Re: Feats Thread

[Sethos]

Also only just realised I'm posting this on the feats thread, am I in the wrong place?

Regardless of that I do have some questions on feats;

1) What the hell are feats?
2) Where do I put my feats?
3) How many feats can I have?

Yeah, it's probably the wrong place.

1) Feats are special abilities and bonuses you can choose for your character. You get one at the start and then an additional one every level evenly divisible by 3. Certain races and classes can give you bonus feats. Their description will say if this is the case. Some feats have a prerequisite that you have to meet unless otherwise noted. Think of them like talents if you've played World of Warcraft.
2) You just put them on your sheet somewhere and then remember to use them when the time is appropriate. It could be something simple like a +1 to attack using a certain weapon or it could modify how rule interacts with your character. You need to keep track of what they do.
3) There's no hard cap on feats, but you only get one every so often. See #1 for more detail.

Thank you very much, you have been most helpful. I finally found the illusive bastard that is the white mage description in a fairly obvious place so now I feel like a gargantuan dick brain, if you'll pardon my french. Thanks again, I'll probably be asking more questions soon but in a more appropriate thread.

[Snarg of Wildpaw]

Oh, I looked back at my previous response and there is technically one more thing you'll need to roll for: your starting gold. However, that's up to Archengeia and what he gives based on your backstory.

[Archengeia]

Just wanted to say thank you to Th3Third for his help when I'm asleep in getting people on the right track. Props.

[Zeiss]

Yeah, Whis Kor is awesome.

Ok, got to finalize my sheet.

[Caladrius]

You know after looking at all the feats I can decide what to get for a white mage. Any suggestions? Also am I to assume that a Metamagic feat is different from a normal feat? So I should be looking at one Metamagic feat and onc normal feat for a starting mage. Other then this, I think I am done.

[Archengeia]

You know after looking at all the feats I can decide what to get for a white mage. Any suggestions? Also am I to assume that a Metamagic feat is different from a normal feat? So I should be looking at one Metamagic feat and onc normal feat for a starting mage. Other then this, I think I am done.

The main reason to differentiate regular feats from metamagic feats is: Those bonus feats I list under the White Mage chart? Those can only be selected from the Metamagic Feat list (just after spells, just prior to the classes... Page 14 on my copy). However all classes and races gain feats totally regardless of other concerns at a static rate (one at 1st level, then one at 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.). THOSE feats can be just about anything except feats that are specifically designed to be a bonus feat of some kind (Fighter and Metamagics come to mind). However if you really can't think of anything I'm willing to be flexible.

[K]

Question

I'm reading up (mostly d20) on available feats, and those exclusive to the Monk. If i read it correctly, Monk gets Improved Unarmed strike automatically, and can choose between Improved Grapple and Stunning Fist at 1st level. I'd like to go with Stunning Fist.

So, it's Improved Unarmed Strike and Stunning Fist for me. Is that alright?

[Archengeia]

Question

I'm reading up (mostly d20) on available feats, and those exclusive to the Monk. If i read it correctly, Monk gets Improved Unarmed strike automatically, and can choose between Improved Grapple and Stunning Fist at 1st level. I'd like to go with Stunning Fist.

So, it's Improved Unarmed Strike and Stunning Fist for me. Is that alright?

Correct, and works for me. *stamp*

[Sethos]

Oh I need to pick my feats, expect questions from me tomorrow.

[Caladrius]

Ok a few quick Questions:
Can I, and if I choose the Fey Bloodline Do I get to use those spells identified even though I am a White Mage?
I am also looking at Collegiate Wizard But again this says choose six spell, and the white mage only has 3 level one spell.
I guess I am a bit hazy on the spell part, Am I limited to the spell of my class?

[Archengeia]

Ok a few quick Questions:
Can I, and if I choose the Fey Bloodline Do I get to use those spells identified even though I am a White Mage?
I am also looking at Collegiate Wizard But again this says choose six spell, and the white mage only has 3 level one spell.
I guess I am a bit hazy on the spell part, Am I limited to the spell of my class?

You are fully limited to the spell selection from your class. If you want spells from another school you will have to multi-class. I spent some time looking over those feats and unfortunately I can't think of a way they could apply to this system so (for the first time to-date) I am going to say no to both. I am sorry.

[Caladrius]

That's totally cool, It more of a clarification point. Effectively I am limited to only three initial spells. (two healing and one sort of attack) That just means that I have to get behind some other melee type skill or I go more of a lore master route and play purely in support. (your dead ... heal...) I think you mentioned that no one has played a white mage before.

[Essoje]

Energy something metamagic feat might be useful to change Dia into something's elemental weakness. If the GM allows it, that's it.

[Snarg of Wildpaw]

Ahhhh, the role of "support". I'm a pretty firm believer that the way you play your character will have more of an impact on the game than what class role you have.

