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This is a Question that comes in my Mind a lot when planning a Character.
Is it better to invest a feat in it or is buying a item that represents this feature better?
For example a Cloak of Resistance+1 is 3 Feats/Traits in one item.
But when is it better to invest a feat for better score when the cloak cost of a +4 is to much?
Or Another Example:
Lunge on a Swashbuckler. There is the Swordmasters Flair (Blue) that gives you reach for 1 min per panache and cost 2500gold.
What is better?
Do you have similar items/feats where this is an issue?
Do you know items that are always better then the corresponding feat?
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Usualy both gold and feats are limited and rationed goods, and it's not a separate decision to spend gold or feat for something. You have some feats to choose and some gold to spend, and the question is, how to do it best.
Therefore, when there's something you want and you need to choose, whether to spend gold on it or to spend a feat on it, think: what else you would be able to get with that gold? What else you would be able to get with that feat slot? Which do you prefer?
The answer on that question should guide you.
Rules answer: Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone 10,000 gp, grants the Alertness feat as a non-slot item, so a single feat is worth approx 5,000 gp.
I seem to recall a discussion about this a few years ago and I think it came out that 5k should be a minimum figure for a single feat with no prerequisites.
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My take is that not all feats are created equal, thus it would be a misstep to price all feats equally.
Rules answer: Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone 10,000 gp, grants the Alertness feat as a non-slot item, so a single feat is worth approx 5,000 gp.
I seem to recall a discussion about this a few years ago and I think it came out that 5k should be a minimum figure for a single feat with no prerequisites.
Ioun stones are not the same as slotless items, if anything Ioun stones are often under priced which is why you can get items to wear them in slots so they are protected.
Alertness is also considered a weak feat, they give it away for free with a familiar.
Also using some common sense, 5'000 gp for a feat, no slot is overpowered.
Training Weapons trade a +1 for a combat feat, so that is also another benchmark.
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My question wasn't really to price each Feat.
My question was at around what price an item is generally Better than a Feat (if the feat isn't a perquisite) and it seems under 5000g its worth considering the item.
For examble im sure now I will be Taking Swordmasters Flair instead of Lunge and will get Additional Traits for Lessons of Chalidra and Bigger than Life.
generally it's far better to spend gold than feats. Feats are the most limited and not frequently acquired while gold is easy to acquire and refills all the time.
So use feats for saves if you need to supplement them, meaning just gold won't get you high enough for your liking. Also cause Gold does cap out too, there is no +6 cloak.
Training Weapons trade a +1 for a combat feat, so that is also another benchmark.
That's a variable benchmark though.
The more you try to enchant the weapon the more you have to pay due to it already being enchanted with Weapon Training ability.
I also think it was a mistake in the first place.
generally it's far better to spend gold than feats. Feats are the most limited and not frequently acquired while gold is easy to acquire and refills all the time.
So use feats for saves if you need to supplement them, meaning just gold won't get you high enough for your liking. Also cause Gold does cap out too, there is no +6 cloak.
This. Feats are generally much more limited than gold.
Not including feats as class features, everyone gets 10 of them over 20 levels.
It's also worth noting that defensive abilities usually have a much lower gold cost than offensive items.
I would never not consider buying a cloak of resistance. If I really needed better saves I might use feats to boost my saves even further.
As others have mentioned, there is no simple feat = g.p. number. Some feats and items, usually those that provide numeric bonuses, are comparable, but even then it is still situational.
I would say as a rough estimate, a feat is worth about 2,000- 5,000 g.p. until you hit about the mid levels. At that point, item slots and bonus stacking make it almost impossible to put a value on most feats.
EDIT:
The stacking part is probably where valuation hits it's biggest hurdle. Numeric bonuses can be as cheep as a masterwork tool, for 50gp, but if it doesn't stack with other boni, it doesn't have much value. For example, the masterwork quality is only 300gp for a weapon, and at the lowest levels, that is functionally identical to weapon focus. However, once you find a magic weapon, your old weapon is useless "vendor trash"*. Weapon focus on the other hand is incredibly valuable at the highest levels, because by that point you already have all the +1's that can be purchased for gold. At that point it is worth over 50,000gp.
So between 50gp and 50,000gp!
*Damn you! video game culture!
There's been several of these threads. General consensus is ussually between 5000gp and 10000gp.
In my own experience I once had an in game bar where players could purchase magic drinks. One of those costed 10000gp and granted the drinker a feat permanently. They bought a few of them, typically just after they leveled up and they met the requirements for multiple feats they wanted. It was fairly balanced although we never got to higher than lv12
In 3.5 TWFing and Greater TWF are worth 16K and the hand slot: Gloves of the Balanced Hand (MIC).
It grants TWF or if you have TWFing, it grants Greater TWFing while worn.
So I'd peg it as 10K (since grants a better second attack in a round), but 6K more since it offers more if have a feat as a Prereq.
Like Gloves that boost Deflect Arrow are cheap, but require Deflect Arrow like Gloves of Arrow Snaring are cheap due to needing a Prereq.
Stuff
Which is exactly why I think that a variable cost is good for access to extra feats. Feats are limited, but most classes gain at least one extra feat over the course of their career. Only a few classes get multiple feats.
This suggests that feats increase in value the more of them that are available, and this can be seen through feat chains. Thus the cost of feats increase over time.