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Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-05, 08:12 PM
I know I'm far from the first person to try out a scaling feats system (just off the top of my head, I believe d20r and Frank and K both have such a system in place). But, I got some ideas that I liked.

This system revises all of the feats from the PHB (although several have been consolidated), so as a whole this is long. I don't really expect anyone to read through every feat unless you're either very interested or very bored ('course, if you do, all the better! :smallbiggrin:) I'm keeping all the actual rules and stuff in spoilers so it's easier to navigate to a few interesting feats and check them out.

First Post: Introduction and General Rules.
Second Post: Combat Feats.
Third Post: Skill Feats.
Fourth Post: Magic and Miscellaneous Feats.

Design Notes and Goals:

This system is meant to be high-powered. I wouldn't quite say that the feats here are on par with level-appropriate spells, but they're substantially stronger than normal feats. Coming in at the tenth and fifteenth level abilities, the benefits provided by these feats can often be strictly superhuman. The epic abilities are meant to be just that, often increasing certain capabilities to truly superheroic proportions. I consider my goal for this system fulfilled if any character taking a selection of these feats can be competitive on the footing with well-built Tier 3 characters.

I'm not going to say this system really fixes class balance problems. Magical feats got improvements too, and feats are and always have been something that any character can get. That being said, in a high-op game, I figure these feats should bring the lower Tier characters up to level-appropriate competitive balance. In a low-op game...no, this is probably not the best system to use in a low-op game. Many of these feats also make it a point to give characters with them an edge over the spells that could otherwise impinge on their roles. After all, a feat is a substantially more significant build investment than a spell.

I also tried to remove most of the static bonuses and make the advantages provided interesting and useful. This isn't to say stat boosts don't exist (Toughness and Weapon Focus, in particular, still focus more heavily on stats, and actually more than a few of the epic abilities take a natural ability and massively scale it up), but the emphasis is on actual abilities and options that characters can use. Likewise, taking a feat is not just a nudge in a certain direction, it's a defining trait of your character. If you take Athletic, you are at a minimum a very good athlete, and at high levels, a superhumanly good one. If you take Toughness, you are incredibly tough, and if you take Diehard, you are very hard to kill.

General Rules:

Gaining and Scaling Feats: Characters gain feats following normal rules. They get a specific benefit at first level. Thereafter, they gain additional benefits at 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 15th level, with a final, epic-ready ability at 21st. New feats provide all the benefits of the character's accumulated level.

Prerequisites: Since the feats below have scaling effects starting from level 1, all prerequisites for the feats below are obviated.

Dual Skill Bonus: The listed skills become class skills for all your classes. Any ranks purchased in one of the skills apply equally to the other. Your total ranks cannot exceed your maximum; any excess may be respent on different skills or feat upgrades. If the skills rely on different ability scores, you may choose either score for both skills.

Metamagic Reducers: Some of the feats below apply a "metamagic reducer" to the character's spells. Metamagic reducers gained from these feats apply a maximum of once per spell, and no given metamagic feat can be reduced more than once. If the metamagic feat can be applied multiple times, the reduction only applies to the first application.

Miss Chances: Multiple feats that provide miss chances do not stack.

Upgrades: Several of the abilities provided by these feats can be upgraded. To acquire an upgrade, you must be at the next level break for the feat (so acquiring an upgrade to a Level 3 ability requires you to be at least Level 6). You must spend 2 skill points to acquire the upgrade.

Simple Upgrades: Simple upgrades do not require you to be at the next level break.

Scaling Upgrades: Scaling upgrades can be purchased multiple times, costing 2 skill points each time. Unless this is also a simple upgrade, it does require the next level break, but once you can purchase the upgrade, it does not require a new level break for each additional purchase. However, you cannot scale an upgrade more times than half your level.

Further Upgrades: Some abilities allow for multiple upgrades, listing later upgrades as "further upgrades". Such upgrades require both possessing any previous upgrades in the line, and require reaching a new level break for each. For example, a 3rd level ability with an upgrade, a further upgrade, and another further upgrade would require 15th level to acquire all three upgrades - 6th for the first, 10th for the second, and 15th for the third. Each upgrade would cost the normal 2 skill points.

Separate Upgrades: Some abilities allow for multiple upgrades without more than one additional level break. These are listed as separate upgrades, and once one becomes available, you can purchase any or all of them, at 2 SP each. You don't need to acquire one to acquire others. For example, a 3rd level ability with an upgrade, and three separate upgrades, allows you to purchase any or all of the four upgrades for 2 SP each upon reaching 6th level.

Existing Abilities: Several of these abilities duplicate class features. If you have a feat that already provides you with a class ability in a manner that does not stack, you can give up that ability for a bonus feat. This only applies once per feat, but if the same feat gives multiple abilities, or the ability improves with levels, you get a free 2 skill points to spend on an Upgrade for that feat (if the feat has no Upgrades, you can spend them on another feat). For example, a rogue who takes the Alertness feat can give up Uncanny Dodge at 4th level in exchange for a bonus feat, since Alertness already provides Uncanny Dodge.

Optional Feats: Some abilities, such as a cleric's domains and a rogue's Special Abilities, have options which include bonus feats. In this case, the character should receive either the original benefit of the feat (if, as with a cleric's domains, the feat is specified), or can replace a bonus feat with a "favored feat". A favored feat halves the skill point cost of upgrades, and any skill points spent on scaling upgrades apply to ALL the scaling upgrades available from the feat. Bonus feats that are not in competition with other options through the same class feature (such as a human's bonus feat or a fighter's bonus feats) provide full-fledged additional feats as normal.

Variants:

Limited Scaling: This variant limits the number of feats that scale. Characters can choose one feat at first level, and an additional feat at every level evenly divisible by 6, which scale following these rules. All other feats provide only the first-level benefits. Characters may also spend a feat to have one of their other feats scale. This variant makes feats from other sources remain more viable, since they aren't inherently coming at the cost of a much more powerful scaling feat, and reduces the total number of options for players to keep track of.

Tier-based Scaling: In this variant, characters only scale a number of feats equal to their class Tier (NPC classes never scale feats, gaining only the first-level abilities). As with any rule variant based on tiers, DM discretion must apply for multiclassed characters. Characters may also spend a number of feats equal to (7 - Tier) / 2, rounded up, to scale another feat. This system limits the number of abilities like the above option, but also focuses more heavily on closing the gap in balance between the classes.

Upgrade-based Scaling: Using this variant, all of the new abilities are treated like Upgrades, so improving a feat requires spending two skill points per step of the feat. Note that this variant strongly favors skill-oriented characters. As a sub-variant, upgrades may also be purchased at the cost of 3 hit points, to allow martial characters to more easily benefit from these feats (although increasing skill points in general can also work). This feat also would strongly increase the value of Intelligence relative to other ability scores (and Constitution, if using the hit point sub-variant).

Tree-based Scaling: Following this variant, at each level, the character can choose a feat that scales one step. If it is not at the appropriate level for any of its feats to scale, it saves the option. This allows players to mix-and-match their options to a greater degree, potentially gaining several weaker abilities rather than a few more powerful ones, while still keeping the total options to a manageable level. As an additional option, each bonus feat gained by class may provide one or two additional scalings, so that classes with a number of bonus feats don't have to neglect a primary class feature.

Reduced Bonus Feats: Due to the substantial improvements this system makes to feats, and the sheer number of options potentially available, classes that give a large number of bonus feats see a potentially large increase in power and complexity (which can be more desirable in some cases than others). Suggestions for modifying bonus feats for these classes is as follows:


Fighter: Gain bonus feats at first, second, and every three levels thereafter (as a normal psychic warrior). Gain a free Upgrade at any level that a bonus feat is not gained.
Wizard: Lose all bonus feats except Scribe Scroll.
Psion: Unless the DM rules that modifications to metamagic and item creation feats apply to equivalent metapsionic and psionic item creation feats, a psion's bonus feat list is not actually impacted by this variant. If this ruling is made, the psion's bonus feats do not scale.
Psychic Warrior: Gain bonus feats at 1st, 2nd, and every four levels thereafter.
Warblade: The warblade's bonus feats do not scale (but it can still get the new first level abilities, which may be superior in many cases).

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-05, 08:15 PM
Cleave

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You can make an unlimited number of cleave attacks each round.

Level 6: You may take a five-foot step before each cleave attack you make.

Level 10: When you make a Cleave attack, you can replace it with any standard action ability that lets you make a single attack.

Level 15: Whenever you drop an opponent during a full attack action, you may immediately give up the rest of your attacks in that action and start a new full attack against a new opponent. However, you may only make your normal iterative attacks (and off hand attacks, if a two weapon fighter) with these additional full attacks. You lose any bonus attacks.

Level 21: You may take a full move action between cleave attempts.

Combat Expertise

Level 1: When fighting defensively, instead of taking -4 to hit for +2 to AC, you may lower your attack bonus by any number up to your base attack bonus, and add the same number as a dodge bonus to AC. When total defending, your bonus to AC is equal to the higher of: +4, your Intelligence modifier, or your Base Attack Bonus.

Level 3: When fighting defensively or total defending, add your dodge bonus to AC to your Damage Reduction. If you don't have Damage Reduction, or you are attacked by a weapon capable of bypassing it, you instead gain DR/- equal to the bonus. As an upgrade, you also gain Resistance to Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, and Sonic equal to twice the bonus.

Level 6: When fighting defensively or total defending, add half your dodge bonus to AC as a competence bonus on all saving throws.

Level 10: When fighting defensively or total defending, add your dodge bonus to AC to your Spell Resistance. If you do not already have Spell Resistance, you instead gain Spell Resistance of 10 + your dodge bonus.

Level 15: When fighting defensively or total defending, you gain a miss chance equal to 5% per two points of your dodge bonus.

Level 21: Whenever an opponent misses you while you are fighting defensively or total defending, it must roll damage against itself instead.

Combat Reflexes

Level 1: Normal feat benefit, but also increases the DC to avoid your attacks of opportunity or cast defensively while threatened by you by your BAB. As a scaling simple upgrade, you can gain one additional attack of opportunity per round.

Level 3: Whenever you ready an action to attack in response to a certain trigger, you gain the ability to make attacks of opportunity in response to that trigger for one round. You cannot take both an attack of opportunity and a readied attack against the same action. When readying an action, you do not change your place in the initiative order.

Level 6: When you hit an opponent with a readied action or attack of opportunity, except for one provoked by an attack upon you, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 BAB + attack roll ability modifier) or lose whatever action provoked your attack.

Level 10: You may make an attack of opportunity whenever an opponent makes an attack roll against you. As a simple upgrade, you can also make an attack of opportunity for each attack made against your allies, but you cannot do both in the same round.

Level 15: When entitled to make an attack of opportunity, you can make a full attack action against the provoking target, but each individual attack (or pair of attacks with two weapon fighting) costs one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. Alternately, you can replace the attack of opportunity with any standard action ability that lets you make a single attack. You cannot use this ability on attacks of opportunity provoked by a foe attacking you or an ally.

Level 21: You can make an unlimited number of single attacks of opportunity each round (full attacks of opportunity and standard action abilities used as attacks of opportunity still consume one AoO per attack made). Other actions that require you to spend attacks of opportunity to activate still use your normal allowed number of attacks of opportunity each round.

Deflect Attack
(replaces Deflect Arrows)

Level 1: As an immediate action, you can attempt to parry an attack (including magical attacks that require attack rolls) against you or an ally within your reach. Make an attack roll against a DC equal to your opponent's attack roll; if you succeed, you parry the attack. Ignore any penalties to the foe's attack roll due to size or power attacking. You take a -4 penalty per size category the foe is larger than you. You take a -4 penalty if you are denied your Dex bonus to AC, and cannot parry if you are unable to take standard actions or unaware of the attack. If you have a ready shield, you add your shield bonus to your roll. As an upgrade, you can parry by spending an attack of opportunity rather than an immediate action. As a separate upgrade, you can remove the penalty for parrying the attacks of larger foes.

Level 3: When you successfully parry an attack, you can make an attack of opportunity against the attacker.

Level 6: When you successfully parry an attack, you can redirect it back at the attacker in place of your attack of opportunity. As an upgrade, you can redirect it back at another target within range.

Level 10: You may parry any targeted spell or effect, even those without physical forms. To parry such a spell, roll an opposed check pitting your BAB against the spell's caster level.

Level 15: You may parry area effects as you do targeted spells, redirecting them to another area entirely if you succeed and spend an attack of opportunity to redirect.

Level 21: You can parry an infinite number of attacks per round, but you can only make one attempt per attack.

Diehard

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You don't die until reduced to negative (10 + one-quarter your maximum hit point total) hit points. The normal benefit of this feat extends from -1 hit points until you are actually dead.

Level 6: While below half your normal hit points, you gain Fast Healing equal to your Constitution modifier.

Level 10: Your fast healing operates regardless of your hit point total, as long as you are not dead.

Level 15: Your fast healing is improved to Regeneration. By default, fire and acid deal normal damage to you, though the DM may allow you to choose other effects that damage you normally instead. Any immunity to nonlethal damage does not apply to attacks that are converted to nonlethal damage by your regeneration. Immunities to the effects that deal you lethal damage prevents them from causing damage directly, but they instead convert existing nonlethal damage to lethal damage at the rate of one point per point of damage prevented (damage in excess of your current nonlethal damage is entirely prevented). Due to the other effects of this feat, you are not knocked unconscious until your nonlethal damage exceeds your current hit points by at least 25% of your maximum hit points.