I'll use a real-life example of playing the exact same class in different ways:

Character 1:
Meelo is a cowardly musician who spends every combat dancing behind the fighters and boosting their stats while playing his lute. When a knowledge check has to be made, he'll volunteer and then quietly sink back in to the shadows until the next check is made. If they need to pump information out of someone, he'll step in to do a diplomacy check and then follow the party on their next adventure.

Character 2:
Relik is a fierce warrior who is always leading the charge in to battle. His shouts cause the mightiest warriors to quake in their boots and he serves as an inspiration to his entire party. He is easily the most knowledgeable of them all in most fields, he is always the first to step up and confront an enemy, yet he is skilled enough in the art of diplomacy to gather many allies when it normally would not be possible.

Both characters are bards and both have the same skills, yet they are used and described in different ways. Yes, they'll do meager damage on the battlefield, but there's absolutely a difference between "I debuff everyone with -2 to attack. I'm done for my turn." and "I shout a mighty challenge at my enemies and strike the fear of god in to their hearts". Same little support class debuff, but different ways of using it. One is the support in the back and the other is a fierce-some leader.

I guess I'm saying that just because you've got a class that's not all flashy offensive spells doesn't mean you can't be in the main spotlight. That is, unless you want to play a guy like that.

[Caladrius]

There are three feats that I keep coming back to

Able Learner* All skill ranks cost 1 skill point for you to purchase, even if the skill is cross-class for you.
Natural Skill* You gain 1 extra skill point per level (and 4x skill points at first level).
Twin Sword Style* When fighting with two blades (dagger, longsword, rapier, scimitar, or short sword, in any combination), you can designate a melee opponent during your action and receive a +2 shield bonus to your Armor Class against attacks from that opponent.

[Archengeia]

Energy something metamagic feat might be useful to change Dia into something's elemental weakness. If the GM allows it, that's it.

The Metamagic Feat in my setting is as follows: Energy Substitution: May pay 1 Maximized cost to replace the damage type of a given spell with another normal damage type. The new type of damage may not be Holy, Shadow, or Typeless. And yes I would fully allow it.

That's totally cool, It more of a clarification point. Effectively I am limited to only three initial spells. (two healing and one sort of attack) That just means that I have to get behind some other melee type skill or I go more of a lore master route and play purely in support. (your dead ... heal...) I think you mentioned that no one has played a white mage before.

Ahhhh, the role of "support". I'm a pretty firm believer that the way you play your character will have more of an impact on the game than what class role you have.

I'll use a real-life example of playing the exact same class in different ways:

Character 1:
Meelo is a cowardly musician who spends every combat dancing behind the fighters and boosting their stats while playing his lute. When a knowledge check has to be made, he'll volunteer and then quietly sink back in to the shadows until the next check is made. If they need to pump information out of someone, he'll step in to do a diplomacy check and then follow the party on their next adventure.

Character 2:
Relik is a fierce warrior who is always leading the charge in to battle. His shouts cause the mightiest warriors to quake in their boots and he serves as an inspiration to his entire party. He is easily the most knowledgeable of them all in most fields, he is always the first to step up and confront an enemy, yet he is skilled enough in the art of diplomacy to gather many allies when it normally would not be possible.

Both characters are bards and both have the same skills, yet they are used and described in different ways. Yes, they'll do meager damage on the battlefield, but there's absolutely a difference between "I debuff everyone with -2 to attack. I'm done for my turn." and "I shout a mighty challenge at my enemies and strike the fear of god in to their hearts". Same little support class debuff, but different ways of using it. One is the support in the back and the other is a fierce-some leader.

I guess I'm saying that just because you've got a class that's not all flashy offensive spells doesn't mean you can't be in the main spotlight. That is, unless you want to play a guy like that.

Back when I still played D&D (haven't in years upon years) the role type I most preferred was support. And yes, I've played Bard before, make fun if you want. But the overall point is what a lot of people tend to forget is the addition of a support character is often WHY that big brawny fighter up there seems invincible... because you're backing him up. And of course, you can do so much more with non combat interactions.

[Snarg of Wildpaw]

Back when I still played D&D (haven't in years upon years) the role type I most preferred was support. And yes, I've played Bard before, make fun if you want. But the overall point is what a lot of people tend to forget is the addition of a support character is often WHY that big brawny fighter up there seems invincible... because you're backing him up. And of course, you can do so much more with non combat interactions.

Right, that's true, I'm just saying that if you play a bard or any support class you don't have to confine yourself to "buff buff, heal heal, diplomacy diplomacy, now I'm done" mentality and play second fiddle (har har har) to the front-liners just because you're a support-type class. I'm currently playing a bard in another D&D game I've got going on so that was the first example that came to mind. I just want to offer some support (ho ho ho) to anyone playing a healing/support/etc class. I know they may not seem very exciting on first glance to some.

[Essoje]

I'll be sincere here and say that mages have the greatest support means of all by default: Weaving.
If I wasn't playing a fighter aiming for something specific, I would have made a support character with weaving as a primary focus. If Archengeia's D&D videos didn't make it clear already, that skill allows for pulling awesome McGyver moments out of literally nowhere.

