This thread is meant as a little repository for ideas regarding new feats that I feel were somehow missing from 4th Ed. They're meant to balanced with others of course; and I'm sure that eventual supplements may actually fill some of these gaps, but these are homebrew stop-gaps for the impatient (like me).
I'll start the thread with my ideas, but if you have a good idea, post it, and if it sounds pretty good and balanced, then I'll certainly add it to this list.
Anyhow, without further ado:
Heroic Tier feats
Opaque Miasma**
Prerequsites: CON 13, CHA 13
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to damage rolls when you use a power that has the poison or force keyword. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +2. At 21st level, it increases to +3.
Smash Fury
Prerequsites: STR 13, CON 13
Benefit: If you make a charge attack whilst using a Hammer, Mace, Pick or Flail, you gain a +2 Feat bonus to damage on the basic attack you make.
Hewing Axe
Prerequsites: STR 13, CON 13
Benefit: If you drop a foe to 0 HP with an attack or power whilst using an Axe, add a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll using the same axe. If you do not use this bonus before the beginning of your next turn, it is lost.
Swirling Polearm
Prerequsites: WIS 13, DEX 13
Benefit: Whenever you wield a weapon of the staff, spear or polearm class two handed, you may add a +1 shield bonus to your AC. This does not stack with the Wizards Staff of Defence implement mastery.
Half-Elf Resiliance (Half-Elf)
Prerequsites: Half-Elf, CON 12
Benefit: Once a day, as a free action, you may spend a healing surge to shake off one effect that requires a saving throw automatically.
Stunning Allure
Prerequsites: CHA 15
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks
Sagicity
Prerequsites: INT 15
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Arcana and History checks
Natural Healer
Prerequsites: WIS 15, Trained in Heal
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Heal. Whenever you succeed a DC 15 Heal check to stabilize a dying character, they may also heal 2 Hitpoints.
Tactical Shield Defense
Prerequisite: Dex: 13, Shield Proficiency
Benefit: While using a shield in combat, as a move action you may add +1 to your AC until the beginning of your next turn.
Submitted by: Deadbane
Improved Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Str 13 or proficiency in at least one military or superior melee weapon
Benefit: Your unarmed attack is no longer considered an improvised melee weapon; it is now considered to be a military melee weapon that is part of the unarmed and mace weapon groups and has a +3 proficiency bonus, 1d6 damage, and the off-hand property.
Submitted by: Pinnacle
Improved Unarmed Strike (Alternate)
Prerequisites: Toughness feat or Durable feat
Benefit: When you are not weilding any weapons, and choose to strike unarmed, you are considered to be using a two handed weapon called 'Hand-Hand', which attacks with Strength vs. AC, gives you a +2 proficiency bonus to hit, and deals 1d6 + Strength Modifier damage on a hit.
Submitted by: My version of Pinnacle's idea, above.
Weapon Finesse
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (Light Blade)
Benefit: When attacking with a light blade, you may use your Dexterity in place of Strength for any attack roll made with a power that has the Weapon keyword.
Submitted by: DeaconOrlov, ZeroSanity
Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Prerequisites: Two Weapon Fighting
Benefit: You gain the following power:
----------------------------------------------
Two Weapon Strike
At Will <> Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding two melee weapons
Special: The Bonus to attack rolls granted by Two Weapon Fighting feat bonus does not apply to this attack.
Target: One or two creatures.
Attack: Strength -2 vs AC (melee; main weapon and off-hand weapon), two attacks
Hit: 1[W] damage per attack
Increase to 2[W] at 21st level
----------------------------------------------
Submitted by: DeaconOrlov, ZeroSanity
Paragon Tier feats
Astral Flash
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Radiant keyword, that target is also Blinded. (save ends)
Caustic Acid
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Acid keyword, you deal an additional 2 ongoing acid damage. (save ends)
Crushing Entropy
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Entropic keyword, the target is also knocked Prone.
Kill it with Fire
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Any target that you hit with a power that has the fire keyword takes an additional 1 fire damage. This stacks with Astral Fire and any other benefit that gives you additional fire damage from a fire keyword power.
Encyclopaedic Knowledge
Prerequsites: INT 18, WIS 13, Sagicity Feat
Benefit: Once a day, whenever you make an Arcana or History roll to identify something, you may roll twice and keep the higher result.
Expanded Repitoire
Prerequsites: Sagicity Feat
Benefit: Choose a new 1st Level at-will power from your class. You can now use this power in addition to your usual two (or usual three, if you are human).
Paragon of Beauty
Prerequsites: CHA 18, Stunning Allure Feat
Benefit: Once per encounter, you may use a minor action to gain a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll with a power that has either the Charm or Fear keywords.
Spring Vaulter
Prerequsites: DEX 15, Trained in Athletics
Benefit: Add a +10 feat bonus to your Athletics check when determining the distance that a Long or High jump covers.
Whirling Breath-Weapon (Dragonborn)
Prerequsites: Dragonborn, dragon breath racial power
Benefit: Your breath weapon can instead be used as a close burst 1. If you already have the Enlarged Dragon Breath feat, this doesn't affect the size of this burst. You can still choose to use your breath as a close blast, if you wish.
Rapid Reload
Prerequsites: DEX 16, WIS 14, Proficient with the Crossbow
Benefit: You can now reload a Crossbow as a Free action, instead of a Minor action, in the same fashion as the Hand-Crossbow.
Unique Methods
Prerequsites: INT 13, WIS 13
Benefit: Choose one attack power you know. When you make an attack roll with this power, you may choose to replace the usual required attribute for a different one. (e.g. a STR vs. AC attack may become a WIS vs. AC attack). However, if you do this, you get a -2 to this attack roll because of the unique method.
Special: You may select this feat any number of times. Each time you do, select a new power for which to apply its effects.
Multi-talented Wonder
Prerequsites: Novice Power and Acolyte Power feats, that you are Paragon Multiclassing (no Paragon Path)
Benefit: This feat copies the effects of BOTH the Novice Power and Acolyte Power feats and at all times counts as if it were both of those feats for the purposes of meeting prerequisites. You may immediately retrain them both for other Heroic or Paragon tier feats, but if you do, this uses your Retraining this level. The net effect of this is one additional feat.
Epic Tier feats
Epic Heroes Discipline
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to your Fortitude, Reflex and Will defences.
Spark of Godliness*
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Gain +1 to an ability score of your choice.
Epic Flash-Move
Prerequsites: STR 16, CON 16, DEX 16, Trained in Athletics
Benefit: You gain +1 to your speed.
Skill Perfection
Prerequsites: INT 15
Benefit: Each skill that you have Training in gains an +1 Feat bonus.
Seeking Spells*
Prerequsites: INT 18, WIS 18, Trained in Arcana
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Arcane keyword.
Divine Guidance*
Prerequsites: CHA 18, WIS 18, Trained in Religion
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Divine keyword.
Martial Supremacy*
Prerequsites: STR 18, DEX 18, Trained in Athletics
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Martial keyword.
Overcome Weakness
Prerequisites: -
Benefit: You gain +2 to your lowest ability score. If two or more ability scores are tied for the lowest, you may choose one of them to gain this bonus.
Submitted by: Goober4473
*= As has been pointed out, copying 3.5 epic ideas might not neccessarily gel in 4th ed. Hence, these feats might be too powerful, even as Epic ones. Its GM's discretion on using them, I'd say...
