Converting the Flaw and Feat System to Pathfinder

[The Genie]

For those of you who don't remember. Flaws were hindrances and drawbacks that would grant and additional feat when taken.

Now of course this was abused due to the flaws being taken were not really going to hurt your specific build. For a Melee monster there was the Shaky a -2 to all ranged attack rolls (Believe this included touch)

Now of course that to me never seemed like much of a slap in the face for a flaw that was suppose to be a big thing your character had to overcome.

Pathfinder did somewhat better with their Drawbacks which are flavorful for sure but still seem rather wimpy beyond just being an annoyance.

Well since I know I wouldn't mind the boon of an additional feat or two at character creation and I doubt any one of you would turn your nose up at a free feat I was thinking of this possible conversion.

Flaws can be taken at character creation, of course, these flaws are chosen after you have finished building your character and must relate in some way to the build of your character. If your character does not possess any ranged methods of attack they cannot take the shaky flaw as this flaw is negligible. However, Flaws may be chosen from the Flaws list provided in the link above or from the Drawback list provided in the link. These penalties must relate to your specific character build and actually affect your character in a meaningful way. All penalties taken are increased by -2 to a total of -4 at character creation. At 8th level if these flaws have not been bought off they increase by an additional -2 to a total of -6, at 16th level this penalty increases by an additional -2 to a total of -8 to the specific penalty.

Characters can taken on additional flaws at GM discretion. These penalties begin at -6 rather then the -4 from character creation.

To buy off a flaw depends on when the flaw was picked up.
At character creation the flaws will cost you 500 EXP to buy off for each individual flaw by level 3. After level 3 the buy off increases to 750 EXP for each individual flaw by level 6. After level 6 the buy off increases to 1250 EXP for each individual flaw by level 9. After level 9 the buy off increases to 1500 EXP for each individual flaw by level 12 and remain at 1500 EXP until level 16. At level 16 and till level 20 the buy off cost increases to 3000 EXP for each individual flaw.

Now of course I believe this needs a little tweeking here and there, perhaps the cost and penalty values. But I am eager for insight. Because while I like the Flaw/Drawback ideas making them barely annoyances will simply not due.

[Kazaan]

To be honest, the premise is patently absurd. If someone were "shaky" which hampered their ability to aim a ranged weapon properly, why in the world would he even bother focusing his crippling weakness? Why would he try to specialize in something for which he has a specific flaw that hampers him? Oh, I have shaky hands... guess I'll become a surgeon. Oh, I'm tone deaf... I'll become a musician. Oh, I have terrible eyesight... sports referee it is. It's completely counter-intuitive. Now maybe I could see "buying" a flaw in point buy equivalent to buying a 9, 8, or 7 in a stat depending on the severity of the flaw instead of granting bonus feats if that's the big worry. But requiring the flaw to, in some way, impede your standard modus operandi is a terrible idea.

[The Genie]

Kazaan wrote:

To be honest, the premise is patently absurd. If someone were "shaky" which hampered their ability to aim a ranged weapon properly, why in the world would he even bother focusing his crippling weakness? Why would he try to specialize in something for which he has a specific flaw that hampers him? Oh, I have shaky hands... guess I'll become a surgeon. Oh, I'm tone deaf... I'll become a musician. Oh, I have terrible eyesight... sports referee it is. It's completely counter-intuitive. Now maybe I could see "buying" a flaw in point buy equivalent to buying a 9, 8, or 7 in a stat depending on the severity of the flaw instead of granting bonus feats if that's the big worry. But requiring the flaw to, in some way, impede your standard modus operandi is a terrible idea.

Granted these penalty levels are a lot higher then the past but a -2 to melee attack rolls would hurt a fighter but not cripple him. However if he is taking Shaky then he got a free bonus feat for nothing.

[Kazaan]

Which is why I said if the bonus feat is the issue, change it from bonus feat to additional points for point-buy. But why, if someone is "Shaky", would they insist on learning some ranged combat, knowing they simply aren't cut out for it? What you call, "free bonus feat for nothing," I call, "opportunity cost efficiency." Opportunity cost, in a nutshell, means that for whatever you are doing, you could be doing something else and, in economics, you need to consider whether you could be making a greater profit by doing something else rather than what you are presently doing. It's basically a comparison of gross profit to net profit. Action A could yield a higher gross profit but, because of costs involved, a lower net profit compared to Action B. Shaky makes investments in ranged combat less cost-effective so, compared to just taking feats that boost you in other areas, ranged combat has a high Opportunity Cost. By your logic, a Wizard who specializes in Magic is getting his magical prowess "for nothing" because he's focusing all that effort that might otherwise be put into melee combat or armor training into magic-related feats and stats which are rendered redundant by magic.

Furthermore, any flaw-less fighter can, if needed, pick up a Bow or Crossbow and use it for cases where melee combat is disadvantageous. Again, opportunity cost. Standing there like a lump with a sword against a flying creature is a waste of action economy when you could easily switch to a ranged weapon (any melee-ist worth his salt should carry a backup ranged weapon) and continue dishing out the hurt. However, the Shaky Fighter is at a distinct disadvantage in such situations. The flaw effectively forces him to choose a higher-overhead, lower net-profit in DPR potential by spending feats to "break even" with his flaw or curtails his options by making it much more advantageous to specialize in melee at the cost of being sub-par in ranged compared to other equally untrained fighters. So it's not really "something for nothing"; it's a matter of balancing opportunity costs.

[Thanael]

It has already been done as negative traits for PF: Drawbacks

There's also Purple Duck Games Flaws.