Feat Idea: Press your luck - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Namagem Mar 10, 2010 18:41:49	Everyone's life is influenced a bit by luck and circumstances. For most people, this is simply represented by the rolls they make. However, some people rely more heavily on luck than others. Thus, I thought up this feat: (Heroic) Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty. (Paragon) Lucky Bastard (Prereq: Press Your Luck, 11th level): When you choose to press your luck, you take a -1 penalty for rolling odd, instead of the -2 penalty. (Epic) Luck Shines On Me (Prereq: Lucky Bastard, 21st level): When you choose to press your luck, you take no penalty for rolling odd. In addition, when you roll an even number above 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2. What do you think? Is this unduly broken?
#2 Namagem Mar 11, 2010 15:40:20	I hate doubleposting, especially to bump my own thread, but does anyone have any PEACH or Crit for this?
#3 adun_irving Mar 12, 2010 1:07:34	By epic level, it is indeed unduly broken. Without risk, it's no longer luck; it's just benefit or greater benefit. Plenty of people would happily retrain two lesser feats in epic tier to make room for the epic feat's prerequisites, and I think you may have forgotten about retraining while taking balance into account. Perhaps a better addition to the first feat would be a damage feat that either adds or subtracts a random number from the damage roll?
#4 pluisjen Mar 12, 2010 3:13:17	Heroic and Paragon are fun. But, as above, without penalty it's not luck anymore.
#5 Qube Mar 12, 2010 6:41:53	The heroic feat (even+2, odd-2) is underpowered. The only use for it, is if you require a 20 to hit (in which case a 18 also hits) (in case of a 19 to hit, its now still 10%) its interesting, yes, but not feat worthy. The paragon feat (even+2, odd-1) is OK for good heroic feat I think: it grants an overall +5% if you require to roll a even number (if you are required to roll a 10 with your d20, you now have 60% chance instead of 55%; with 11, the chances remain 50/50). an average of +2.5% is not the expertise feat (which is +5%), but still worthy of the feat status. The epic feat (even+3, odd+0) is equivalent with a +1.5 to attacks. its slightly broken: The improved crit feats increase the damage output (not effects!) as though you had a +1. this feat increases damage & effects with +1.5.
#6 Namagem Mar 12, 2010 14:05:06	Alright, I've thought about your suggestions. (Heroic) Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty. In addition, if you hit with an attack that you chose to press your luck on, you gain a bonus/penalty to the damage roll equal to -4 + the result of a d8. (Paragon) Lucky Bastard (Prereq: Press Your Luck, 11th level): When you choose to press your luck, you take a -1 penalty for rolling odd, instead of the -2 penalty. In addition, the bonus/penalty to damage rolls when you hit with an attack that you pressed your luck on becomes -6 + the result of a d12. (Epic) Luck Shines On Me (Prereq: Lucky Bastard, 21st level): When you choose to press your luck and roll an even number below 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2 and the bonus/penalty to damage rolls when you hit with an attack that you pressed your luck on equals -10 + the result of a d20. Also, when you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you can choose to roll a d6. On a 6, reroll the attack. On a 1, the attack fails and you take a -1 penalty to your next attack roll. I'm concidering seperating the reroll part of Luck Shines On Me. What do you think about it now? Edit: Minor word change.
#7 759mages Mar 18, 2010 17:07:22	What I'd recommend for epic level is say that if you roll odd below 15 you still take the penalty. Above 15, there's no penalty for rolling odd. So it's not too overpowered, and is still up to chance. I think the damage you're adding may be a bit much though. I might do 1d4 + bonus, 2d4 + bonus, 3d4 plus bonus. I'm also wary of subtracting die rolls from damage dealt. For example, if I'm reading what you've written correctly, let's say I'm pressing my luck on an at-will attack, 1[W] + Str mod. Heroic: 1d8 + 5 +/- 1d8 + 4 = 4.5 + 5 +/- 4.5 + 4 = averages between 18 dmg or 1 dmg, when you would normally average 9.5 dmg. The way you have the heroic tier feat written, assuming 20 Str, it can easily double or negate all damage you do that round. That seems a bit extreme for what feats can usually do, and I don't know of any feat of the top of my head that can backfire that spectacularly. I'd say, the damage penalty should not exceed the attack bonus. Paragon: 1d8 + 6 +/- 1d12 + 6 = 4.5 + 6 +/- 6.5 + 6 = between 23 dmg and -2 (effectively 0) dmg when you would normally average 10.5. Statistically, this is an even worse gamble. Bigger payoff if it works, but just as spectacular a failure is it doesn't. Again, even if you manage to hit on the odd, you may as well not roll damage, because it can (and often will) be negated by the damage penalty. Epic: 2d8 + 7 +/- 1d20 + 10 = 9 + 7 +/- 10.5 + 10 = between 36.5 dmg and -4.5 (again, 0) dmg when your would normally average 16 dmg. Again, it's a gamble that could more than double your damage, or negate it altogether, a lot for one little feat to do. Feats usually give small bonuses (like Weapon Focus and Spec) or a small bonus with a small penalty (like Power Attack). This one, as written, can be a game- maker or breaker. It's good in theory, but I think you need to think more about the math before you implement it.
#8 Namagem Mar 22, 2010 21:14:56	Well, how about this: (Heroic) Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty. In addition, if you hit with an attack that you chose to press your luck on, you may choose gain a bonus/penalty to the damage roll equal to -2 + the result of a d4. My thoughts In this version, the bonus damage for the base feat is 1d4-2. this is perhaps too good on the side of the player, as if you rolled a 1, it would only be a penalty of -1, while the bonus if you rolled a 4 is +2. Roll/Total 1/-1 2/+0 3/+1 4/+2
#9 sagil123 Mar 23, 2010 2:43:29	Looks good to me, both flavor and power-wise. Personally I would simplify the epic version though, just to make things run more smoothly. E.g., "When you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll you can reroll the attack with a -5 penalty."
#10 759mages Mar 26, 2010 15:29:16	What happens to Luck Shines On Me when you roll higher than 15? Or was that a typo and the bonus is +3 higher than 15? All in all, though, a really good rewrite.
#11 Namagem Mar 27, 2010 0:32:43	Was a typo, thanks for catching it. If anyone uses this feat in their character, tell me how it goes. Edit: Actually, what you were talking about wasn't a typo. If you roll an even number that is less than 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2. I'm considering taking that clause out and simply making it +3 on even no matter what.
#12 759mages Mar 28, 2010 1:03:53	I wouldn't make it static, although I might raise the bonus in either case. For example +3 below 15 and +5 above, or the reverse. Was there a reason that you were rewarding lower rolls?
#13 Namagem Mar 29, 2010 10:58:48	i made the bonus higher for lower rolls to give some additional padding to those lower rolls. Lower rolls are much less likely to hit, or save, or pass a skill check. That's why I gave it the bonus, he's so lucky that his lower rolls are more likely to have an effect.

