt your game.
#8
DrOct
Oct 27, 2011 9:06:01 The idea of encounter powers in the spellbook has occured to me (in fact I recall breifly thinking that actually _was_ an option a while back!). I generally don't play with serious optimizers and frankly just being able to pick the spells at the start of each day (would definitely be a decision made at the start of the day, not after every short rest) doesn't really strike me as being too unreasonable. They might be able to sometimes predict some of what they'll face, but probably not much most of the time.

That's definitely an interesting idea... (And actualy with the ability to house-rule in extra powers they could even have the CB even give them all the numbers, they'd just have to come up with a system to keep track of which they'd picked for the day. But anyone who wants to play an old-school wizard would probably be up for that anyway).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 DrOct Oct 03, 2011 15:50:11	So I'm just toying with this idea in my mind, and I'm not even sure when I'll be running another campaign so this is mostly just a thought exercise, but here goes. So I was thinking recently about 4e Wizards and how a friend of mine in my last campaign was a bit disapointed in her Wizard character. She felt like it just didn't quite feel like a Wizard like she'd hoped it would. I was thinking about this a bit, and while obviously a 4e Wizard won't ever quite work or feel like a wizard from previous editions, there might be some ways to make it feel a bit more like wizards from previous editions. One thing I thought of that wouldn't likely unbalance gameplay too much would be to give a Wizard the "Expanded Spellbook" feat for free. This would let a wizard have a bigger choice of spells to choose from, which I think is at least one element of what made wizards feel particularly unique in previous editions, but I don't think it would unbalance things too much. I feel like it's a fun feat to take, but I'm not sure most players would actually take it on their own because of the high "feat tax" cost. In my mind I'd give that as a bonus feat to anyone who played a Wizard of any stripe (Arcanist, Mage, or even Bladesinger). Then I got to wondering if there might be other feats for other classes that would be interesting, and might make them feel a bit more "iconic" without necessarily unbalancing things, though I'm having trouble coming up with too many for other classes that would fit the bill. That being said there are a TON of feats out there so feel like there must be some that would be good fits for most if not all classes. So if I were to start up a new campaign and planned to give everyone one free bonus feat, hand picked for their class, that would add an interesting, but not game breaking, element to their class, what would your suggestions be? I guess to make things easier we can start with the most common classes, like Wizards, Clerics, Rogues, and Fighters, but certainly if there are any feats you think are interesting for other classes I'd love to entertain those as well, I'm sure whenever I run my next campaign we'll have a pretty wide range of classes represented.
#2 BohoMojambo Oct 26, 2011 21:12:28	As a nod to Rogues being the "skills monkey" of previous editions you could give them the Jack of All Trades feat.
#3 Crimson_Concerto Oct 26, 2011 21:37:51	Hmm... Well, I think it would be better to give your players options. Maybe as a Wizard they can pick either Expanded Spellbook or Arcane Familiar? Maybe as a Fighter they have the option of either Plate Proficiency or Superior Weapon Proficiency? Maybe as a Rogue they can select either Evasion or Trap Sense? Maybe as a Cleric you can choose any Divinity feat?
#4 DrOct Oct 26, 2011 21:53:33	I'd be happy to give them a choice, just generally looking for things that will be neat and flavorful, but won't give them a huge boost in terms of their effectiveness. All of these are good suggestions! (I like the Jack of all trades idea too!
#5 ciaran Oct 26, 2011 23:44:12	Expanded Spellbook might do the trick, but what came to my mind was to do it regularly, and then allow the wizard to inscribe any number of additional ones into her book that she finds during the course if the campaign - from npcs and scrolls. This would still ultimately leave control in the hands of the dm. I would still allow the feat, but disallow retraining of daily and utility powers.
#6 DrOct Oct 27, 2011 8:26:16	Hmmm... that's an interesting idea!
#7 ciaran Oct 27, 2011 9:01:56	If you want to go wild you could add encounter attacks to the spellbook too. Depending on if your group is optimize-heavy or optimize-light, this may or may not disrupt your game.
#8 DrOct Oct 27, 2011 9:06:01	The idea of encounter powers in the spellbook has occured to me (in fact I recall breifly thinking that actually _was_ an option a while back!). I generally don't play with serious optimizers and frankly just being able to pick the spells at the start of each day (would definitely be a decision made at the start of the day, not after every short rest) doesn't really strike me as being too unreasonable. They might be able to sometimes predict some of what they'll face, but probably not much most of the time. That's definitely an interesting idea... (And actualy with the ability to house-rule in extra powers they could even have the CB even give them all the numbers, they'd just have to come up with a system to keep track of which they'd picked for the day. But anyone who wants to play an old-school wizard would probably be up for that anyway).