I've heard some good things about reserve feats, but I'm not sure if they are really worth it. I've read them over and tend to think yeah that's kind of cool. Anyone have an opinion or experience about/with reserve feats? I know most of them seem to depend on the style of each character, but what are some reserve feats that stand out and why?
Fizz
Hi, Fizzban! I think reserve spells are great. When they first came out, I was concerned that they might be overpowered, but having seen their use in an ongoing campaign, I can you tell that, in my experience, they are balanced. More importantly, they are fun. I think they were first introduced in "The Complete Mage." One of my favorites is "Fiery Burst." It is a 5' radius burst of fire that does 1d6 points of damage per level of the highest uncast fire spell the caster has. So, if he is using fireball, for example, he could do 3d6 damage in a 5' radius (within 30') and he could do it every round. But doing so requires a standard action. It sounds powerful at first, but in practice, most spellcasters have something more helpful to do. But it gives them something interesting when they're *nearly* out of spells. I think they were a great idea (although I believe it sounds like 4th edition is taking this idea too far, but YMMV). Note also that they are not specifically restricted to arcane casters.
So, long story short: I think they are a nice addition, and I like them in addition to, but not in lieu of, traditional Vancian casting.
[Edit] Realized the OP understood how they worked and just wanted opinions about them.[Edit]
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I personally love them. We're open to using them, but haven't had much chance.
Basically, it gives the wizard something to do when using a spell isn't appropriate but getting into melee would be a bad idea. If the fight is going well for the PCs, and it doesn't look like the bad guys will be able to do much more, the wizard often just drops out of combat.
This means that the wizard always has something to do if they're willing to hold a 'better spell' in reserve.
I really like this for flavor reasons as well. I don't like the idea of wizards not being able to do 'minor magic' most of the time. You can learn fireball, but not do any other fire related magic?
In any case, I recommend giving them a try. I doubt you'll find they're too powerful. And if you're worried about it, work it out with your player first. Explain that if it doesn't work you'll retroactively explain it away as an 'item' that he lost, and he can choose another feat instead. No harm, no foul.
Reserve feats are okay.
I've built some bad guys using them. One for each of the four classical elements for these Derro Spell Lords. Hurricane Breath (fun), fiery burst, some frost blast thingy, and a sticky floors/slow ya down one. This was reserve feats introduction and they didn't seem overpowered (a bit on the weak side unless used with some planning).
Then the players started using them. Dimensional jaunt (IIRC), and a few others (one that grants like a darkvision).
Make sure the players really understand these feats. We play with one guy that has a Forget button on his bottom and whenever he sits on it we have to tell him that Fiery Burst is not a ranged touch attack.
I've had Fiery Burst on one character. It was fun at first but then just kinda became the usual thing to do and lead me to now using my other spells. The group started to expect it all the time and it left me not trying to look at creative ways to use my spells. If nothing else the bonus to caster level is worth it if you have a lot of a particular type of spell. I have seen the higher level ones in practise and they can be very useful.
Hurricane Breath has alway intrigued me but it seems like the BUll's RUsh would be easily overcome.
I've wanted to use them for more than single or double runs, but I always end up not using them in favor of metamagic feats (energy substitution rocks my socks off!) though I keep eyeballing the one (which I can't remember off the top of my head) that lets you do acid damage..
The reserve feats for the arcane casters give them something to do in a minor battle without 'wasting' spells or pulling out their crossbow. Stormbolt is probably the best IMO, decent range and fewer creatures have elec resistance vs fire resistance. The Touch of Healing reserve feat from Complete Champion is a must have for a cleric. Provided you keep a 2nd level spell available you can heal 6 hp per touch as a standard action up to 1/2 the targets total hp. It really lessens the carrying burden of healing spells on the cleric and lets him use his spells in combat for more 'fun' stuff without being over powered.
As well, don't forget you can take reserve feats like Fiery Burst with a cleric or druid! It gives you a blaster option for your cleric ...
Yeah that's true, but generally a divine caster has good melee options and from what I've seen they're generally unwilling 'waste' a feat on something like fiery burst. However, I suspect it's very dependent on the PCs build and style.