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It will crank the optimizers up a small notch, but it would let folks who haven't optimized go up 2-3 notches.
+1000
The true optimizers won't, usually, need retraining, since their optimized PC has already been planned out and built for 12 or more levels.
The ones who need this, and are likely to use it, are the non-optimizers and the lesser grad optimizers.
Got a local player, with a Fighter, who really needs this, as his Fighter is built ... badly. Very badly. A mix of melee and ranged feats, and not the best ones even there.
Power Attack, Cleave, Deadly Aim, EWP: Bastard Sword. Toughness, I think.
Let's just say that, at this point, without retraining, all the other players can do is sigh, pat him on the shoulder, and hope that he has learned for his next PC. And, even with retraining, I am not sure if he can recover from a 14 Str & Dex...
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It will crank the optimizers up a small notch, but it would let folks who haven't optimized go up 2-3 notches.+1000
The true optimizers won't, usually, need retraining, since their optimized PC has already been planned out and built for 12 or more levels.
The ones who need this, and are likely to use it, are the non-optimizers and the lesser grad optimizers.
Got a local player, with a Fighter, who really needs this, as his Fighter is built ... badly. Very badly. A mix of melee and ranged feats, and not the best ones even there.
Power Attack, Cleave, Deadly Aim, EWP: Bastard Sword. Toughness, I think.
Let's just say that, at this point, without retraining, all the other players can do is sigh, pat him on the shoulder, and hope that he has learned for his next PC. And, even with retraining, I am not sure if he can recover from a 14 Str & Dex...
a) The advantage to optimizers I think would be to let them optimize for more levels: Take a useful feat at low level, then retrain it for the prereq for the feat they really want when they qualify for it.
Not fixing a mistake, but part of the plan all along.b) For your player with the poorly built fighter, remember fighters can already retrain their bonus feats.
a) Not gonna be that big a jump, IMO. Sure, maybe that Magus player can retrain Magical Lineage from Shocking Grasp to a higher level spell, but that would still be fairly minor.
Overall, I don't think it will be much to worry about. And at least these retraining rules are a lot simpler and more straightforward than those in the old PH2.
b) Once, every four levels. And just count the mis-matched or badly chosen feats there, and you will see that by the time he can retrain them all, if he lives that long (which is seriously doubtful, IMO), he will already have retired from PFS play anyway.
Sure, he had no really serious problems with Silent Tide, other than underperforming, but think about the same PC in Severing Ties. Not a happy thought, since there is no table size that really lets any player get to coast.
Bring your "A" game, which includes making a character with some focus, or, if being designed as a generalist, choose the feats needed to support that generalization.
Weapon Focus (longbow), EWP: Bastard Sword, Weapon Focus (Bastard Sword), Toughness, Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword).
Not fully focused, but much more likely to hit, and therefore do some damage, with either weapon choice. Right now, he is notable for hitting very infrequently, for lots of damage, since he [i]always[i] uses either Power Attack or Deadly Aim. But he usually never lands a hit, in my experience playing with him and GMing for him.
Bad PC builds, backed up with play that optimizes the badness of the build, equals sad GMs. (At least in my case.)
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I'm not a fan of retraining, but I understand its appeal. And more importantly, I don't think that person preferences really matter on the issue. What matters is what's good for the campaign overall.
There are a few reasons why retracing gets used: screwed up builds, optimizing away dead spots in a build, boredom, and desire to try something new.
Boredom and/or trying something new are a matter of personal preference and don't affect the campaign much. The traing rules themselves are heavily abstracted or non-existent. A character can dip a level of wizard to immediately get the same benefit as another character spent years at, such as a 17 year old fighter dipping a level of wizard. The only real cpaign aspect has to do with the increased desire to play by those who retrain for this reason offset by those annoyed by it to such an extent that they rage quit or rage reduce play. This generally sounds favorable toward permitting it.
Screwed up builds come about through the learning curve of either being a new player or misunderstanding how something works. Someone with a screwed up build is less likely to play. On the downside are the lack of consequences for ones actions. My general rule as a GM is that players shoulded get screwed for not understanding something. However, one would hope that for young players, there is value to the learning experience from playing. Replay reduces that opportunity. Overall, this sounds like a wash with upsides and downsides.
Power builders have the opportunity for training in a way that reduces weak periods in the build. If a build doesn't start to rock until late in life, retraining allows skipping the downside of builds. The net effect is to increase the general power level of the characters at any one table; if the weak levels of a build are removed, this means that stronger options are in place. This is of mixed value to different players, but it generally means power creep, for weal or woe.
Overall, it's a mixed bag. It's one that is desirable to some players, and anathema for purists. I tend to think its good for the campaign with respect to meeting marketing goals, and that the downsides are largely a matter of preference.
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Retraining is a must feature IMO. I see so many players show up to games with absolutely crap PCs and they're stuck. Why? Well, as someone pointed out, the only way to fix their PC is to take them outside, away from prying ears and say, "Look, you screwed up, go fix it and don't tell anyone that you did. No one looks at you PC sheet anyway and who will know?" This way, it allows them to not feel like a cheater and they have to pay for it.
I'm sorry but S4 is and S5 is going to be a punishing season. The monsters get harder and the kills will rack up. Unless you are playing an optimized PC, you'll likely get smoked. So, if we're going to make the future seasons, as hard as S4, then we need to allow players to fix their mistakes over time as they realize that their PCs are not up to snuff.
I don't want a player who has come into the store for 6 weeks, get up and leave because his PC sucks at lvl. 3. He picked the wrong stats, feats and skills and now he either has to start a new lvl. 1, which blows, when the others are playing well prepared PCs and you're 2 levels behind or you move on, since the munchkin-dorks at the store won't let you join their club, with their petty rules of, "No, you can't fix your PC. Learn the hard way."
Paizo is doing the right thing if it wants to be more inviting to NEW and casual players, and not just the geeks who are already playing like myself.
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The specific rules in Ultimate campaign do not seem to list character traits as retrainable. Is there something I am missing, is there an addition that allows it, or are you just stuck with traits?
Trait retraining is not part of the rules presented in Ultimate Campaign, and from a PFS perspective is 'not going to happen'.