Dire Bear

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kevin_video wrote:

Here's the wiki on it, everyone. And it's how I'm going to rule it.

And poison is junk. It's crazy stupid expensive, hard to get ingredients, and everyone over level 5 is immune to it in some way. Ravages on the other hand, you can never be immune to it. You just pray you can beat the DC if you're evil. And no, you do not have to be the epitome of good to use the feat. If that was the case the prereq would be LG and nothing else. I've seen NG and CG that border on CN regularly who have all of the exalted feats, and no DM I've ever seen has made them lose it. Now, not be the epitome of law or chaos, and you can expect to lose your paladin abilities. Go figure.

And evil does have an evil healing ability, thanks to that of Fire Mountain Games. Clerics can channel to heal evil and wound good guys at the same time. Win-Win for them.

If your touch attack deals damage, then yes, you'd deal damage with the feat. Otherwise, no. A monk can't touch you and do unarmed damage unless it specifically states so. Liches on the other hand can. House rules can be made to stipulate otherwise.

"The wiki"? No, that's one guy's houserules that you just happen to like because it supports your point. The closest there is to an actual wiki is the RAW according to the books themselves. In fact here's another discussion about this very topic from the WOTC forums

So let's sart with RAW.

BoED - Introduction wrote:
The Book of Exalted Deeds is for players who aren’t satisfied by slapping a good alignment label on their character and then acting no different from the neutral characters in the party. This book is all about how to make a good alignment mean something, and how to live up to the ideals implied in that alignment.

And...

BoED - Introduction wrote:
Many players would just as soon overlook these questions, believing they detract from the fun of the game. There’s nothing wrong with that. For groups that want to address these issues, however, the Book of Exalted Deeds opens the way. At the same time, it presents a whole host of new opportunities for player characters of good alignment and righteous conviction: new feats, spells, prestige classes, magic and mundane items, and rules to help address the situations they face. These goodies aren’t just for the cleric and paladin, either characters who sometimes are the sole voices of morality in an adventuring party. While paladins and good clerics will certainly find much of use, characters of all classes can benefit from the new mate-rial in the Book of Exalted Deeds—if they are willing and able to walk the straight and narrow path of the exalted.

And...

BoED - Feats wrote:

This book introduces a new type of feat: the exalted feat. Only intelligent characters of good alignment and the highest moral standards can acquire exalted feats, and only as a gift from powerful agents of good deities, celestials, or similar creatures.

These feats are thus supernatural in nature (rather than being extraordinary abilities, as most feats are). A character must have the DM’s permission to take an exalted feat. In many cases, a ritual must be performed; often this simply amounts to a character swearing a sacred vow, for example, in the presence of a celestial being. A character who willingly and willfully commits an evil act loses all benefits from all his exalted feats. She regains these benefits if she atones for her violations (see Sin and Atonement in Chapter 1).

Aura of Good: A character with at least one exalted feat radiates an aura of good with a power equal to her character level (see the detect good spell), as if she were a paladin or a cleric of a good deity.

All three of these point out that any DM who lets characters act anything other than GOOD (L/N/C doesn't matter) is asleep at the switch. Those characters WILL lose their exalted feats. You're not gonna Meteor Storm the orc encampment where you will kill "innocent" children and non-combatants.

Btw, LG is not the "epitome of good". Actually that honor goes to NG (good without considerations to the ethics of law & chaos). Playing characters who are *that* good is tough. Read Chapter 1 in BoED about the nature of good. There's a lot to consider.

Now let's talk about "poison". The only 2 classes that gain any poison immunity are druid and monk. Otherwise you have to hope you can find or make magic items to help. And there's no garauntee that you will be able to do that. Periapt of Proof against poison is a 27k magic item. And how many other "neck" slot items are there? So I don't know where you can say anyone above 5th level is immune.

"Touch attacks" According to the feat description

BoED - Feats - TOUCH OF GOLDEN ICE wrote:

Benefit:Any evil creature you touch with your bare hand, fist, or natural weapon is ravaged by golden ice (see Ravages and Afflictions in Chapter 3: Exalted Equipment for effects)

When was th last time you "touched" someone with your bite/claws/slam/tail/fist? Unless you were going to "flurry of b*tchslaps" maybe? That's why the DC doesn't change. So that your high level monsters have a chance to stick around.

Oh, and remember, let's say you bring their DEX down to 0. So the bad guy is helpless. What are you going to do about it? You can't just kill them. Because killing a helpless foe is an evil act - bye bye exalted feats...

Playing a paladin/cleric/exalted character right is a challenge. Playing an exalted paladin or cleric is even harder.

Play the game you want and have fun doing doing so. I would say that if you're going to make changes (or you feel that something is "nerfed or useless") understand why it was done that way in the first place before you make the change. Your games will be the better for it.

JohnBear