**= As noted by Reyemille, obviously Force and Poison are a daft combo. If the flavour discrepancy irritates you then remove Burning Blizzard from the base feats, and then instead add two new feats: Corrosive Venom (Acid/Poison) and Sub-Zero Smash (Cold/Force). At least then, they're slightly more related...
EDIT3: New stuff added, more stupid errors fixed.
Thoughts and opinions, as well as your own ideas, will be greatly appreciated!
Smash Fury
Prerequsites: STR 13, CON 13
Benefit: If you make a charge attack whilst using a Hammer, Mace, Pick or Flail, you gain a +2 Feat bonus to damage on the basic attack you make.
powerful charge has it covered
Hewing Axe
axes are str/con
Swirling Polearm
should be a shield bonus
Stunning Allure
I'd say +2 bonuses
Kill it with Fire
there are two feats that already do this
Expanded Repitoire
just plain too much for one feat
Paragon of Beauty
+1 to hit is VERY powerful for a non situational feat.
Also, Fear is not a damage type... and most powers with the Fear keyword get bonus damage from Dark Fury because the do Necrotic or Psychic damage.
So your first feat is 1 part redundant and 1 part theoretically unbalancing.
I didn't get a chance to really consider the rest of the feats, but will give more feedback at a later time.
powerful charge has it covered
Yes, true, but this is covering the lack of Bludgeoning weapon feats at Heroic, and I needed them to be able to do ~something~
axes are str/con
Also true, but this is incentive to make you take Dex as well. I felt this was needed as a balance, since its a hit bonus.
should be a shield bonus
Yep, I'll change that.
I'd say +2 bonuses
These two were meant mainly as prerequisites, but things like Long Jumper and Sure climber were the basis (they have +1's) so I copied that.
there are two feats that already do this
Indeed. But if you REALLY want to Kill it with Fire, lets add some MORE!
just plain too much for one feat
Really? Its paragon, and you have to have Sagicity. So you have to burn two feats to get an extra at-will. Which, in some cases, might not be too handy anyway...like for pallies and clerics.
+1 to hit is VERY powerful for a non situational feat.
Hmm, yeah, I was a bit concerned about that one. Even with burning two feats and having CHA 18, its still quite good... how about a once an encounter bonus, then?
Thanks for all of the catches, General Henry!
Resistance to Force damage appears to be the rarest form of resistance again in this edition, so I think there not being a +1 damage feat for force was intentional.
That said, there's not a huge amount of resistance, period, except to necrotic and fire.
Also, Fear is not a damage type... and most powers with the Fear keyword get bonus damage from Dark Fury because the do Necrotic or Psychic damage.
Yeah, you're right, now that I looked again. What this power is meant to be was Poison and Force, but I cacked that up. Will alter that in a moment. Thanks for pointing out my daftness.
I don't have the time or the drive to look over all of these in detail at the moment. What I will say, though, is that I think you've done a good thing here. Many feel the same as you do and have considered doing the same thing. You've actually done it. Good work. Just remain open to changing things for balance if others make good points and suggest it.
Thanks. These were all basically copied from my scratch pad (and formalised)! I will remain open to all suggestions, don't worry!
good stuff
over all
good stuff
Cheers, and thanks for the input. :D
Improved Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Str 13 or proficiency in at least one military or superior melee weapon
Benefit: Your unarmed attack is no longer considered an improvised melee weapon; it is now considered to be a military melee weapon that is part of the unarmed and mace weapon groups and has a +3 proficiency bonus, 1d6 damage, and the off-hand property.
This part's not a feat, but anyone with that feat would be interested in it:
[i]Equipment[/i]
Hand wrap: This strip of cloth is perfectly ordinary and costs 1 gp. Martial artists sometimes wrap them around their hands to protect them.
More importantly, this wrap can be enchanted as a magic weapon. Its bonuses and properties apply to unarmed attacks, even if they aren’t actually made with your hands.
Wearing a magic hand wrap does not take up your hand slot—magic gloves can fit over it.
[i]Heroic Tier Feat[/i]
Improved Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Str 13 or proficiency in at least one military or superior melee weapon
Benefit: Your unarmed attack is no longer considered an improvised melee weapon; it is now considered to be a military melee weapon that is part of the unarmed and mace weapon groups and has a +2 proficiency bonus, 1d8 damage, and the off-hand property.
This part's not a feat, but anyone with that feat would be interested in it:
[i]Equipment[/i]
Hand wrap: This strip of cloth is perfectly ordinary and costs 1 gp. Martial artists sometimes wrap them around their hands to protect them.
More importantly, this wrap can be enchanted as a magic weapon. Its bonuses and properties apply to unarmed attacks, even if they aren’t actually made with your hands.
Wearing a magic hand wrap does not take up your hand slot—magic gloves can fit over it.
You should clarify that it DOES take up your weapon slot(s), so people don't try to stack it with a magical sword, for instance.
Heroic Feats : (House Rule)
Combat Resilience
Prerequisite: Improved Initiative & Toughness
Benefit: You gain +1 to initiative rolls and +2 hp per tier.
Tactical Shield Defense
Prerequisite: Dex: 13, Shield Proficiency
Benefit: While using a shield in combat, you may choose to give up your move action on your turn. If you do, you may add +1 to your AC until the beginning of your next turn.
Strategic Reliability
Prerequisite: Con: 13, Int: 13
Benefit: When using a single attack encounter or daily power, if you miss with the attack (and choose to ignore any “miss” benefits that the power may have) you may spend 2 healing surges to allow that power to gain the “Reliable” keyword for that round. You may only gain this benefit once per encounter.
Hewing Axe
Prerequsites: STR 13, DEX 13
Benefit: If you drop a foe to 0 HP with an attack or power whilst using an Axe, add a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll using the same axe. If you do not use this bonus before the beginning of your next turn, it is lost.
This is vaguely useless, since most characters can't make another attack before their next turn, unless they get an opportunity attack, which isn't very reliable. Also, even as a balance, Dex makes no sense.
Spark of Godliness
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Gain +1 to an ability score of your choice.
Never grant a +1 to an ability score unless it's the standard leveling benefit. It's too abusable, and not consistant in power. Going fomr an odd to an even gives you +1 to the modifier, while going from even to odd does not.
Epic Flash-Move
Prerequsites: STR 16, CON 16, DEX 16, Trained in Athletics
Benefit: You gain +1 to your speed.
Isn't there a paragon feat that does this? You should probably require it.
Seeking Spells
Prerequsites: INT 18, WIS 18, Trained in Arcana
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Arcane keyword.
Divine Guidance
Prerequsites: CHA 18, WIS 18, Trained in Religion
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Divine keyword.
Martial Supremacy
Prerequsites: STR 18, DEX 18, Trained in Athletics
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to attack rolls with any power that has the Martial keyword.
These definately seem overly powerful, even for epic feats.
+2 proficiency bonus, 1d8 damage, and the off-hand property.
1d8 is more than any other offhand
Tactical Shield Defense
Prerequisite: Dex: 13, Shield Proficiency
Benefit: While using a shield in combat, as a move action you may add +1 to your AC until the beginning of your next turn.
Master Acrobat
jumps are part of athletics.
This is vaguely useless, since most characters can't make another attack before their next turn, unless they get an opportunity attack, which isn't very reliable. Also, even as a balance, Dex makes no sense.
Action points? It was meant to synergy with them. Also, if you're a Dwarf with an Axe (or whatever), you're not going to have the humans Action Surge to use with them. So this can help with that facet.
