CoD Feats idea - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

CoD Feats idea

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
belac
Dec 08, 2003 14:35:28 I like the concept of much of Champions of Darkness, but I dislike the mechanics. So, I've started remaking the feats (in my own words, for copyright reasons and simple decency; they're still obviously based on the originals and retain the names right now) and changed them to make them fit with standard D&D whenever possible (meaning, using odd ability prerequisites, not even; the first few pages had the standard odd prereqs but then they switched over to even prereqs later for no apparent reason.) I've also changed them for balance reasons, based entirely on my own opinions; in other words, I might have made some mistakes in doing so.

But anyway, I decided to do this because I like the feats and want to be able to use them in my game. Also, I've been complaining about it, so I might as well do something about it.

Would it be a waste of my time and just get me flamed if I shared them? I'm trying to be constructive here, instead of just throwing out reasons about why I think the book isn't good, so I don't really feel like being flamed when trying to do something constructive for once.

Anyway, here's a sample.

Brawler (General, Fighter)
You are skilled at fighting with improvised weapons.
Prerequisite: Str 13+.
Benefts: You make attack rolls with improvised weapons normally.
Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls.
#2
zombiegleemax
Dec 08, 2003 15:09:56 This seems like an excellent idea to me. And, as far as I know, there is nothing prohibiting you from sharing this here.

If there is, try the Cafe de Nuit messageboard: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum
;)

Now, for the Brawler, I would just like to say that it would be wise to stress the fact that this does not enable you to use e.g. an Exotic Weapon that you're not proficient without the penalty. That means that it has to be an improvised weapon that was never constructed as a weapon. If not, it's terribly unbalancing.

Other than that, bring 'em on!
#3
zombiegleemax
Dec 08, 2003 15:20:17 Debonaire [General]
You have a definate way with words and an incisive wit that benefits the social stages.
Prerequisites: Cha 15+, Int 13+, domain of origin must have a Renaissance cultural level.
Benefit: You gain a +2 compotence bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive checks.
#4
zombiegleemax
Dec 08, 2003 15:22:58 Whoops. Statement retracted.
#5
belac
Dec 08, 2003 15:26:01 (Thanks for the tip Malken, I changed it to specifically refer to the improvised weapon rules in the D&D PHB. The standard D20 license practice is to not refer to exact page numbers, if I recall correctly, but this is not a D20 license thing; it's an unauthorized fan revision.)

Okay, I finished a rough draft, but found that many of the feats really needed slight changes, or were too much trouble to complete reword, so I put ** before their names. I couldn't come up with good solutions for a few of them, particularly the last two. A large number of my changes were simply changing ability requirements to the odd-number standard and eliminating requirements that were too high. (I know that seems unimportant to most people, and I agree its not a game-breaking thing by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm a perfectionist, it annoys me that they used even-numbered requirements for absolutely no good reason, and odd-numbered requirements are about the only thing that make odd-numbered ability scores useful.)

Any constructive comments are welcome. Attacks on specific problems in specific feats where you actually give your reasons for disliking them are also welcomed. Personal attacks are not.

Brawler [General, Fighter]
You are skilled at fighting with improvised weapons.
Prerequisite: Str 13.
Benefts: You make attack rolls with improvised weapons (as described in the Player's Handbook, pg. 113) normally.
Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls.

Deadly Presence [General]
You can focus your divine energy to suppress healing magic.
Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, Cha 13.
Benefits: You can spend one of your turn/rebuke undead attempts to interfere with healing spells within thirty feet. This effect lasts one round. While this effect is active, any spell cast in the area that would restore hitpoints requires the caster to make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your divine caster level + your Cha modifier). If the caster fails this saving throw, her spell restores no hitpoints.

**Deathly Pallor
This is a good idea, but the powers check is too high (beyond the usual maximum 10% penalty and certainly in violation of the RCS statement that 10% is only for the worst actions), and you can't actually apply a penalty to a turning check like this. (The mechanic just won't work. A penalization to the turning check wouldn't make sense when there are other undead in the area. I would suggest instead giving the character an effective Turn Resistance of +6. Also, the prerequisite for this feat should include "cannot be undead" or something along those lines.)

**Dirge of Woe
The saving throw DC should be 10 + 1/2 bard level + Charisma bonus.

Energy Drain [Divine]
You can weaken the life energy of your foes by channeling negative energy.
Prerequisites: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, Cha 13.
Benefits: You may spend a turn or rebuke undead attempt to infuse yourself with negative energy; this otherwise works exactly like casting a touch spell. Your successful melee touch attack grants one negative level to your target unless he fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your divine caster level + your Cha modifier). The negative level is removed automatically after 24 hours with no further ill effects. You make a 1% powers check when you use this ability.