[Archengeia]

I'll be sincere here and say that mages have the greatest support means of all by default: Weaving.
If I wasn't playing a fighter aiming for something specific, I would have made a support character with weaving as a primary focus. If Archengeia's D&D videos didn't make it clear already, that skill allows for pulling awesome McGyver moments out of literally nowhere.

Yeah and that was admittedly part of the point of introducing Weaving as my crafting system (there were a few other points too). If it's not obvious, Flux over in the live campaign has cranked his skill as high as it is possible to go. Every feat, background, training... he's been pouring everything into it. And loving it, and (so far) it hasn't been broken or OP so... woo

[Caladrius]

Being reintroduced to the world of DnD, perhaps a Mage was not the best pick because A) I have never played a Mage before and B) Mages don't appear to be as straight forward as say a fighter. So I will need help on both front, but that was the group is for. I am willing to give it a go and that's why i keep asking what to do. So that being said; any recommendations? I have some that you may have missed HERE. I have some ideas on how I would like my character to develop, but a the same time I don't want to multi-class. I don't think it would fit. That being said, I think I might have some cool weaving ideas to make my Mage a little more Awesome in the coolness factor, but still maintain role of the White Mage.

[Archengeia]

There are three feats that I keep coming back to

Able Learner* All skill ranks cost 1 skill point for you to purchase, even if the skill is cross-class for you.
Natural Skill* You gain 1 extra skill point per level (and 4x skill points at first level).
Twin Sword Style* When fighting with two blades (dagger, longsword, rapier, scimitar, or short sword, in any combination), you can designate a melee opponent during your action and receive a +2 shield bonus to your Armor Class against attacks from that opponent.

Starting to wonder how I keep missing posts like this, this is like the third time. Maybe it's not giving me the 'new posts' thing if something posts while I'm in mid post? Hrm. In any case I do apologize.
First, I would allow any of these three feats, with the proviso of having to select them at character creation as listed.
Second... recommendations... hrm. Honestly I'd have to think about that at greater length, I am not nearly as good at making PCs as most D&D players I know. Lemme think on that.

[Snarg of Wildpaw]

Sorry, I missed it as well since it was the last post on the last page and I started on this one the next time I checked.

Anyho, if you're choosing between those three, I'd say that overall Natural Skill would probably be the most valuable, although I can see Able Learner being good if you're really wanting to put a lot of ranks in a cross-class skill.

Twin Sword Style is, eh, I dunno. Your guy is not going to be able to hit with twin-swords if he attacks, which means they will essentially be for defense only. Now, if that's your concept that's fine, I just want you to know that you get massive penalties to hit anything if you're dual-wielding weapons that you aren't trained for in the first place. I'm talking like a -10 to hit if you're using two swords so you literally will not be able to hit anything. Now, as a mage you're obviously not going to be using your swords to attack a lot, so it's up to you. The +2 to AC is neat bonus to an enemy that's targeting you so you have a little bit of defense.

[Caladrius]

I have all the time in the world... before we start...

Ok now for the idea.

This might be a little sound a little extreme, but I think it could work if the balance is kept correct, but that’s up to the GM and little things called details.

The Hard Sell

First my PC needs to weave and objects (daggers most likely) The PC would be linked to the object magically, but limited by range. My PC would initialize the object by (placing, throwing, sticking in the ground, in an enemy, any action that would separate the PC form the object.) At some point the PC would be able to active the objects ability.

Here is where the coolness factor comes in. The object gives my PC the ability to instantly shift to the object and into the last position that the PC was holding it.
Think of it as a guaranteed dodge, or depending on the where the enemy is, it might be a guaranteed back-stab/flank attack. Realistically I could use ability in any situation where I might want to instantly back step. One-way door… nomore…

Again, in keeping it fair, It would probably be able to use it once or maybe twice a day and burn mana or something.

[Archengeia]

I have all the time in the world... before we start...

Ok now for the idea.

This might be a little sound a little extreme, but I think it could work if the balance is kept correct, but that’s up to the GM and little things called details.

The Hard Sell

First my PC needs to weave and objects (daggers most likely) The PC would be linked to the object magically, but limited by range. My PC would initialize the object by (placing, throwing, sticking in the ground, in an enemy, any action that would separate the PC form the object.) At some point the PC would be able to active the objects ability.

Here is where the coolness factor comes in. The object gives my PC the ability to instantly shift to the object and into the last position that the PC was holding it.
Think of it as a guaranteed dodge, or depending on the where the enemy is, it might be a guaranteed back-stab/flank attack. Realistically I could use ability in any situation where I might want to instantly back step. One-way door… nomore…

Again, in keeping it fair, It would probably be able to use it once or maybe twice a day and burn mana or something.

The idea overall is something I find appealing so take this as a tentative approval. I'll need to figure out something to stabilize it for balance purposes. I do find myself curious why you want such a utility while a White Mage.

[Essoje]

Might I point out at this point that maybe Caladrius should consider a class change to Red Mage and specialize in white magic with him instead?

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