Never grant a +1 to an ability score unless it's the standard leveling benefit. It's too abusable, and not consistant in power. Going fomr an odd to an even gives you +1 to the modifier, while going from even to odd does not.
Still, you burn a feat to your +1. And this is really just copying 3.5's ability to do this at Epic (with the 'Great' series of feats, Great Strength, Charisma et. al.)
Isn't there a paragon feat that does this? You should probably require it.
The point was, you could skip the paragon one and still get this, if for some reason you couldn't be bothered, or get the two (if you meet the fairly high (for non-physical characters) prerequisites) and run around like a loon.
These definately seem overly powerful, even for epic feats.
Again, this is merely the 4th Ed edition of 'Epic Prowess' from 3.5. I made that weaker (it was literally 'Get +1 to all attacks') by imposing the prerequisites and making it work only with a certain attack type, and by not allowing you to stack it multiple times. Also, since its a feat bonus, it won't stack with, say, Hellfire Blood and suchlike.
But, if others agree, I'll nerf them more. Still, the point of being Epic, is to be, well, Epic, right?
Improved Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Str 13 or proficiency in at least one military or superior melee weapon
Benefit: Your unarmed attack is no longer considered an improvised melee weapon; it is now considered to be a military melee weapon that is part of the unarmed and mace weapon groups and has a +3 proficiency bonus, 1d6 damage, and the off-hand property.
Ah yes, I'd forgotten about Monks. Proficiency in a military weapon is an odd prerequisite...what if the wizard wants to punch people? (Lol at thoughts of Rune Soldier Louie, Negi Springfield, Rin from FSN, various other anime mages who like to also kick the crap out of people :D).
What about having Toughness or Durable as the prerequisite? Since that suggests a bit of bodybuilding that might be suggestive of suddenly obtaining fists of iron.
Also prevents Wizards of the Spiral Tower randomly taking it for the lolz.
Oh, and designating the fists as offhand is irrelevant anyhow, since only rangers can actually actively attack with an offhand weapon now. Others have to choose which weapon to strike with if they happen to have two. (Though I suppose this could allow them to Twin strike...with one weapon...uh, yup)
This part's not a feat, but anyone with that feat would be interested in it:
Equipment
Hand wrap: This strip of cloth is perfectly ordinary and costs 1 gp. Martial artists sometimes wrap them around their hands to protect them.
More importantly, this wrap can be enchanted as a magic weapon. Its bonuses and properties apply to unarmed attacks, even if they aren’t actually made with your hands.
Wearing a magic hand wrap does not take up your hand slot—magic gloves can fit over it.
And yeah, as has been already pointed out, you need to point out that these technically count as weapon, or someone's just gonna use them to get two weapon bonuses.
Whats wrong with gloves for monks, by and the by? They used to use 'em in 3.5 (even if handwraps are probably technically more correct). I used to GM a game where the Monk had spiked gauntlets...
Combat Resilience
Prerequisite: Improved Initiative & Toughness
Benefit: You gain +1 to initiative rolls and +2 hp per tier.
Seems a fairly minor improvement to two feats that already do the same things, but they do it better. Also, all initiative bonuses given by the core feats are feat bonuses and don't stack with one another, so unless you're going out on a limb and saying its untyped (which is odd) then it might be useless?
Tactical Shield Defense
Prerequisite: Dex: 13, Shield Proficiency
Benefit: While using a shield in combat, you may choose to give up your move action on your turn. If you do, you may add +1 to your AC until the beginning of your next turn.
Sounds very dwarven defender. Yep, thats cool, I'll pop that in the list.
Strategic Reliability
Prerequisite: Con: 13, Int: 13
Benefit: When using a single attack encounter or daily power, if you miss with the attack (and choose to ignore any “miss” benefits that the power may have) you may spend 2 healing surges to allow that power to gain the “Reliable” keyword for that round. You may only gain this benefit once per encounter.
That might be a bit too good for heroic. Well, certainly for the casters, since, if the tanks and the leaders are doing their job right, you should have plenty of surges to burn on this. Not many powers are reliable for a good reason. Maybe if you limited it to encounter powers only? Or perhaps made it a once a day thing?
jumps are part of athletics.
Score another hit for you, General Henry! I'm just so used to jumps being acrobatic in basically every other system. :DOh, and designating the fists as offhand is irrelevant anyhow, since only rangers can actually actively attack with an offhand weapon now. Others have to choose which weapon to strike with if they happen to have two. (Though I suppose this could allow them to Twin strike...with one weapon...uh, yup)
Off-hand is a weapon property in the book. It's useless to two-weapon rangers, actually, since they can use any two one-handed weapons they want anyway.
And yeah, as has been already pointed out, you need to point out that these technically count as weapon, or someone's just gonna use them to get two weapon bonuses.
How can you stack a magic weapon with an item that adds magic weapon properties to unarmed attacks? You either attack unarmed or with the weapon.
Whats wrong with gloves for monks, by and the by?
Specifying that it doesn't take up the hands slot allows unarmed combatans to use magic weapons and still have their magic gloves.
Hi guys.
Hewing Axe
Prerequsites: STR 13, DEX 13
Benefit: If you drop a foe to 0 HP with an attack or power whilst using an Axe, add a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll using the same axe. If you do not use this bonus before the beginning of your next turn, it is lost.
so if I used a power I can never gain the bonus unless the power/attack hits multiple enemies. As written it can never be used since it disappears at the beginning of the player's next turn.
so if I used a power I can never gain the bonus unless the power/attack hits multiple enemies. As written it can never be used since it disappears at the beginning of the player's next turn.
You could use it with an opportunity attack or an action point. Or abilities that give you free attacks, like the warlord at-will commander's strike.
It should probably be "end of your next turn" though.
I don't think we should be emulating them.
+1 to attack is equally powerful at all levels. It doesn't matter if you're crazy-powerful, a 5% better chance to hit is always a 5% better chance to hit. This is why NPCs and Monsters have a magic item threshhold now, so you don't end up with a monster that has +6 to hit, on top of its already balanced for the level attacks, giving it a 30% better chance, which is rediculous at any level. Likewise, characters are already balanced, with powers, level benefits, and magic items, to have an appropriate attack bonus at each level.
Weapon focus gives a bonus to damage now for a reason.
The same argument can be made for ability scores. They've already been balanced to scale with level, so adding a feat that increases them further throws off that scaling.
Now, what I'd do, is make it something like "Overcome Weakness," which gives you +2 to your lowest ability score. Then the benefit is constant (+2 will always increase the modifier by exactly 1), but you also can't stack it onto your best powers, and min/max to hell with it.
I like the idea behind Unique Method, but I'm not sure about the implementation. I'd rather make it more specific and lose the prereq's and attack penalty. Something like:
Inner Strength
Prerequsites: Paladin
Benefit: You may substitute your Charisma modifier for your Strength modifier when using Holy Strike, Valiant Strike or Channel Divinity: Divine Strength.
(I'm not sure how powerful, and therefore what tier, that kind of feat actually would be. Practically, it's mostly only going to be good for Cha-based HBO paladins, which is exactly the sort of crazy-MAD build this sort of feat should help, but in that sort of build it would be a must-have. On the other had, you'd want to be able to use it right off.)
Add another for Cha (swashbuckler) and Int (duelist) for rogues, and so on for the other classes.
Edit: Also going to have to agree that Hewing Axes shouldn't use dex.
Off-hand is a weapon property in the book. It's useless to two-weapon rangers, actually, since they can use any two one-handed weapons they want anyway.