Level 21: Nothing deals normal damage to you. Your regeneration is as unstoppable as that of the tarrasque - the only way to permanently kill you is to incapacitate you by dealing nonlethal damage equal to 125% of your normal hit point total, and use Wish or Miracle to keep you dead (at DM discretion, you may be allowed to substitute a similarly difficult way of death).

Dodge

Level 1: As an immediate action, you can attempt to dodge away from an attack. Make a Reflex save against a DC of 10 + 1/2 your attacker's BAB + the ability modifier your attacker adds to its attack rolls. If you succeed, you avoid the attack. You cannot dodge while flat-footed, unable to take standard actions, or unaware of the attack. You get a +2 bonus to the save for each size category your opponent is larger than you, and an additional +2 bonus if the opponent is either charging or power attacking. As an upgrade, you can dodge by spending an attack of opportunity rather than an immediate action.

Level 3: When you successfully dodge an attack, you may perform a Bull Rush, Trip, Feint, or Disarm maneuver against your attacker by spending an attack of opportunity (if you have the upgrade that lets you dodge as an attack of opportunity, this costs a second one).

Level 6: When you successfully dodge an attack, you can immediately take a five-foot step.

Level 10: When you successfully dodge an attack, you receive a 50% miss chance against that attacker until the end of your next turn.

Level 15: If you fail to dodge an attack, you may roll a second Reflex save. If you succeed this save, you suffer only half damage from the attack, and receive a 20% miss chance against the attacker until the end of your next turn, rather than 50%. This second roll does not allow a free five foot step or maneuver.

Level 21: You may attempt to dodge an unlimited number of attacks per round - dodging no longer requires spending attacks of opportunity or immediate actions. You may only make one attempt per attack.

Endurance

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You sustain half damage from any effect that deals damage over the course of multiple rounds.

Level 6: You receive a +10 bonus on any saving throws against an effect upon you that are required at any time after the round the effect was imposed (for example, against the secondary effect of poison, continuing effects of disease, negative levels, throwing off a Hold Person spell, etc).

Level 10: You become immune to ability damage. As a scaling upgrade, you can gain additional immunities, choosing from the following list: ability drain, negative levels, level or Constitution loss from death, or death from massive damage. Other immunities to effects of a similar nature may also be allowed at DM discretion (for example, the Taint and Sanity optional rules might be allowed if they exist in the campaign).

Level 15: You can quickly shrug off most negative effects. At the start of your turn every round that you suffer from a penalty, condition, or similar negative effect with a non-instantaneous duration, you may roll a saving throw against it (you do not get the +10 bonus from the 6th level ability of this feat). A successful save ends the effect if it is upon you, or allows you to ignore the effect for one round if it affects an area that you occupy. Use the normal save if one was allowed, or your choice of Fortitude or Will if a save was not originally allowed. This ability does not allow you to ignore effects that physically obstruct or restrict your movement or senses, only conditions that directly hamper you (so you could ignore or throw off the nausea from a stinking cloud, but not the penalty it imposes to your vision).

Level 21: As long as you have at least 50% of your normal hit points, you suppress any negative effects that you could shrug off from the previous ability. The effects are still active upon you (and can be shrugged off or removed normally), but you ignore their results until your hit points fall below 50%. Nonlethal damage counts against your hit points for this purpose.

Far Shot

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You may double the maximum number of range increments for your weapon. As a simple scaling upgrade, you can add one additional range increment to your maximum.

Level 6: You halve any attack roll penalties from distance. As an upgrade, you negate these penalties entirely.

Level 10: You treat your first two range increments as your first range increment for purposes of abilities that apply within one range increment. As a simple scaling upgrade, you apply this benefit to one additional range increment.

Level 15: You can fire a missile weapon at any target you can perceive, regardless of range, at no penalty on your attack roll.

Level 21: You can fire a missile weapon at any target you can unambiguously identify, regardless of range, at no penalty on your attack roll. You need not have line or sight, line of effect, or even consciously know the target's location; however, you and your target must both have line of effect to the sky.

Improved Bull Rush

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. Additionally, you never need to move with your target when Bull Rushing to push them back more than five feet (although you can if you wish).

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Bull Rush against your target. If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target.

Level 6: If you succeed a Bull Rush by at least five points, the target is Nauseated for one round.

Level 10: During any Bull Rush you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails to Bull Rush you, you can make a free Bull Rush against the target. As a scaling simple upgrade, you can double the distance you can push a target with a Bull Rush (multiple doublings stacking fully, rather than increasing the multiplier by one).

Level 15: You can make a free Bull Rush attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: If you succeed a Bull Rush, anyone adjacent to the target at any point during its forced movement is also subject to a Bull Rush using the same check result. This effect also applies to these secondary targets, and so on, but no target can be Bull Rushed more than once by a single action.

Improved Disarm

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Disarm against your target. If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target.

Level 6: If you succeed a Disarm by at least five points, the target is Dazed for one round.

Level 10: During any Disarm you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers and weapon modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails to Disarm you, you can make a free Disarm against the target.

Level 15: You can make a free Disarm attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: When you make a successful Disarm attempt, you can cause one of the following effects, plus one effect for each two points your check succeeds by beyond the first: Drop a held item; a chosen item loses its magical properties for the rest of the encounter; remove an active spell upon the target; rescind a chosen special ability (feat, class feature, special attack, special quality, spell, or spell-like ability) for the rest of the encounter.

Improved Feint

Level 1: Normal feat benefit, but you can feint as an attack action rather than a move action.

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Feint against your target. If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target.

Level 6: If you succeed a Feint by at least five points, the target is Blinded for one round.

Level 10: You can feint by spending an attack of opportunity.

Level 15: You can make a free Feint attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: Once you have successfully feinted against a target, that target's Dexterity bonus to AC remains lost against you until an entire round goes by without you hitting the target. Such opponents receive a 50% miss chance against you until they recover their Dexterity bonus to AC.

Improved Grapple

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Grapple against your target. If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target.

Level 6: If you succeed a Grapple by at least five points, the target is Slowed for one round.

Level 10: During any Grapple you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails a Grapple check against you, you may immediately make a Grapple check against it to achieve any result normally attainable with a Grapple check.

Level 15: You can make a free Grapple attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: Unless you are pinned, you suffer no combat or movement restrictions for being involved in a Grapple.

Improved Initiative

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You may roll initiative twice, taking the best result.

Level 6: Delaying does not change your position in the initiative order - you delay until you wish to act, take your action, and then get your next turn at its normal time.

Level 10: During a surprise round that you can act in, you may take a full normal round's allottment of actions.

Level 15: You may spend your move action to take an additional swift or immediate action, or your swift or immediate action to take an additional move action (an immediate action can be spent to take a move action out of turn). You may also spend both your move and swift action to take an additional standard action.

Level 21: You always act first in combat, except against other epic characters with the Improved Initiative feat, against whom you roll initiative normally, with all of you taking turns before the normal initiative order.

Improved Overrun

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. Additionally, overrunning is simply part of a move action, and you may attempt to overrun as many opponents as you move through the space of. If you are mounted, this feat applies to your mount.

Level 3: When you overrun an opponent, you may make an immediate unarmed or natural attack against it, as appropriate to whatever attack your feet (or your mount's feet) would inflict (typically an unarmed strike, hoof, claw, or slam attack).

Level 6: If you succeed an Overrun by at least five points, the target is Stunned for one round.

Level 10: During any Overrun you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails to Overrun you, it winds up prone.

Level 15: You gain the Trample ability against any creature of your size category or smaller, dealing twice your normal unarmed attack damage.

Level 21: Whenever you trample an opponent, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 BAB + Str modifier) or be knocked prone and stunned for one round per point it failed by.

Improved Shield Bash

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. As an upgrade, you can add your shield's enhancement bonus to its attack and damage rolls.

Level 3: You may make a single shield bash attack as a swift action if you aren't otherwise attacking with your shield that round. You do not suffer the two weapon fighting penalties for this attack.

Level 6: Your first shield bash of the round against a given target forces the target to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 BAB + attack roll ability modifier) or be either: knocked prone, knocked back 5' + 5' per three points it failed by, or stunned for one round. As an upgrade, you can choose two of these effects. As a further upgrade, all three apply.

Level 10: You gain cover for one round against any opponent you successfully shield bash. As an upgrade, this becomes improved cover. As a further upgrade, this becomes total cover.

Level 15: When shield bashing, you can treat your shield as your main hand weapon for purposes of effects that only apply to a certain type of weapon. Your shield can also benefit from any enchantments upon your main hand weapon (in place of its own weapon enhancements and enhancement bonus, if any).

Level 21: An opponent who is stunned by your shield bash instead becomes helpless for one round. An opponent who is knocked prone by your shield bash also drops whatever it is holding. An opponent who is knocked back by your shield bash is knocked back 5', doubled for each two points it fails by (fully doubling, so a failure by 6 points knocks it back 40').

Improved Sunder

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Sunder against your target. If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target.

Level 6: If you succeed a Sunder by at least five points, the target is Frightened for one round.

Level 10: During any Sunder you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails to Sunder your weapon, you can make a free Sunder attempt against its weapon.

Level 15: You can make a free Sunder attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: You can sunder massive objects and structures - walls, buildings, possibly even mountains. You ignore the Hardness of any object you attack. Further, when attacking objects of at least Large size, for each inch of thickness that you would normally be able to penetrate, you destroy one five-foot section of the object per level above 20th. For example, a 24th level character dealing 180 damage to a 20' high stone wall could completely collapse a 60' long section with a single attack, or smash through the top half of the wall along a 120' long section.

Improved Trip

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: As a standard action, you can make a single melee attack. If you hit, you automatically perform a Trip against your target (this does not then give you an additional attack for tripping the target). If you have any of the other Improved Combat Maneuver feats, this special attack can apply any or all of them against your target. When tripping, your opponent cannot react to trip you.

Level 6: If you succeed a Trip by at least five points, the target is Staggered for one round.

Level 10: During any Trip you are involved in, you can choose to either ignore or double both participants' size modifiers to the check. Any time a character fails to Trip you, you can make a free Trip attempt against it, even if it has an ability that would normally allow it to avoid being tripped in response or could instead drop its weapon. If it doesn't have such an option, you may use the original opposed roll to resolve the new trip attempt, typically resulting in an automatic success.

Level 15: You can make a free Trip attempt against any opponent you hit with a melee attack.

Level 21: When you succeed a trip attempt, your target must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 BAB + Str or Dex mod) or be embedded in the ground, becoming immobile and helpless. Escape requires a Strength check against your original Trip check, or an Escape Artist check against a DC of your original Trip check + your BAB. The target can attempt to escape once per round.

Mobile Attack
(Replaces Ride By Attack, Shot on the Run, and Spring Attack)

Level 1: Whenever you take a move or charge action, you can make a single attack at any point during the movement. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity from your target.

Level 3: When making a mobile attack, you can use any ability that requires a standard action and allows you to make a single attack.

Level 6: When making a mobile attack, you can make a full-attack action. You can divide movement and attacks up freely.

Level 10: When making a mobile attack, you can move up to twice your speed, or charge up to four times your speed. As a scaling upgrade, you can increase this multiplier by one (moving) or two (charging).

Level 15: When making a mobile attack, you may spend attacks of opportunity to make additional attacks against opponents you threaten during your movement. You may only do so once per opponent, and you cannot attack such opponents with your normal attacks as well.

Level 21: When making a mobile attack, you may make a full attack action or use a standard action attack against each opponent you threaten at any point during your movement.

Mobility

Level 1: Your base land speed improves by 5', plus 5' per two points of your Dexterity modifier. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can increase this improvement by 5'.

Level 3: When you take a 5' step, you can move an additional 5' per two points of your Dexterity modifier. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can increase this improvement by 5'.

Level 6: Your threatened area increases by 5' per two points of your Dexterity modifier. If you make an attack into this improved area of reach, you immediately move such that you threaten the target with your normal reach. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can increase this improvement by 5'.

Level 10: As an immediate action, you can move up to your speed. If you do so in such a way as it would interrupt another action, you must roll a Dexterity check against a DC of 15 + the opponent's Dexterity modifier, or its action finishes first. As an upgrade, you may do this at the cost of an attack of opportunity rather than an immediate action.

Level 15: You ignore difficult terrain and do not provoke attacks of opportunity for movement. Opponents who have an ability that makes it more difficult or impossible to avoid their attacks of opportunity may still make such attacks, as long as their BAB is at least equal to your own. You also ignore any hazardous or negative effects in squares you pass through; you only suffer negative effects from squares you end or begin your turn in.

Level 21: Your speed is multiplied by 10. As a scaling, simple upgrade, increase this multiplier by 2.

Mounted Combat

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. As a scaling upgrade, you can gain one of the following benefits: You can attempt to negate a hit to your mount by spending an attack of opportunity, in addition to the one free attempt per round; you can replace a Reflex save from your mount with a Ride check in the same manner as increasing its AC; you can roll a Ride check, DC 10, to halve any penalties to actions due to your mount's movement (such as the DC of a Concentration check to cast a spell, or the penalty to ranged attack rolls), or DC 20 to negate them; you can make an attack of opportunity against anyone who attacks your mount.

Level 3: In any round that your mount does nothing but move, it gains DR/- equal to your Ride rank and may use your saving throws in place of its own.

Level 6: You have a pool of points equal to your full normal hit point total, which you may spend to prevent damage to your mount on a point-for-point basis. Each round, you recover a number of these points equal to your Ride rank.

Level 10: In any round that your mount does nothing but move, it gains Improved Evasion, Mettle, and SR equal to your total Ride bonus.

Level 15: Your mount gains Regeneration equal to half your Ride ranks. It suffers normal damage from any attacks sustained while you are not riding it.

