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Hi folks,
A friend and I have been spitballing a couple of feats for a little while, and I finally got round to writing them down. They're really work in progress in the moment, but I thought I'd get the hive mind's opinion before I took them any further :)
The first feat stems from my love of shields in general, and my belief that they are under-utilized in most games. The second is a teamwork feat which is way more useful for NPCs than players, because I GM way more than I play and I love having these little options available to throw quirky encounters at my groups. The template is my attempt to recreate a more Night of the Living Dead/Resident Evil type zombie.
I did some searching through sourcebooks to see if there was anything comparable, but I wasn't able to turn anything up. If you know of something which seems to fit the theme of what I'm trying to achieve with any of these ideas, a pointer in the right direction would be gratefully received :)
The sections in square brackets are options that I'm considering; stuff outside of square brackets I'm pretty happy with but it's all up for grabs.
So, without further ado!
Take Cover:
You are adept at using your shield to protect yourself and your allies from area effects.
Prerequisites: Shield Focus, Shield Proficiency, [Iron Will or any class feature which grants a bonus to Will saves (e.g. bravery, divine grace)], [Lightning Reflexes], [base attack bonus +4 or +8]
Benefits: When wielding a shield (other than a buckler) you may designate one creature within your reach of your size or smaller (including yourself) who is caught within an area effect which causes hit point damage (including splash damage from grenade-like weapons, but not spreads) as an immediate action.
[The creature gains a +2 circumstance bonus to any Reflex saves allowed by the effect and benefits from the evasion class feature.]
[The creature gains the benefit of your shield’s hardness rating and any relevant shield special abilities, such as spell resistance or suitable energy resistance.]
Your shield is subjected to the effect regardless of whether you are in the area of effect or not and if you succeed any applicable save, though it makes a Fortitude save against the original DC in place of any other save allowed. If this saving throw results in a natural 1, your shield automatically gains the broken condition even if the received damage does not take it below half its maximum hit points.
Bardic Troupe:
You can work with others to give your performances greater power.
Prerequisites: Ensemble, bardic performance class feature, Perform 5 ranks
Benefits: One performer is designated the lead and chooses a bardic performance. All other performers within 20 feet who also possess this feat may attempt a DC 20 Perform check of a type relevant to the lead’s performance to increase any class level-dependent variable of the performance by 1 (e.g. competence bonus, DC, creatures affected). All performers must meet the minimum class level requirements of the bardic performance chosen by the lead performer (i.e. a 3rd-level bard could not contribute to Inspire Heroics) and use a suitable Perform skill for the performance, but need not use the same Perform skill as the lead. The lead performer can only benefit from a maximum number of additional performers equal to their Charisma modifier. Characters who gain performances from different class abilities (such as bardic performance and raging song) may make use of this feat if the name of the performance is the same and each meets the requirements from their class for the performance.
Hungering Zombie (really long, sorry):
“Hungering zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead), referred to hereafter as the base creature.
Challenge Rating
This depends on the creature’s new total number of Hit Dice, as follows:
HD CR XP
½ ¼ 100
1 ½ 200
2 1 400
3-4 2 600
5-6 3 800
7-8 4 1,200
9-10 5 1,600
11-12 6 2,400
13-16 7 3,200
17-20 8 4,800
21-24 9 6,400
25-28 10 9,600
Alignment
Always neutral evil.
Type
The creature’s type changed to undead. It retains any subtype except for alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It used all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Armour Class
Natural armour is based on the hungering zombie’s size:
Hungering zombie Size Natural Armour Bonus
Tiny or smaller +0
Small +1
Medium +2
Large +3
Huge +4
Gargantuan +7
Colossal +11
Hit Dice
Drop HD gained from class levels (minimum of 1) and change racial HD to d8s. Hungering zombies gain a number of additional HD as noted in the following table.
Hungering zombie Size Bonus Hit Dice
Tiny or smaller -
Small or Medium +1 HD
Large +2 HD
Huge +4 HD
Gargantuan +6 HD
Colossal +10 HD
Hungering zombies use their Charisma modifiers to determine bonus hit points (instead of Constitution).
Saves
Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.
Defensive Abilities
Hungering zombies lose their defensive abilities and gain all of the qualities and immunities granted by the undead type. Hungering zombies gain DR 5/slashing.
Speed
Winged hungering zombies can still fly, but manoeuvrability drops to clumsy. If the base creature flew magically, so can the hungering zombie. Retain all other movement types.
Attacks
A hungering zombie retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. It also gains a slam attack that deals damage based on the hungering zombie’s size, but as if it were one size category larger than its actual size (see Natural Attacks).
Special Attacks
A hungering zombie retains none of the base creature’s special attacks. Hungering zombies gain the following special attacks.
Grab A hungering zombie that hits with a slam attack can attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. Hungering zombies receive a +4 bonus on combat manoeuvre checks made to start and maintain a grapple.
Abilities
Str +2, Dex -2. A hungering zombie has no Con or Int score, and its Wis and Cha become 10.
BAB
A hungering zombie’s base attack is equal to ¾ its Hit Dice.
Skills
A hungering zombie has no skill ranks.
Feats
A hungering zombie loses all feats possessed by the base creature, and does not gain feats as its Hit Dice increase, but it does gain Toughness as a bonus feat.
Special Qualities (Ex)
A hungering zombie loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A hungering zombie gains the following special qualities.
Staggered Hungering zombies have poor reflexes and can only perform a single move action or standard action each round. A hungering zombie can move up to its speed and attack in the same round as a charge action.
Relentless Hunger Hungering zombies will go to any length to consume the flesh and brains of the living. A hungering zombie is destroyed when its negative hit point total is equal to its Charisma score; it is not destroyed when it reaches 0 hit points like a typical undead. If a hungering zombie’s hit points are below 0 but above its Charisma score, it becomes prone and its movement speed is reduced to 5 feet. It may use its slam attack and grab ability without penalty while prone, and may still move up to its speed and attack in a single turn. The zombie’s movement provokes attacks of opportunity, and in all other ways the zombie is treated as prone.
Gnaw A hungering zombie that grabs a foe can make a bite attack against that foe as a secondary attack. As a secondary natural attack, the hungering zombie’s bite takes a -5 penalty to the attack roll and applies half the hungering zombie’s Str bonus to damage. Unlike the slam attack granted by this template, the bite deals damage appropriate to the size of the hungering zombie (1d6 for a Medium creature; see Natural Attacks).