Yeah I know its a weapon property, my beef was with the fact you could, with this feat, claim you could benefit from two-weapon fighting bonuses (I'm holding a weapon in each hand~ my fists! :eek
.Just seems like a lulwut scenario. I'd make 'Hand to Hand' be a two-handed weapon, if anything, since you'd be attacking, typically, with your entire co-ordinated body movement, not just slugging someone with a backhand slap whilst holding a bastard sword in the other. (though I guess you ~could~ do this, but its dropping the martial arts for a dirty fighting thing)
How can you stack a magic weapon with an item that adds magic weapon properties to unarmed attacks? You either attack unarmed or with the weapon
See above argument, though I admit I misread it. Thought it said apply bonuses to attacks, not just hand-hand strikes.
Specifying that it doesn't take up the hands slot allows unarmed combatans to use magic weapons and still have their magic gloves.
Well, I'd say they'd take up the weapon slot anyway, in that instance. Same with gloves that were offensive in nature. Then I'd allow bracers to also be worn in the actual hand slot if one had combat gloves in the weapon slot. But I suppose thats a case of GM's ruling, so I see where you're coming from.
In any case, I've added your Unarmed Strike to the list. But I've also crafted my own based on having Toughness rather than M. weapon prof. so I can still have my martial wizards. :D
Remember how 3.5 epic rules were the worst pile of crap ever?
Weapon focus gives a bonus to damage now for a reason.
The same argument can be made for ability scores. They've already been balanced to scale with level, so adding a feat that increases them further throws off that scaling.
Now, what I'd do, is make it something like "Overcome Weakness," which gives you +2 to your lowest ability score. Then the benefit is constant (+2 will always increase the modifier by exactly 1), but you also can't stack it onto your best powers, and min/max to hell with it.
Heh, well, can't you tell I never GM'ed a game at Epic level? The best I managed as a test was a 15th level game, and that was stupid broken in favour of the spellcasters already.
Hence I don't have any grounding to argue, but I can certainly see your arguement. I also like the idea of 'Overcome weakness' since that suddenly makes your dumpstat into a +1
I've added that idea to the list.Of course, without these feats, theres not gonna be much in the epic section (!) so I'll simply italicise them with a note of 'potentially unbalanced?' for now.
I suppose the question really is; if we don't emulate the 3.5 epic, what do we have to emulate instead...?
Extended Repertoire's stat prereqs are pointless. You already need at least 15 Int because of the Sagicity requirement.
Urk, you're right. Good catch.I like the idea behind Unique Method, but I'm not sure about the implementation. I'd rather make it more specific and lose the prereq's and attack penalty. Something like:
Inner Strength
Prerequsites: Paladin
Benefit: You may substitute your Charisma modifier for your Strength modifier when using Holy Strike, Valiant Strike or Channel Divinity: Divine Strength.
(I'm not sure how powerful, and therefore what tier, that kind of feat actually would be. Practically, it's mostly only going to be good for Cha-based HBO paladins, which is exactly the sort of crazy-MAD build this sort of feat should help, but in that sort of build it would be a must-have. On the other had, you'd want to be able to use it right off.)
Add another for Cha (swashbuckler) and Int (duelist) for rogues, and so on for the other classes.
As you've pointed out yourself, you can make MAD builds less MAD if you offer absurd versatility at Heroic tier, and if you've ever created something you know players will consider a must have, then you've clearly done something wrong (ah the irony :D)
As for your feat, as its written, you only affect the damage modifier, which will be fairly paltry, (say a +1 dmg becomes a +4 dmg) and you're still rolling to hit with your 'undesirable' stat. Which would be a bit of poor feat selection at Paragon, and dubious at Heroic (I can only really see a human getting proper milage out of it at all, the others would just use the attacks that were better for them).
The reason I gave Unique method the -2 was to somewhat nerf its power but also offer versatility. Which seems an okay balance for a Paragon feat, especially considering it affects only ONE selected power. It was for this kind of situation:
"There's a really cool cleric melee attack you want? But you're a Laser cleric with 9 STR at Paragon, so you can't feasably use it. But, take this, change the STR vs. AC to WIS vs. AC! Previously the hit roll would have been +1 or something, but now (even with the penalty) its +4/+5 because its using a better stat for you."
Edit: Also going to have to agree that Hewing Axes shouldn't use dex.
Ah, fine, it seems everyone else agrees on this. I'll change it... (but I wanted a lithe and dexterous axe user...wahhh!
LOL :D )-Poseph
Name: Magical Item Savant
Heroic Tier
Effect: Spend 1 Action Point to gain an extra daily magic item use.
Note: This does not let you regain the use of an item you have already used. It allows you to use another item.
Paragon Tier
Effect: Spend 1 Action Point to gain an extra daily magic item use.
Note: This does not let you regain the use of an item you have already used. It allows you to use another item.
Paragon Tier
Effect: Gain an extra daily magic item use.
Note: This does not let you regain the use of an item you have already used. It allows you to use another item.
Epic Tier
Effect: Gain an extra daily magic item use.
Note: This does not let you regain the use of an item you have already used. It allows you to use another item.
So you mean, he wanted to be a Bugbear/Minotaur after looking at the Monster Manual...
Of course, you're the GM. If it doesn't fit, don't allow it. Are you allowing others in the party to play MM races? If so, and he just wants to measure up to them, then fair enough. But if you're just making it happen because he wants it, then thats bending over backwards for your players. Don't...it'll get you into hotspots later.
With that out of the way, I'm quite sure there did indeed exist a 'Use oversized weapons' type feat in 3.5 edition. Monkey Grip, if I remember right, allowed you to use 2-handed weapons one handed and have a greatsword in both. You should impose a pretty high Strength requirement for it (at the very least, 18, preferably higher) cause you try wielding a six foot long blade with a single hand...
Whilst thats not exactly the same, its similar, and if you're having something like this, thats what I'd recommend.
But alternatively, you could make this into a Weapon Proficiency feat. Choosing a weapon they can already use, they can now use a bigger version as if it were a one-handed superior weapon.
Edit: Troubon:
Just saw your post after I'd finished...
Frankly, an action point isn't really an acceptable exchange for a daily power. They're daily for a reason; and theres the fact you can usually add an item power on top of a personal/attack powers activiation. At the very least, impose a 'Once per day, you can spend an action point to regain an items daily power' so it isn't open to critical abuse. Then I'd allow it for Paragon. Just about. Still a bit broken, mind you, and quite likely all the players will jump on it, which is a bad thing...
EDIT: Alternatively, you could possibly put a recharge in similar to the ones that monsters use. As in, "After this item expends its power, roll a D6. If the result is xyz then recharge that power." But be careful with this as it too could be gamebraking. The dragon recharges its breath because it makes things harder (hence more exciting) for the players, whilst the reverse is rarely true.
Of course, I could be just confused about what you want. Please enlighten me if so.
Edit: Trobon:
Just saw your post after I'd finished...
So, you're trying to have a feat that allows a recharge of a daily item power? Your wording is a bit odd, see, since it suggests you get another magic item daily to use (which you can do anyway~ you can use each power of each item once per day) rather than allowing one to be used twice.
Frankly, an action point isn't really an acceptable exchange for a daily power. They're daily for a reason; and theres the fact you can usually add an item power on top of a personal/attack powers activiation. At the very least, impose a 'Once per day, you can spend an action point to regain an items daily power' so it isn't open to critical abuse. Then I'd allow it for Paragon. Just about. Still a bit broken, mind you, and quite likely all the players will jump on it, which is a bad thing...
