Get ready to shake up your game! Within these pages, the designers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game unleash their wildest ideas, and nothing is safe. From totally revised fundamentals like core classes and monster design to brand-new systems for expanding the way you play, this book offers fresh ideas while still blending with the existing system. With Pathfinder Unchained, you become the game designer!
Pathfinder Unchained is an indispensable companion to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 15 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into a new era.
Pathfinder Unchained includes:
New versions of the barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner classes, all revised to make them more balanced and easier to play.
New skill options for both those who want more skills to fill out their characters' backgrounds and those seeking streamlined systems for speed and simplicity.
Changes to how combat works, from a revised action system to an exhaustive list of combat tricks that draw upon your character's stamina.
Magic items that power up with you throughout your career—and ways to maintain variety while still letting players choose the "best" magic items.
Simplified monster creation rules for making new creatures on the fly.
Exotic material components ready to supercharge your spellcasting.
New takes on alignment, multiclassing, iterative attacks, wounds, diseases and poisons, and item creation.
... and much, much more!
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-715-4
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
Having completed a couple of adventure paths as GM and gearing up for my third, I felt I had enough experience under my belt to see about implementing some of the alternative rules systems from Pathfinder Unchained. The book presents 254 pages of different or additional ways to do things in Pathfinder, and it’s certainly worth a look if you’re planning a new campaign—chances are there’s something for every GM. These aren’t little things like a new feat, but major redesigns of entire classes, monster creation, magic, and more. The only caveat is that the more you stray from the Core rules, the more unresolved issues are likely to arise, so think carefully through the implications of a change and make sure players are willing to buy in to any adjustments. Anyway, there’s a ton of material to discuss, so let’s get to it!
I’m not a big fan of the cover. The golem or animated statue or whatever it is has a crazy narrow waist that really annoys me for some reason, even though I do acknowledge the whirling chains are a nice nod to the book’s title. The introduction (2 pages long) notes that Pathfinder was released seven years earlier (at that point) and that it’s time to offer a workshop full of tools for GMs to select from to update and customise their game. It provides a brief but useful overview of the major new changes, and is worth a skim.
Chapter 1 is “Classes” (36 pages) and contains the most widely adopted changes across the Pathfinder community. The chapter presents new “Unchained” versions of the Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner, and even PFS allows them because they are almost unanimously accepted as more playable (and better balanced) revisions. The Unchained Barbarian has simplified calculations for rage duration (though it still lasts too long, in my opinion) and makes it easier to use rage powers. The Unchained Monk has a simplified Flurry of Blows and new ki powers for versatility. The Unchained Rogue gets skill unlocks (discussed later) and important abilities like debilitating injury, weapon finesse, and (eventually) Dex to damage. The Unchained Summoner is frankly a nerf, but a much-needed one; the biggest change is to the eidolon, but it also fixes the Summoner spell list. I’m happy with all the class revisions, and I only wish Paizo got around to making Unchained versions of some of the other problematic classes out there. The chapter also contains a new method to compute BABs and saves to help multiclass characters, but it looks too complicated to me. Finally, there’s a new “staggered advancement” mechanism that sort of allows a character to partially level up as they go instead of doing it all at once when they reach a new XP threshold; I think it’s more effort than its worth.
Chapter 2 is “Skills and Options” (44 pages). It starts with an optional “Background” skills system, which essentially gives each PC a free rank each level to spend on a non-combat oriented skill like Craft, Perform, etc. I tried it once in a previous campaign but found it was rarely used to flesh out a character and was instead just dumped into learning another language or another point in a Knowledge skill. I do like the expanded skill uses for Craft, Perform, and Profession—they’re easy to integrate into a campaign because they essentially give the GM a list of uses and DCs to make those skills more valuable in ordinary gameplay (such as using Craft to determine what culture made an item, for example). Another optional change is a consolidated skill list that cuts the number of skills in a third! This is essentially what Starfinder did, and I’m not a fan at all because it makes for too much homogeneity within a group. Another proposal is “grouped skills” which makes PCs more broadly skilled but less specialised; complicated but interesting. Next, there are alternative Crafting and Profession rules. I like the changes to Crafting (simplifies and details DCs better) but it doesn’t address magical item crafting which, frankly, is the most likely to be used and abused. The changes to Profession are only for running a business. Perhaps most pertinent are the “Skill Unlocks” for Unchained Rogue (or any other PC who takes a particular feat)—these allow a character who has 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill to gain a particular ability with that skill. These aren’t game-changers for the most part, but they do speed up their use or remove penalties, and are worth having for the most part. Last, there’s a new way to handle multiclassing; essentially, you give up feats to get the secondary powers of another class. I found it interesting but ultimately unsatisfactory.
