Doctor Despair
2020-05-20, 07:13 PM
I was browsing a list of feats that bestow immediate actions and came upon a few that seem like they have a high ceiling for optimization, but as I've never seen them mentioned, I wasn't sure if I was misjudging their value. Could anyone offer an outside perspective on these feats?
You adopt insanity as a shield to turn effects that target your mind against those around you.
Prerequisite
Base Will save +5,
Benefit
As an immediate action, whenever you are the target of a mind-affecting spell or spell-like ability, you can take 1 point of Wisdom damage to retarget the effect to another creature of your choice within the effect's range. The new target takes a —4 circumstance penalty on its saving throw, if any, against that effect.
Is this just strictly better than gaining immunity to mind-affecting spells and abilities, and online way earlier (barring multiple effects being thrown at you in a single turn cycle)? It's a Vile feat, so iirc that requires you to be evil, but being able to toss it back at the caster seems... insane? The only specification is that the creature has to be in range, so you should always be able to target the caster, regardless of whether you're aware of where they are, right? Or your mind-blanked friend, I suppose, for a more boring option. Additionally, doesn't this allow you to target yourself with mind-affecting spells for a free +4 to the DC for the new target? And there's no clause that you can't stack an immunity on top of it (have your cake and eat it too), or negate the ability damage somehow (Binder dip?)... Is that worth a feat-slot? Or would it be better to just take your Mind Blank and rely on your own class features? I suppose it's a dead feat if no one ever targets you with a neagtive mind-affecting spell or spell-like ability...
You put yourself into harm's way to protect your allies.
Prerequisite
Constant Guardian (DrU) ,
Benefit
Whenever the beneficiary of your Constant Guardian feat is attacked, you can take an immediate action to instantly exchange places with that character.
Both you and the ally must be able to move into and legally occupy the new space in order for this feat to function. For example, an incorporeal character inside a solid object couldn't exchange places with a corporeal character, nor could a nonflying creature exchange places with an airborne flying creature.
I think this would work with an Acorn of Far-Travel, right? So if you put a minion, or level 1 human commoner hireling, or creation of some sort with these feats within 10 feet of the tree, they could teleport you as an immediate action. I suppose they could just keep trying to use it until it worked, right? So it would essentially be a contingent Greater Teleport with the location fixed? If you had two acorns, you could teleport yourself back by hitting yourself if the hireling kept using it, right? And of course that means your hireling would only be hired to always carry an acorn and try to switch places with you. I'm not sure how valuable this is, although it requires no resources from the caster apart from the ability to enlist someone to your service to take those two feats and live by the tree. It's not a teleportation effect or spell-like ability, so it would bypass dimensional lock and teleport cage, right? Or is this too much work to duplicate the effects of Craft Contingent Spell and any teleportation ability?
You fight with the rage that only a rabid badger or a beer addled dwarf can bring to bear. In combat, you shrug off attacks and continue fighting even in the face of horrific injuries and effects.
Prerequisite
Rage or frenzy ability,
Benefit
When fighting, you can endure tremendous blows with little visible effect. As an immediate action, you can choose to delay the effect of a single attack, spell, or ability used against you. The damage or effect does not take hold until the end of your next turn. You can only use this ability while under the effect of your rage or frenzy ability. You can activate it once every time you use your rage or frenzy ability.
Truth be told, this one has me a little flummoxed. I feel like there's some super-high optimization cheese we could do with this ability, but I'm not versed enough in high-level caster play to think of it off the cuff. I think it's a nombo with Iron Heart Surge, since it delays the effect and doesn't grant instantaneous effects a duration, although a very permissive DM might allow that combo to just flat-out negate one attack, spell, literally anything as an immediate/standard action combo. I feel like there's some wriggle-room when it comes to the reading of "against you" that might allow you to target yourself with an effect and delay the effect, which is where I think there might be some gas for this ability with either a racial or ability-ripped Rage ability, or Druidic Avenger, or a barbarian 1 dip on a caster, but I'm not sure where to take that, since it can't be a conventional defense for a caster (rage negates spellcasting ability). Entering/leaving a rage is a free action iirc, so you could cast a spell, enter a rage, immediate action delay the effects, and end rage, right? I suppose that means you could delay the effect of an anti-magic field that you cast; it doesn't delay the spell, only the effect, so arguably it would let you cast anything within the field until your next turn. I'm given to understand Disjunction isn't very common at high-level as every caster's spell component pouch contains NI costless artifacts, but on that note, you could delay the saves you'd need to make after using Disjunction on another caster, allowing you between 1 and 2 rounds before you'd need to make the saves, perhaps giving you time to avoid having to make the saves at all. Anything else TO we can do with this? And is it worth taking to enable these at higher levels?