Of course, I could be just confused about what you want. Please enlighten me if so.
Ok your post confused me so let me clear this up with an example. Let's say you have dwarven armor and a frost weapon and a Symbol of Victory. Now at heroic tier you get 1 daily item use per a day which means you can use one of those items once. You also get one additional use every milestone. So you can use the dwarven armor and then two encounters later use the symbol of victory.
Now at Paragon tier you get 2 uses a day base and at epic you get three uses a day base. However, you can never use a specific item more than once a day.
Now what the feats were meant to do was increase the number of times per a day you could use magic items in general, not specific items. So for the heroic example, if you allowed the heroic tier feat then you could use a frost weapon and then the next turn use an action point to gain the ability to use the armor.
For the feats that just add to the uses those are to the base. So you would have 3 at paragon or 4 at epic per a day base.
Does this clear it at all. Obviously this is all a rather large explanation for something fairly simple in play. I like the second grouping better as it's simpler (just adding to the base), but I don't know if that's balanced.
For a moment there, I just totally regressed to 3.5 rules again and got confused and started blathering about power recharge. I thought something was obviously up (hence my asking about being confused).
Ahem, anyhow, actually, doing what you prescribe ~is~ actually a fine exchange for an action point, and I don't see any reason why it can't be available at Heroic onwards. Much like the 'Healing Surge' recharge described on PG 226 of the PHB, I reckon it should require some sort of action (maybe minor, or even standard, depends on how stringient you want to be, personally I'd say Minor)
Frankly, in the one game I GM'ed so far, I didn't even have the usual 1/day restriction on item powers and I didn't really think it was broken. If a player wants to blow all of their daily item powers simultaneously, why not let 'em, I figured...? Might just want to make it house rule rather than a feat, if thats the case.
But then, I can see an issue with balance in a game where they have a shedload of magic stuff. Ironically, the rule probably gets more important the higher level (and more stuff) you attain. So, yeah, I'd go with Heroic being fine in exchange for an Action point. Not spending a point would be Paragon. No reason you can't have both...
As you've pointed out yourself, you can make MAD builds less MAD if you offer absurd versatility at Heroic tier, and if you've ever created something you know players will consider a must have, then you've clearly done something wrong (ah the irony :D)
As for your feat, as its written, you only affect the damage modifier, which will be fairly paltry, (say a +1 dmg becomes a +4 dmg) and you're still rolling to hit with your 'undesirable' stat. Which would be a bit of poor feat selection at Paragon, and dubious at Heroic (I can only really see a human getting proper milage out of it at all, the others would just use the attacks that were better for them).
Well, "modifier" was meant to be nonspecific and therefore replace all instances of the other stat (attack bonus and damage), but it should probably be clearer. I'm in agreement about the appropriate power level for various feats; useful, but not universally required (to clarify, I don't have a problem with certain feats being "must haves" in specific builds as long as it doesn't overpower them. Hammer Rythm is going to be a "must have" for fighters using maces, but the feat isn't overpowered compared to the other options).
The reason I gave Unique method the -2 was to somewhat nerf its power but also offer versatility. Which seems an okay balance for a Paragon feat, especially considering it affects only ONE selected power. It was for this kind of situation:
"There's a really cool cleric melee attack you want? But you're a Laser cleric with 9 STR at Paragon, so you can't feasably use it. But, take this, change the STR vs. AC to WIS vs. AC! Previously the hit roll would have been +1 or something, but now (even with the penalty) its +4/+5 because its using a better stat for you."
Ahh, I think I see where the difference is. I was thinking more along the lines of "My character concept should have a high X stat, but the attacks I think he should use have Y as their key ability." To be honest, the feat I proposed doesn't really accomplish that (you'd have to do some kind of class conversion to make it work properly, espescially for a class that didn't naturally have any powers in stat Y) but what can I say, I'm lazy :D .
Half-Elf Resiliance (Half-Elf)
Prerequsites: Half-Elf, CON 12
Benefit: Once a day, you may spend a healing surge to shake off one effect that requires a saving throw automatically.
You'll need to specify what type of action this would be (Even if it's No Action).
Astral Flash
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Radiant keyword, that target is also Blinded. (save ends)
...
Caustic Acid
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Acid keyword, you deal an additional 2 ongoing acid damage. (save ends)
I feel a bit uneasy about a feat, especially a non-epic tier feat, that lets you impose a (save ends) condition. It feels a bit unbalanced, though I wouldn't be able to see just how unbalanced it would feel unless I could actually see this feat in use at the table. It may be better if you make it EONT instead.
Crushing Entropy
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Whenever you critical with a power that has the Entropic keyword, the target is also knocked Prone.
I don't have a problem with this one. =)
Kill it with Fire
Prerequsites: -
Benefit: Any target that you hit with a power that has the fire keyword takes an additional 1 fire damage. This stacks with Astral Fire and any other benefit that gives you additional fire damage from a fire keyword power.
This feat may not be overpowered as such, but it feels a bit off somehow. I can't quite put my finger on it.
Sagicity
Prerequsites: INT 15
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Arcana and History checks
...
Expanded Repitoire
Prerequsites: Sagicity Feat
Benefit: Choose a new 1st Level at-will power from your class. You can now use this power in addition to your usual two (or usual three, if you are human).
My initial concern about Sagacity is that, because of the prerequisites, the most likely person to be able to have this feat (and get the best benefit from it) is the Wizard, primarily because of Arcana and History being class skills, as well as Int being their primary stat.
My main qualm, however, is the Expanded Repitoire feat. It is, again, building off of sagacity, and more importantly, it's a feat that gives you a power (which feats shouldn't normally do). It doesn't give you a specific power, either. What this means is that your most likely audience has 3 of their possible 4 class at-wills, or all 4 if they're a human, OR 3 from their class and one from a different class if they're a half-elf. This could lead to balance issues not stemming from raw power, but instead from versatility.
That said, I think it's a really cool feat and I would love to be able to have access to 3 of my wizard at-wills instead of 2 and not have to be human.
Paragon of Beauty
Prerequsites: CHA 18, Stunning Allure Feat
Benefit: Once per encounter, you may gain a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll with a power that has either the Charm and Fear keywords.
Would this feat be activated? I notice it says "your next...". Generally, feat bonuses are either constant, or conditional. This reads much like an encounter power that you would spend some sort of action to use. As people have mentioned, feats shouldn't grant powers. However, you could always put in there that this bonus applies to your first attack with either of those keywords each encounter.
Also, minor editing note: "with a power that has either the Charm and Fear keywords." Grammatically incorrect. =)
Whirling Breath-Weapon (Dragonborn)
Prerequsites: Dragonborn, dragon breath racial power
Benefit: Your breath weapon becomes a close burst 1. If you already have the Enlarged Dragon Breath feat, you may immediately retrain it for another feat from the Heroic tier (not Paragon tier) upon taking this feat. This doesn't use your retraining for this level.
To clarify, does this mean that you can now ONLY use your breath weapon as a close burst 1, or do you now have the option to do either? Also, it seems to me that making it exclusively close burst 1 doesn't really make a lot of sense logically. I can't imagine that learning how to breathe fire while spinning in a circle would cause you to forget how to breathe fire while standing stationary. For this reason, I suggest altering the feat to instead give you the option to do close burst 1 or regular, and just make note that the EDB feat doesn't apply when using your dragon breath power as a burst.
