Gamechanging Feats (4e)

[Apalala]

Crosspost from the wotc board.

Here's three feats I've been tinkering with.

Trump Card [Heroic]

Benefit: After each extended rest, choose one daily attack power you know. You no longer have free access to this power. Instead, when the first d20 you roll in a round is less than the current round, you gain access to the chosen daily power until the end of the encounter. This power can only be used once per encounter, but can be used more than once per day in multiple encounters.

A little clarification on this power. You pick one daily power as your trump card. Instead of using it whenever you want to, you have to wait until you roll under the current round number. That means you can't ever use it on round 1, would need to roll a 1 on round 2, a 2 or lower on round 3, and etc. The upside is that you can use it more than once a day.

The thought behind this feat is that whether a player wants to hoard or blow their daily powers, when they are going to use them, they use them as soon as possible. That means that the first few rounds of combat have the most interesting effects, and that the end can sort of peter out as the party spams their At-Wills. With this, you tip the dynamic nature of the encounter slightly towards its tail end.

Master Planner [Heroic]

Benefit: When you would choose an encounter attack power, you may instead choose a utility power of a lower level.

Simple enough. This gives a bit more flexibility to characters. Losing out on some encounter powers will lessen their damage output in combat, but the extra utilities will make them much better at support during combat and out.

Improved Milestone [Paragon]

Benefit: When you reach a milestone, instead of gaining an extra use of a daily magic item power, you may instead regain use of an expended daily utility power.

More options, and a much needed improvement to daily utility powers and milestones. Obvious synergy with the Master Planner feat.

That's all for now.

[Gralamin]

Lets do some Math on Trump Card (Which, coincidently, you should specify less then or equal to the current round, as that seems to be what you mean).
Take a single encounter:
On round 1, you have a 5% chance
On round 2, you have a 10% chance
On round 3, you have a 15% chance
On round 4, you have a 20% chance
On round 5, you have a 25% chance
And on

Now, lets assume that after 6 rounds the party will defiantly win the encounter (IE: Other rounds are mop up). That means we have 5 rounds to roll and get it (reserving one round to use it).
So, whats the chance that by the end of round 5, we will have our trump card?
Answer: 1-(95%*90%*85%*80%*75%) = ~56%.
At a 56% chance of gaining it per encounter, we can then determine how many uses in the day we can get from taking this feat.
{table=head]Encounter number|Expected Uses
1|0.56
2|1.13
3|1.69
5|2.28
8|4.56[/table]
So, if you face more then two encounters in a day that have more then 6 rounds of important combat, there is no reason not to take this feat.

In addition, I have a problem with the feat in that you have to fail on something else to use your trump card, which is odd, since high = good in 4e.


Master Planner should state "Of their class" or some such. The power of this feat is purely based on the class used. Bards may be able to get a lot of use out of it for some multiclass feats that switch out utilities.


Improved Milestone negates the point of those utilities really being daily, though I would put it in a game as a rule for a low-wealth campaign in a heartbeat.

[Apalala]

Thanks for the feedback!

One thing about the math is that it IS less than the round number, so that rolling a natural 1 on the first round--your initiative roll, really--would be useless. That would put the probability of using it in an encounter at...41%?

And the odds of using twice per day, assuming 4 encounter of 5 rounds each...82%, right?

I'd be happy with that. The whole advantage is that you can use a daily power more than once per day, but that you can go whole encounters without using it, and that by the time you DO get access to it, you'll already be in the thick of it.

Master Planner should indeed be clarified, and I think Improved Milestone wouldn't imbalance things too much. And, combined with the two other feats, they all go further in the direction of keeping away the 5 minute workday.

[Yakk]

Yes, but dailies used at the end of an encounter are weaker than dailies used at the start of an encounter.

[Apalala]

Yes, but dailies used at the end of an encounter are weaker than dailies used at the start of an encounter.

Ayup. Though, I would say there are some exceptions. Something like a summon or stance is of course more useful the sooner you use it. Other powers that don't have persistent affects, however, would make good choices as a trump card.

And really, the point is to make it a competitive feat, not something that everyone will take just for a power boost.

[Yakk]

It is true that against a single solo that powers up once bloodied, a pure damage power with no or short after effects is as good in the second half of the fight as the first.

Hopefully that doesn't make up a huge percentage of your daily power use. :)

[PairO'Dice Lost]

It is true that against a single solo that powers up once bloodied, a pure damage power with no or short after effects is as good in the second half of the fight as the first.

Hopefully that doesn't make up a huge percentage of your daily power use. :)

At the very least, the feat could serve to make solo combats more tense and exciting. "Holy crap, I didn't know that guy powered up on bloodied! I'm out of dailies, I don't have magic item--hold on! I've got my trump daily! Come on dice, don't fail me now!"

[RebelRogue]

Yes, but dailies used at the end of an encounter are weaker than dailies used at the start of an encounter.
That's true of some Dailies (Controller and Leader ones especially), but not for all. Most of the striker ones (barbarian being a notable exception) are usually not used first thing in an encounter.

[Yakk]

That's true of some Dailies (Controller and Leader ones especially), but not for all. Most of the striker ones (barbarian being a notable exception) are usually not used first thing in an encounter.
Suppose there are 5 opponents.

And your power can take one down.

If you take down the last, or the first, the total duration of the fight is the same.

But if you take down the first, for a huge chunk of the fight there will be 1 fewer bad guy beating on your party.

There are very few powers (barring the "single solo is the entire, or almost entire, encounter") for which using the daily power near the end of the encounter is as good as near the start. Now, one might expect that this feat will be taken for precisely those powers -- but I'd like to see some of them. :)

[Decoy Lockbox]

Improved Milestone negates the point of those utilities really being daily, though I would put it in a game as a rule for a low-wealth campaign in a heartbeat.

I think I'm going to steal this idea for my no-wealth camaign. I've always been a fan of encounter/at-will utilities, but having this as a houserule would certainly make daily utilities more attractive.

[Gralamin]

Thanks for the feedback!

One thing about the math is that it IS less than the round number, so that rolling a natural 1 on the first round--your initiative roll, really--would be useless. That would put the probability of using it in an encounter at...41%?

And the odds of using twice per day, assuming 4 encounter of 5 rounds each...82%, right?

I'd be happy with that. The whole advantage is that you can use a daily power more than once per day, but that you can go whole encounters without using it, and that by the time you DO get access to it, you'll already be in the thick of it.
Blargh, thats what I get for answering half asleep.



Master Planner should indeed be clarified, and I think Improved Milestone wouldn't imbalance things too much. And, combined with the two other feats, they all go further in the direction of keeping away the 5 minute workday.

I suppose so. As long as your happy with the direction your feats take.