Is this balanced?

[Retech]

So I am giving my first level characters only a ten point buy (pathfinder, so adding from tens in each attribute), but compensating with an extra feat and some increased starting cash (4000gp).

Since my campaign is kinda dystopian, their loot will be mainly survival stuff, not good looties. My goal is to make them decent at first level, but not ramp up too quickly for later levels.

I was also thinking about giving a weak bonus feat to each character. Does my idea work, or is there some problem with it?

[Veyr]

Seems to me that low starting stats (which only go up slowly under normal circumstances) clashes with the "decent at first level, but not ramp up too quickly for later levels"

Anyway, I think mucking with those sorts of progressions are things that need to be done very carefully. The entire system is built around the assumption that a level X character can do Y things. It seems to me that you should just lower the XP rate, so that they simply don't level as fast. Trying to evenly make each level less good, and trying to keep encounters balanced around that, is going to lead to a lot of work for you, as the DM, because you won't be able to use many (any?) of the various resources that will assume that level X means what it usually does.

[nedz]

Lets see:

I play a SAD full caster:
I dump two stats to 7, and give myself 18 in my primary stat = 9 points(so 1 spare).

I play a melle based character:
Here I need two or three good stats

Higher point buy favours MAD classes, which are often melle.
Full casters usually only need 1 high stat.

Low loot also disadvantages melle more than casters.

I think that this makes the balance issues slightly worse.