Chapter 3 is “Gameplay” (46 pages) and is a real grab bag of options. The first involves alignment: either making it a bigger part of the game by tracking PCs’ alignment more finely and providing bonuses accordingly, or removing it altogether (which would require a *lot* of GM legwork). Some people like the revised action economy (a version of which was implemented in PF2), which changes the admittedly initially confusing dichotomy of Free/Swift/Immediate/Move/Standard/Full to just “Simple” and “Advanced”. However, I’ve also heard issues with how it handles certain classes. Another proposal is to remove iterative attacks; it looks interesting but too complicated for easy adoption. Next are “stamina points” and “combat tricks”—basically, a pool of points to use for a bonus on an attack or to do certain tricks that improve combat feats; I could certainly see using this. Also tempting is the idea of “wound thresholds”, which means there’s a degradation of fighting ability the more hit points are lost—this would create some new tactical considerations though it would also require some more GM tracking. Last are Starfinder-style disease and poison progression tracks, which make them *much* deadlier (I think they’re too hard to integrate at this stage in Pathfinder, however).
Chapter Four is “Magic” (38 pages). It starts with “Simplified Spellcasting”, in which a spellcaster only prepares spells for their three highest spell levels with all lesser spells grouped in a pool; this provides them even more flexibility, which is anathema to those (like me) unhappy with the caster/martial disparity at higher levels. Next are “Spell Alterations”, and some of these are more my jam: limited magic, wild magic, spell crits and fumbles, and material components have a cost for every spell (old school!). I know a lot of groups use the “Automatic Bonus Progression” rules, which provide a fixed bonus at each level so that the “Big Six” magic item slots can be used for more interesting and flavourful things than just stat boosting gear. Next are magical items that scale; I think one or two of these in a campaign could be really fun (and manageable), though I wouldn’t want to overdo it just because of the complications. Last up is a new way of handling magic item creation that involves the whole party overcoming challenges in order to add unique powers to items; it’s certainly flavourful and worth considering.
Chapter Five is “Monsters” (62 pages). It presents a whole new (and allegedly much faster) way of creating monsters. It’s the method adopted in Starfinder, and is based on arrays and grafts rather than building a creature from the “ground up”. I’m personally not a fan of it (I like knowing monsters follow the same “rules” as everyone else), but I do sympathise with the homebrewers out there who want a faster way to stock a dungeon with custom creations.
And that’s Pathfinder Unchained. If you’ve been playing or GMing for a while and have a good sense of the Core rules, it’s certainly worth a look.
Some of the suggested mechanics are worth the entire price
Automatic Bonus Progression is enough to justify the entire price of the book. Better versions of the Rogue and Monk, as well as fixes to the summoner and streamlining the barabarian seal the deal. There is a lot of other good stuff in here as well. Well worth it!
I love the idea of this book, I wish this happened more often. They took what they saw wrong with their game and spent proper time and effort to come up with proper solutions. It's pretty rare for a company to spend this much effort on tweaking things. The new proposed mechanics for combat and skills are unique and great ideas to help customize your groups' gaming experience.
I hope they release more books like this in the future. I've love for more variations for multiclassing, and I'm still waiting for a summoner archetype that removes the class summon monster ability and focuses more on the eidolon.
Highly recommend it, especially for anyone interested in how someone goes about making a gaming system. It provides awesome insights.