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

Namagem

Mar 10, 2010 18:41:49

Everyone's life is influenced a bit by luck and circumstances. For most people, this is simply represented by the rolls they make. However, some people rely more heavily on luck than others. Thus, I thought up this feat:

(Heroic)
Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty.

(Paragon)
Lucky Bastard (Prereq: Press Your Luck, 11th level): When you choose to press your luck, you take a -1 penalty for rolling odd, instead of the -2 penalty.

(Epic)
Luck Shines On Me (Prereq: Lucky Bastard, 21st level): When you choose to press your luck, you take no penalty for rolling odd. In addition, when you roll an even number above 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2.

What do you think? Is this unduly broken?

Namagem

Mar 11, 2010 15:40:20

I hate doubleposting, especially to bump my own thread, but does anyone have any PEACH or Crit for this?

adun_irving

Mar 12, 2010 1:07:34

By epic level, it is indeed unduly broken. Without risk, it's no longer luck; it's just benefit or greater benefit. Plenty of people would happily retrain two lesser feats in epic tier to make room for the epic feat's prerequisites, and I think you may have forgotten about retraining while taking balance into account.

Perhaps a better addition to the first feat would be a damage feat that either adds or subtracts a random number from the damage roll?

pluisjen

Mar 12, 2010 3:13:17

Heroic and Paragon are fun. But, as above, without penalty it's not luck anymore.

Qube

Mar 12, 2010 6:41:53

The heroic feat (even+2, odd-2) is underpowered. The only use for it, is if you require a 20 to hit (in which case a 18 also hits) (in case of a 19 to hit, its now still 10%)

its interesting, yes, but not feat worthy.

The paragon feat (even+2, odd-1) is OK for good heroic feat I think: it grants an overall +5% if you require to roll a even number (if you are required to roll a 10 with your d20, you now have 60% chance instead of 55%; with 11, the chances remain 50/50). an average of +2.5% is not the expertise feat (which is +5%), but still worthy of the feat status.

The epic feat (even+3, odd+0) is equivalent with a +1.5 to attacks. its slightly broken: The improved crit feats increase the damage output (not effects!) as though you had a +1. this feat increases damage & effects with +1.5.

Namagem

Mar 12, 2010 14:05:06

Alright, I've thought about your suggestions.

(Heroic)
Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty. In addition, if you hit with an attack that you chose to press your luck on, you gain a bonus/penalty to the damage roll equal to -4 + the result of a d8.