Level 21: You and your mount pool your available actions each round, which either of you can use as best suits your tactics. If you use any of your mount's actions, that counts as it taking an action other than moving.

Off-hand Defense
(replaces Two Weapon Defense)

Level 1: When using a weapon or wielding a shield in your off-hand, you gain DR/- equal to your shield bonus (with this feat an off-hand weapon provides a +1 shield bonus to AC), or increase your existing DR by that amount. You can also use your off-hand weapon's enhancement bonus as a shield enhancement bonus. You cannot attack with your off-hand weapon and benefit from this feat unless you also have the Improved Shield Bash feat, and if you don't attack with your off-hand weapon you don't suffer any penalties for two-weapon fighting.

Level 3: While off-hand defending, you can make attacks of opportunity while total defending, and can halve the penalty for fighting defensively.

Level 6: While off-hand defending, you can make an attack of opportunity with your off-hand weapon (or a shield bash) any time an opponent makes an attack of opportunity against you.

Level 10: While off-hand defending, you gain a miss chance equal to your shield bonus * 5%.

Level 15: While off-hand defending, you gain SR equal to 10 + your BAB + your shield bonus. You may raise and lower this SR as a free action, even when it is not your turn.

Level 21: While off-hand defending, any opponent who misses you with an attack cannot make attacks (including attacks of opportunity) with that weapon for one round.

Point Blank Shot

Level 1: When making a ranged attack against a target within 30', you may add your Dexterity bonus to the attack's damage (in place of Strength where applicable). If you are using a ranged weapon that already allows you to add your Strength bonus to damage, you can instead choose to add your Strength bonus to your attack roll, in place of Dexterity. As an upgrade, any feat, class feature, or other ability you have that applies to melee attacks can also apply to ranged attacks, and you threaten all adjacent squares with your ranged weapons.

Level 3: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity for firing a ranged weapon while threatened.

Level 6: Your point blank range increases to 60'. As a simple, scaling augment, you can increase it another 30'.

Level 10: You may take 10 on any ranged attack roll made in your point blank range.

Level 15: You automatically confirm threats from ranged attacks made in your point blank range.

Level 21: You deal maximum damage on any ranged attack made in your point blank range.

Power Attack

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. As an upgrade, you may sacrifice AC rather than your attack bonus to power attack.

Level 3: Whenever you make a single attack on your turn, you multiply your bonus damage from power attack for that attack by the number of attacks you would normally be entitled to with a full attack action. If the damage of this attack is multiplied by any effect, your bonus damage is multiplied only by the higher of the two multipliers.

Level 6: When power attacking, for each point of bonus damage you inflict, you may also ignore one point of reduction to your attack's damage from any effect that would reduce or negate it (such as Damage Reduction, Energy Resistance, or an Immunity).

Level 10: Your blows are mighty enough to destroy even seemingly impervious magic. You can attack tangible magical effects, even those made of force or prismatic energy. Such effects have an AC equal to the appropriate save DC. Spells have hit points equal to the spell level times the caster level; other effects use one-fourth the creator's hit points. Note that any penalties for touching or passing through the effect you attack do still apply; attacking blade barriers and prismatic defenses, while possible, can be risky.

Level 15: The bonus damage from your power attack is treated as whatever type or types of damage the target is vulnerable to. Vulnerability can mean any form of damage its defenses are less effective against; a creature with actual Vulnerability would take half again the bonus damage, where one with Regeneration would take lethal damage, etc. Note, however, that this doesn't simply bypass defensive abilities; those that do not have a weakness (such as DR/- or the Tarrasque's Regeneration) still apply normally.

Level 21: If you deal at least half the target's current hit points in damage with a single attack, that target instantly dies.

Precise Shot

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You do not count creatures as cover.

Level 6: Your ranged attacks ignore cover and concealment, and halve the benefit of improved cover and total concealment. They also halve the penalties from wind, and when firing into wind that would normally automatically block them, instead suffer a -5 penalty on the attack roll. As an upgrade, they ignore improved cover, total concealment, and wind.

Level 10: You can make improbable banked shots; if you make a successful ranged touch attack against a solid object with a hardness, DR, or armor bonus of at least 5, you can redirect your shot from that square, calculating a new line of effect (but not line of sight). Your redirection must be at at least a 45 degree angle from your target (generally, this means that you have to shoot a standing object or creature to bank across a battle map, while shooting the floor could get you under a hanging obstacle).

Level 15: Your ranged attacks ignore any miss chance of less than 100%. This also includes such effects as Mirror Images.

Level 21: As a standard action, you may make a single ranged attack and treat the attack roll as a natural 20 (which does threaten a critical hit).

Rapid Shot

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: As a swift action, you can sight down an area up to one square on a side per attack you are entitled to with a full attack action. The area must be within one range increment. You threaten that area and can make attacks of opportunity into it with your ranged weapon.

Level 6: You gain the benefits of the Manyshot feat. As an upgrade, this improves to Improved Manyshot.

Level 10: As a full-round action, you can make a single ranged attack at your highest attack bonus against every opponent within one range increment.

Level 15: As a full-round action, you can make a ranged full attack against every opponent within your point-blank range.

Level 21: As a full-round action, you can make a ranged full attack against every opponent within one range increment. As a standard action, you can make a single ranged attack at your highest attack bonus against every opponent within one range increment.

Spirited Charge

Level 1: When charging, your attack deals maximum damage. If you can make multiple attacks at the end of a charge, this benefit only applies to the first.

Level 3: When charging, you can increase your AC penalty by any amount up to half your base attack bonus, and add the same amount as a bonus to your attack roll. Any effect that replaces your AC (including the Deflect Attack and Dodge feats) suffers the same penalty, and if it involves an attack roll does not incorporate the bonus. Any effect that removes the normal AC penalty lets you treat the starting penalty as 0, but does not remove the entire penalty.

Level 6: You gain Pounce, but only when making a normal charge, not a partial charge. You can also make a partial charge as a standard action at any time, even when you can both move and attack normally.

Level 10: When charging, you automatically confirm critical hits.

Level 15: When charging, you can use any ability or special attack that requires a standard action and lets you make a single attack, rather than making a single attack or full attack.

Level 21: You can charge any target within line of sight from your starting point, regardless of your speed.

Stunning Blow
(replaces Stunning Fist)

Level 1: As Stunning Fist, but uses are per-encounter, it works with any weapon and you can use whatever ability modifier you use for attack rolls to set the DC rather than Wisdom if desired. As a simple, scaling upgrade, you can gain an additional option: Dazed for 1d2 rounds (Will negates), Nauseated for 1d3 rounds (Fortitude negates), Staggered for 1d4 rounds (Reflex negates), Blinded for 1d4 rounds (Reflex negates), or Confused for 1d3 rounds (Will negates). You can also choose Unconscious for one round (Fortitude negates) or Paralyzed for one round (Reflex negates), but when using these options, you forfeit the normal damage of your attack.

Level 3: The status effects caused by your Stunning Blow can potentially last for prolonged periods; when the duration would otherwise expire, the target rolls a new saving throw; on a failure, the effect persists for its normal duration anew.

Level 6: You gain an additional option as from the upgrade to the level 1 ability. Additionally, when making a stunning blow, by spending two uses, you can impose two effects consecutively. Once the target successfully saves against the first, it must immediately save against the second or suffer its effects.

Level 10: If a condition from a stunning blow lasts past its normal duration, each additional failed save also increases the time it lasts from rounds to minutes, then tens of minutes, then hours, then days.

Level 15: By spending three uses of Stunning Blow, the target must make a Fortitude save or die. Alternately, you can choose to impose any of your existing conditions, but with a permanent duration. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can add to this list of options the effects of a single spell of sixth level or lower that imposes a negative effect, such as Baleful Polymorph, Flesh to Stone, Bestow Curse, and so on.

Level 21: Removing any condition imposed by your Stunning Blow requires a caster level check, skill rank check, or CR check, as appropriate to the technique used, DC 20 + your character level. A given character can only try once per condition, and if it fails by 10 or more points, it suffers the condition as well.

Toughness

Level 1: You gain one additional hit point per hit die. As a scaling simple upgrade, you gain +3 hit points.

Level 3: Each round, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level + your Constitution modifier. These temporary hit points do not stack.

Level 6: You gain DR/- equal to your Constitution modifier.

Level 10: Each encounter, you gain a bonus pool of hit points equal to your full normal hit point total, which must be removed before damage applies to your normal hit point pool. These bonus hit points can be healed normally, unlike temporary hit points.

Level 15: You ignore any attack that deals total damage (after all modifiers) less than your level plus your Constitution score.

Level 21: As an immediate action, you can completely ignore a single attack, hazard, or other negative effect. However, you must make a Consitution check, DC 20, to ignore attacks from creatures with a CR at least five higher than your own. Certain devastating hazards might also require this check at DM discretion.

Two-Weapon Fighting

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. As a scaling upgrade, you can choose one of the following options: wield a one-handed weapon in your off hand without increasing the penalty; make one additional off-hand iterative attack (up to your normal maximum number of iterative attacks); use your full Strength modifier for damage with your off-hand weapon; negate the -2 penalty to attack rolls for two weapon fighting.

Level 3: Whenever you make a single attack (charge, attack of opportunity, maneuver, etc), you can also make an off-hand attack. Special effects that apply to a single attack apply only once, and only from the first attack. As an upgrade, the special effect instead applies if either of the attacks hit (but still only once if both hit).

Level 6: Any bonus attacks you receive (from flurry of blows, haste, etc) provide a bonus off-hand attack as well.

Level 10: Any temporary magical improvements upon your main hand weapon apply equally to your off-hand weapon. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can also share one +1 value worth of weapon bonuses from your main-hand weapon with your off-hand weapon, but if you do so, you override any such bonuses upon your off-hand weapon.

Level 15: With each pair of attacks you make, you may use either attack roll (including any necessary threat confirmation rolls) for both attacks.

Level 21: While wielding two weapons, you treat every hit you score as a single attack, until you miss with an attack, when doing so is beneficial. This means that DR and other resistances only apply once, and any effect that involves the total damage of an attack (including multipliers) uses the combined damage of the attacks.

Weapon Finesse

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. Additionally, if using only one hand in combat, you can substitute Dex for Str on damage rolls. As an upgrade, you use 1.5 times your Dex modifier for damage rolls when using only one hand in combat, and can use normal Dex for damage with other fighting styles when using a finessable weapon. As a separate upgrade, you gain the benefit of this feat when not using a finessable weapon.

Level 3: When using only one hand in combat, if you roll a threat on an attack, you can make an additional attack against that foe rather than check to confirm a critical hit. If the critical multiplier is X3 or higher, and this secondary attack succeeds, you can still cause critical damage with your primary attack, albeit with the critical multiplier reduced by 1.

Level 6: When using only one hand in combat, you can make a full attack as a standard action. As an upgrade, if you use an ability that lets you make a single attack as a standard action, you can increase the action time to full round to make that attack and then your normal iterative attacks and bonus attacks afterwards.

Level 10: When using only one hand in combat, you can take a penalty on attack rolls up to half your BAB, and increase your threat range by an equal amount. Neither the penalty nor bonus applies to additional attacks made as a result of threats, or to critical confirmation checks.

Level 15: When using only one hand in combat, you can make one attack per round as a touch attack.

Level 21: When using only one hand in combat, you can make a full attack using its normal full-round action to treat every attack made as a touch attack.

Weapon Focus

Level 1: Choose a weapon. You become proficient with the selected weapon, and may use the unarmed damage of a monk of your level in place of the weapon's normal damage dice, if desired. As a scaling upgrade, you can apply the benefits of this feat to another weapon. If you choose unarmed strike, you are considered armed. You may freely deal either lethal or nothlethal damage with your chosen weapon.

Level 3: Attacks with your chosen weapon gain a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls per three character levels.

Level 6: You may replace your chosen weapon's base critical entry with 19-20/X2 or 20/X3, as desired. As an upgrade, this becomes 18-20/X2 or 20/X4. As a further upgrade, this becomes 17-20/X2 or 20/X5.

Level 10: You double your threat range with your chosen weapon. This does not stack with other effects that increase threat range. Note that the level 6 ability of this feat replaces the weapon's base critical entry, rather than increasing threat range, and so does stack.

Level 15: You halve any penalties you take on attack rolls when wielding your chosen weapon, including from negative effects, situational penalties (such as cover), and penalties you willingly take (as from power attack and even iterative attacks).

Level 21: You suffer no penalty on iterative attacks with your chosen weapon.

Whirlwind Attack

Level 1: When you make a full attack, you can make every attack at your highest attack bonus, and spend attacks of opportunity to make additional attacks. If you do so, however, you give up any bonus attacks (such as from Cleave, or the Level 3 ability of Weapon Finesse) and cannot attack any given foe more than once.

Level 3: Normal feat benefits.

Level 6: You may make an attack of opportunity against any opponent who ends its turn in your threatened area.

Level 10: When you make a whirlwind attack, you can attack each target with any ability that lets you make a single attack as a standard action (you use the ability once, and apply it against each target you attack).

Level 15: When you make a whirlwind attack, you can make a full attack against each target, using only your normal iterative attacks (and off-hand attacks, for a two weapon fighter). You do not make any bonus attacks.

Level 21: When you make a whirlwind attack, your effective reach is increased by your speed, and after resolving the attack, you can move to anywhere within your effective reach without provoking attacks of opportunity. However, you must have line of effect from your starting point to each target you attack.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-05, 08:17 PM
Acrobatic

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Jump and Tumble skills.

