Why don't any of the NPCs have Varasian bonus feats, as described in the Pathfinder Player's guide?
Also - the Big Game Hunter feat. It looks very unbalanced. Did anybody else think this? I ruled that it only applied to large or larger animals (and suddenly nobody thought it was interesting... damn meta-gamers).
Why don't any of the NPCs have Varasian bonus feats, as described in the Pathfinder Player's guide?
Because it's primarly for player characters as opposed to NPCs. But the pregens in the back of each issue have the Varisian bonus feats assigned to them. I believe Valeros has Big Game Hunter...and Seoni has the Varisian Tattoo...etc.
Also - the Big Game Hunter feat. It looks very unbalanced. Did anybody else think this? I ruled that it only applied to large or larger animals (and suddenly nobody thought it was interesting... damn meta-gamers).
I remember someone asked this question back when the player's guide first came out. The answer James gave said it wasn't really that big a deal. Large creatures already have low ACs (due to their size) and that an extra +1 bonus to hit isn't that big a deal after your heroes climb into the higher levels. Likewise a +2 on weapon damage rolls against large creatures doesn't usually mean much because most of them already have lots of hit dice. Thus, a few extra hit points on the damage curve isn't all that meaningful.
All in all, Big Game Hunter gives your character a nice boost combat-wise in the early going (say, against ogres maybe?)...but only if he faces a lot of Large-sized creatures in his first few character levels. Then, once he hits the mid- and higher-levels, a +1 to hit and +2 on damage against a giant or a dragon doesn't go all that far. Thus, the feat isn't as unbalanced as it might otherwise seem...
Just my two-cents,
--Neil
I wish there'd been more options that felt meaningful for non-humans. Do the Varisian and Shoanti tribes have non-humans in them? As it is, if you're an arcane spellcaster, you feel like you have to choose the Varisian feat, but should that really mean you must be a human?
Actually, I felt like the way the races were described in the RotRL Player's Guide really discouraged us from choosing non-humans overall. Half-orcs are hated and apparently slaughtered on sight by the Shoanti, so the one place where I'd have expected them to be possible (as rape-offspring of Shoanti women), they're apparently not (plus we know too little about orcs in the setting to really understand what those raised by the orcs would be like). Elves hardly have any presence in Varisia, and the few seen in the southern areas are from outside Varisia proper (but we know nothing about placed beyond Varisia, so this isn't helpful). The few elves from Varisia know some secret about their falled city (but we don't get enough hints even to give a shape to this for elf characters to know how to react to questions - anger, shame, fear?). Halflings exist among human populations - does this include the tribes? Half-elves are universally hated/pitied (why?) and only seem to come from elf-human crosses (WHY?). Gnomes are kind of boring, and keep some secret about their homeland (but again, no shape of this is provided to let us know how to roleplay that aspect of them). Dwarves are about the only ones that seem present-and-interesting.
All things considered, I'm hoping that the upcoming Gazeteer will help open up some character options instead of shutting down so many.
I actually found the feats to be a little bit more powerful than the regular feats in the PHB, etc. but I believe that is on purpose. IIRC, the Paizo guys made them that way to encourage players to take them, as they give you an immediate connection to the culture of the game world. Kinda like how the Savage Tide feats tied into Sasserine (despite the fact that only 2 adventures take place there).
It is quite hard to design feats that can rival some of the splat books out there, so I actually enjoy seeing these kind of feats and having players take them.
But now that I'm using True20 as my group's game system, my players get a LOT more feats so the RotR feats are even more accessible to my players.
Creative Director
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Yeah... keep in mind that the first Player's Guide had to address options for seven races and 11 classes while at the same time introducing readers to an entirely new world. All in 16 pages. As a result, there simply wasn't much room to detail much of anything. With each new Player's Guide, we'll be able to add more detail, as we're already doing in Pathfinder's support articles and as we'll be doing in products like the Gazetteer and later in the year the Hardcover Campaign Setting.
And yeah; no NPCs have those bonus feats because they're mostly intended for the PCs.
ALSO: Big Game Hunter probably needs to be a little tougher to qualify for, but the theory is that the bonuses it grants won't be THAT unbalancing since it only works against creatures that tend to have a low AC and high hit points already. It certainly IS intended to work best in the mid-level range, where it gives players an edge over the first batch of Large enemies they fight regularly (yes: Ogres).
My GM stated that the "big game hunter" feat only worked against unintellegent creatures but in the ROTRL PHB it says that any creature large or bigger I get the bonuses against against. Please help
My GM stated that the "big game hunter" feat only worked against unintellegent creatures but in the ROTRL PHB it says that any creature large or bigger I get the bonuses against against. Please help
If your GM stated that, there are two possibilities:
(1) He mis-read the feat;
(2) He decided to change the feat;
If it is (1), a simple re-read should solve the the problem. If it is (2), pick another feat. He is obviously within his rights as the GM to change it (though he should acknowledge he is changing it), but it simply isn't worth taking under those circumtances.
