NPC Feats

[rferries]

Fated
You faithfully serve a master, a cause, or perhaps even simply your own ambition. Although your drive gives you great stamina, your destiny is ultimately not your own.

Prerequisites
NPC character.

Benefits
You gain maximum hit points per Hit Die.

At the beginning of each encounter, you gain temporary hit points equal to your character level.

Whenever you are subject to detect chaos/evil/good/law or a similar spell, you may make a Will save with a +4 bonus (DC 11 + caster's spellcasting ability modifier). If you succeed, the caster gains no information about your alignment from the spell.

Fated Resilience
Prerequisites
NPC character, Fated, character level 3rd.

Benefits
You gain a resistance bonus on all saving throws equal to +1 per three character levels.

You gain spell resistance equal to your character level +5 or your existing spell resistance increases by +5, whichever is better.

Once per day when you fail a saving throw, you may choose to succeed instead.

Fated Perfection
Prerequisites
NPC character or DM permission, Fated, character level 3rd.

Benefits
Choose two ability scores when you select this feat. You gain a enhancement bonus to each of those scores equal to +2 per three character levels.

Fated Ferocity [Fighter]
Prerequisites
NPC character, Fated, character level 3rd.

Benefits
Your natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and gain an enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to +1 per four character levels.

Your natural armour gains an enhancement bonus equal to +1 per four character levels. A creature without natural armour has an effective natural armour bonus of +0.

Once per day when you fail an attack roll, you may choose to succeed instead.

Special
A fighter may select Fated Ferocity as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Fated Potency [Fighter]
Prerequisites
NPC character, Fated, character level 3rd.

Benefits
Any weapons you wield are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and gain an enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to +1 per four character levels.

Any armour you wear and/or shield you wield gains an enhancement bonus equal to +1 per four character levels. An outfit of regular clothing counts as armour that grants no AC bonus for the purpose of this feat.

Once per day when you fail an attack roll, you may choose to succeed instead.

Special
A fighter may select Fated Potency as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Fated Equipment
Prerequisites
NPC character, Fated, character level 6th.

Benefits
You gain magic items with a total value equal to 2,000 gp per character level. These items are ephemeral gifts from your patron, bound to your life-force, or otherwise somehow fragile, and are always destroyed or lost when you are defeated.

Fated Luck
Prerequisites
NPC character, Fated, character level 6th.

Benefits
You gain a luck bonus to your AC and on all attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and skill checks equal to +1 per six character levels.

At the beginning of each encounter you gain a dodge bonus to your AC equal to +1 per two character levels for one round.

Once per encounter during your turn you may take an extra standard action.

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These feats were inspired by Vow of Poverty and 5e's legendary monsters, and are intended to buff enemies without loading them up all the magical equipment that tends to break WBL once they've been defeated and looted (or without the DM simply handwaving that they have extra stats).

Fated Player Characters
A PC may select the above feats with DM permission. For each feat such a character possesses, the DM may choose one of the following effects each day:

• Treat any one roll the character makes as a natural 1.
• Control the character for any one round while in combat.
• Control the character for any one social encounter.
• Control the character for any one day of downtime.

Spoiler: To Do...

Show

-Grant powerful build to Potency, and/or a barbarian rage to Ferocity?
-work in a deflection bonus, protection from good effect, etc, or simply convert all bonuses to luck bonuses?

[Metastachydium]

That runs a tad contrary to the design philosophy of 3.5. I can't, off teh top of my upper bits, recall anything official that is similar mechanically, and the possible consequences for PCs taking them are not what I'd call a good idea. Have you considered making these pseudo-templates instead, like the Unique NPC Abilities in DMG2?

[rferries]

That runs a tad contrary to the design philosophy of 3.5. I can't, off teh top of my upper bits, recall anything official that is similar mechanically, and the possible consequences for PCs taking them are not what I'd call a good idea. Have you considered making these pseudo-templates instead, like the Unique NPC Abilities in DMG2?

Templates are an option (I quite like 5e's legendary monster psuedo-template), but I did want it to feel like there was some investment on the part of the NPC. You can smack as much level adjustment as you want on an NPC and they won't care since they usually aren't gaining XP, but taking Fated feats means they might be sacrificing part of their build.

The whole concept may indeed be a solution without a problem given that the DM is likely the only person to care about these details, and can simply handwave the character as having any necessary bonuses. I may just break these feats down into weaker versions that could be used by PCs and NPCs interchangeably.

[Metastachydium]

Templates are an option (I quite like 5e's legendary monster psuedo-template), but I did want it to feel like there was some investment on the part of the NPC. You can smack as much level adjustment as you want on an NPC and they won't care since they usually aren't gaining XP, but taking Fated feats means they might be sacrificing part of their build.

That's why templates also affect CR, which an NPC (or a DM playing it) will care about – 's all I'm saying.