Level 3: You can stand from prone as a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Level 6: You treat all jumps as running jumps, and ignore any penalties to Tumble checks due to the speed you are moving. When tumbling past multiple opponents, you make a single Tumble check with no increase in the DC. Additionally, as a swift action, you can roll a Jump check to immediately move the listed distance.

Level 10: Whenever you are caught in an effect that affects an area, you can roll a Jump check at the cost of an attack of opportunity. If this Jump check allows you to exit the area, you may do so, avoiding the effect entirely.

Level 15: You are immune to attacks of opportunity, except from an opponent with a BAB higher than your Tumble ranks.

Level 21: Your ability to jump is massively expanded - each foot you could normally jump instead becomes a mile.

Agile

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Balance and Escape Artist skills.

Level 3: You can substitute a Balance check to resist Trip, Bull Rush, and Overrun maneuvers. When using Escape Artist to escape or resist a grapple, you can ignore the opponent's size bonus.

Level 6: You ignore all penalties on Balance checks for the speed of your movement. With a DC 20 Balance check, you can ignore any speed reduction for the state of the ground. With a DC 20 Escape Artist check, you can ignore any speed reduction for obstructions, crowds, or similar things (although this does not let you pass through solid barriers). Additionally, if you are affected by a magical effect that reduces your movement without a save or despite a successful save, you can ignore the effect with an Escape Artist check against the appropriate save DC.

Level 10: You may take 10 on any check or save against effects that would reduce or restrict your movement. If you fail a check or save against an effect that would reduce or restrict your movement, you may continue rolling the check or save once per round as a free action to break free of the effect.

Level 15: You can balance on anything - water, clouds, even thin air. You essentially gain the constant benefits of an Air Walk spell. You also become immune to the prone condition.

Level 21: You are virtually impossible to imprison. You can potentially escape from any form of containment or imprisonment (including such potent magic as Imprisonment, Prismatic Sphere, Trap the Soul, a Deck of Many Things, and so on - you can even potentially escape from binding or imprisoning artifacts and epic magic). To escape, you must roll an Escape Artist check opposed by the relevant skill check of the character who created the imprisonment (typically Craft or Knowledge [Architecture] for physical prisons, Use Rope for bindings, and Spellcraft for magically created prisons). Artifacts and similarly powerful effects can be assumed to have a flat DC of 50 to escape. Your escape takes 1d6 minutes if you succeed by five or fewer points, 1d6 rounds if you succeed by six to ten points, and one round if you succeed by more than ten points. The Level 10 benefit of this feat does not apply to this ability.

Alertness

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Spot and Listen skills.

Level 3: You gain Uncanny Dodge. As an upgrade, this becomes Improved Uncanny Dodge.

Level 6: Opponents attempting to conceal themselves from you must always make appropriate Hide and Move Silently checks, even if using magic that would normally render them undetectable by normal means (although such magic can still entitle them to a Hide check if they normally wouldn't receive one). You may forfeit any magical bonuses to your Spot and Listen checks to ignore any magical bonuses to skill checks opposed by your Spot and Listen skills.

Level 10: You never lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class unless due to being unable to move. You are always able to take immediate actions and make attacks of opportunity (although you cannot take more in one round than you normally could). You become immune to surprise.

Level 15: You may make a saving throw to disbelieve illusions as soon as you perceive them. You may make a Spot check in place of any saving throw you make to disbelieve illusions. Characters using abilities or distractions to hide while being observed by you or without cover or concealment relative to you take a -10 penalty on their Hide checks.

Level 21: Penalties to your Spot and Listen checks due to distance are multiplied by your total Spot or Listen skill modifier (so if you have a +30 Spot check, you take a -1 penalty per 300 feet, rather than per 10 feet).

Animal Affinity

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Ride and Handle Animal skills.

Level 3: Your mount may replace its Balance, Jump, Hide, and Move Silently skills with the lower of your bonus in that skill or your Ride bonus.

Level 6: You gain an animal companion as a druid of your character level - 3.

Level 10: Creatures of the animal type automatically have a starting attitude of Helpful towards you and Friendly towards your companions. Creatures of the Vermin and Magical Beast type, and bonded creatures, have a starting attitude of Friendly towards you and Indifferent towards your companions. You can Speak with Animals at will.

Level 15: Creatures of the animal type always unfailingly obey your commands. Creatures of the Vermin and Magical Beast types, and bonded creatures, must obey your commands unless they succeed a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 ranks + Cha modifier).

Level 21: While following your commands, animals, vermin, and magical beasts receive the benefits of the Nature's Avatar spell, as from a druid of your character level. You can apply this benefit to up to two HD of creatures per rank in Handle Animal at any one time.

Athletic

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Climb and Swim skills.

Level 3: You gain a Climb and Swim speed of half your speed. As an upgrade, this becomes equal to your speed.

Level 6: You can use your Climb or Swim speed to move through most sorts of terrain and magical effects that would normally impede movement, such as climbing through the area of a Web spell, swimming through a Solid Fog, or the like. These benefits do not apply to solid obstructions (though you could still climb over or along them) or to effects that simply make the ground harder to cross (such as Grease).

Level 10: You can move and fight at no penalty when climbing and swimming, and as such can move freely through any terrain and magical effects you could ignore from the previous effect of this feat.

Level 15: Your Climb and Swim speeds improve to 5' per rank, or 10' per rank if you purchased the upgrade. You also gain an equivalent Burrow and Fly speed (flying at perfect maneuverability).

Level 21: You can burrow through any obstruction at your burrow speed - even impervious spells. Doing so requires a Climb or Swim check, DC 20 + the substance's Hardness, or 20 + the caster level for magical effects. While flying, you can ignore the effects of wind with a Swim check against the normal Fortitude DC of the wind.

Blind-Fight

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. As an upgrade, you can reroll any miss chances, including against Mirror Images (the initial miss still removes one image), rather than only miss chances due to concealment. As a further upgrade, you can choose to convert any miss chances into a simple AC bonus of +1 per 10% Miss Chance (mirror images provide +1 AC per image, with each miss removing an image).

Level 3: If you are attacked or targeted by an opponent that you do not know the location of, roll a Spot check opposed by the opponent's Hide check (supernatural concealment substitutes a caster level + casting ability modifier check). Even if you fail, you pinpoint the opponent for one round. If you succeed, you pinpoint the opponent for one round per point you succeeded by.

Level 6: You gain Blindsense out to 30'. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can increase this range by 15'.

Level 10: Your Blindsense becomes Blindsight.

Level 15: You no longer need Line of Effect to a creature to detect it with your Blindsight.

Level 21: Your Blindsight's range is multiplied by your level. Your Blindsight is so phenomenally keen that it works as well as vision - you can perceive color and even read using your Blindsight.

Deceitful

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Disguise and Forgery skills.

Level 3: By using a generic disguise, false credentials, or simply acting like you are supposed to be present, you can infiltrate many secure locations. Unless you do something that attracts attention, or you encounter someone who knows you personally, those you encounter ignore or accept your presence. Taking suspicious action or actively interacting with someone will require normal skill checks to maintain your cover. Additionally, anyone with more ranks in Spot or Forgery (as appropriate) than you have in Disguise or Forgery, or who knows you personally, may make checks to see through your cover normally.

Level 6: When you are disguised or otherwise playing a part, you may roll a Disguise check against the save DC of any divination or ability that would reveal information about you. On a success, it reveals information appropriate to your cover identity.

Level 10: Any time any divination spell or effect would reveal information about you, you may roll a Disguise or Forgery check against its save DC. If you succeed, you learn what the caster is trying to divine, and can have the spell respond as you choose.

Level 15: Whenever you provide false information to a divination, you can also choose to learn about the diviner what it was trying to learn about you.

Level 21: When you provide false information to a diviner, you become aware of any divinations they cast for the next one day per rank in Disguise or Forgery. And, with a successful check, you can falsify such divinations as if they were trying to learn about you, and gain for yourself whatever information the diviner was trying to learn.

Deft Hands

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Sleight of Hand and Use Rope skills.

Level 3: As a swift action, you can make a Sleight of Hand check to steal something or a Use Rope check to bind someone as part of a grapple. Once a target is bound, it remains held or pinned by your rope until it succeeds to escape.

Level 6: You can bind a target tightly enough that even magic is not a sure-fire escape. Any attempt to magically escape your binds (including through freedom of movement, telekinesis, or teleportation) requires a check pitting the caster level + primary ability modifier against your Use Rope check. On a failure, the character remains bound (note that teleportation still moves the target - your bindings just follow along for the ride).

Level 10: As a swift action, you can roll a Sleight of Hand check against the target's AC. If you succeed, you can steal a number of items equal to your Dexterity modifier from the target - even those that it is holding or wearing. You can also snag items with a whip or rope in a similar manner, substituting a Use Rope check.

Level 15: As a swift action, you can steal an active magical effect from the target, removing its effects and placing them upon yourself or an adjacent item or ally. You must succeed a Sleight of Hand (or Use Rope check, if performing the theft with a whip or rope) against a DC equal to the spell's caster level + the caster's primary ability modifier. You can even steal permanent enchantments from an item and place them into another unenchanted item of masterwork quality.

Level 21: As a swift action, you can steal...pretty much anything. Even completely intangible things, such as memories, feelings, personality traits, abilities, spells known, spell slots, feats, and so on. You cannot steal stats or other abstract mechanical concepts, and any actual capabilities you steal revert to their previous owner after one round per rank in Sleight of Hand (memories and other intangibles that are not actual capabilities do not revert). To steal an intangible thing, you must make a Sleight of Hand (or Use Rope) check, against a DC of 20 + the target's HD. Additionally, as a full-round action, you can steal a target's very soul. This requires the same skill check, and the target receives a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 ranks + Dexterity modifier). If it fails, it dies, and you can place its soul into a gemstone or other valuable object, preventing resurrection unless the item is destroyed.

Diligent

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Appraise and Decipher Script skills.

Level 3: You can duplicate the effects of the spells Identify and Read Magic at will as an exceptional ability. Normal casting times apply, but no material components are required.

Level 6: You can sell items for 10% more than normal, and buy them for 10% less.

Level 10: You are automatically aware of the DC needed to perform an action, the stat that an opponent would be rolling or using against one of your actions, and the current hit point total of any enemy you attack. If your actions are less effective than they otherwise would be, you become immediately aware of what is reducing your effectiveness, by what amount, and how you could bypass it (for example, you would be aware that the opponent has DR 10/silver and magic, or has Protection from Fire with 48 points remaining, not merely that it has DR or fire resistance).

Level 15: You gain the constant benefits of Greater Arcane Sight.

Level 21: You may ask your DM for any statistical or mechanical information about any subject you can see - its stats, abilities, spells known, etc.

Investigator

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Gather Information and Search skills.

Level 3: You gain Trapfinding.

Level 6: With a single Search check, you can search everything within five feet per two ranks in Search. Additionally, if you pass within this distance of a trap or secret door, you automatically detect it if its Search DC is less than or equal to 10 + your Search modifier.

Level 10: With eight hours of searching or gathering information and making a DC 20 check, you can gain the effects of a Commune spell, asking the DM up to one question per two points rolled above the DC. If someone has attempted to actively mislead an investigation, you instead roll against their Bluff or Hide check. The area you are searching or canvassing must be relevant to your questions (for example, if seeking clues about a murder, you might ask around the neighborhood or search the crime scene or the criminal's home, but you couldn't search around your own backyard), but the answers you gain are irrelevant to the actual clues you find - you can piece together valuable intelligence from incomplete information. This is an exceptional ability, and is not subject to protection from magical divinations.

Level 15: With eight hours of searching or gathering information, you can gain the effects of a Discern Location spell. You need not have seen or touched the target, but the target must have been within the area within the past one day per rank in the relevant skill. This is an exceptional ability, and is not subject to protection from magical divinations.

Level 21: Your range of automatic searching is vastly increased, to one mile per rank in Search. In addition, any Search or Gather Information checks you make that would normally take hours is reduced to taking only minutes.

Magical Aptitude

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Spellcraft and Use Magic Device skills. If you prepare spells with a spellbook, you also gain the benefits of the Spell Mastery feat, but you can apply it to one additional spell as a scaling, simple upgrade.

Level 3: Choose one 0-level spell per point of your highest mental ability modifier. You can use those spells once per minute as a spell-like ability. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can choose another spell.

Level 6: Choose one spell per point of your highest mental ability modifier. You can counterspell that spell as if with a Ring of Counterspelling. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can choose another spell.

Level 10: Choose one spell per point of your highest mental ability modifier. If that spell is cast within 60' of you, you also gain its effects. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can choose another spell.

Level 15: Choose one spell per point of your highest mental ability modifier. You become immune to its effects, as well as to variations (that is, any spell that says that it works like the spell you choose, or a spell that your chosen spell works like). This immunity applies even if the spell does not allow spell resistance. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can choose another spell.

Level 21: Choose a number of spells with total combined spell levels equal to or less than your highest mental ability modifier, which do not have an expensive material component, focus, or XP cost. You may cast these spells at will. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you can increase the available levels of spells by one.

Negotiator

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Diplomacy and Sense Motive skills.

Level 3: You can roll a Sense Motive check against a statement to detect not only deception, but also, any attempt at manipulation. If the statement is in any way an attempt at deceiving or manipulating you or others, you learn both the degree to which it was (for example, if it was a blatant lie, an uncertainty spoken with more confidence than it warrants, something the character was forced or coerced to say, a truth intended to cause emotional distress, a sincere but intentional attempt at flattery, etc), as well as the intentions behind it (trying to lure you into a trap, distract you, get you do something the character believes is in your best interest, etc). The DC of this check is equal to whatever skill roll the target made, or DC 15 if the target did not make a skill check. If you fail, you learn nothing.