Unique Methods
Prerequsites: INT 13, WIS 13
Benefit: Choose one attack power you know. When you make an attack roll with this power, you may choose to replace the usual required attribute for a different one. (e.g. a STR vs. AC attack may become a WIS vs. AC attack). However, if you do this, you get a -2 to this attack roll because of the unique method.
Special: You may select this feat any number of times. Each time you do, select a new power for which to apply its effects.
I like this, but some ability score/attack combinations won't make any sense at all. For example, because it's not specified, you can change the key score for ANY attack power, which includes Melee Basic Attack ("A basic attack is an at-will attack power that everyone possesses, regardless of class." PHB 287). This could end up with someone swinging a sword with merely their strength of personality (Charisma vs AC). This isn't necessarily broken or anything, but it does sound a bit silly. Another odd example would be taking this feat as a 22 STR fighter multiclassed into wizard and using STR to cast Icy Terrain.
--------------------------------
I don't really have time to run through the epic feats atm, but I think enough people have commented on them already.
I also have one more that you folks may enjoy (quotes added for readability):
Weapon Finesse
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (Light Blade)
Benefit: When attacking with a light blade, you may use your Dexterity bonus in place of Strength for any attack with the Weapon keyword.
Note: This does NOT affect damage.
Also, I know that it's been said (even by me) that feats shouldn't grant powers, but I really can't imagine any possible way that acharacter that isn't a TWF ranger could attack with two weapons in 4e, excepting that you are a half-elf and take Twin Strike. I can't think of a reason that a human fighter couldn't learn to do that.
Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Prerequisites: Two Weapon Fighting
Benefit: You gain the following power:
You'll need to specify what type of action this would be (Even if it's No Action).
Yep, quite right. Changed to a free action.
I feel a bit uneasy about a feat, especially a non-epic tier feat, that lets you impose a (save ends) condition. It feels a bit unbalanced, though I wouldn't be able to see just how unbalanced it would feel unless I could actually see this feat in use at the table. It may be better if you make it EONT instead.
Point taken, but do remember the effect is only going to occur on a critical, so it shouldn't be overly broken, as it would only occur 1/20 times (probably less, but I can't be bothered to figure out the probability math right now).
My initial concern about Sagacity is that, because of the prerequisites, the most likely person to be able to have this feat (and get the best benefit from it) is the Wizard, primarily because of Arcana and History being class skills, as well as Int being their primary stat.
Indeed, and the wizard is whom it was technically designed for. Who else is gonna be the arcana and history buff, besides the warlock?
My main qualm, however, is the Expanded Repitoire feat. It is, again, building off of sagacity, and more importantly, it's a feat that gives you a power (which feats shouldn't normally do). It doesn't give you a specific power, either. What this means is that your most likely audience has 3 of their possible 4 class at-wills, or all 4 if they're a human, OR 3 from their class and one from a different class if they're a half-elf. This could lead to balance issues not stemming from raw power, but instead from versatility.
That said, I think it's a really cool feat and I would love to be able to have access to 3 of my wizard at-wills instead of 2 and not have to be human.
Do remember the half-elf has the at-will they picked as an encounter power instead. And sure, you could indeed end up with humans with 4 at-wills, but they've had to sacrifice two feats for that. It was technically designed originally with the warlord (INT based) in mind, so that they could take advantage of having a reasonable two at-wills but still use commanders strike.
Would this feat be activated? I notice it says "your next...". Generally, feat bonuses are either constant, or conditional. This reads much like an encounter power that you would spend some sort of action to use. As people have mentioned, feats shouldn't grant powers. However, you could always put in there that this bonus applies to your first attack with either of those keywords each encounter.
That said, all of the channel divinity feats technically give you new powers, some of which are pretty damn useful (Erathis and Meloras ones certainly come to mind, and Pelors allows the Paladin to also use a mighty turn undead attack that is probably better than the clerics natural version)
But you're right about the wording. Its dodgy. Gave it a minor action and fixed the grammar too.
To clarify, does this mean that you can now ONLY use your breath weapon as a close burst 1, or do you now have the option to do either? Also, it seems to me that making it exclusively close burst 1 doesn't really make a lot of sense logically. I can't imagine that learning how to breathe fire while spinning in a circle would cause you to forget how to breathe fire while standing stationary. For this reason, I suggest altering the feat to instead give you the option to do close burst 1 or regular, and just make note that the EDB feat doesn't apply when using your dragon breath power as a burst.
Actually, I might scratch this entirely. I didn't realise when I copied it from my pad, but this one was meant to be used with the houserules that specify that close blasts are actually close walls. (The GM thought huge blasts going off from burning hands was silly, and that it should be a stream of fire from the palms. Which I actually agree with, but its not for the base rules...)
EDIT: Actually, I'm bored, so I rewrote it. Should be better now.
I like this, but some ability score/attack combinations won't make any sense at all. For example, because it's not specified, you can change the key score for ANY attack power, which includes Melee Basic Attack ("A basic attack is an at-will attack power that everyone possesses, regardless of class." PHB 287). This could end up with someone swinging a sword with merely their strength of personality (Charisma vs AC). This isn't necessarily broken or anything, but it does sound a bit silly. Another odd example would be taking this feat as a 22 STR fighter multiclassed into wizard and using STR to cast Icy Terrain.
:D I can't help thinking of Elan in Order of the Stick now that you've mentioned the Charisma vs. AC attacks. (If you haven't read it: His prestige class allows him to add CHA to attack rolls as long as he comes up with a cheesy line or a quip each time he swings his rapier)
Of course, as for silliness like you mentioned occuring, I'd just rely on the old GM's standby if a player chose this: "So describe HOW you're doing that attack now...". If they can blag it, and its sufficiently amusing, they can keep it. ;)
Also, I know that it's been said (even by me) that feats shouldn't grant powers, but I really can't imagine any possible way that acharacter that isn't a TWF ranger could attack with two weapons in 4e, excepting that you are a half-elf and take Twin Strike. I can't think of a reason that a human fighter couldn't learn to do that.
Or you can Paragon Multiclass. But you'd have to be pretty desperate to get Twin Strike, if you'd give up your Paragon Path for it.
As I mentioned already, I don't see any significant problems in feats granting powers, as the channel divinities already do. So long as the said power is not mind-numbingly broken, of course.
Of course, it kinda takes away the whole point of being a TWF ranger if any class can duplicate you (admittedly less efficiently) after two feats. And the fact that the two-weapon fighting bonus is lost, but is a requirement, means that you've literally got a totally useless feat in your selection...
That said, all of the channel divinity feats technically give you new powers, some of which are pretty damn useful (Erathis and Meloras ones certainly come to mind, and Pelors allows the Paladin to also use a mighty turn undead attack that is probably better than the clerics natural version)
But you're right about the wording. Its dodgy. Gave it a minor action and fixed the grammar too.
While I will say that I find nothing wrong with a feat giving you an ability on this magnitude I would argue that the channel divinity feats do not give you an encounter power. The encounter power is already given to you, the feat gives you a new option on how to use it. The difference is that you don't get another power to use in combat since you can only use channel divinity once per an encounter.
In response to your point about the -2 not being enough compensation for essentially giving you twinstrike, keep in mind that that's effectively -10% to hit with both weapons. That's pretty hefty, especially if you're fighting a level+2 or 3 encounter.
The TWF feat bonus would still apply to other attacks, just not this one, cause it'd be broken.
Also, you could instead allow the TWF feat bonus to apply to the attack, but make it cost a minor action for the secondary attack. This would give you an excuse to actually use other methods of fighting, preserve the coolness of being a ranger, and also includes built-in fluff regarding the fact that rangers spend years training to be able to do what they can do, and your average Joe Shmoe adventurer that just 'picks up' the skill to do this isn't going to be as efficient at it.