**Ethereal Touch
The prerequisite should be Wis 13. I don't understand the part about granting corrupting touch.

**Extra Domain
Prerequisite: 10 ranks in Knowledge (religion), divine caster level 7th.

**Hearthlore
Prerequisite: Int 13, Wis 13.

Life-Force Sacrifice
You can sacrifice your own life energy to alter your memorized or prepared spells.
Prerequisite: Death, Destruction, or Repose domain to use this feat with divine spells. Specialization in Necromancy or Spell Focus (Necromancy) and Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy) to use this feat with arcane spells. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for sorcerors to use this feat.
Benefits: You may sacrifice a currently memorized or prepared spell in order to cast another spell of equal or lesser level in your "repertoire." When you do so, you lose a number of hitpoints equal to the level of the spell you sacrificed; these hitpoints must be regained through normal healing.

**Machiavellian
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: +1 to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.

**Mesmerizing
Prerequisites: None.

**Mimicry
This grants no "bonus" to spells that influence animals. What kind of bonus did they mean anyway?

**Piercing Gaze
Prerequisites: Wis 13, Cha 13.

**Second Sight
Prerequisites: None

**Tantric Ability
Prerequisites: Wis 15, Cha 13.

**Tarokka Natural
Prerequisites: Int 13, Wis 13.

**Unwholesome Ichor
This feat has overly funky and complicated rules for no good reason. In addition, it is very overpowered in most Ravenloft campaigns, where combat is reasonably common and so many foes attack with bites. In campaigns that do not have much combat, it is unlikely that players would want to bother with such convoluted rules. I'm not going to even touch this feat.

**Vampiric Regeneration
This feat is also extremely overpowered and I'm not going to try to fix it at the moment.
#6
zombiegleemax
Dec 08, 2003 19:33:45 [re-reads Unwholesome Ichor out of the book]