Level 6: Whenever you succeed a Sense Motive check or a Will save to disbelieve an illusion and communicate your findings to others, you may roll a Diplomacy check against the same DC. On a success, you present an analysis sufficient to qualify as factual evidence. While stubborn people or those who have reason to resist your findings may still choose not to believe you, reasonable observers will take what you learned as fact. If you have caught someone attempting manipulation, this also imposes a -5 penalty on their social checks and illusion disbelief save DCs against those you have made aware of the attempt for the rest of the day. If you can provide such an analysis on your own, you get a +10 bonus to the check.

Level 10: You can modify mind-altering effects. As part of normal conversation, or as a full-round action in combat, you can attempt to alter a Charm, Compulsion, or Phantasm effect that you know of upon the target. You can also alter effects that have altered the target's memories, personality, or state of mind (even instantaneous or permanent effects). The original creator of the effect must make a Will save, DC 10 + 1/2 your Diplomacy ranks + your Wis or Cha modifier. If it fails, you may immediately end the effect. Alternately, you can also force the target of the effect to make a new Will save against the above DC. If it fails, you gain control of the original effect, allowing you to alter its parameters as if you were the caster (for example, you could change the demand made by a Suggestion or make a Charmed target friendly towards you).

Level 15: As a swift action, you may force an opponent to roll a Will save, DC 10 + 1/2 your Sense Motive ranks + your Wis or Cha modifier. Alternately, the target may choose to roll a Bluff check opposed by a Sense Motive check. If it fails, you may ask the DM (or the character's player) what actions it will take next round (that is, forcing it to declare its turn's actions immediately), or what it would take to get it to perform a certain course of action, if anything could. In the former case, if the situation changes so that the target does not wish to take the declared course of action, it becomes Staggered on its turn as it is forced to quickly improvise. In the latter, if you then offer the target what was required, it must treat the course of action presented as a Suggestion.

Level 21: Every character you meet whose default reaction to you would be indifferent or better instead has a default reaction of helpful. Anyone who attempts to harm or deceive you, unless you have made such an attempt against them in the past day, must roll a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your ranks in Diplomacy + your Wis or Cha modifier) or either lose the offensive action or speak truly instead. Creatures immune to either compulsions or mind-affecting abilities receive a +5 bonus on this save.

Nimble Fingers

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Disable Device and Open Locks skills.

Level 3: You gain Trapfinding. You can also use the Open Locks skill to bypass magical locks by beating a caster level check with your Open Locks check. As an upgrade, You suffer no penalties for failing a Disable Device or Open Locks check by five or more points.

Level 6: You can create mechanical traps with a CR less than or equal to your ranks in Disable Device from improvised materials. This takes normal time and costs no gold, though a given trigger can only apply to one such improvised trap at a time.

Level 10: If you successfully disarm a trap, mechanical or magical, you can dismantle it and reassemble it elsewhere. Doing so takes half the normal time for creating a trap, but carries no cost.

Level 15: You can create, dismantle, or reassemble traps with a full-round action, regardless of their normal complexity.

Level 21: If you would trigger or suffer a negative effect from a trap, you may roll a Disable Device check as an immediate action. If you succeed, you instantly improvise a solution that completely negates the threat of the trap. Traps without a normal Disable Device DC are DC 40. Likewise, you can pass through any obstruction that was built to somehow be opened, with an Open Locks check, using any DC that is available to bypass it (such as the DC of a Strength check to break a bar securing a door, or of a Knowledge check to answer a riddle that will open it). Securities without a DC to bypass are DC 40. If you can actually come up with a reasonable solution on your own, you get a +10 bonus to the check.

Persuasive

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Bluff and Intimidate skills.

Level 3: As a swift action, you may attempt to make your foes think someone is a greater or lesser threat than others on the field. Any opponents who can see and hear you are affected if they fail a Will save, DC 10 + 1/2 Bluff or Intimidate ranks + Cha modifier. Choose a subject who is an opponent to those affected; affected foes either must direct their offensive efforts against that target, or cannot direct them at that target, at your choice. Offenses that affect multiple targets count as being directed at a target if that target is included in the attack. In any round in which they make an offensive action that does not abide by this limitation, they provoke an attack of opportunity from everyone who threatens them.

Level 6: When you use an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent, it remains so for one round per point it failed its save by. Additionally, demoralized opponents with a CR at least four less than your own become Frightened rather than Shaken, and those with a CR at least eight less than your own become Panicked. As an upgrade, you can demoralize as a swift action. As a separate upgrade, you can demoralize everyone within 5' per two ranks of Intimidate with a single action.

Level 10: You are superhumanly persuasive. When using an Intimidate check to get someone to do something, a success functions as a Suggestion to follow your demand. When using a Bluff check to get someone to believe something, a success functions as a Suggestion to act as if the Bluff were true, despite any evidence to the contrary. The target can forfeit the normal check to instead make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your skill ranks + your Cha modifier) to resist the suggestion. This is a mind-affecting compulsion. A target who resists this ability becomes immune for one day.

Level 15: If you successfully intimidate or bluff a target into following a Suggestion, any time the target becomes unable to follow the Suggestion, it becomes Panicked (if you used Intimidate) or Confused (if you used Bluff).

Level 21: You can rapidly brainwash people. To do so, you must speak to the target alone for at least ten minutes, and the target must be restrained, helpless, or otherwise unable to escape or fight back. If you do so, the target must roll a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Bluff or Intimidate ranks + your Cha modifier). If it fails, you can utterly rewrite its memories, personality, and beliefs, as you desire (this has no effect on its skills or capabilities, but may change its alignment). A character who succeeds to resist this ability becomes permanently immune, unless it undergoes a serious change in nature (such as an alignment change, suffering a great tragedy, etc).

Self-Sufficient

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Heal and Survival skills.

Level 3: You can treat injuries with medical skills or natural medicines. With a minute of work, you can grant a target temporary hit points equal to the result of a Heal or Survival check, or simply remove that much nonlethal damage from the target. Alternately, you can simply set the target's hit points to equal this number, if they were previously lower (though the target's hit points cannot exceed its usual maximum). These temporary hit points plus the target's current hit points cannot exceed the target's maximum hit points; if the target receives actual healing, each hit point healed converts two of these temporary hit points into an additional point of healing. This effect is not recursive. These temporary hit points do not stack. Additionally, as a swift action, you can increase any magical healing an adjacent target receives that round by the result of a Heal or Survival check.

Level 6: You can treat ability damage and some conditions. As a full-round action, roll a Heal or Survival check. For each five points you roll, you can remove one point of ability damage or one of the following conditions: Dazed, Dazzled, Deafened, Fatigued, or Sickened. As an upgrade, you can alternately remove a negative level or: Blinded, Confused, Exhausted, Nauseated, Paralyzed, Staggered, Stunned, or Unconscious. As a further upgrade, you can alternately remove a point of ability drain or the Petrified condition.

Level 10: You can resuscitate the dead. This requires a full-round action and a Heal check. The DC is usually 20, but a character killed by a death effect substitutes the effect's save DC if it is ordinarily higher. The DC increases by 5 for each round since the target's death. The target revives at -1 hit points, and is stable. No loss of levels or Constitution occurs. You cannot revive a character whose body has been destroyed or who is more than their full normal hit point total below 0 hit points.

Level 15: You can provide treatment to the recently resurrected. This requires eight hours of care, which must begin within one day of the resurrection. The subject does not lose a level or point of Constitution from the ordeal.

Level 21: You are able to treat your own injuries, conditions, and other negative effects, using the abilities granted by this feat or any other healing capabilities you possess, even if the conditions you suffer would otherwise prevent you from taking the necessary actions. This does mean you can resuscitate yourself when killed.

Skill Focus

Level 1: Choose a skill; you always treat that skill as a class skill, and automatically receive maximum ranks in that skill.

Level 3: You may always take 10 on your chosen skill, even when rushed or threatened, and taking 20 takes only ten times as long, rather than twenty times as long. As a scaling upgrade, taking 10 on a skill treats your automatic roll as 1 higher, and taking 20 reduces the time multiplier by 1, to a maximum of an automatic 20 (which does not count as a natural 20) and normal time.

Level 6: If you fail a check with your chosen skill, you may reroll. You must accept the result of the reroll.

Level 10: You ignore all situational penalties to your chosen skill, and can forfeit any magical bonuses you have to the skill to likewise ignore any magical bonuses to checks opposing it. Additionally, you can ignore any magical effect that would automatically defeat or invalidate your skill with a skill check against a DC of 15 + the caster level.

Level 15: Choose a spell of fourth level or lower that has an effect related to your chosen skill, and has no expensive material component, focus, or XP cost. You can duplicate the effects of the spell at will as an exceptional ability. As a simple, scaling upgrade, you can choose another spell.

Level 21: Whenever you roll a natural 20 on a skill check with your chosen skill, you cause some sort of epic effect. You may describe the sort of effect you wish to occur, and your DM can determine if it is appropriate to the skill and your current use of it, revising it if necessary. Less frequently-used skills, more dramatic or important uses of skills, or skill uses that improve the game or forward the plot should all result in more impressive epic results. In particular, attempts to use a skill over and over, or at every pointless opportunity, will not generate epic results. Some examples of epic skill results might include disabling every single trap in the fortress you are invading with a Disable Device check, climbing an obstacle of any height in one round with a Climb check, or learning the answer to an entire mystery with a Knowledge check.

Stealthy

Level 1: You gain the Dual Skill Bonus to the Hide and Move Silently skills.

Level 3: Anyone trying to detect you while you are hiding or moving silently, regardless of the sensory abilities they possess, must still roll a Spot or Listen check opposing your Hide or Move Silently check. If this check fails, the opponent cannot detect you with any sensory ability. You can still reveal yourself through mundane actions or senses (such as bumping into someone). Characters can use move actions to reroll these checks normally, and once a check succeeds, their sensory abilities function normally against you until you again manage to conceal yourself.

Level 6: You can hide even while being observed. As an upgrade, you can hide even if you lack cover or concealment

Level 10: You halve any penalties you take on Hide and Move Silently checks due to moving or attacking. As an upgrade, you remove the penalty entirely. However, any action you take that would normally impose such a penalty allows a new Spot or Listen check to detect you as a reaction.

Level 15: Whenever you take an otherwise obvious action while hidden, observers must roll a Spot or Listen check to notice the direct results of the action, with a DC of 15 + your Hide or Move Silently modifier. Those who fail the check fail to notice the action. They must also roll to notice the indirect results of the action, though the DC is reduced to 5 + your Hide or Move Silently modifier. Anyone directly targeted or affected by your action need not make this roll. For example, if you have a Hide modifier of 25, people would have to roll a Spot check, DC 40, to notice you attacking one of their allies - and a Spot check, DC 30, to notice their ally fighting back! Once a character notices the results of one of your actions, it notices all of them that it can still perceive.

Level 21: Any opponent who cannot currently detect you also cannot affect you; you are immune to its actions, even those that somehow target the correct square, affect an area, or do not require sight.

Track

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You add your ranks in Survival to the DC to track you, and you can roll a Survival check against the save DC of any spell that attempts to locate or view you by magic to avoid the effect.

Level 6: When you succeed a Survival check to track, you learn your quarry's intended destination.

Level 10: When you succeed a Survival check to track, you generate a Scrying effect on your quarry (it does receive a normal save, DC 10 + 1/2 your ranks in Survival + your Wis modifier).

Level 15: When you succeed a Survival check to track, you generate a Discern Location effect on your quarry, even if you have not seen it before.

Level 21: Once you have created a successful Scrying or Discern Location effect, you can reactivate the effect on the same subject at will as a free action, with no further checks or saves allowed or required. You can have up to one such "permanent" effect available at a time per point of your Wisdom modifier.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-05, 08:21 PM
Always Prepared
(Replaces Quick Draw and Rapid Reload)

Level 1: You can draw, store, ready, and reload items as a free action. The item must be carried so that it is within immediate reach; items stored in packs and the like require normal time to retrieve.

Level 3: You may draw a weapon after being disarmed as an immediate action, and in the same action make a single melee attack against the foe who disarmed you. Additionally, whenever you do so, or whenever you attack a foe immediately after drawing a hidden weapon, that foe is treated as flat-footed against your attack.

Level 6: You can spend gold to acquire undisclosed equipment, defining it at need. You must be in a place where you could purchase equipment, and the equipment you acquire from this ability is limited to what would be reasonable in the place you used it at. This generally takes 1d4 hours of shopping. Simply mark the gold spent, and you can define what exactly you purchased when you need it, deducting its value from your pool of undefined equipment.

Level 10: You can treat any weapon you wield as if it had the same magical enhancements as another weapon you carry. Temporary enhancements (from spells, abilities, etc) upon the other item also transfer. These abilities override any magical improvements on the item you are using. Limited uses are deducted from the original weapon's uses.

Level 15: You ignore the normal limits on magic item slots.

Level 21: Any uses of charged or perishable items you expend are restored after twenty-four hours.

Augment Summoning

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: Your summoned creatures gain a bonus feat of your choice.

Level 6: As a swift action, you can cast a spell that can target other creatures whenever you cast a summoning spell. That spell applies to the creatures you summon.

Level 10: With an opposed caster level check, your summoned creatures can touch a creature or enter an area warded by a protection from {alignment} spell.

Level 15: When casting a summon spell that allows you to summon a random number of creatures, you summon the maximum amount.

Level 21: All creatures you summon possess maximum hit points per Hit Die.

Combat Casting

Level 1: You reduce your chance of arcane spell failure by 10%. As a simple scaling upgrade, you reduce it another 5%.

