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I had asked Wulf Ratbane of Badaxe Games (Grim Tales) to post another preview of his upcoming Trailblazer supplement for d20 fantasy. Here's the Trailblazer barbarian.
Looks fine to me, although it isn't much different from the 3.5 version. I like the improved DR; the bonus feats are fairly harmless (since they're mostly pretty crummy feats).
None of the Trailblazer stuff has really blown me away, although I liked the Combat Reactions idea.
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I'm not going to lie the barbarian seems very meh and very much treading on the fighters toe's with all the bonus feat shenanigans.
I agree. The barbarian already has abilities that end up being far more potent than the fighter's bonus feats. Giving him bonus feats steps on the fighter's toes too much, and leaves the fighter lagging behind power wise. I say ditch them.
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I'm not going to lie the barbarian seems very meh and very much treading on the fighters toe's with all the bonus feat shenanigans.I agree. The barbarian already has abilities that end up being far more potent than the fighter's bonus feats. Giving him bonus feats steps on the fighter's toes too much, and leaves the fighter lagging behind power wise. I say ditch them.
Clearly they and I have very different ideas on what counts as a feat tax. Since getting the ability to do a ton of extra damage very easily is hardly what I would call a tax.
Anything that's nominally optional, but is in fact an assumed requirement for the class. It says, "If you want to be useful, you must have this." It's choice denied.
Concentration is a skill tax on spellcasters-- despite the fact that it gives them the ability to cast spells in combat without provoking an attack of opportunity.
I don't think Power Attack rises to quite the same level of necessity, but it's close in terms of ubiquity.
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Clearly they and I have very different ideas on what counts as a feat tax. Since getting the ability to do a ton of extra damage very easily is hardly what I would call a tax.Anything that's nominally optional, but is in fact an assumed requirement for the class. It says, "If you want to be useful, you must have this." It's choice denied.
Concentration is a skill tax on spellcasters-- despite the fact that it gives them the ability to cast spells in combat without provoking an attack of opportunity.
I don't think Power Attack rises to quite the same level of necessity, but it's close in terms of ubiquity.
Not really ive seen plenty of barbarians that never used power attack I am simply stating that any ability that gives a positive result is hardly a tax .
I am with Kevin...a tax is a must have, sorry but power attack is not a must have. I have seen it used alot, and seen fine melee characters that never use or had it.
Not a tax
I am with Kevin...a tax is a must have, sorry but power attack is not a must have. I have seen it used alot, and seen fine melee characters that never use or had it.
Not a tax
Likewise, I've had plenty of spellcasters without a maxed out Concentration skill.
same here it is only a tax if you MUST have it to do your classes normal functions...Hide and move silently for a rogue, but they have 8 skills just so they can do that.
same here it is only a tax if you MUST have it to do your classes normal functions...Hide and move silently for a rogue, but they have 8 skills just so they can do that.
I've seen non-sneaky rogues before, too.
The only real "tax" I can think of is the Perform skill for bards; if you don't take it, you lose a class feature completely.
same here it is only a tax if you MUST have it to do your classes normal functions...Hide and move silently for a rogue, but they have 8 skills just so they can do that.I've seen non-sneaky rogues before, too.
The only real "tax" I can think of is the Perform skill for bards; if you don't take it, you lose a class feature completely.
Bards/Perform is the poster child.
I don't think even Hide/Move Silently rises to the same level as Concentration for spellcasters, or PA for barbarians/fighters.
Trapfinding is always useful, so Search/Disable is more important to me. Unfortunately in many campaigns, skill points in Stealth are wasted: either the rest of the party insists on coming along with you, ruining your stealth, or the wizard does it better anyway.
Quite frankly I think Power Attack should just be a combat option, like fighting defensively. IIRC it was implemented as such in Iron Heroes.
See I can understand you thinking it should be an standard option, I fail to see it as a must have however. I can't call it a tax as it is not a must have ability.