(Paragon)
Lucky Bastard (Prereq: Press Your Luck, 11th level): When you choose to press your luck, you take a -1 penalty for rolling odd, instead of the -2 penalty. In addition, the bonus/penalty to damage rolls when you hit with an attack that you pressed your luck on becomes -6 + the result of a d12.

(Epic)
Luck Shines On Me (Prereq: Lucky Bastard, 21st level): When you choose to press your luck and roll an even number below 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2 and the bonus/penalty to damage rolls when you hit with an attack that you pressed your luck on equals -10 + the result of a d20. Also, when you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you can choose to roll a d6. On a 6, reroll the attack. On a 1, the attack fails and you take a -1 penalty to your next attack roll.

I'm concidering seperating the reroll part of Luck Shines On Me.

What do you think about it now?

Edit: Minor word change.

759mages

Mar 18, 2010 17:07:22

What I'd recommend for epic level is say that if you roll odd below 15 you still take the penalty. Above 15, there's no penalty for rolling odd. So it's not too overpowered, and is still up to chance.

I think the damage you're adding may be a bit much though. I might do 1d4 + bonus, 2d4 + bonus, 3d4 plus bonus. I'm also wary of subtracting die rolls from damage dealt. For example, if I'm reading what you've written correctly, let's say I'm pressing my luck on an at-will attack, 1[W] + Str mod.

Heroic:
1d8 + 5 +/- 1d8 + 4 = 4.5 + 5 +/- 4.5 + 4 = averages between 18 dmg or 1 dmg, when you would normally average 9.5 dmg.

The way you have the heroic tier feat written, assuming 20 Str, it can easily double or negate all damage you do that round. That seems a bit extreme for what feats can usually do, and I don't know of any feat of the top of my head that can backfire that spectacularly. I'd say, the damage penalty should not exceed the attack bonus.

Paragon:
1d8 + 6 +/- 1d12 + 6 = 4.5 + 6 +/- 6.5 + 6 = between 23 dmg and -2 (effectively 0) dmg when you would normally average 10.5.

Statistically, this is an even worse gamble. Bigger payoff if it works, but just as spectacular a failure is it doesn't. Again, even if you manage to hit on the odd, you may as well not roll damage, because it can (and often will) be negated by the damage penalty.

Epic:
2d8 + 7 +/- 1d20 + 10 = 9 + 7 +/- 10.5 + 10 = between 36.5 dmg and -4.5 (again, 0) dmg when your would normally average 16 dmg.

Again, it's a gamble that could more than double your damage, or negate it altogether, a lot for one little feat to do. Feats usually give small bonuses (like Weapon Focus and Spec) or a small bonus with a small penalty (like Power Attack). This one, as written, can be a game- maker or breaker. It's good in theory, but I think you need to think more about the math before you implement it.

Namagem

Mar 22, 2010 21:14:56

Well, how about this:

(Heroic)
Press Your Luck: Before making any d20 roll, you may choose to press your luck. If you do, roll the die. If the roll is even, use the result with a +2 bonus. If the roll is odd, use the result with a -2 penalty. In addition, if you hit with an attack that you chose to press your luck on, you may choose gain a bonus/penalty to the damage roll equal to -2 + the result of a d4.

My thoughts

In this version, the bonus damage for the base feat is 1d4-2. this is perhaps too good on the side of the player, as if you rolled a 1, it would only be a penalty of -1, while the bonus if you rolled a 4 is +2.
Roll/Total
1/-1
2/+0
3/+1
4/+2

sagil123

Mar 23, 2010 2:43:29

Looks good to me, both flavor and power-wise. Personally I would simplify the epic version though, just to make things run more smoothly. E.g., "When you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll you can reroll the attack with a -5 penalty."

#10

759mages

Mar 26, 2010 15:29:16

What happens to Luck Shines On Me when you roll higher than 15? Or was that a typo and the bonus is +3 higher than 15?

All in all, though, a really good rewrite.

#11

Namagem

Mar 27, 2010 0:32:43

Was a typo, thanks for catching it. If anyone uses this feat in their character, tell me how it goes.

Edit: Actually, what you were talking about wasn't a typo. If you roll an even number that is less than 15, the bonus is +3 instead of +2. I'm considering taking that clause out and simply making it +3 on even no matter what.

#12

759mages

Mar 28, 2010 1:03:53

I wouldn't make it static, although I might raise the bonus in either case. For example +3 below 15 and +5 above, or the reverse. Was there a reason that you were rewarding lower rolls?

#13

Namagem

Mar 29, 2010 10:58:48

i made the bonus higher for lower rolls to give some additional padding to those lower rolls. Lower rolls are much less likely to hit, or save, or pass a skill check. That's why I gave it the bonus, he's so lucky that his lower rolls are more likely to have an effect.