Level 3: You may perform the somatic components of your spells with both hands full, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity for casting spells from opponents who you have damaged with a melee attack since the start of your last turn.

Level 6: You may cast a spell with a casting time of one standard action or less along with a normal melee attack, by spending a swift action to do so. You may either deliver the spell through your attack, affecting the target, or target yourself with the spell. The spell must have a target, affect an area, or create a ray. In any case, if affects only the target of the attack or you, and if the spell normally covers an area for a duration, the target is only considered exposed for one round. The attack roll replaces any touch attack or Reflex save required, but the target may still make any Fortitude or Will save allowed by the spell. As an upgrade, you may use any standard action ability that lets you make a single attack. As a further upgrade, you can cast a spell with a full attack as a full round action. In this case, the spell applies either to every opponent you hit, or to you and every ally you touch (spending one of your attacks to touch each ally), but cannot affect the same target more than once.

Level 10: You are immune to any spell you cast that affects an area, unless you wish to be affected. As a simple, scaling upgrade, you may choose an additional person in the area to be unaffected.

Level 15: The DC to dispel any spells that you cast upon yourself increases by half your Base Attack Bonus.

Level 21: In any round that you injure an opponent with a physical attack, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your BAB + the ability modifier you apply to your attack rolls) or lose the benefits of any Spell Resistance, Resistances, or Immunities it possesses against your spells for one round. Whenever an opponent fails a saving throw against one of your spells, it loses the benefits of any Damage Reduction, Miss Chance, or Immunities it possesses against your physical attacks for one round.

Craft Magic Item

Level 1: You can scribe scrolls following the normal rules for item creation. As an upgrade, you can ignore the XP costs for scribing scrolls with a spell level of no more than half the highest level of spells you can cast.

Level 3: You can brew potions and craft wondrous items. As an upgrade, you can ignore normal XP costs and spellcasting requirements for brewing potions.

Level 6: You can craft magic arms and armor and wands. As an upgrade, you can ignore the spellcasting requirements for crafting weapons and armor. As a separate upgrade, you can recharge a wand following the normal rules for crafting it, but with no XP cost.

Level 10: You can craft rods, staves, and rings.

Level 15: You can develop your own inherent supernatural abilities. This functions just like crafting a magic item of the appropriate type, but requires no spellcasting ability and does not actually create an item - you simply gain the appropriate ability. Such effects use no body slot and do not have an additional cost as a result of such. Charged or limited-use items cannot be emulated in this manner. As an upgrade, by increasing the cost to 90% of the item's market price, you can ignore the XP cost.

Level 21: You can craft epic items.

Empower Spell

Level 1: All variable, numeric effects of spells you cast add a +1 to each die rolled.

Level 3: Normal feat benefit.

Level 6: Any numeric effects of spells that scale with level (such as 1d6/level, 1d4+1 per missile at one missile per two levels, or 1d8 +1/level) have the total result increased by your spellcasting ability modifier. If the total is divided up among targets, this bonus applies to each target. This ability does not apply if the average scaling is lower than 1/level (so a spell that deals, say, +1 damage per 2 levels would not receive the bonus).

Level 10: As a +4 metamagic adjustment, you can increase the variable, numeric benefits of a spell by 100%.

Level 15: You can roll the variable, numeric effects of your spells twice, taking the best.

Level 21: You can charge incredible power into your spells, increasing the variable, numeric benefits of a spell by 100% for each three increases in spell level you apply.

Enlarge Spell

Level 1: You act as one level higher for purposes of determining your spells' ranges per two points of your spellcasting ability modifier.

Level 3: Normal feat benefit.

Level 6: You increase any fixed spell ranges by 50%.

Level 10: As a +2 metamagic adjustment, you can increase a Touch range spell to Close, Close to Medium, or Medium to Long.

Level 15: You can cast spells whose effects extend outward from you to emanate from a square within Close range.

Level 21: You can cast spells at tremendous ranges. For each increase in spell level you apply, you double the range of the spell (these doublings stack mathematically; a +3 increase results in a X8 range).

Eschew Components
(Replaces Eschew Materials, Natural Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell)

Level 1: You no longer need to provide material components for spells with a cost of less than one gold piece.

Level 3: You no longer need to speak to cast spells.

Level 6: You no longer need to gesture to cast spells.

Level 10: You can ignore up to 100 gold worth of component costs or focus requirements per level per day.

Level 15: You can ignore up to 25 XP worth of XP costs per level per day.

Level 21: You can ignore your full daily allotment of component, focus, and XP costs for each spell you cast, rather than per day.

Extend Spell

Level 1: Any spell you cast with a duration of Concentration or Concentration + X rounds lasts one additional round after you cease concentrating per two points of your spellcasting ability modifier.

Level 3: Normal feat benefit.

Level 6: You can cast a spell on yourself and delay its activation for up to one hour per level, activating it any time during this period with a swift action. The spell only affects you, even if it would normally affect multiple targets. You may only have one such spell being delayed at any time. As a scaling upgrade, you can gain additional delayed spells; for each new spell, you must purchase the upgrade a number of times equal to twice your current number of allowed delayed spells (so twice to get a second delayed spell, four more times for a third, six more times for a fourth, etc).

Level 10: As a +3 metamagic adjustment, you can increase the duration of a spell by one step (rounds -> minutes -> tens of minutes -> hours). This cannot make a spell last for a duration longer than hours, and cannot be applied to the same spell multiple times.

Level 15: Any attempt to dispel your spells must be rolled twice, taking the worse of the two rolls.

Level 21: You can cast spells that last for a tremendous duration. For each increase in spell level you apply, you double the duration of the spell (these doublings stack mathematically; a +3 increase results in a X8 duration).

Favored Ability
(Replaces Extra Turning and Improved Turning...and Ability Focus, for that matter)

Level 1: Choose an ability (not counting spellcasting). If that ability has a limited number of uses, you gain one additional use per appropriate time period. For each four uses you normally have, you gain one additional use. Uses per round are not affected unless the ability is normally usable more than once per round. As a scaling upgrade, you gain these bonus uses once again.

Level 3: Any ability scores that your chosen ability uses can be switched to a different ability score of your choice. As a simple, scaling upgrade, you can add a +2 bonus to any of the following (maximum of once per bonus): your effective level for the ability, the DC of the ability, or any d20 rolls made for the ability.

Level 6: If a use of your chosen ability fails to have an effect, that use of the ability does not count as expended.

Level 10: If your chosen ability is usable a limited number of times per day, you can use it once per encounter without expending uses.

Level 15: Once in whatever period you can normally use your chosen ability, you can reduce its activation to a swift action, if normally standard, or a free action, if normally swift.

Level 21: Weekly uses of your chosen ability become daily. Daily uses become per encounter. Per encounter uses become at will.

Great Fortitude

Level 1: Fortitude becomes a good saving throw for all of your classes. You may substitute your Strength modifier for your Constitution modifier on Fortitude saves.

Level 3: You gain Mettle, but only regarding Fortitude saves.

Level 6: You may take 10 on Fortitude saves.

Level 10: You may roll twice on any Fortitude saves you make, taking the better of the two rolls.

Level 15: You may make a Fortitude save to negate any effect that would affect your physiology, respiration, health (but not simply effects that cause damage), spirit, or physical shape, even if such a save is not normally allowed or a different save would otherwise be required. This includes damage, drain, and penalties to your physical ability scores as well as negative levels.

Level 21: If you succeed a Fortitude save, you become immune to any further actions that require a Fortitude save from that opponent for the rest of the encounter.

Heighten Spell

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: Whenever you heighten a spell, you also gain a +1 bonus to your caster level with the spell per spell level increase.

Level 6: Whenever you heighten a spell, you increase any dice rolled by one die step (d4 -> d6 -> d8 -> d10 -> d12) per two additional spell levels. Past d12, add a +1 bonus per die.

Level 10: Your spells cannot be countered, dispelled, removed, or ended by lower-level spells.

Level 15: Whenever a spell of lower level would provide or improve a defense against one of your spells, you can override that spell with an opposed caster level check, negating the benefit if you succeed.

Level 21: Whenever you heighten a spell, you can apply the effects of other metamagic feats you know, with each two levels of Heighten counting as one level of increase for another metamagic feat (this bonus increase only applies once, so an Empowered, Quickened, Heightened+4 Fireball would count as a Level 11 spell, for example, rather than Level 13).

Improved Companion
(replaces Improved Familiar)

Level 1: When calling an animal companion, familiar, special mount, or similar companion, you can use the rules for an animal companion of a druid of your character level, plus the intelligence and abilities of a familiar of a wizard of your level. You can also choose magical beasts as your companion, with each 2 CR of the creature imposing a -3 penalty to your effective druid level.

Level 3: You suffer no penalties for the death of your companion, and can replace it immediately with an eight-hour ritual.

Level 6: Your companion does not need to be within five feet to benefit from the Share Spells ability. It is immune to any of your spells that you do not wish to affect it.

Level 10: As a swift action, you can allow your companion to cast one of your spells this round (it must spend the normal action to do so), with a spell level no higher than half your highest-level spell, rounded down.

Level 15: As long as it is within five feet, as a full-round action, your companion can apply a -1 metamagic reducer to a spell you cast.

Level 21: You no longer need to spend a swift action to allow your companion to cast one of your spells.

Improved Counterspell

Level 1: Normal feat benefit.

Level 3: You can counterspell as an immediate action. As an upgrade, you can counterspell by spending an attack of opportunity.

Level 6: You can counterspell with any spell that is equal or higher level than the target spell, regardless of school.

Level 10: When you counterspell, you can roll an opposed caster level check. If you succeed, you do not spend the spell slot you used to counterspell.

Level 15: When you successfully counterspell, you can redirect the targeting of the spell as if you had cast it, rather than negating the spell.

Level 21: You may counterspell an unlimited number of times per round.

Iron Will

Level 1: Will becomes a good saving throw for all of your classes. You may substitute your Charisma modifier for your Wisdom modifier on Will saves.

Level 3: You gain Mettle, but only regarding Will saves.

Level 6: You may take 10 on Will saves.

Level 10: You may roll twice on any Will saves you make, taking the better of the two rolls.

Level 15: You may make a Will save to negate any effect that would affect your mind, spirit, or equipment, even if such a save is not normally allowed or a different save would otherwise be required. This includes damage, drain, and penalties to your mental ability scores and negative levels.

Level 21: If you succeed a Will save, you become immune to any further actions that require a Will save from that opponent for the rest of the encounter.

Lightning Reflexes

Level 1: Reflex becomes a good saving throw for all of your classes. You may substitute your Intelligence modifier for your Dexterity modifier on Reflex saves.

Level 3: You gain Evasion.

Level 6: You may take 10 on Reflex saves.

Level 10: You may roll twice on any Reflex saves you make, taking the better of the two rolls.

Level 15: You may make a Reflex save to ignore any effect that would hamper your speed and mobility, even if such a save is not normally allowed. You can also make a Reflex save against effects that require a touch attack, rather than requiring the touch attack roll.

Level 21: If you succeed a Reflex save, you become immune to any further actions that require a Reflex save from that opponent for the rest of the encounter. This ability does not apply to Reflex saves made due to the Dodge feat or similar abilities, although it does apply to Reflex saves made as the result of the Level 15 ability of this feat.

Maximize Spell

Level 1: For any variable, numeric effects of the spells you cast, you can reroll any dice that show up as the minimum result.

Level 3: Normal feat benefit.

Level 6: For any variable, numeric effects of the spells you cast, any dice that naturally show up as the maximum roll may be rerolled and added (this does not occur if they are maximized by the feat, or if they have no option but to be the maximum, as with a d2 modified by both this and the first level effect of this feat).

Level 10: As a +2 metamagic adjustment, you can ignore any resistance or immunity targets might have to your spell.

Level 15: For any variable, numeric effects of the spells you cast, any die roll that shows up as less than half the maximum possible roll is increased to equal half the maximum roll.

Level 21: You can ensure the highest possible chance of your spells functioning to their fullest. For each three spell level increases you apply, targets must roll one additional save against your spell, taking the worst result.

Quicken Spell

Level 1: You reduce the casting time of any spells that require multiple time increments (such as multiple rounds or minutes) by one such increment per two points of your primary casting modifier, to a minimum of one increment.

Level 3: You gain the benefit of the Rapid Metamagic feat.

Level 6: By spending both a full-round action and a swift action, you may cast two spells that have a normal casting time of one standard action or less. The total combined spell levels of these two spells cannot exceed your highest available spell level, and neither spell's level is allowed to exceed half your spellcasting ability modifier.

Level 10: Normal feat benefit.

Level 15: Any spells you cast with a casting time of One Round change to a casting time of One Full Round Action. You also halve the casting time of any spells that have a normal casting time of more than one round.

Level 21: You can cast multiple spells at once. You may only do so with spells that have a casting time of one standard action, and must spend a swift action in addition to the standard action to cast the spells. Choose one primary spell to cast and apply the epic benefit of this feat to. For each three additional spell levels, you simultaneously cast additional spells with a total spell level equal to the spell level of the primary spell, not counting the increase for this feat (so if you cast Meteor Swarm with a +6 increase, you could simultaneously cast up to 18 additional levels of spells). No such spell can be higher level than half the primary spell level, after this modification (so none of the above spells could be higher than 7th level).

Run

Level 1: Normal feat benefit. Additionally, you don't take a -2 penalty to AC when charging.

Level 3: You may move up to three times your speed, rather than twice your speed, when taking a double move, charge, or withdraw action.

Level 6: You no longer need to run or charge in a straight line, and can run or charge past other characters and over difficult terrain following the normal rules of movement.

