High Level feats-Suggestions

[anthony Valente]

The "Fighters Rule" thread has inspired me to expound on a few things that I'd like to see possible for High Level martial combat. My take is that high level feats should stretch the boundaries of reality/mortal ability without actually breaking those boundaries. They are more concepts than actual feat proposals at this point though. What follows are just a few ideas for what the feat should do and a reason why...

At higher levels, several tactical combat feats simply can't apply (tripping, grappling, etc.) I think it's good in one way, because it forces martial characters to use new tactics to win in certain encounters. But, there are few feat options to turn to when battling huge and larger creatures; so:

1) I'd like to see a feat where a PC can grab onto a foe 2 size categories larger and basically be like a "hornet", stinging away while at the same time lessening the foe's chances at return blows. PCs can't grapple foes more than one size category larger than themselves. However, at high levels, it is commonplace to battle foes two or more size categories larger than the PCs.

2) Giant monsters tend to have high grapple checks and often use them to advantage in melee combat. I'd like to see a feat that grants a better than fair chance of resisting such attempts as the Improved Grab special ability of such monsters. Giant monsters tend to have high grapple checks and often use them to advantage in melee combat.

3) Different modes of movement (other than land movement) are commonplace at high levels of play. Flying, in particular seems to happen quite often. I'd like to see a high level feat that allows for an attack that hinders a flying opponent temporarily... say 1 round or so... a disrupting attack of sorts where the creature might come crashing to the ground or hover uncontrollably.

4) I'd like to see a feat that makes it possible to damage your opponent, an at the same time hinder its ability to return damage. (The new critical feats do this, but I'd like to see a feat that makes it a conscious effort on the part of the attacker, rather than rely on chance). Something along the lines of... for each successful attack on your opponent, he receives a cumulative -1 to hit, saves and skill checks for one round.

5) Rather than shrugging off damage via DR, being the only way to avoid it, I'd like to see a feat that actually gives you a chance of deflecting a blow or turning a blow that you normally wouldn't be able to deflect (such as a gargantuan creature's slam) into a near miss. Perhaps by choosing to fight defensively at higher levels for instance, you could gain a % miss chance = to your BAB bonus.

These are just a few random thoughts of mine. Feel free to add to the list or come up with ideas of how to actually make the feat ideas work, or even discuss the viability or need of such feats.