You adopt insanity as a shield to turn effects that target your mind against those around you.
Prerequisite
Base Will save +5,
Benefit
As an immediate action, whenever you are the target of a mind-affecting spell or spell-like ability, you can take 1 point of Wisdom damage to retarget the effect to another creature of your choice within the effect's range. The new target takes a —4 circumstance penalty on its saving throw, if any, against that effect.
Is this just strictly better than gaining immunity to mind-affecting spells and abilities, and online way earlier (barring multiple effects being thrown at you in a single turn cycle)? It's a Vile feat, so iirc that requires you to be evil, but being able to toss it back at the caster seems... insane? The only specification is that the creature has to be in range, so you should always be able to target the caster, regardless of whether you're aware of where they are, right? Or your mind-blanked friend, I suppose, for a more boring option. Additionally, doesn't this allow you to target yourself with mind-affecting spells for a free +4 to the DC for the new target? And there's no clause that you can't stack an immunity on top of it (have your cake and eat it too), or negate the ability damage somehow (Binder dip?)... Is that worth a feat-slot? Or would it be better to just take your Mind Blank and rely on your own class features? I suppose it's a dead feat if no one ever targets you with a neagtive mind-affecting spell or spell-like ability...
You put yourself into harm's way to protect your allies.
Prerequisite
Constant Guardian (DrU) ,
Benefit
Whenever the beneficiary of your Constant Guardian feat is attacked, you can take an immediate action to instantly exchange places with that character.
Both you and the ally must be able to move into and legally occupy the new space in order for this feat to function. For example, an incorporeal character inside a solid object couldn't exchange places with a corporeal character, nor could a nonflying creature exchange places with an airborne flying creature.
I think this would work with an Acorn of Far-Travel, right? So if you put a minion, or level 1 human commoner hireling, or creation of some sort with these feats within 10 feet of the tree, they could teleport you as an immediate action. I suppose they could just keep trying to use it until it worked, right? So it would essentially be a contingent Greater Teleport with the location fixed? If you had two acorns, you could teleport yourself back by hitting yourself if the hireling kept using it, right? And of course that means your hireling would only be hired to always carry an acorn and try to switch places with you. I'm not sure how valuable this is, although it requires no resources from the caster apart from the ability to enlist someone to your service to take those two feats and live by the tree. It's not a teleportation effect or spell-like ability, so it would bypass dimensional lock and teleport cage, right? Or is this too much work to duplicate the effects of Craft Contingent Spell and any teleportation ability?
You fight with the rage that only a rabid badger or a beer addled dwarf can bring to bear. In combat, you shrug off attacks and continue fighting even in the face of horrific injuries and effects.
Prerequisite
Rage or frenzy ability,
Benefit
When fighting, you can endure tremendous blows with little visible effect. As an immediate action, you can choose to delay the effect of a single attack, spell, or ability used against you. The damage or effect does not take hold until the end of your next turn. You can only use this ability while under the effect of your rage or frenzy ability. You can activate it once every time you use your rage or frenzy ability.
Truth be told, this one has me a little flummoxed. I feel like there's some super-high optimization cheese we could do with this ability, but I'm not versed enough in high-level caster play to think of it off the cuff. I think it's a nombo with Iron Heart Surge, since it delays the effect and doesn't grant instantaneous effects a duration, although a very permissive DM might allow that combo to just flat-out negate one attack, spell, literally anything as an immediate/standard action combo. I feel like there's some wriggle-room when it comes to the reading of "against you" that might allow you to target yourself with an effect and delay the effect, which is where I think there might be some gas for this ability with either a racial or ability-ripped Rage ability, or Druidic Avenger, or a barbarian 1 dip on a caster, but I'm not sure where to take that, since it can't be a conventional defense for a caster (rage negates spellcasting ability). Entering/leaving a rage is a free action iirc, so you could cast a spell, enter a rage, immediate action delay the effects, and end rage, right? I suppose that means you could delay the effect of an anti-magic field that you cast; it doesn't delay the spell, only the effect, so arguably it would let you cast anything within the field until your next turn. I'm given to understand Disjunction isn't very common at high-level as every caster's spell component pouch contains NI costless artifacts, but on that note, you could delay the saves you'd need to make after using Disjunction on another caster, allowing you between 1 and 2 rounds before you'd need to make the saves, perhaps giving you time to avoid having to make the saves at all. Anything else TO we can do with this? And is it worth taking to enable these at higher levels?