Level 10: You no longer need to make Constitution checks or suffer fatigue from running, hustling, and forced marching. Additionally, in any round that you do nothing but move, you gain the benefits of a total defense.

Level 15: When running or charging, you are nearly impossible to stop. Against magical obstructions that would block or slow your movement, roll a Fortitude save to break right through. Against physical obstructions, you add your BAB + 1 per 10' of base movement speed to any Strength check to break through, and ignore any speed reduction from terrain. In addition, you halve the damage inflicted by any hazardous squares you pass through or traps or attacks of opportunity you trigger during your movement, and get a +5 bonus to AC and saving throws against such dangers.

Level 21: When running, your speed is multiplied by 10. If you push yourself, suffering normal fatigue for running, the multiplier increases to 100. As a scaling, simple upgrade, you increase these multipliers another factor of 10.

Spell Focus

Level 1: Choose a school of magic. Spells from that school have a save DC of 10 + 1/2 your character level + your spellcasting ability modifier, regardless of the spell's level. As a scaling upgrade, you can increase any caster level cap on spells of your chosen school by 1.

Level 3: You can take 10 on saving throws against spells of your chosen school.

Level 6: You gain a -1 metamagic reducer for spells of your chosen school.

Level 10: Spells of your chosen school ignore immunities, although creatures that would normally be immune receive a +4 bonus on any allowed saving throw, or receive a saving throw to negate if a save is not normally allowed. For this purpose, True Seeing counts as an immunity to illusion effects, and when against a character with this feat keyed to illusion spells simply allows a Will save to disbelieve immediately upon seeing the illusion.

Level 15: Spells of your chosen school ignore Spell Resistance.

Level 21: You can spontaneously cast any spell of your chosen school on your class spell list.

Spell Penetration

Level 1: You can take 10 on caster level checks.

Level 3: You lower any Energy Resistance against your spells by your caster level.

Level 6: If you fail a caster level check, you can reroll it as a swift action.

Level 10: You can potentially pierce immunities to your spells. Doing so requires a caster level check, DC 15 + the target's CR.

Level 15: You can take 20 on caster level checks.

Level 21: You may cast spells of up to half your maximum spell level into or while within an antimagic area.

Widen Spell

Level 1: When centering a spread, burst, or cylinder, you may center it on a square rather than an intersection, filling that square and with the full radius extending outward from the chosen square.

Level 3: Normal feat benefit.

Level 6: When casting an area spell, you may choose to create two areas, positioned separately, each with half the normal area (so instead of a 20' radius burst, you could place two 10' radius bursts). Although this generally results in reduced total coverage, you may target each area individually, potentially affecting a more spread-out group or different parts of a large battlefield. If these areas overlap, there is no effect of greater exposure.

Level 10: As a +2 metamagic adjustment, you can double the amount of distance that can be between multiple targets of a spell.

Level 15: You double the range and area of any spells that emanate outward from you, rather than from a target point (including most cones and bolts).

Level 21: You can cast spells with tremendous areas of effect. For each two spell level increases, you double the area of the spell. This is a mathematic doubling; a Fireball increased by four spell levels would affect an 80' radius.

jiriku
2011-07-07, 12:33 AM
Worthy, and very comprehensive. Perhaps too comprehensive. Some of my own homebrew has been (fairly) criticized for overwhelming players with too many options, and I think this system crosses that line. Even a character with no bonus feats will need to keep track of 48 feat abilities + upgrades by level 21. A fighter might have over a hundred feat abilities to remember and track, all at once. I shudder even to suggest this when I think of how much work you must have invested already and how much rework I'm about to propose, but I'd suggest that your redesign of feats should include a maximum of three tiers, that (with a few, reasonable exceptions) only tactical feats should have multiple uses, and that many feats (especially the power, well-regarded feats) don't need revamping.

While there's tremendous creativity and innovation here, many of these abilities feel a little forced, as though you felt compelled by your 1-3-6-10-15-21 formula to add new abilities to feats that really didn't need them, and some of the abilities wind up feeling like filler. This dilutes the overall impact of the homebrew.

I realize that, as constructive criticism goes, this is kind of vague and aimless. If you'd like specific examples, LMK.

Domriso
2011-07-07, 12:48 AM
I agree with Jiriku. While I love scaling feats (I use a version of my own in my homebrew), the simple expansiveness of feat abilities here seems... extreme.

My suggestion would be to cut down on the number of abilities. This does seem a bit harsh considering the work you obviously put in, but I feel that having five abilities is a much more manageable number. In my own system, I have the feat grant an automatic ability, and then scale based on different factors, usually skill ranks. 0 ranks is the first ability, then 4, 9, 14 and 19 (or, if max ranks are being put in, at levels 1, 6, 11, and 16).

It seems to work out well that way. To be fair, I also have no class grant bonus feats (my system is highly altered), and players get a feat every odd level. With Humans no longer gaining an extra feat, all players end up with 10 feats by 19th level, and hence they end up with a maximum possibility of 50 feat abilities. Not horribly unmanageable, but somewhat expansive.

I'd be glad to talk more specifics with you, if you want.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 01:23 AM
Yeah I can see that. So here's a question then, is it likely too many abilities to consider and choose among, or just too many to keep track of in play? In the first case, weeding some out may be required, whereas the latter is easily solvable by, as Domriso suggests, some system so that every feat doesn't automatically scale.

Also, which of the abilities seem more like filler? Less viable abilities would be my first choice for removal (or, barring that, they're ones I'd like to take a look at and potentially revise).

Thanks for the critiques!

Tanuki Tales
2011-07-07, 09:36 AM
Just commenting on Diehard, you should make note at the beginning that the Fast Healing granted by the feat is specifically different from regular Fast Healing; because regular Fast Healing does in fact function till you're dead.

Since the feat doesn't initially mention the Fast Healing as different from the basic ability then your additional rules text just seems redundant/incorrect/confusing.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 01:19 PM
...Huh. For some reason, I was under the impression that it stopped at 0 hit points. Fixing. Thanks for the catch!

NeoSeraphi
2011-07-07, 02:03 PM
Two-Weapon Fighting...you may resolve one attack per round as a touch attack



:smallconfused: This is coming from the guy who posted in my Brawler thread that Wraithstrike is the only spell he bans and he dislikes melee attacks as touch attacks in general?

I enjoyed reading this thread. As a person who generally does plenty of book-keeping during my games, I have no problem with the sheer amount of abilities and options you are providing. The idea that a feat can grow with the character is always something I have been a strong proponent of, and these feat reduxes are fantastic. For example, Toughness is actually not only not-laughable anymore, it's actually a really strong and flavorful feat that a Crusader or Barbarian would drool over, and Spell Focus has become vastly better, really emphasizing that you're in touch with the school you focus in, rather than simply making the spells you cast from it a tiny bit harder to resist.

In short, way to go. Neither your OP nor your title requested PEACH so I won't impose with my opinions, just say thanks for writing it.

jiriku
2011-07-07, 02:41 PM
Yeah I can see that. So here's a question then, is it likely too many abilities to consider and choose among, or just too many to keep track of in play? In the first case, weeding some out may be required, whereas the latter is easily solvable by, as Domriso suggests, some system so that every feat doesn't automatically scale.

It's a little of column A, and a little of column B. For example, let's say that I am a generic 10th level blaster wizard and I take Extend Spell and Quicken spell to fill my two class-related bonus feat slots. Let's say that I also take Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Heighten Spell, and I round it out with Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot to make myself better with ray spells.

Now, when I use spells, I have a total of 20 different ways to modify my spells, and 8 additional modifiers for my ray spells. Some of them are static benefits that I must remember whenever I cast a spell (like Heighten 10 and Spell Focus 1). Others are conditional benefits that require me to check the type of spell I'm casting or the type of opponent I'm targeting (like Spell Focus 10 or Precise Shot 6). Others are metamagic adjustments I need to consider when preparing spells (like Extend 10 or Heighten 6). Finally, some allow me to modify my spells on the fly, and I must remain alert for situations where the option would be useful (like Quicken 1 or Quicken 10).

This is in addition to all the bookkeeping normally required of me when I prepare and use my dozens of spells.

Now, some players might enjoy this complexity, but some will just have their brains explode. And because you're modifying every feat in the game, there's no way to opt out. If a player don't want to deal with option bonanza, all he can do is ignore most of his abilities and end up much less powerful than the rest of the party. The complexity serves as a barrier to entry, limiting the type of person who can play and enjoy your game.

Suggestion: A feat (unless it's a tactical feat) should create no more than one new option or decision for a player.


Also, which of the abilities seem more like filler? Less viable abilities would be my first choice for removal (or, barring that, they're ones I'd like to take a look at and potentially revise).

Thanks for the critiques!

It's hard to call out examples when confronted with 400 feat abilities, but looking just at Quicken Spell as an example:

Quicken 1 is incredibly specialized, and offhand I can't even think of a 1st-level spell that would allow you to use it. Thus, I'm not interested in taking Quicken as my 1st-level feat, and that was the whole goal behind creating a 1st-level ability, right? Also, when I do take it, Quicken 1 just an additional tacked-on ability that I wasn't shopping for; it just sort of wound up ion my character sheet and I may or may not have any use for it.

Quicken 3 is situationally better, but you've tacked a benefit that's only useful for spontaneous casters onto a feat that's often taken by prepared casters. If I'm a prepared caster, Quicken 3 is a waste for me. Even if I'm a spontaneous caster, at 3rd level I'm only casting 1st level spells and cantrips, so once again it's a benefit that I don't need and really can't use.

The higher-level abilities are more useful, although Quicken 21 is godawful complicated and I can't figure out how it works. However, Quicken 6 and Quicken 21 are probably much too good for the cost of one feat, especially when considering the other benefits you're already receiving. I mean, just looking at your example, 18 extra spell levels? So I can cast maw of chaos and throw in 18 magic missile spells for an extra 90d4+90 force damage (average 315 dmg)? Yes please!

Thematically, the fact that some of these abilities have a metamagic adjustment and some don't, and that the metamagic cost is sometimes variable, is just... untidy. Almost every ability works in a completely different way from all of the others, and the only thing that connects them is that they all involve chucking out more spells in less time. I mean, you can do it that way, sure, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But when presenting a complicated menu of thematically similar abilities, it's good design practice to make them mechanically similar as well. The brain can use that structural similarity to organize the information, learning it faster and recalling it more easily.


Suggestion: Rather than trying to revamp the every feat in the SRD at once, start by modifying and posting just 3-5 related feats. You'll get better feedback, because you're asking for a smaller time investment from your readers, and you'll then have the opportunity to learn and improve before you move on to your next batch of 3-5 feats.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 03:26 PM
:smallconfused: This is coming from the guy who posted in my Brawler thread that Wraithstrike is the only spell he bans and he dislikes melee attacks as touch attacks in general?

He he, true enough. To be fair though, Wraithstrike is a second level swift action spell that makes every attack a touch attack. I'm not sure if I came across as "touch attacks should never happen ever", but that wasn't really my intent. For example, I'm perfectly fine with the Emerald Razor maneuver. For the fifteenth level ability of a feat that favors accuracy and relies on a generally sub-optimal and less-damaging fighting style (one-handed combat, the feat was Weapon Finesse actually, not TWF), I figured a 1/round touch attack was reasonable enough.

If that makes me inconsistent...meh, I'll live with it. :smallwink:


I enjoyed reading this thread. As a person who generally does plenty of book-keeping during my games, I have no problem with the sheer amount of abilities and options you are providing. The idea that a feat can grow with the character is always something I have been a strong proponent of, and these feat reduxes are fantastic. For example, Toughness is actually not only not-laughable anymore, it's actually a really strong and flavorful feat that a Crusader or Barbarian would drool over, and Spell Focus has become vastly better, really emphasizing that you're in touch with the school you focus in, rather than simply making the spells you cast from it a tiny bit harder to resist.

In short, way to go. Neither your OP nor your title requested PEACH so I won't impose with my opinions, just say thanks for writing it.

Thanks! Glad you liked it. And uh...I guess I better go back and add PEACH then. I've always been a bit confused about PEACH...if I'm posting homebrew to a public forum, my default assumption is that I want it to be examined and commented honestly upon. I wasn't sure there was really an alternative. :smallredface:


It's a little of column A, and a little of column B. For example, let's say that I am a generic 10th level blaster wizard and I take Extend Spell and Quicken spell to fill my two class-related bonus feat slots. Let's say that I also take Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Heighten Spell, and I round it out with Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot to make myself better with ray spells.

Now, when I use spells, I have a total of 20 different ways to modify my spells, and 8 additional modifiers for my ray spells. Some of them are static benefits that I must remember whenever I cast a spell (like Heighten 10 and Spell Focus 1). Others are conditional benefits that require me to check the type of spell I'm casting or the type of opponent I'm targeting (like Spell Focus 10 or Precise Shot 6). Others are metamagic adjustments I need to consider when preparing spells (like Extend 10 or Heighten 6). Finally, some allow me to modify my spells on the fly, and I must remain alert for situations where the option would be useful (like Quicken 1 or Quicken 10).

This is in addition to all the bookkeeping normally required of me when I prepare and use my dozens of spells.

This is a good point, and something I do have to give some serious thought to. Even all else aside, the last thing D&D needs is more combat slowdown.


Now, some players might enjoy this complexity, but some will just have their brains explode. And because you're modifying every feat in the game, there's no way to opt out. If a player don't want to deal with option bonanza, all he can do is ignore most of his abilities and end up much less powerful than the rest of the party. The complexity serves as a barrier to entry, limiting the type of person who can play and enjoy your game.

Another good point, although I'd go so far as to say that there being no way to opt out is necessary. This variant is kinda like gestalt in that way - either everyone has to do it, or no one should.