It's been a while since it took me so long to digest a Pathfinder book, and boy, did Unchained ever keep me digesting. More optional rules than you can shake a stick at, to be implemented in modular or wholesale fashion, to tweak your game to your heart's content, and with top-notch art throughout, to boot. Excellent work by Paizo and one of their finest offerings in a while.
As for the negatives, the only thing I can really point out is that the writing can be somewhat scattershot and unfocused in a couple of reasonably complex sections, which would have benefited greatly from examples or bolded formulae.
This book is a great addition. Options are optional, and it's great that this book has so many. It really makes customizing a campaign easy. Of you'll like you never use every option, or likely even half of them in a single you play or run, but having them really gives you a great toolbox to use. Some people are finicky about house rules, so having an official batch of "house rules" to choose from is nice for people who prefer to stick to official products. No book is perfect, but being this book isn't really being forced on anyone (of course I suppose none of the supplements are), and that is a giant bag of options that you can pick and choose from to enhance the game, for those who'd like it enhanced, I give this product 5 stars, especially if I am comparing it to the usefulness of the average Pathfinder product.
Anyone with the pdf willing to share what the unchained monk gets to boost will saves for peace of mind purposes? Robert Jordan mentioned something about a "Diamond Mind" ability few pages back.
There was some mention earliler of a "Staggered Advancement" is that anything like the Monte Cook's WoD advancement?
(for those who don't know, that system broke each level into 4 groups; HD/BaB, Saves, Skills, Special abilities. After each game session instead of getting XP you just pick one of the 4 to advance in. Once you had all 4 you were officially up a level. So every game session you would see some improvement in your character and advancement wasn't tied to "how many things did you kill today")
Diamond Body was always my Ki Leech trade-out, so I feel that.
I think one sneaky thing Dabbler might not have noticed about the Unchained Monk (that I just thought of myself) is that you don't hit that asinine "I get to trade out a power the level BEFORE I get a new level of power to trade" wall, which is nice.
Yeah, as the one who added in the ability to use qinggong powers, I felt very happy with how they stack up in that way for the Unchained monk. It just fit perfectly.
To all my friends here who don't have the book, check out this week's blog here! I literally posted two of the scaling items for you, with art and all!
Okay, so looking at the list of outsider types, I'm really surprised the Kyton isn't included, but the Div is. Dev team, please make more. YOU MUST.
Originally div, agathion, and psychopomp weren't on there, but I managed to get them added for you (I will say it was super close between divs and kytons for who would take the evil slot in the extras, since qlippoths and demodands and a few others didn't seem like good candidates). For now, consider those to be cool extras! :)
Yeeeeeeeeees. Agathions are the BEST Good outsiders. I was thrilled to see them among the options; they're great both mechanically and thematically.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber
Protoman wrote:
Anyone with the pdf willing to share what the unchained monk gets to boost will saves for peace of mind purposes? Robert Jordan mentioned something about a "Diamond Mind" ability few pages back.
I mentioned it in a previous post but Diamond Mind lets the monk deal with fear, something the core monk can't do anything with besides make the save or fail it. Diamond Mind let's the monk spend 1 ki point as a swift action to suppress fear as per the Remove Fear spell. They can also spend 2 ki points to activate it even when frightened or panicked. Have to be level 6 monk to pick it.
1. summoners. One of my settings uses summoners who have constructs, not extraplaner entities as their eidelons. Will that be difficult to import-- I rather like what I'm hearing about the unchained summoner given that the older version has always had balance issues.
2. The varient magic item rules-- can they be used for a setting where magic is very rare? Traditional PAthfinder assumes that as you level up you're also getting magic items, which isn't really fitting with the theme of an iceage/stone age setting.
There was some mention earliler of a "Staggered Advancement" is that anything like the Monte Cook's WoD advancement?
(for those who don't know, that system broke each level into 4 groups; HD/BaB, Saves, Skills, Special abilities. After each game session instead of getting XP you just pick one of the 4 to advance in. Once you had all 4 you were officially up a level. So every game session you would see some improvement in your character and advancement wasn't tied to "how many things did you kill today")
There is a staggered advancement system, but it is still XP-based. Basically, at 25/50/75% of a level you get to choose to gain the BAB increase, 50% of the HP increase, or the saves increase. Skills are spilt at 50%/100%. At 100% you get the class abilities and 50% of the HP.