How about changing it to something like a -2 penalty on any further bite attacks due to an effective flinch from the PC's nasty blood? A wolf that's cornered might well keep biting (though less effectively) due to fear of its life, and something like the Glutton of G'Henna might well try eating the tainted-blood person anyway if there's no other food around, much as a starving person might well eat rotten food...
#7
belac
Dec 08, 2003 20:09:02 Great idea Brandi.
#8
mortavius
Dec 08, 2003 21:42:42 I would change Energy Drain to incurring an 8% Powers Check. My reasoning is that this ability duplicates (to some extent) the spell Enervation. If a wizard were to cast such a spell, they would suffer an 8% Powers Check failure, due to casting an Evil & Necromantic spell.
Perhaps make it a 6% Powers Check, if you want to draw attention to the differences between Energy Drain & Enervation.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 belac Dec 08, 2003 14:35:28	I like the concept of much of Champions of Darkness, but I dislike the mechanics. So, I've started remaking the feats (in my own words, for copyright reasons and simple decency; they're still obviously based on the originals and retain the names right now) and changed them to make them fit with standard D&D whenever possible (meaning, using odd ability prerequisites, not even; the first few pages had the standard odd prereqs but then they switched over to even prereqs later for no apparent reason.) I've also changed them for balance reasons, based entirely on my own opinions; in other words, I might have made some mistakes in doing so. But anyway, I decided to do this because I like the feats and want to be able to use them in my game. Also, I've been complaining about it, so I might as well do something about it. Would it be a waste of my time and just get me flamed if I shared them? I'm trying to be constructive here, instead of just throwing out reasons about why I think the book isn't good, so I don't really feel like being flamed when trying to do something constructive for once. Anyway, here's a sample. Brawler (General, Fighter) You are skilled at fighting with improvised weapons. Prerequisite: Str 13+. Benefts: You make attack rolls with improvised weapons normally. Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls.
#2 zombiegleemax Dec 08, 2003 15:09:56	This seems like an excellent idea to me. And, as far as I know, there is nothing prohibiting you from sharing this here. If there is, try the Cafe de Nuit messageboard: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/forum ;) Now, for the Brawler, I would just like to say that it would be wise to stress the fact that this does not enable you to use e.g. an Exotic Weapon that you're not proficient without the penalty. That means that it has to be an improvised weapon that was never constructed as a weapon. If not, it's terribly unbalancing. Other than that, bring 'em on!
#3 zombiegleemax Dec 08, 2003 15:20:17	Debonaire [General] You have a definate way with words and an incisive wit that benefits the social stages. Prerequisites: Cha 15+, Int 13+, domain of origin must have a Renaissance cultural level. Benefit: You gain a +2 compotence bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive checks.
#4 zombiegleemax Dec 08, 2003 15:22:58	Whoops. Statement retracted.
#5 belac Dec 08, 2003 15:26:01	(Thanks for the tip Malken, I changed it to specifically refer to the improvised weapon rules in the D&D PHB. The standard D20 license practice is to not refer to exact page numbers, if I recall correctly, but this is not a D20 license thing; it's an unauthorized fan revision.) Okay, I finished a rough draft, but found that many of the feats really needed slight changes, or were too much trouble to complete reword, so I put before their names. I couldn't come up with good solutions for a few of them, particularly the last two. A large number of my changes were simply changing ability requirements to the odd-number standard and eliminating requirements that were too high. (I know that seems unimportant to most people, and I agree its not a game-breaking thing by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm a perfectionist, it annoys me that they used even-numbered requirements for absolutely no good reason, and odd-numbered requirements are about the only thing that make odd-numbered ability scores useful.) Any constructive comments are welcome. Attacks on specific problems in specific feats where you actually give your reasons for disliking them are also welcomed. Personal attacks are not. Brawler [General, Fighter] You are skilled at fighting with improvised weapons. Prerequisite: Str 13. Benefts: You make attack rolls with improvised weapons (as described in the Player's Handbook, pg. 113) normally. Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Deadly Presence [General] You can focus your divine energy to suppress healing magic. Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, Cha 13. Benefits: You can spend one of your turn/rebuke undead attempts to interfere with healing spells within thirty feet. This effect lasts one round. While this effect is active, any spell cast in the area that would restore hitpoints requires the caster to make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your divine caster level + your Cha modifier). If the caster fails this saving throw, her spell restores no hitpoints. Deathly Pallor This is a good idea, but the powers check is too high (beyond the usual maximum 10% penalty and certainly in violation of the RCS statement that 10% is only for the worst actions), and you can't actually apply a penalty to a turning check like this. (The mechanic just won't work. A penalization to the turning check wouldn't make sense when there are other undead in the area. I would suggest instead giving the character an effective Turn Resistance of +6. Also, the prerequisite for this feat should include "cannot be undead" or something along those lines.) Dirge of Woe The saving throw DC should be 10 + 1/2 bard level + Charisma bonus. Energy Drain [Divine] You can weaken the life energy of your foes by channeling negative energy. Prerequisites: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, Cha 13. Benefits: You may spend a turn or rebuke undead attempt to infuse yourself with negative energy; this otherwise works exactly like casting a touch spell. Your successful melee touch attack grants one negative level to your target unless he fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your divine caster level + your Cha modifier). The negative level is removed automatically after 24 hours with no further ill effects. You make a 1% powers check when you use this ability. Ethereal Touch The prerequisite should be Wis 13. I don't understand the part about granting corrupting touch. Extra Domain Prerequisite: 10 ranks in Knowledge (religion), divine caster level 7th. Hearthlore Prerequisite: Int 13, Wis 13. Life-Force Sacrifice You can sacrifice your own life energy to alter your memorized or prepared spells. Prerequisite: Death, Destruction, or Repose domain to use this feat with divine spells. Specialization in Necromancy or Spell Focus (Necromancy) and Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy) to use this feat with arcane spells. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for sorcerors to use this feat. Benefits: You may sacrifice a currently memorized or prepared spell in order to cast another spell of equal or lesser level in your "repertoire." When you do so, you lose a number of hitpoints equal to the level of the spell you sacrificed; these hitpoints must be regained through normal healing. Machiavellian Prerequisites: None. Benefit: +1 to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive. Mesmerizing Prerequisites: None. Mimicry This grants no "bonus" to spells that influence animals. What kind of bonus did they mean anyway? Piercing Gaze Prerequisites: Wis 13, Cha 13. Second Sight Prerequisites: None Tantric Ability Prerequisites: Wis 15, Cha 13. Tarokka Natural Prerequisites: Int 13, Wis 13. Unwholesome Ichor This feat has overly funky and complicated rules for no good reason. In addition, it is very overpowered in most Ravenloft campaigns, where combat is reasonably common and so many foes attack with bites. In campaigns that do not have much combat, it is unlikely that players would want to bother with such convoluted rules. I'm not going to even touch this feat. **Vampiric Regeneration This feat is also extremely overpowered and I'm not going to try to fix it at the moment.
#6 zombiegleemax Dec 08, 2003 19:33:45	[re-reads Unwholesome Ichor out of the book] How about changing it to something like a -2 penalty on any further bite attacks due to an effective flinch from the PC's nasty blood? A wolf that's cornered might well keep biting (though less effectively) due to fear of its life, and something like the Glutton of G'Henna might well try eating the tainted-blood person anyway if there's no other food around, much as a starving person might well eat rotten food...
#7 belac Dec 08, 2003 20:09:02	Great idea Brandi.
#8 mortavius Dec 08, 2003 21:42:42	I would change Energy Drain to incurring an 8% Powers Check. My reasoning is that this ability duplicates (to some extent) the spell Enervation. If a wizard were to cast such a spell, they would suffer an 8% Powers Check failure, due to casting an Evil & Necromantic spell. Perhaps make it a 6% Powers Check, if you want to draw attention to the differences between Energy Drain & Enervation.