Most Interesting\Flavorful Feat?

[IslandDog]

Hey Playgrounders,
I'm about to start a new campaign as a human Archivist. I'm taking Academic Priest, of course, and for my second feat I was thinking of Necrotic Cyst (a suggestion from the Archivist handbook). While I'm not sure how powerful Necrotic Cyst is, it certainly is pretty cool. And that got me thinking...

What do you think is DnD's Most Interesting Feat?

It doesn't need to be powerful, but it should be applicable. I'm talking flavorful, interesting feats that potentially introduce new gameplay mechanics. Just to move away from the more dry stuff like Weapon Focus or Combat Expertise.

What do you think?

[delenn]

Brachiation comes to mind - not sure it's Most Interesting of All Feats, but I recently entertained the idea for funsies, though it wouldn't prove very useful to my character in the long run.

[IslandDog]

Brachiation comes to mind - not sure it's Most Interesting of All Feats, but I recently entertained the idea for funsies, though it wouldn't prove very useful to my character in the long run.

That's hilarious!
Another one I've found recently is the Willing Deformity chain of feats. Some of them don't even seem half bad!

[Coy]

I was always a sucker for Dark Speech.

If you don't go OTT with misuse, its just a cool as heck feat.

But I always liked the idea of power in words. Truenamers, Dracolexi, Illumians. And for those fiction fans out there, enuncia from the black library, and of course, 'Naming' itself, ala kingkiller.

[Actana]

Blessed by Tem-Et-Nu. Because nothing says interesting like a feat that allows you to rebuke hippos. Not because the ability itself is interesting, but because you start to think how on earth did the writers think this was a way to use a feat.

But really. Rebuking hippos? The awesome scale is off the charts.

[Meowmasterish]

Wedded to History from Dragon Magazine is really interesting, especially the Wanderer background.

The necromancer in the party was gearing to become a necropolitan, and didn't want the HP con damages, so he took Fairy Mysteries Initiate (Passions) from Dragon Magazine.

[Inevitability]

I'm a sucker for Precocious Apprentice. I really like the idea of having a small chance of performing magic above your level, and the things you can do with it...

[atemu1234]

I like the Vow of Poverty feat. It's good for making a character with no items, but it's a pain in the ass for most other things. It sucks, but it's flavorful.

[FullStop]

Short Haft.

[HaikenEdge]

Wedded to History from Dragon Magazine is really interesting, especially the Wanderer background.

The necromancer in the party was gearing to become a necropolitan, and didn't want the HP con damages, so he took Fairy Mysteries Initiate (Passions) from Dragon Magazine.

I second Wedded to History, but I really like the Golden Ager background (for fluff); crunch-wise, I prefer Throwback, but that's another topic entirely.

[Dr. Azkur]

Spellfire Wielder always caught my eye, though I never got to the part of building a character around it.

And the Abyssal Heritor feats when taken by the bulk are pretty cool too (I'm a huge fan of Demonic Sneak Attack).

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by IslandDog
It doesn't need to be powerful, but it should be applicable. I'm talking flavorful, interesting feats that potentially introduce new gameplay mechanics.

I'm a longtime fan of Tattoo Magic from Races of Faerûn, which allows you to cast spells into touch-activated tattoos. You can apply the tattoo to other individuals, so it's a nice way to share utility spells with party members.

Not at all overwhelming in power, but I've used this on a couple of druid builds and it was a lot of fun, especially with the druid spell list. It's also a nice way for other party members to heal themselves in a pinch.

[Bloodgruve]

I've always really liked Knowledge Devotion. The more you know about your enemy the easier it is to defeat them. Knowledge is power, literally..

Another I like for flavor is Intimidating Strike. Not terribly useful but I like to imagine a fight scene in a movie, Batman!

I guess maybe I like feats that utilize skills, sorta ties a character together.

Blood~

[atemu1234]

On second thought, I like the At Home In The Deep feat from Drow of the Underdark (3.5e). It comes in handy when you've got a level ten Drow Rogue/Fighter riding a young adult black dragon either dual wielding crossbows or a longbow, with the other darkness-ability-use granting feats to cloak an area and kill everything inside it.

[RolandDeschain]

I'm a fan of Dragon Prophesier from the Eberron setting. When I've played it in the past I added my own fluff for fun.

[IslandDog]

These are all sweet! I especially like Tattoo Magic.
I also just found Fell Conspiracy - seems cool :)
(does anyone know if its viable/worth it?)

[Shining Wrath]

It depends on your character. Different characters need different flavors.

I think Born of the Three Thunders is flavorful and not bad power-wise for a blaster sorcerer. Pay the price, get a chance to knock your enemies flat on their faces. If there's a rogue in your party, imposing stunned + prone on someone = pain.

If you're playing a Warforged two-handed fighter (and who isn't?), Brute Fighting has a nice "I'm here to smash things" flavor.

