Many feats in Pathfinder can be considered “feat taxes”. To put it another way, feats are meant to diversify a character, allowing him to gain a specialization or uniqueness that other characters with the same race and class may not have. And yet, every character who wishes to use a bow better have Point-blank Shot, any Str-based melee character is doing it wrong if they didn’t pick up Power Attack asap, and a Rogue without Weapon Finesse has gimped himself completely. These are all things expected for certain builds to have, without which, the build either fails, or the more important feats further up the feat tree can’t be taken. The following feats are most commonly associated as feat taxes, which I have either modified or removed as feats, removing some of the feat-burden from the most common builds, and allowing for less ridged character growth. I'm looking for feedback!
Weapon Finesse: All weapons applicable to the weapon finesse feat automatically allow a creature to use Dex instead of Str on attack rolls without taking said feat. Taking the Weapon Finesse feat allows a creature to add 1/2 their Dex PLUS their Str on damage rolls with finesse-able weapons.
Combat Expertise/Deadly Aim/Power Attack: Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, and Power Attack are no longer feats. They are available to any creature with an Int, Dex, or Str respectively of 13 or higher, and function exactly as they did in feat-form. Any feats that list Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, or Power Attack as prerequisites only require the associated ability score in place of the feat (unless a higher ability score is already listed). Deadly Aim and Power Attack require a Base Attack Bonus of +1 or higher to use.
Point-Blank Shot: Point-blank Shot is no longer a feat. All ranged attacks receive a +1 Circumstance bonus to attack and damage rolls when made within 30’ of their target. The attacker must be proficient with the weapon used, and the weapon must be designed for ranged attacks (or the attacker must have the Throw Anything feat), and be within its first range increment.
Improved Unarmed Strike: I want to do something similar with Imp Unarmed Strike as Combat Expertise and Power Attack, but it feels a bit TOO far to give everyone Imp Unarmed Strike for free, letting even a 1st level Wizard threaten an AoO on an archer or another spellcaster, and I also don't want the change to effect Monks, Brawlers, or other Class Archetypes that rely on making unarmed strikes from level 1. I also want to remove Imp Unarmed Strike as a Prereq for Imp Grapple...Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe make it an option at Character Creation for Classes that don't usually get it for free in exchange for something else? Maybe make it a BAB or level minimum except for Classes that need it?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think Deadly Aim and Power Attack are way too good to give for free. It makes more sense to have a lesser version of it available.
And as much I dislike Point-Blank Shot as a feat tax, I'm not cool with buffing ranged builds by removing it. Especially not cool with buffing ranged builds by giving the feat's bonuses for free. You basically create a situation where the guy with the bow has an easier time hitting an unarmed opponent at melee range than the guy with a melee weapon.
|
Weapon Finesse: Just go full tilt and have the feat apply dex-to-damage, but no str bonus (penalties still apply).
CE/DA/PA: This works great, but I might drop the concern for the BAB+1 requirement. It probably doesn't matter anyway.
Point-Blank Shot: Just remove it since it's completely unnecessary.
Improved Unarmed Strike: Leave it as a feat but remove it as a prereq from several feats (eg. imp grapple).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The +1 BAB requirement for Power Attack and Deadly Aim is needed to give martials an edge over gish clases at 1st and 2nd level. This is why my campaign's Dex-to-damage solution also has a +1 BAB prerequisite. At 1st level, the gish should not be able to do as much damage with basic attacks as the fighter that did not receive spells and other such powerful class features.
Point Blank Shot could be "fixed" by removing it as a prereq to other feats. The feat itself is great and most characters will still want it.
Combat Expertise should be "fixed" by changing what it does. It should do something else. But the benefit of the feat as written I think should be free.
As for Power Attack and Deadly Aim, a free version of it could be -1 to attack for a +1 to damage (instead of +2).
You could either make Imp Unarmed Strike a trait, or you could improve it from its current form by bumping the damage to d4 or d6.