3.5 Leveling the playing field (sot of)

[Ferronach]

I am slowly preparing for a campaign that I will be running in the future. In an attempt to try and make it more fun for everyone, I have made some "Feat Packages" and though of adding some new feats to my game.

Please let me know if you think that these will be good for bringing the tiers closer together or if you think they will be detrimental.



Req: Str 13
Special: Must be taken at 1st level. Fighter can take as 1st or 2nd level bonus feat.
Grants:
Power Attack at 1st level
Cleave at 2nd level
Great Cleave when BAB reaches +4



Req: Dex 15
Special: Must be taken at 1st level. Fighter can take as 1st or 2nd level bonus feat.
Grants:
2 Wep. Fighting at 1st level
2 Wep. Defense at 2nd level
Imp. 2 Wep. Fighting when BAB reaches +6 and Dex reaches 17
Greater 2 Wep. Fighting when BAB reaches >= +11 and Dex reaches 19



Req: Ride 1 rank
Special: Must be taken at 1st level. Fighter can take as 1st or 2nd level bonus feat.
Grants:
Mounted Combat at 1st level
Choice of Mounted archery, Ride by attack and trample at 2nd and 4th levels



Special: Must be taken at 1st level. Fighter can take as 1st or 2nd level bonus feat.
Grants:
Point Blank Shot at 1st level
Choice of Far shot or precise shot at 2nd level
Rapid Shot at 4th level




Req: Str 15, BAB +6, Power Attack
Special: Fighter can take as bonus feat.
Grants:
2 Handed Fighting When taken.

Grants a 20% chance to hit an adjacent enemy on a successful hit. (Need to roll to hit and damage as usual if successful) and a 5% chance to trigger magical effect on weapon (like flaming).

Greater 2 Handed Fighting when Str reaches 17 and BAB >= +11.

Grants an extra 10% (total 30%) chance to hit an adjacent enemy on a successful hit. (Need to roll to hit and damage as usual if successful) and an extra 5% (total 10 %) chance to trigger magical effect on weapon (like flaming).




Req: BAB +1
Special: Must be taken by 6th level. Fighter can take as a bonus feat.
Grants:
Weapon Focus when taken
Wep. Spec. at Fighter 4/Other 6 or 1 level after taken (which ever comes later)
Improved Critical when BAB reaches +8
Greater Wep. Focus at Ftr 8/Other 10
Greater Wep. Spec. at Ftr 12/Other 14



Grants:
Endurance when Taken
Diehard 2 levels after


I also intend to change the weapon feats so that they apply to "categories" as opposed to one selected weapon.
The categories will be based on handedness and damage type, for example: 1 handed slashing or 2 handed bludgeoning. Ranged will be lumped into 1 and 2 handed ranged.

[torrasque666]

Might want to just use the Weapon Groups from Unearthed Arcana. Linky: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/weaponGroupFeats.htm

[OldTrees1]

It will not be detrimental and new content is one of the only ways to level the playing field.

That said, most of the low tier classes fail to reach Tier 3 because they are hindered too easily and/or are not competent enough outside their expertise.

[Ferronach]

Might want to just use the Weapon Groups from Unearthed Arcana. Linky: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/weaponGroupFeats.htm

I looked at those but decided that I wanted to try to get them to mesh with what I am calling the "fighting style" of the character. SO a 2 handed slash character can use the magic greatsword even though he was originally built for a greataxe... I may incorporate some of those though. Thanks :)


It will not be detrimental and new content is one of the only ways to level the playing field.

That said, most of the low tier classes fail to reach Tier 3 because they are hindered too easily and/or are not competent enough outside their expertise.

I will be accounting for that by giving some "bonus" skills and points to selected characters, mainly those of the lower tiers. I am hoping that this will help with ooc rp situations.

[OldTrees1]

I will be accounting for that by giving some "bonus" skills and points to selected characters, mainly those of the lower tiers. I am hoping that this will help with ooc rp situations.

That can cover the out of expertise problem.

The problem with obstacles is not addressed. It can be fixed with feat taxes, alternate class feature taxes, item taxes and skill trick taxes. However it would also be a good place for new content.

[Ferronach]

The problem with obstacles is not addressed. It can be fixed with feat taxes, alternate class feature taxes, item taxes and skill trick taxes. However it would also be a good place for new content.

Could you elaborate please? I am pretty new to "un-raw" stuff :(

[OldTrees1]

Could you elaborate please? I am pretty new to "un-raw" stuff :(

Ah. Well I assume you know what a tax(ex:Feat tax) is. Basically a false choice since their is only one right answer. Pounce(move and full attack) being a good example for most martial characters.