1. summoners. One of my settings uses summoners who have constructs, not extraplaner entities as their eidelons. Will that be difficult to import-- I rather like what I'm hearing about the unchained summoner given that the older version has always had balance issues.
2. The varient magic item rules-- can they be used for a setting where magic is very rare? Traditional PAthfinder assumes that as you level up you're also getting magic items, which isn't really fitting with the theme of an iceage/stone age setting.
1.) You should be able to house rule them pretty easily, especially constructs. At each level, grant the eidolon some of the abilities granted by the construct subtype, or an evolution point(that's a fairly common filler boost).
2.)The Automatic system actually has a suggestion for 0 magic item play. The chart goes to level 22, and you get the benefits of your level+2.
what are all the loyalties that replace alignment?
It's just whatever you're loyal to. So as opposed to something like Good, you can instead be loyal to the concept of defending people, that way if the only way to defend someone is to do something evil, you're still defending them.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
xavier c wrote:
Lanitril wrote:
xavier c wrote:
what are all the loyalties that replace alignment?
It's just whatever you're loyal to. So as opposed to something like Good, you can instead be loyal to the concept of defending people, that way if the only way to defend someone is to do something evil, you're still defending them.
So how does this work with the gods and stuff?
Weird question.
Say, for example, I was a paladin of Iomedae - I've got to have loyalty to Good (as a paladin), and I'd probably choose Iomedae as my second, and for my third beef stew. Or yo momma. Or clean socks. Or something else that's worth being loyal to.
dose the summoner's eidolons subtype determine its base stats ( str , dex etc ...) if so are all of them set at a Int.7 ? Do the sub types come with predetermined attacks and damage or weapons ? Can you still determine what the eidolon looks like or is its appearance predetermined ? Thanks for any info .
Eidolon ability scores are still determined by base form.
It's an old horse, but is there anything in there for supporting 4 skill points/level as a minimum? Or what's this I'm hearing about background skills?
All skills are broken into two categories -- background skills and adventuring skills. Everybody gets two extra skill points per level, but those skill points can only be spent on background skills.
Is there anything specific to the sorcerer in all this Tome of Chewy Wholesome Goodness?
And is there a variant rage like in Unearthed Arcana?
SM
The revised barbarian class has rage work differently. It would not be too difficult to port that new rage mechanism over to bloodragers and other characters with rage-like abilities.
The rogue is all improvements. Weapon finesse at 1st level, then Dex to damage with three weapons (chosen at 3rd, 11th, and 19th levels). Many rogue talents are redefined (mostly upgrades, but I must admit that I only skimmed them). At 4th level a rogue gains Debilitating Injury, which lets him inflict penalties on targets he successfully sneak attacks. Trap sense is expanded to danger sense, and he gains skill unlock abilities every 5 levels.
So the Unchained Monk is no different than the Qinggong Monk, since that archetype actually gets a Ki power at 4th and every 2 levels thereafter also. So my question is, are any of the Qinggong monk Ki powers on the Unchained Monk's list? Or can they can on the list as well?
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber
The Unchained monk has a Ki power option that's just Qinggong Power, what it says on the tin grab a power from the Qinggong Monk choices for the appropriate level.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber
Proficiency feats do not have any stamina uses. The combat tricks section starts by saying nearly every combat feat has an associated combat trick except for weapon and proficiency feats nor do feats that expand upon the stamina and combat trick system.
So the Unchained Monk is no different than the Qinggong Monk, since that archetype actually gets a Ki power at 4th and every 2 levels thereafter also. So my question is, are any of the Qinggong monk Ki powers on the Unchained Monk's list? Or can they can on the list as well?
You don't need to bold your post. People will answer you if you're patient.
The Unchained Monk is VERY different from the qinggong monk; as a matter of fact, one (and only one) of the Unchained Monk's ki powers basically says: pick a quiggong monk archetype power for yourself. Everything else is either an existing monk class feature made ki power (like quivering palm or abundant step) or an all-new power unique to the new class.
