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Morgan_Scott82
2005-09-29, 12:09 AM
I think the following feat is potentially too good, put it just occured to me and I haven't but much thought into it.

Competitive Spirit [General]
Your drive to defeat your opponents brings out the best in you.
Benefit: You receive a +1 to opposed skill checks.

Please share your thoughts.

Jerthanis
2005-09-29, 12:57 AM
Well, doesn't sound TOO unbalanced... there's a cleric domain introduced in the Complete Divine that does something similar (I think it was just sraight +1 to all opposed rolls, so it'd help on grapples too)

Generally we try to avoid having feats recreate the effects of certain types of unique class choices which come with their own sets of restrictions, but I don't see this as a terribly overpowered ability, and since there's no Weapon focus: Grapple Checks I suppose this could sort of fill that gap.

Demon_Arcana
2005-09-29, 01:04 AM
seems balanced but the other guys right its all ready been done maybe you should add a +2 bonus to a skill that you have ranks in when entered in a compition(not combat) or something, adds a highly unusable that makes ur new feat different but still balanced

Wih
2005-09-29, 03:02 AM
...this is actually VERY powerful.
This is +1 to Hide, Move Silently, Grapple Checks, Trip Attempts, Bull Rush Attempts, Spot, Listen, Bluff, Sense Motive, Opposed Strength Checks....

The cleric domain was overpowered, but it's limited to two domains per cleric.

Perhaps if there was some pre-reqs on it based on some fluff - for instance...
'Due to your unnerving looks, people find it that little bit harder to oppose you, day to day' - pre-reqs 5 ranks intimidate, 13 CHA.
Or something similar.

Leperflesh
2005-09-29, 05:24 PM
...this is actually VERY powerful.
This is +1 to Hide, Move Silently, Grapple Checks, Trip Attempts, Bull Rush Attempts, Spot, Listen, Bluff, Sense Motive, Opposed Strength Checks....

He didn't say 'all opposed rolls'. The exact statement is "+1 to opposed skill checks".

That includes Hide, Move Silently, Spot, Listen, Bluff, and Sense Motive. It does not include grappling, trip, bull rush (all opposed attack rolls or opposed str. rolls), or other opposed strength checks, as those are not skill checks.

It's a very versatile Feat, but only a +1, meaning, only a 5% improvement on those various skills. I think if you reign it in just slightly, it'd be a good Feat.

Maybe say, +1 on opposed skill checks using all skills based on one attribute only.

So you could have it apply to your DEX based skills, or your INT based ones, or WIS, etc., but only one set of those. That'd be a reasonable limitation I think.

-Lep

Oeryn
2005-09-29, 05:42 PM
Looking at it from a non-stat point of view, I'm pretty competitive, and I've never found that to help me hide, or move silently, or many other things. That's not to say that it wouldn't help with a lot of things, though.

Also, sometimes, that "drive to win" makes you a little reckless, taking chances you wouldn't normally take, just to beat the other guy. If you're looking to "nerf" the feat, why not make it +1 to opposed STR-related skill checks, but -1 to WIS ones? It's still useful to the right type of person, but perhaps not quite as powerful.

MaN
2005-09-29, 07:31 PM
Maybe say, +1 on opposed skill checks using all skills based on one attribute only.That means CHA gives you +1 on one skill, DEX gives +1 on two skills, and WIS gives you +1 on three skills.
Personally I'd leave it just the way you have it Morgan_Scott82. It may be powerful at lower levels, but at higher levels it probably won't have too great an effect (sort of like toughness).

Morgan_Scott82
2005-09-30, 12:11 AM
Off the cuff I can think of 9 skills that have opposed uses, some of which are almost always used opposed and some of which have other non-opposed uses. So this is 4x as many skills as the typical skill bonus feat like alertness, negotiator or stealthy, but 1/2 the bonus , and only on opposed uses of those skills.

All in all I think its a frontloaded feat, but certainly not gamebreaking.

Roland St. Jude
2005-10-01, 07:58 PM
I don't think it's too unbalanced. I'd introduce this as is and just keep an eye on it. It's seems balanced enough that it's not campaign wrecking or an automatic choice for all pc's. (I find that to be a good test - show it you as many players as you can and say, "would you take this for your current/a new character." If they all say yes, it's too unbalanced.)

If you want to tone it down just a little first, make a list of all the opposed rolls you could have, and cut out some.