Rogues rely on Sneak Attack in combat. Sneak Attack can be prevented in a number of ways(Immunity, Concealment, Not being surprised via superior senses, or ...). The Rogue class does not have a backup plan so a Rogue tends to be forced to take "No you are not immune", "I can see through concealment" and use flanking.

Melee characters tend to need to move from point A to point B and then attack a few times before their target moves away from point B. The frequently need to deal with difficult terrain, slowing effects(solid fog, web, ...), solid walls and vertical movement(aka flying). Finally if they reach point B they need pounce to be able to make more than one attack. However pounce requires a charge which now made all the previous obstacles even harder to deal with(now you need to get past them without being affected by them).

Consider this scenario:
A Red Dragon with Heavy Fortification armor is in its volcano home. It is flying above a lake of lava. strategically placed above and in the lake is a patch of antimagic field. In the lake are a couple strategically placed prismatic walls. The Red Dragon can maneuver as it pleases(under or above the lava, in or out of the Antimagic field).

In leveling the playing field you would need to make it so that each class could competently assist in this fight.

[Lans]

For Hardy Brute you could add in toughness, roll with it, and that stone power feat that crusaders like taking

A class getting more or easier competency in there area of expertise could free up other resources. Like giving the fighter the weapon supremancy line for free, lets him spend more of his level feats on things like incarnum, devotion or dragonmarked feats, or more cash on utility items. If you got a free +1/2 to hit and damage you can afford to not get that +10 weapon and put 30k into other things.

[Ferronach]

So if I understand correctly, you are saying that I should help out those who need it by granting them useful feats that will aid them in becoming more "useful"?

Oh and thanks for the Toughness comment! was debating that one myself for a while :)
Do you think that it would be a good idea to have a one-time feat that grants +1HD when taken?

[OldTrees1]

So if I understand correctly, you are saying that I should help out those who need it by granting them useful feats that will aid them in becoming more "useful"?

Oh and thanks for the Toughness comment! was debating that one myself for a while :)
Do you think that it would be a good idea to have a one-time feat that grants +1HD when taken?

Yes. Useful feats are a very powerful balance tool. Especially if there are enough that there is a real choice between using Feat X or Feat Y to solve problem Z.

Gaining HD increases ECL, increasing ECL without gaining more/advancing class features is detrimental to a character(see Level Adjustment and Racial Hit Dice).

[StoneCipher]

I'd say you could add something that improves move speed. A wizard might be afraid of a fighter that could move at 60-90 ft. and charge for double.

[Ferronach]

Gaining HD increases ECL, increasing ECL without gaining more/advancing class features is detrimental to a character(see Level Adjustment and Racial Hit Dice).

So not +1HD but say permanently gain 1D6+4 HP? I chose 1D6+4 because its pretty much 1D10 without the painful sideffects of a bad roll.


I'd say you could add something that improves move speed. A wizard might be afraid of a fighter that could move at 60-90 ft. and charge for double.

Something like the Epic Speed Feat? Say "Speed" feat that adds +20ft to move?

Oh and a feat that minimizes the penalties for uneven terrain and such? (I seem to recall an epic feat that ignores the penalties completely so thinking that a normal feat would halve?)

[OldTrees1]

So not +1HD but say permanently gain 1D6+4 HP? I chose 1D6+4 because its pretty much 1D10 without the painful sideffects of a bad roll.



Something like the Epic Speed Feat? Say "Speed" feat that adds +20ft to move?

Oh and a feat that minimizes the penalties for uneven terrain and such? (I seem to recall an epic feat that ignores the penalties completely so thinking that a normal feat would halve?)

I do not think random hp is a good idea. A balanced Toughness feat would be better, however straight hp is not a good metric of toughness.


Remember Epic feats tend to be really weak. You probably want to buff an epic feat before it is a worthy normal feat. Take Dire Charge for example, this is too weak for a feat.

[Ferronach]

So something closer to the Improved toughness feat from CW?

[OldTrees1]

So something closer to the Improved toughness feat from CW?

Something closer, but note that Improved Toughness starts weak(when the hp is small) and ends weak(when the damage per hit easily exceeds the number of Hit Dice).

[Ferronach]

Something closer, but note that Improved Toughness starts weak(when the hp is small) and ends weak(when the damage per hit easily exceeds the number of Hit Dice).

My campaign will hopefully go from around 12-14 to 18ish if the party decides that they like the story and challenges enough.
Would +10 hp at lvl 1 then +1 hp/lvl up to lvl 8 and +2 hp/lvl from 9-16 and +3 hp/lvl from 17-20 (granting +45 hp total) be a better idea?