Here's 7th level Unchained!Merisiel, adapted from the NPC Codex:
Merisiel
Elf rogue 7
CN Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12
-------------------------------
DEFENSE
-------------------------------
AC 23, touch 17, flat-footed 17
(+5 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 shield)
hp 56 (7d8+21)
Fort +4, Ref +11, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities danger sense +2, evasion, uncanny dodge; Immune sleep
-------------------------------
OFFENSE
-------------------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee+1 keen rapier +11 (1d6+6/15–20)
Ranged dagger +10 (1d4+2/19–20)
Special Attacks debilitating injury, finesse training (rapier), sneak attack +4d6
-------------------------------
STATISTICS
-------------------------------
Str 15, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 24
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Quick Draw, Toughness, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +20, Bluff +11, Climb +12, Disable Device +17, Knowledge (local) +10, Perception +12 (+14 vs traps or ambushes), Sleight of Hand +15, Stealth +15
Languages Common, Elven
SQ elven magic, rogue talents (bleeding attack +4, combat trick, fast stealth), rogue's edge (Acrobatics), trapfinding +3, weapon familiarity
Combat Gearpotion of cure serious wounds, potion of invisibility, acid, alchemist’s fire, tanglefoot bag; Other Gear+2 studded leather, masterwork buckler, +1 keen rapier, daggers (12), belt of incredible dexterity +2, boots of elvenkind, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, universal solvent, backpack, hooded lantern, masterwork thieves’ tools, oil (5), silk rope (50 ft.), 16 gp
Not a lot of differences in the statblock, but she did pick up an extra feat, +3 damage with her rapier, and an easier time using Acrobatics to get into flank. Assuming she gets the flank, she also got the ability to drop her target's AC by 4 for herself and 2 for her flank partner, just by doing a regular sneak attack.
By the way, this book does provide the answer to a trivia question that I don't recall anyone ever asking. According to one piece of artwork in this book, trumpet archons apparently can get tan lines.
Deflect Arrows lets you spend 5 stamina points to deflect an arrow while flat-footed.
Critical Focus lets you spend stamina points under certain conditions to roll a second confirmation roll for even more damage.
I did not see a Critical Bleeding feat mentioned in that section.
Another point of interest -- a fighter using this system can take Combat Expertise and other feats that have an Int 13 requirement without having an intelligence score that high, but he must have at least one unspent stamina point to use any such feats that he has.
So the Unchained Monk is no different than the Qinggong Monk, since that archetype actually gets a Ki power at 4th and every 2 levels thereafter also. So my question is, are any of the Qinggong monk Ki powers on the Unchained Monk's list? Or can they can on the list as well?
You don't need to bold your post. People will answer you if you're patient.
The Unchained Monk is VERY different from the qinggong monk; as a matter of fact, one (and only one) of the Unchained Monk's ki powers basically says: pick a quiggong monk archetype power for yourself. Everything else is either an existing monk class feature made ki power (like quivering palm or abundant step) or an all-new power unique to the new class.
I want to differentiate between me asking a question and me commenting.
What... is the Stamina option for Crane Style/Crane Wing?
If it's something like "You can spend 5 points from your Fatigue pool to automatically block 1 attack that would hit you when you activate Crane Wing" then someone is going to get a pie in the face.
What... is the Stamina option for Crane Style/Crane Wing?
If it's something like "You can spend 5 points from your Fatigue pool to automatically block 1 attack that would hit you when you activate Crane Wing" then someone is going to get a pie in the face.
For Crane Wing I can see it doing something like allowing you to block a melee attack when attacked flat-footed. Or maybe receive the +2 AC bonus to all opponents for 1 round instead of against just one opponent. Guess we'll see.
What... is the Stamina option for Crane Style/Crane Wing?
If it's something like "You can spend 5 points from your Fatigue pool to automatically block 1 attack that would hit you when you activate Crane Wing" then someone is going to get a pie in the face.
Crane style lets you burn stamina (upto 3) to get a 1 for 1 dodge boost against a single attack as an immediate action.
