Certain Feats bonuses just aren't enough

[Brit O]

some feats, especially the newer skill feats and combat maneuver feats, they don't have bonuses high enough to feel effective.

Improved grapple's +4 in 3.5 still failed me numerous times for many embarassing moments when people would roll their eyes and ask me why I waste my attacks. Now I see that its been dropped to a +2, and against my opponents already high 15+modifiers.

I'd like to see some of the combat maneuver's get a higher modifier, and in some cases special abilities to help make those maneuver's seem more worth my time. Bullrush needs an automatic extra 5 feet or so or else it seems like I need to pick on halflings just to move them a decent distance. i'd like to see all the combat maneuver feats get a boost to give the maneuvers a boost. They're hardly used as it is but make for great combat scenes.

Also, why change combat expertise? Making it based off the int stat means that I need to start maxing my stats based on feats? the old days when I needed a 13 to get an intro feat seemed bad enough but to need an 18 to get +4 to my ac seems weak.

[Arknath]

Brit O wrote:

some feats, especially the newer skill feats and combat maneuver feats, they don't have bonuses high enough to feel effective.

Improved grapple's +4 in 3.5 still failed me numerous times for many embarassing moments when people would roll their eyes and ask me why I waste my attacks. Now I see that its been dropped to a +2, and against my opponents already high 15+modifiers.

Quite honestly, I think grappling as a size larger than you are (assuming you're a Medium or Large creature) and not provoking AofO's from trying to initiate a grapple is a pretty beefy feat. I don't think that's anything to laugh at. Dropping it to a +2 is probably making it less powerful, but I haven't read all the new grapple rules yet.

[Michael F]

My understanding is that since it is no longer an opposed roll, the +2 gives you as much "bang for your buck" as +4 to an opposed roll.

[Brit O]

Michael F wrote:

My understanding is that since it is no longer an opposed roll, the +2 gives you as much "bang for your buck" as +4 to an opposed roll.

Except that when it was an opposed roll it was assuming I rolled an 11 and they rolled an 11 and everyone's modifiers should make the difference. With the DC set with a base 15 its like they're always rolling 4 higher than me.

If you ask me, we either need to make grappling either or forget it. If I want to become an expert grappler I don't understand why my rolls are nerfed because not everyone wants to grapple.

Example. Two fighters with equal CMD before feats, and 1 takes improved grapple. The grappler now has +2 on his roll vs his opponents 15 + CMD. So he won't start a grapple more than half the time, and he just wasted an attack.

With the odds pushed so far toward failure, and the number of times grapple checks are asked for its hard to actually hold an opponent and not fail eventually. According to D&D and now Pathfinder when I grab an opponent he'll break free in under 30 seconds almost every time, and in that time I'll have accomplished almost nothing.

And its not just grappling. With the DC set assuming they rolled a 15, the opponents are always getting a +4 bonus because its their CMD + 15 vs my CMD + d20 which is a 11 on average.

So increasing the feats bonuses to +4 will just make my CMD + d20 + 4 equal to an equal level fighters CMD + 15.

Of scary devil advocate to this though, that means than anyone trying to outgrapple me has my CMD at 15 + 4 + my CMD, which would be pretty scare. the base 15 gives anyone defending a combat maneuver a really big boost.