Suggestion: A feat (unless it's a tactical feat) should create no more than one new option or decision for a player.

This would solve the problem, although I'd need to think about it. Theoretically, it can work, if each feat grants one option, and then simply makes that option better as levels improve. It could work, although some options can only be pushed so far.


Quicken 1 is incredibly specialized, and offhand I can't even think of a 1st-level spell that would allow you to use it. Thus, I'm not interested in taking Quicken as my 1st-level feat, and that was the whole goal behind creating a 1st-level ability, right? Also, when I do take it, Quicken 1 just an additional tacked-on ability that I wasn't shopping for; it just sort of wound up ion my character sheet and I may or may not have any use for it.

Okay, that's fair.


Quicken 3 is situationally better, but you've tacked a benefit that's only useful for spontaneous casters onto a feat that's often taken by prepared casters. If I'm a prepared caster, Quicken 3 is a waste for me. Even if I'm a spontaneous caster, at 3rd level I'm only casting 1st level spells and cantrips, so once again it's a benefit that I don't need and really can't use.

That was me goofing up. That should have been...Rapid Spell, I think it is. The one that lowers the casting time of high casting time spell. OOPS!


The higher-level abilities are more useful, although Quicken 21 is godawful complicated and I can't figure out how it works. However, Quicken 6 and Quicken 21 are probably much too good for the cost of one feat, especially when considering the other benefits you're already receiving. I mean, just looking at your example, 18 extra spell levels? So I can cast maw of chaos and throw in 18 magic missile spells for an extra 90d4+90 force damage (average 315 dmg)? Yes please!

Hmm...I had figured the level 6 to be less powerful, but perhaps more efficient, than normal quickening. Although, I suppose when trying to output extra spells, more efficiency means more power. So in any case, that one will need to be revised.

And I suppose Quicken 21 will as well. I made the classic balance error of looking at it the way I anticipated it being used (dropping several fairly high-level spells - still quite powerful, but I think epic-appropriate) rather than the most dangerous way it could be used, which as you demonstrate includes spamming a massive load of low-level spells. Good catch!


Thematically, the fact that some of these abilities have a metamagic adjustment and some don't, and that the metamagic cost is sometimes variable, is just... untidy. Almost every ability works in a completely different way from all of the others, and the only thing that connects them is that they all involve chucking out more spells in less time. I mean, you can do it that way, sure, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But when presenting a complicated menu of thematically similar abilities, it's good design practice to make them mechanically similar as well. The brain can use that structural similarity to organize the information, learning it faster and recalling it more easily.


That makes a lot of sense. This was actually something of the way I designed the metamagic feats, Heighten aside. The level 1, 6, and 15 abilities are more minor benefits that apply in general; the level 3 and 10 abilities are actual metamagic effects (level 3 usually being the default effect, unless, as with Quicken, the SL adjustment is really high); and the level 21 ability was an effect that could be applied multiple times, typically effectively the main function of the feat costing one spell level less and stackable.


Suggestion: Rather than trying to revamp the every feat in the SRD at once, start by modifying and posting just 3-5 related feats. You'll get better feedback, because you're asking for a smaller time investment from your readers, and you'll then have the opportunity to learn and improve before you move on to your next batch of 3-5 feats.

You know, it's funny, I was originally considering doing that. I figured, I could post my favorite, say, ten feats, and if anyone was interested in particular ones I'd just post them. I decided against it because it seemed like if only a few of the feats were used, it would look less like a coherent system, and more like just a few overpowered feats. Maybe it was the wrong choice...but eh, too late now I suppose.:smallsigh:

You make a lot of good points though, and I do think the system will be a lot more usable if I can implement them effectively. I'm going to think about how I might do so.

jiriku
2011-07-07, 05:32 PM
Theoretically, it can work, if each feat grants one option, and then simply makes that option better as levels improve. It could work, although some options can only be pushed so far.

Yup.


That makes a lot of sense. This was actually something of the way I designed the metamagic feats, Heighten aside. The level 1, 6, and 15 abilities are more minor benefits that apply in general; the level 3 and 10 abilities are actual metamagic effects (level 3 usually being the default effect, unless, as with Quicken, the SL adjustment is really high); and the level 21 ability was an effect that could be applied multiple times, typically effectively the main function of the feat costing one spell level less and stackable.

Perhaps you might build each metamagic feat to have a +0, +1, +2, +3, +4, and +5 abilities. This covers every non-epic metamagic short of Persistent Spell. Although, I have no idea what a +5 version of Invisible Spell would look like. Also, some metamagic feats are awesome as-is, and adding five new levels of awesomeness to them would probably break the system. So possibly this idea of mine sucks. Hmmm. Oh well, casualty of brainstorming.

Completely random thought: if you're wedded to the 1-3-6-10-15-21 format, consider only granting feats at those six levels, and eliminating all of the smorgasbord of bonus feats granted by various other classes and prestige classes. Hah, I managed to use smorgasbord in a sentence! Anyhoo, downside is that it would be a massive overhaul and the game couldn't properly be called 3.5 D&D once you were done with it, but upside is that the system would make a LOT of logical sense. Ah, the price we pay for logic.



You know, it's funny, I was originally considering doing that. I figured, I could post my favorite, say, ten feats, and if anyone was interested in particular ones I'd just post them. I decided against it because it seemed like if only a few of the feats were used, it would look less like a coherent system, and more like just a few overpowered feats.

Fair concerns. I've found that once I hit the 8-12 feat mark in my own posts, feedback usually dries up, and if I'm lucky I get one dedicated poster who sticks with it to help me out. Of course, you're exactly right: make your post too small, and people dismiss it as a trivial effort and pass it by. Catch-22.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 07:03 PM
Perhaps you might build each metamagic feat to have a +0, +1, +2, +3, +4, and +5 abilities. This covers every non-epic metamagic short of Persistent Spell. Although, I have no idea what a +5 version of Invisible Spell would look like. Also, some metamagic feats are awesome as-is, and adding five new levels of awesomeness to them would probably break the system. So possibly this idea of mine sucks. Hmmm. Oh well, casualty of brainstorming.

That would be fairly interesting, and make them more level-appropriate, but I'm wondering if I can come up with enough options worth the cost. One of the reasons I went with the system I did was because otherwise, I would imagine a lot of metamagic feats would wind up folded into one another (Empower and Maximize, for example...Still and Silent already did get that treatment in any case). Alternately, I could add a selection of more minor advantages when you do apply the metamagic feat, although I'd be worried how that would stack with metamagic reducers. Hmm...


Completely random thought: if you're wedded to the 1-3-6-10-15-21 format, consider only granting feats at those six levels, and eliminating all of the smorgasbord of bonus feats granted by various other classes and prestige classes. Hah, I managed to use smorgasbord in a sentence! Anyhoo, downside is that it would be a massive overhaul and the game couldn't properly be called 3.5 D&D once you were done with it, but upside is that the system would make a LOT of logical sense. Ah, the price we pay for logic.

Yeah, even as big as this is, that's probably something for a much larger-scale system change (besides, I'd like for this system to make fighters actually gain some respect :smallamused:). Flip side, I might add a section on other optional rules. Wizards don't really need to be basking in the glory of five bonus feats with feats improved this substantially.

What could make an interesting compromise would be that at each such level, you choose an existing feat to scale, rather than scaling all of them (maybe with the option of giving up a feat to make another feat scale, to help fighters and such). That would make the non-core feats a bit more viable in the non-scaling slots, tone down the sheer volume of abilities, and give the optimizers a few more hard choices to make.

As far as being wedded to that improvement rate...I dunno. I think what I'm going to do is lead off with some options for integrating the system aside from "all feats work like this". Then I'll look the feats over, and at the very least streamline things so that each feat has a maximum of one action or situation that the player has to keep track of, with all other improvements either supporting that action or situation or being constant-use. If it seems viable, I might also scale it down to a 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 progression.

I do definitely want the feats to all have the same progression, whatever that ends up being. Doing otherwise I think has too much potential for balance headaches.

NeoSeraphi
2011-07-07, 07:21 PM
Speaking of wizard bonus feats, you should make a single, scaling Item Creation feat. That would really make an easier time on everyone.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 07:24 PM
Err...I did. Or well, I made a generic item creation feat that can be used for each type. You mean just have a "Craft Magic Item" feat that is like...Level 1 you can scribe scrolls, Level 3 you can brew potions and craft wondrous items, Level 6 you can craft magic arms and armor, etc?

NeoSeraphi
2011-07-07, 07:40 PM
Yes. Did you? I didn't see it in the list

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 07:51 PM
Okay, no, I didn't have one that does that. I had Craft [Item Type], which is still based on crafting just a single type of item, but gives extra advantages as it scales.

A one-feat-fits-all Craft feat is an interesting idea, though. I might replace it.

Domriso
2011-07-07, 08:02 PM
In my homebrew, I use the True Sorcery system of magic by Green Ronin rather than the Vancian system of standard D&D, and that's exactly what I did. Rather than needing to take multiple item creation feats, the one feat just grows to allow for more and more abilities.

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-07, 08:25 PM
Okay, new item creation feat, and optional rules for implementing the system, are both up.

druidor
2011-07-07, 09:26 PM
So first of all, awesome; second, I just wanted to point out; granted there's a ton of info, but most feats from the first post, and the metamagic feats don't seem to be the sort of thing that is that hard to keep track of; same goes for the save improvement feats, really; the skill boost feats seem like they'll be tough to track, but I don't think anyone would take more than 1 or maybe 2 at max of those; Also, the reason none of the feats on the first page seem to be hard to track (to me anyways) is because it's basically like doing combat with different rules; the very first session with the variation introduced by a feat might be tricky, but it'll quickly become normal to say that fighting w/ two weapons involves as many off hand hits as main hand ones, then copying enchantments, then only keeping the best of two rolls, and finally using a single touch attack each round. I should say though, taking all the combat maneuver feats, and then using them all at once, and calculating all the effects, would be nuts; it also only seems fair to the fighter though in, revenge for time stop shenanigans.

jiriku
2011-07-08, 12:57 AM
What could make an interesting compromise would be that at each such level, you choose an existing feat to scale, rather than scaling all of them (maybe with the option of giving up a feat to make another feat scale, to help fighters and such).

This idea has merit. You might also consider "advanced feats" that lack lower-level entry points. For example, Quicken Spell might be an advanced feat that only has level 10, 15, and 21 abilities, while Heighten Spell might be a basic feat with abilities granted at all brackets. This would relieve some of the design pressure on you to invent multiple weaker abilities for the handful of feats that are just downright strong as written.


If it seems viable, I might also scale it down to a 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 progression.

I see wut u did thar. That lines up perfectly with the levels at which fighters gain iterative attacks, and would, for example, allow you to neatly compress the entire two-weapon fighting tree into a single feat (which needs doing).

cmakonline
2011-07-08, 04:42 PM
This might have been answered clearly (but I might have missed it - sorry). Each level is started at level 1 regardless of the level when taken? Also does taking a feat replace all of the feats you will take in the future (progression wise)? Or do you simply just pay the 2 skill points for the next level like a skill trick?

These feat progressions are very cool!

Also you might want to include Greater Manyshot (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-1280-greater-manyshot.html) instead of (or addition to) the Improved Manyshot (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-1519-improved-manyshot.html) as listed. Or have it listed separately from the rapid shot (since most people into rapid shot don't do manyshot and visa versa).

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-08, 06:28 PM
By default, each feat gives all accumulated abilities. The feat you gain at 15th level provides the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 15th level abilities. Likewise, when you reach 15th level, the feat you gained at 1st level provides all five abilities. You only have to spend skill points to purchase actual upgrades (unless using that upgrade-based scaling variant).

gkathellar
2011-07-09, 03:24 PM
This is great. I really, really enjoy this, but, uh ...

Leadership? Come on, really? Not only did you bring it back, you made it available at lower levels, and you made it more powerful. And, you realize that increasing the power all these other feats exponentially increases the value of leadership, right?

Quellian-dyrae
2011-07-09, 03:42 PM
Yeah, good point. In my games, Leadership is almost always a "hey by the way I have a crew of NPCs and maybe some high-level guy with some utility stuff" thing. Eh, or sometimes a "level-appropriate mount" feat. I tend to gloss over the severe balance issues, so the dinky number and power of followers you can get just makes, say, your elite assassin's guild or pirate-hunting fleet or whatever seem so pitiful.

But you're absolutely right, in the general sense, Leadership is already a massively powerful and abusable feat, and is in the DMG rather than the PHB anyway, so it has no point being in this system.

erictheredd
2011-07-09, 04:44 PM
Oh my power. This could lead to some crazy fighters.

Bovine Colonel
2011-07-22, 10:24 PM
How much would people say these feats improve fighter-types if only fighter-types gain access to these? I'm thinking of using them in my game in two months.

deuxhero
2011-07-23, 01:41 AM
Skill Focus doesn't really do anything for Knowledge skills other than the reroll. I suppose that's just as well, Loremaster is the only reason anyone takes it.

Popertop
2011-07-23, 09:11 PM
I like the feats having a base use, then maybe two improvements.

1, 6, 16 seems to work

gkathellar
2011-07-23, 09:48 PM
How much would people say these feats improve fighter-types if only fighter-types gain access to these? I'm thinking of using them in my game in two months.

The fighter needs an actual fix, and I strongly believe that giving them unique access to strong feats is the wrong way to go about it — mostly because feats, considered totally independently from the fighter, also need a fix.

That said, simply using these feats will give even the basic fighter a boost in power, since he'll have more than twice as many of these scaling abilities (some of which are quite powerful).