As a note: This post was basically the result of a conversation between myself and my friend DeaconOrlov, who originally came up with the concepts for thw weapon finesse and Imp TWF feats.
Opaque Miasma
Prerequsites: CON 13, CHA 13
Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to damage rolls when you use a power that has the poison or force keyword. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +2. At 21st level, it increases to +3.
Seems balanced, but the flavor fails utterly; the other charms all at least vaguely make sense as connected elements. Also, any particular reason for these particular stat requirements? (not that any of the requirements for this type of feat make sense...)
Smash Fury
Prerequsites: STR 13, CON 13
Benefit: If you make a charge attack whilst using a Hammer, Mace, Pick or Flail, you gain a +2 Feat bonus to damage on the basic attack you make.
Powerful Charge does this already
Hewing Axe
Prerequsites: STR 13, CON 13
Benefit: If you drop a foe to 0 HP with an attack or power whilst using an Axe, add a +1 feat bonus to your next attack roll using the same axe. If you do not use this bonus before the beginning of your next turn, it is lost.
This needs to be paragon. With minions, it's fairly easy to make this go off every round, and a constant +1 to hit is a little much for heroic. (Light blades get +1 to hit at heroic, buy light blades are generally statistically worse than other weapons.)
Swirling Polearm
Prerequsites: INT 13, DEX 13
Benefit: Whenever you wield a weapon of the staff, spear or polearm class two handed, you may add a +1 shield bonus to your AC. This does not stack with the Wizards Staff of Defence implement mastery.
Edit: Reconsidered this. The reason Two Weapon Fighting is good is because, with the exception of the ranger, two weapon fighting is mathematically sub-optimal; you're giving up the benefit of a shield for no mechanical benefit. You are getting a benefit--damage and reach--with spears and polearms. The feat might be functional as is. However, Staffs use Con and Polearms use Wis; Why on earth is Int a prereq for this feat?
Half-Elf Resiliance (Half-Elf)
Prerequsites: Half-Elf, CON 12
Benefit: Once a day, as a free action, you may spend a healing surge to shake off one effect that requires a saving throw automatically.
I see no reason to make this feat exist, given Human Perseverance; if you DO want it to exist, its con requirement should be 13, since feats don't have even requirements. Plus, you'll never ever ever see a half-elf with a Con less than 12.
Stunning Allure
Prerequsites: CHA 15
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks
Sagicity
Prerequsites: INT 15
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Arcana and History checks
No reason for these to exist at all.
Natural Healer
Prerequsites: WIS 15, Trained in Heal
Benefit: Gain a +1 Feat bonus to Heal. Whenever you succeed a DC 15 Heal check to stabilize a dying character, they may also heal 2 Hitpoints.
2 hit points is random; it should scale with level somehow. Also, this lets ANY character get other characters back in the fight, stepping on the Leader role something fierce. I don't like it.
Tactical Shield Defense
Prerequisite: Dex: 13, Shield Proficiency
Benefit: While using a shield in combat, as a move action you may add +1 to your AC until the beginning of your next turn.
Submitted by: Deadbane
There are exactly 0 move actions that don't involve somehow moving in the core book, so while this feat seems both balanced and flavorful, it is inconsistent with the rest of the system.
Improved Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Str 13 or proficiency in at least one military or superior melee weapon
Benefit: Your unarmed attack is no longer considered an improvised melee weapon; it is now considered to be a military melee weapon that is part of the unarmed and mace weapon groups and has a +3 proficiency bonus, 1d6 damage, and the off-hand property.
Submitted by: Pinnacle
This feat strike me as distinctly meh, but I understand the reason you want it, and it seems fine for what it is. Note, however, that with the feat as written, Rogues can't sneak-attack with unarmed strikes.
Seems balanced, but the flavor fails utterly; the other charms all at least vaguely make sense as connected elements. Also, any particular reason for these particular stat requirements? (not that any of the requirements for this type of feat make sense...)
Well, I can't help their lack of connection. They're the two leftover elements that weren't covered already by the other feats. I'm filling the gaps; thats the point of this thread, hence I had to fill this gap.
EDIT: Actually, if it significantly annoys you in terms of flavour, then remove Burning Blizzard from the base feats, and then instead add two new feats: Corrosive Venom (Acid/Poison) and Sub-Zero Smash (Cold/Force). At least their slightly more related...
Powerful Charge does this already
(sigh) I know. Someone already pointed that out. This is made as a weapon feat because bludgeoning things don't have one at Heroic...and I couldn't think of another fairly balanced boon I could give to them.
This needs to be paragon. With minions, it's fairly easy to make this go off every round, and a constant +1 to hit is a little much for heroic. (Light blades get +1 to hit at heroic, buy light blades are generally statistically worse than other weapons.)
But then, minions die easily anyway. They're meant to slow the party down, and if the tough/smart critters are attacking at the same time as their meatshield, something went wrong with the GM's tactics somewhere.
Edit: Reconsidered this. The reason Two Weapon Fighting is good is because, with the exception of the ranger, two weapon fighting is mathematically sub-optimal; you're giving up the benefit of a shield for no mechanical benefit. You are getting a benefit--damage and reach--with spears and polearms. The feat might be functional as is. However, Staffs use Con and Polearms use Wis; Why on earth is Int a prereq for this feat?
Because you have to be a smart defender to swing your spear in such a way to parry blows like a shield and yet not leave yourself open?
I see no reason to make this feat exist, given Human Perseverance; if you DO want it to exist, its con requirement should be 13, since feats don't have even requirements. Plus, you'll never ever ever see a half-elf with a Con less than 12.
It doesn't have much to do with human perserverance. That adds to defences, this allows saves. Which, unlike 3.5, are now totally different things. In fact, it has more in common with the hobgoblin (? I think) power.
No reason for these to exist at all.
Yes there is, they're prerequisites! And they were mainly designed for such...since theres no way to force a choice to say, cost two feats, if you think it too good/useful otherwise.
2 hit points is random; it should scale with level somehow. Also, this lets ANY character get other characters back in the fight, stepping on the Leader role something fierce. I don't like it.
I see your reasoning; but it would require that the other class has a reasonable heal; and even then its not like this is only thing your leader does. From my play with Warlords (can't comment on Clerics) leaders aren't just healing machines; they're party co-ordinators. Its 'You- attack that and have this bonus!, you move there!, you- make a saving throw!' rather than 'Cure minor, cure minor, cure minor....snore...'
There are exactly 0 move actions that don't involve somehow moving in the core book, so while this feat seems both balanced and flavorful, it is inconsistent with the rest of the system.
This feat strike me as distinctly meh, but I understand the reason you want it, and it seems fine for what it is. Note, however, that with the feat as written, Rogues can't sneak-attack with unarmed strikes.
These ones are submits. Ask their authors!
There are exactly 0 move actions that don't involve somehow moving in the core book, so while this feat seems both balanced and flavorful, it is inconsistent with the rest of the system.
While I do think that the core rules should be viewed as a precedent for homebrew content, I don't think that new ideas should be dismissed simply on the basis that the core rules don't have anything like them. Otherwise, a good chunk of homebrew content and house rules should be nixed, and this particular board would be very lonely indeed.
