Swap it for feat plus the second level Bravery Class feature in Alpha 3.
I can see it both ways. Obviously, it's intended as a "band-aid" for the lack of skills for fighters (especially acute in my campaign because I have a Knowledge: Warfare skill and an Endurance skill). At a cost of your 1st level bonus feat as a nod to keeping things "fair," it's a workable deal.
On the other hand, I can see it this way: we introduce a feat called "Academy Training." Here it is:
ACADEMY TRAINING [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: Choose six skills, and add them to your list of class skills. Also, you immediately gain 2 skill points per Hit Die you possess. As you gain additional class levels, you gain 2 additional skill points per level.
No one in the world, except maybe rogues and a few bards, WOULDN'T take this feat. It's WAY too good; indeed, it's worth up to 14 feats over the course of 20 levels: Skill Focus (x6) to account for all the +3's from class skills, and (that one that gives you 5 skill points) x 8.
But... but what if we re-write the feat?
ACADEMY TRAINING [FIGHTER]
Prerequisite: 1st level fighter; 1st level character only.
Benefit: Add the following to your list of fighter class skills: Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis). Also, you gain 4 skill points per fighter level, instead of 2.
Now it's not nearly as mandatory. It's still great for fighters, but it's a class-specific band-aid rather than a must-have feat for everyone. That seems to be what was intended. Why Paizo didn't just eliminate the 1st level feat and add 2 skill points per level when re-vamping the fighter is unknown to me; maybe they felt like a lot of combat-oriented slasher-gamers would rather have the feat. Dunno.
Now it's not nearly as mandatory. It's still great for fighters, but it's a class-specific band-aid rather than a must-have feat for everyone. That seems to be what was intended. Why Paizo didn't just eliminate the 1st level feat and add 2 skill points per level when re-vamping the fighter is unknown to me; maybe they felt like a lot of combat-oriented slasher-gamers would rather have the feat. Dunno.
Or, if they still felt that the fighter was a little too focused, they could have just given the class "4 +Int Mod" skill points per level and just left it at that.
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Why Paizo didn't just eliminate the 1st level feat and add 2 skill points per level when re-vamping the fighter is unknown to me; maybe they felt like a lot of combat-oriented slasher-gamers would rather have the feat. Dunno.
It's probably got something to do with the fact that a class with no class features at first level is ludicrously bad.
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Why Paizo didn't just eliminate the 1st level feat and add 2 skill points per level when re-vamping the fighter is unknown to me; maybe they felt like a lot of combat-oriented slasher-gamers would rather have the feat. Dunno.It's probably got something to do with the fact that a class with no class features at first level is ludicrously bad.
You could think about it in a bit more abstract way. Think of any class, take away its 1st level features, then make it a Human. Voila! Bonus feat!
Really, it's not like the bonus feat at 1st level was ever that great to begin with.
Swap it for feat plus the second level Bravery Class feature in Alpha 3.
That's a great idea: the sub level gives an immediate boost (more class skills); so does a feat. The extra skill points scale with level; so does bravery. Good call; we keep a useful substitution and maintain some semblance of parity at the same time.
My point was that there's no reason *not* to take it. And when I see an 'optional' ability that no one in their right mind wouldn't want (unless they really want that extra feat), I think of it as busted. An optional thing like a class substitution level should, mechanically at least, be something that could go either way. In this case, sure, I don't think the "Fighter" as a whole would be broken if a player took this. My problem is that there's no player I know who *wouldn't* want it. When that happens, the ability should either be made part of the standard Fighter, or it should change.
This thread was for suggesting the latter.
I don't have a problem with this feat. However, I can't think of one of my regular players who would take this. As a group, they like specialists, and roles. The three who typically play fighters will leave "skill accumulation" to other members of the party. They are typically planning their feat progressions and the best (and fastest) way to get there.
Then again, maybe my group is a little out of the ordinary. They also don't really get into multi-classing, or PRCs.