Thanks very much it was just very frustrating, I'll tell him or ask him to reread and hope he doesnt kill me for the third time. yes the third time and we're only on the 3 book
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My ranger has the Big Game Hunter Feat, and honestly, I find it a bit overpowered. He's also got Giants as Favored Enemies, so these 2 features combined with his 4 attacks per round due to dual wield generate a very high amount of melee damage.
Maybe if the feat was +1 to damage instead of +2, it would be more balanced? I don't know.
Anyway, I'm not complaining, I'm greatly enjoying his prowess right now. :)
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Creative Director
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Big Game Hunter represents something of an experiment, to be honest. Since Large creatures tend to have low armor classes and a LOT of hit points...
1) A bonus to hit such creatures isn't really that awesome, since they've already got pretty low ACs (generally speaking).
2) A bonus to damage against creatures with LOTS of hit points isn't as great as a bonus to damage against creatures who don't have as much hit points.
That all said, Big Game Hunter IS a pretty good feat. If/when we ever revise or repeat it, I think I'd throw in some sort of prerequisite or two...
That all said, Big Game Hunter IS a pretty good feat. If/when we ever revise or repeat it, I think I'd throw in some sort of prerequisite or two...
I'm not displeased with the power level of Big Game Hunter, but a prerequisite that would be available at first level won't likely be any sort of hindrance to the power of the feat.
Also, considering ***Rise of the Runelords Spoilers***
As for the feats being "Human only" - there was a bit of that, but certainly no reason for most of them to be limited to humans. This thread here has additional feats as extra options - fairly well balanced.
As a GM I like Big Game hunter, yes it will get chosen fairly often by the melee characters, but by having to choose it at 1st level and not getting a real bonus until later levels is a good foil for that.
I see no problem with it as it stands.
I wish there'd been more options that felt meaningful for non-humans. Do the Varisian and Shoanti tribes have non-humans in them? As it is, if you're an arcane spellcaster, you feel like you have to choose the Varisian feat, but should that really mean you must be a human?
Actually, I felt like the way the races were described in the RotRL Player's Guide really discouraged us from choosing non-humans overall. Half-orcs are hated and apparently slaughtered on sight by the Shoanti, so the one place where I'd have expected them to be possible (as rape-offspring of Shoanti women), they're apparently not (plus we know too little about orcs in the setting to really understand what those raised by the orcs would be like). Elves hardly have any presence in Varisia, and the few seen in the southern areas are from outside Varisia proper (but we know nothing about placed beyond Varisia, so this isn't helpful). The few elves from Varisia know some secret about their falled city (but we don't get enough hints even to give a shape to this for elf characters to know how to react to questions - anger, shame, fear?). Halflings exist among human populations - does this include the tribes? Half-elves are universally hated/pitied (why?) and only seem to come from elf-human crosses (WHY?). Gnomes are kind of boring, and keep some secret about their homeland (but again, no shape of this is provided to let us know how to roleplay that aspect of them). Dwarves are about the only ones that seem present-and-interesting.
All things considered, I'm hoping that the upcoming Gazeteer will help open up some character options instead of shutting down so many.
I echo these comments as well, but understand the limitations under which the players guide was developed. Overall however, the background information available for human PC's is far heavier than non-humans. In particular some coverage on non-human deities would have been nice. I scoured the module series for info for my PC's.
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Thanks very much it was just very frustrating, I'll tell him or ask him to reread and hope he doesnt kill me for the third time. yes the third time and we're only on the 3 book
Seriously though, you were correct in your interpretation of the feat. You may use it on large creatures.
Also remember, your 2 deaths were in book 3, and were because you made a mistake each time (don't you just hate that), I just took advantage of it as any evil GM should do. Also, do you remember what I said when you started Hook Mountain Massacre, that I was taking the kid gloves off?
Thanks very much it was just very frustrating, I'll tell him or ask him to reread and hope he doesnt kill me for the third time. yes the third time and we're only on the 3 book
Seriously though, you were correct in your interpretation of the feat. You may use it on large creatures.
Also remember, your 2 deaths were in book 3, and were because you made a mistake each time (don't you just hate that), I just took advantage of it as any evil GM should do. Also, do you remember what I said when you started Hook Mountain Massacre, that I was taking the kid gloves off?
Thanks Chuck for letting me use Big Game Hunter against large creatures, and I did not go behind your back all I did was go onto a help forum and ask other players like me about the feat....
So please dont kill me.