PF & 3.5 merger - advice please!

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I like plenty of things about Pathfinder, and think that some of the class changes are great. I think that there's still an imbalance between the full casters and the melee characters, though, and from what I've read on other threads and forums, I'm not alone.

Here's a small idea that I had to try to make a more balanced set of classes out of core D&D and PF (with minimal work).


Non-caster classes get a feat every two levels (as in PF).
Full caster classes get a feat every three levels (as in D&D).
Half-level caster classes get a feat every 2.5 (ish) levels.
This is achieved by granting Feat Points per level - 6 for non-casters, 4 for full casters, 5 for half-level casters - and you need 12 Feat Points to get a feat.
You can also gain feats from class levels (example: fighter bonus feats).

The Pathfinder feats have many more high-end feats, which go a long way to helping the mundane classes perform well alongside the casters - especially if the casters aren't getting as many.
____________

So - that's the proposal.
The advice I'm after is which classes to dump into which Feat Point stream - should rogues get lots of feats, or the same as a ranger?

(I'm aware that many people will think this isn't a perfect solution to bring balance to the game - there have been many debates about the inequality of feats and spells. Let's not go over the same ground here.)

[Anonymouswizard]

I like plenty of things about Pathfinder, and think that some of the class changes are great. I think that there's still an imbalance between the full casters and the melee characters, though, and from what I've read on other threads and forums, I'm not alone.

Here's a small idea that I had to try to make a more balanced set of classes out of core D&D and PF (with minimal work).


Non-caster classes get a feat every two levels (as in PF).
Full caster classes get a feat every three levels (as in D&D).
Half-level caster classes get a feat every 2.5 (ish) levels.
This is achieved by granting Feat Points per level - 6 for non-casters, 4 for full casters, 5 for half-level casters - and you need 12 Feat Points to get a feat.
You can also gain feats from class levels (example: fighter bonus feats).

The Pathfinder feats have many more high-end feats, which go a long way to helping the mundane classes perform well alongside the casters - especially if the casters aren't getting as many.
____________

So - that's the proposal.
The advice I'm after is which classes to dump into which Feat Point stream - should rogues get lots of feats, or the same as a ranger?

(I'm aware that many people will think this isn't a perfect solution to bring balance to the game - there have been many debates about the inequality of feats and spells. Let's not go over the same ground here.)

Hmmm, or you can give everyone the same amount of feat points, but make feats have varying costs. That way, feats that improve combat ability are cheap, while spellcasting feats are expensive.

[Golden-Esque]

Hmmm, or you can give everyone the same amount of feat points, but make feats have varying costs. That way, feats that improve combat ability are cheap, while spellcasting feats are expensive.

Doing something like this could also be used to balance out feats like Athletic or Investigator, which traditionally have been very weak for a feat.

Essentially, you could have a Fallout-esque Rank system for Skill Feats, where you can take them multiple times if you choose.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Hmmm, or you can give everyone the same amount of feat points, but make feats have varying costs. That way, feats that improve combat ability are cheap, while spellcasting feats are expensive.
...
I like that.
It ties in with an idea I had to do similarly to skills (I was never totally happy with Craft (basket weaving) being as hard to learn as Speak (and Write) Language - or other non-equal difficulties in education).

You could even do away with Feat and Skill Points, and just make these a function of XP...

However, it does require more work.
Assuming I was sticking with the currently proposed system, who gets lots of Feat Points, and who gets less?

[peacenlove]

Core only i would order them from most feat points to least as such:
Fighter >> Rogue = or > Monk > Barbarian = or > Ranger > Paladin = or > Bard > Cleric = or > Druid > Wizard = or > Sorcerer (That is counting that some of these classes gain bonus feats on their career and classes with spell casting should be awarded with less feat points, the ranger is tricky though since he has both)