Also, eharper, any chance that the feats I proposed could be put into the original post? If you decide to do that, please credit them to DeaconOrlov as well as me, with his name first. =)
Finally,
Interestingly, it was your thoughts on how to give others TWF besides Rangers that set me to create my TWF dervish fighter. (which I just posted, by and the by, under 'fighters new shoes')
For some reason I forgot to add yours to the thread. Apologies, will do so in a moment, so bear with me.
Because you have to be a smart defender to swing your spear in such a way to parry blows like a shield and yet not leave yourself open?
And you have to be perceptive, to see the attack coming, and tough, to take the damage, and strong, to push it away, and quick, to get your staff in the way...the only stat you couldn't justify that way is Charisma. There's no reason to punish fighters by making them invest in FIVE stats to be good polearm wielders; ditch the Int requirement.
It doesn't have much to do with human perserverance. That adds to defences, this allows saves. Which, unlike 3.5, are now totally different things. In fact, it has more in common with the hobgoblin (? I think) power.
Human Perseverance is the feat that gives +1 to saves--a feat Half-Elves can take. Hence, they really don't need another save booster.
Yes there is, they're prerequisites! And they were mainly designed for such...since there's no way to force a choice to say, cost two feats, if you think it too good/useful otherwise.
Not convinced. At least two-weapon fighting stacks with everything...
I see your reasoning; but it would require that the other class has a reasonable heal; and even then its not like this is only thing your leader does. From my play with Warlords (can't comment on Clerics) leaders aren't just healing machines; they're party co-ordinators. Its 'You- attack that and have this bonus!, you move there!, you- make a saving throw!' rather than 'Cure minor, cure minor, cure minor....snore...'
Healing is a minor action; its "Attack, and cure minor! Move, and cure minor!" Regardless, I stand by my insistence that a flat 2 hp is unworkable.
And you have to be perceptive, to see the attack coming, and tough, to take the damage, and strong, to push it away, and quick, to get your staff in the way...the only stat you couldn't justify that way is Charisma. There's no reason to punish fighters by making them invest in FIVE stats to be good polearm wielders; ditch the Int requirement.
Four, surely? With STR, DEX, WIS, INT? No need for CON/CHA... But yeah, okay, I see your point. I guess I'm desperately trying to encourage clever fighters, as unlike 3e, where having some INT was useful for a fighter for make up for their lack of Skills and grabbing Expertise, there seems NO reason at all for it now...which is a shame...I don't think they should all be walking planks that universally dump INT and CHA; which is another reason for my creation of the Myrmidon fighter style on my other topic...
But anyway, you're not here to see me rant...I'll change it to WIS.
Human Perseverance is the feat that gives +1 to saves--a feat Half-Elves can take. Hence, they really don't need another save booster.
Ah, you got me. I was obviously being thick before...though I could've sworn it said +1 feat bonus to all defences (Not saves! I guess I must have mixed it up with the human racial defence bonus)
Not convinced.
Well, I can't please everyone...
>
> Prerequisite: Con: 13, Int: 13
> Benefit: When using a single attack encounter or daily power, if you miss with
> the attack (and choose to ignore any “miss” benefits that the power may
> have) you may spend 2 healing surges to allow that power to gain the
> “Reliable” keyword for that round. You may only gain this benefit once per
> encounter.
It would make more sense to spend an action point than to spend healing surges. It's exactly the sort of thing that action points are themed for, while I just can't see the connection to healing surges.
Req: Paladin, 15 Charisma
You may instead use your Charisma Modifier for your Fortitude and Reflex Defense.
Not sure on wording, basically lets you use Cha instead of Str/Con and Int/Dex for your Defenses, sorta like how in 3.5 Paladins added thier Cha Mod to all saves...
Thus allowing you to max a Cha focused Paladin and have really good defenses....
Considering that CHA (and a bit of WIS) is all you really need for an Inspiring Pally, you should have some points left for CON/STR and DEX. True, your Reflex and Fortitude will never be amazing like your Will, but what sort of Full plate donning paladins learn how to backflip out of the way of fireballs? :D
Deadly Predator (Bugbear)
Prerequisites : Bugbear, predatory eye racial power
Benefit : You gain a +1 feat bonus to damage rolls when using your predatory eye racial power. At 11th level, this bonus increases to +2. At 21st level, it increases to +3.
Firetouched
Benefit : When attacking a creature that is vulnerable to fire, you gain combat advantage when you use a power that has the fire keyword.
Hellfire Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : CON 15, Warlock, infernal pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the fire keyword.
Mindtouched
Benefit : When attacking a creature that is vulnerable to psychic, you gain combat advantage when you use a power that has the psychic keyword.
Shielding Defense
Prerequisites : STR 13, training with the shield being used
Benefit : When you are using a heavy shield and taking a total defense action, your allies may use you as cover.
Psychic Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : INT 13, Warlock, fey pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the psychic keyword.
Void Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : CON 13 or CHA 13, warlock, star pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the cold keyword.
Paragon Feats
Lasting Flame
Benefit : Any target you hit with a power the has the fire keyword gains vulnerable fire 5 until the end of your next turn.
Lasting Thought
Benefit : Any target you hit with a power that has the psychic keyword gains vulnerable psychic 5 until the end of your next turn.
Epic Feats
Irresistible Cold
Benefit : Treat your target's resist cold as 20 fewer than normal when determining damage for your attacks.
Irresistible Thought
Benefit : Treat your target's resist psychic as 20 fewer than normal when determining damage for your attacks.
Hellfire Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : CON 15, Warlock, infernal pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the fire keyword.
Psychic Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : INT 13, Warlock, fey pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the psychic keyword.
Void Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites : CON 13 or CHA 13, warlock, star pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit : Damage dealt by your Warlock's Curse class feature gains the cold keyword.
I really dont see why would someone want these feats.
It would have some utility agains creatures vulnarable to one of the elements, but the same would apply againt creatures that resist the elements, so i dont think they are really usefull.
Instead I would come up with something like:
Paragon
Hellfire Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites: CON 15, Warlock, infernal pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit: the target of your Warlock's Curse class feature also gain vulnerability 5 to fire.
I really dont see why would someone want these feats.
It would have some utility agains creatures vulnarable to one of the elements, but the same would apply againt creatures that resist the elements, so i dont think they are really usefull.
Instead I would come up with something like:
Paragon
Hellfire Curse (Warlock)
Prerequisites: CON 15, Warlock, infernal pact, Warlock's Curse class feature
Benefit: the target of your Warlock's Curse class feature also gain vulnerability 5 to fire.
I agree that the feats as I have them are nothing special. The advantage you get from them is when you combine them with other feats that increase the damage of certain keywords. As you have presented it works too, I suppose, but seems to overlap more on other feats.
The advantage you get from them is when you combine them with other feats that increase the damage of certain keywords.
Not exectaly:
For, exemple, Astral Fire:
[...]You gain +1 feat bonus to damage rolls when use a power that has the fire or radiant keyword.[...]
Since the Warlocks Curse is not a power, its a class feature, you will not gain the bonus.
Thats why i think the feats are TOO weak. Even for 4th Edition.
Not exectaly:
For, exemple, Astral Fire:
[...]You gain +1 feat bonus to damage rolls when use a power that has the fire or radiant keyword.[...]
Since the Warlocks Curse is not a power, its a class feature, you will not gain the bonus.
Thats why i think the feats are TOO weak. Even for 4th Edition.
Ah, yes. You are right. It was the wording that got me on that one. I concede that in the case of those three feats, you are correct. I will have to re-evaluate them. I had actually considered just house ruling that Warlock's Curse did those damage types, anyway.