Some of the Reserve feats are pretty cool, like Borne Aloft or Summon Elemental.

[Vedhin]

If you're cool with 3rd party, On Fire (http://dsp-d20-srd.wikidot.com/on-fire).

You get bonuses for doing things that are sufficiently awesome.

[Telonius]

Without a doubt, the most flavorful is the "Delicious" commoner flaw from Dragon 330. :smallbiggrin:

I've always been fond of the "True Believer" feat. The initial mechanical bonus isn't anything special, but the access to Relics is a great way to open up any kind of plot hook the DM wants to toss out. Very flavorful, especially to a character that isn't already a Cleric or Favored Soul. If the DM is willing to design a unique Relic item, it's also a way of giving melee a Nice Thing.

[Xintas]

Not a great feat, but flavor wise I love Insane Defiance. If it weren't vile, it practically screams "Anime main character".

[Malimar]

Blessed by Tem-Et-Nu. Because nothing says interesting like a feat that allows you to rebuke hippos. Not because the ability itself is interesting, but because you start to think how on earth did the writers think this was a way to use a feat.

But really. Rebuking hippos? The awesome scale is off the charts.

You left out the best part! If you lose favor with Tem-Et-Nu, you immediately take damage as if you were bitten by a hippopotamus.

[mabriss lethe]

Bind Vestige feat chain is awesome, as are most of the Heritage feat chains, Abyssal Heritor, Illithid Heritage, Fey Heritage, Aberrant Blood.

[Forrestfire]

I second Wedded to History, but I really like the Golden Ager background (for fluff); crunch-wise, I prefer Throwback, but that's another topic entirely.

I think I'll have to third it. I love the idea of an immortal, so it's just an awesome feat.

Also, when playing in Eberron, the dragonmarks. Just such neat concepts tied into the world as a whole.

[NoACWarrior]

For me - Shape soulmeld - its not a very good feat selection, but the ability to use any 1 ability in a magic system with a single feat is pretty cool. Especially with a martial type character - gaining the magical ability to walk on water without casting a spell or taking different classes is a cool thing.

[Akal Saris]

I think Imperious Command and Master of Poisons are two of my favorites (and both are from Drow of the Underdark!). They both enable a lot of interesting character builds.

I also like 'awesome death throes' from Dragonlance, for the sheer ridiculousness of a feat that you can use...once.

[Coidzor]

I like the Vow of Poverty feat. It's good for making a character with no items, but it's a pain in the ass for most other things. It sucks, but it's flavorful.

Definitely flavorful, arguably one of the most flavorful. Much like Monk, really. Now to just find a homebrew fix of it that I both like and can remember to add to my list of houserules. Again, like Monk! :smallamused:

[Phelix-Mu]

You left out the best part! If you lose favor with Tem-Et-Nu, you immediately take damage as if you were bitten by a hippopotamus.

Now nominated as best suicide method EVAH!

My nominees:

1.) Spellfire Wielder: If you can get the DM to iron out a sensible mechanic that is more in line with 3.5 than the one from Magic of Faerun, which is pretty terrible, then this is win. Extra points if you can talk the DM into a homebrew feat tree expanding on the base feat.

2.) Ancestral Relic: Great choice for a character going for the warrior with an iconic weapon, and this feat can be worked into character background, development, and so forth to great effect. And bonus points for a money-saving and mundane-friendly mechanic. The only downside to the whole thing is the amount of time it takes to improve the thing at higher levels; as a DM who uses time pressures extensively in campaigns, it is a bit onerous, but is super-easy to change to be less so.

3.) Pressure Point Strike: So awesome, this Dragon Magazine feat is super-cool. Except it only works on humanoids and giants. Get a DM to waive that stupid rule, and it is back in the win category. Really adds great functionality to a Dex-based unarmed combat expert, or someone espousing a more internal/soft type of kung fu-esque martial arts.

[Immabozo]

Definitely flavorful, arguably one of the most flavorful. Much like Monk, really. Now to just find a homebrew fix of it that I both like and can remember to add to my list of houserules. Again, like Monk! :smallamused:

not taking them fixes both.

As does the unarmed swordsage

[gr8artist]

My favorite is Purify Spell (http://dndtools.eu/feats/book-of-exalted-deeds--52/purify-spell--2306/). Not because of its inherent flavor, but the flavor it allows you to pull off.

"I cast fireball into the crowd of goblin warriors"
"Your friend the druid is engaged with them."
"Yep. Rollin.... 20 damage. Half to neutral victims, none to goodguys."
"Druid, you take 10 damage."
"Arg! What'd you do that for? That hurts."
"Not my fault you're a sinner."

[Magikeeper]

Knight of Tyr's Merciful Sword is a very flavorful feat. I wish there were more detection abilities like it.

Landlord can be interesting (as can leadership).