Crane Wing lets you spend 5 stamina to designate a second foe for your +2 dodge bonus to AC.
What... is the Stamina option for Crane Style/Crane Wing?
If it's something like "You can spend 5 points from your Fatigue pool to automatically block 1 attack that would hit you when you activate Crane Wing" then someone is going to get a pie in the face.
Then no one should get a pie to the face.
Crane Style lets you spend stamina points to increase the dodge bonus to AC from that feat.
Crane Wing lets you spend stamina points to activate that feat against a second opponent.
Neither feat says anything about automatic blocking.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber
No since it's based off the errata'd crane style tree it's nothing as useful or awesome as that, it just lets you spend 5 points to designate another target for your Crane Wing and get +2 to ac vs them.
With the change to the Major Magic rogue talent I think I'll be letting Pages of Spell Knowledge work with it. Should make for pretty versatile NPC rogues.
WHY IS SHIPPING ON HARDCOVERS SO UGLY THAT IT FORCED ME TO QUIT THE RPG SUB AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE 29TH FOR MY PDF THIS IS UNFAIR BAD AND NOT NICE *HEAVY BREATHING* *BLOOD PRESSURE*
Not everything is going to work for me and my gaming group, but I'm going to make the following changes to the games I'm GMing:
-Unchained classes will replace the Core classes as follows:
Classes:
--Unchained Monk with Ki points based on his full level
--Unchained Rogue with the Skill Unlocks pretty much only being a rogue stick. (Others may gain the feat to Unlocks but the unlocks will happen 2 ranks later for non-rogues)
--Unchained Barbarian as written in the book
--Unchained Summoner as written in the book
--Unchained Fighter with the free Stamina Pool feat and the Stamina Pool size chainged to ((BAB+Fighter level)/2)+CON
Also Fighters will gain 5 points instead of 3 with the bonus Stamina feat
-Background skills
-Diseases and poisons
Some other things I might try out once here and there (like the Wound thresholds and one of the bigsixless systems), but I guess they wont stick.
I sorta feel like, when I implement Stamina, I'm gonna give a way to get bonus stamina, and once again, it will help Fighters more than anybody else, still without rewriting Fighter. Basically, your Stamina increases by 1 for every Combat Feat you have compatible with the Stamina system. I'd also increase Extra Stamina to 5 though, but for everybody. Idk. Still mulling it over.
Also, I think I'm gonna give Stamina to everybody for free, rather than feat buy in, or Fighter getting it free and everybody else has to feat buy in.
I am giving it to Fighters only. Fighters NEED their own unique stick. Everyone should not be dipping into his "cookie jar." Fighters should be the best at Fighting and the idea that a Fighter should get more "oomph" from Combat Feats and NO ONE ELSE is a great start.
If other classes want a taste they should get Fighter levels.
This is why I am making it Fighter Level + Con modifier only. If you make it BAB + Con then you have people taking a 1 level Fighter dip. Give the Fighter something people will want to commit more levels to or even go full 20.
Allowing others to take advantage of the Stamina system once again takes away from the Fighter.
QUESTION
Can an Unchained Monk qualify for Drunken Master archetype? I have a player who wants to play Unchained but also wants the Drunken Master archetype. Is it possible?
I am giving it to Fighters only. Fighters NEED their own unique stick. Everyone should not be dipping into his "cookie jar." Fighters should be the best at Fighting and the idea that a Fighter should get more "oomph" from Combat Feats and NO ONE ELSE is a great start.
If other classes want a taste they should get Fighter levels.
This is why I am making it Fighter Level + Con modifier only. If you make it BAB + Con then you have people taking a 1 level Fighter dip. Give the Fighter something people will want to commit more levels to or even go full 20.
Allowing others to take advantage of the Stamina system once again takes away from the Fighter.
While I get where you are coming from: the other multiclassing options in the book seem to be aimed at making off-classing less painless, rather than more.
Fighters tend to be the only 'feat glutted' class, in my experience: and even they can run out: so i don't see any problem as yet.
The 'burn a feat to unlock' seems fine to me, as a first reaction: But I guess the only way to find out is to play.
