Hi, thoughts and advice is welcome
We are considering a campaign with XP requirements being Slow Progression x 2, but compensating by giving a feat every even level, and some other benefits.
Basically, it is around 3x slower than Medium, and 4 x slower than Fast.
I argue that power gained pr XP earned is much much lower, and therefore the balance will come from the party having to kill 3x as many monsters. The opponents argue that this will break the system.
My intent is to make progress a lot slower. Now we typically race through levels, without getting to know the level based abbilities well, nor getting a good feel of achcievement. We have a lot of combat, and DMs like dificult encounters, typically resulting in a level up every 2-4 game sessions (we have played together around 25 years, kids and wives has to suffer our absence every other wedensday evening :-) ).
So, roughly 10-15 levels gained a year. Most campaigns stop before lvl 15, we have a single campaign that we return to which is the exception.
I of course realize that at a given level, a doubling of feats is significant. But considering the alternative, namely racing to the end, leaves the characters behibd in a blurry over the years. I want on one side to take it slow, and incentivise towards Character depth and immersion, and on the other side make the wait worth it in game terms, not only 'fluffy feel good'-character development. The players are very action oriented.
So, chip in please, let me hear pros and cons, or just your general opinion or experience.
The game is set up so that feats are a more rare reward than levels are. Turning feats up to eleven is not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure can have consequences. Perhaps better to award the players a "less than a level" bonus.
I personally would intersperse bonus feats (a huge reward) with the occasional ability score increase (also huge) or points toward a point-buy increase (less obviously) or hero points/luck points etc that are 1-time-use bonuses.
You might also just have a single pool of reward points handed out, which can be used to buy all of the above at different prices.
There's also SKR's step system, which spreads a single level out into small increases one-per-session. If you take that system and just increase the number of sessions per boost, it might work for you. The players might miss the great big power dump, however.
EDIT: BTW, I level the PCs with GM fiat, which has resulted in about four levels per year. :) My interim rewards are Luck Points and, of course, treasure!
I assume that you have already tried to Slow progression and found it too fast? In that case, you have gone to the logical next step.
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My idea would be that casters would suffer much more than a fighter type (not fighters as they have plenty of feats already).
A caster would take feats like metamagic for example BUT they need high levels of spells. So you'll end up with Wizards not able to cast many spells for such a looooong time.
Finally will the monsters have additional feats or not ? If not then you will need to put stronger CR to compensate for the high number of PCs feat. 2 consequences ... Ur players will then upgrade faster, It will be very deadly for players as they will have little HPs compared to the NPC.
My idea would be that casters would suffer much more than a fighter type (not fighters as they have plenty of feats already).
A caster would take feats like metamagic for example BUT they need high levels of spells. So you'll end up with Wizards not able to cast many spells for such a looooong time.
Finally will the monsters have additional feats or not ? If not then you will need to put stronger CR to compensate for the high number of PCs feat. 2 consequences ... Ur players will then upgrade faster, It will be very deadly for players as they will have little HPs compared to the NPC.
I follow you on the monsters increased CR part. This could be countered by adding numbers instead of tougher mobs, and lowering their Nominal CR when calculating xp, since the party will be less threatened when they have more feats.
I don't see the feats as hugely powerful, though. A level 4 fighter with 2 more feats is not in the power range of a level 6 fighter, probably not even a level 5, likewise with casters.
Another benefit I was thinking about was stat gains on the LOWEST stat at a certain level, for example gain +2 to your lowest stat at level 6, 12, and 18. This would be a nice rounding of the character, but would most likely have no impact on power level.
Aditional skill points is also a lower impact option.
Actually, that is kind of an intersting excersice: which character improvements will make the character more versatile, but having a somewhat low impact on the combat aspect of the game?
One suggestion: toss out more gear, with a focus on one shot and spell charge items. This way, they get odd power increases to help keep them interested, but they'll use it up before they get too high level.