Giant Topple Feat, Please Critique


Homebrew and House Rules


Please review the below Feat and check for balance, etc..
Thank you for any advice you can give!

Giant Topple
Your great experience in using defensive tactics fighting giants proves the saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall"...

Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +6, Dwarf or Gnome, Defensive Training ( vs. giants), Int 13, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip

Benefit: You are treated as being one size larger for the purposes of determining the maximum size of creatures you can trip and for determining your CMB and CMD for purposes of a trip combat maneuver.

Normal: You can only trip those opponents that are one size larger than you are and count as your size when doing so.

Combat Trick: When you trip a creature with the giant subtype, you can spend 3 stamina points to cause the creature to take 3d6 falling damage.

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This brings the Feat on-line at 6th level, at the same time you would qualify for Greater Trip, which I feel is about the correct point to get it. I added the Combat Trick to specifically work against giant sub types, which triggers from the racial ability requirements and flavor...


Seems reasonable. It looks a bit like Poised Bearing which is not overpowered.


Ditto what AVR said, though I'd maybe strip out the racial and race trait requirement. I can see why it is there, but I don't think it's vital, and taking it out would open up the option a bit.


Thank you both! I actually want to keep the racial requirements as it was built specifically as a racial feat though, =)


Though I agree that I would discard the racial requirements, you could make it that you don't need to meet the other prerequisites if you are of said race, instead.


There is another related feat: Earth Child Topple

Ultimate Combat wrote:

Prerequisites: Wis 13, dwarf or gnome, defensive training racial trait, Earth Child Style, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Acrobatics 6 ranks.

Benefit: You can trip a creature of the giant subtype of up to Huge size. While using Earth Child Style, you add your Wisdom bonus on combat maneuver checks made to trip a creature of the giant subtype, as well as on attack rolls to confirm a critical hit against such a creature.

Its lists of prerequisites is a bit longer, but it's available at the same level. It focuses entirely on giants, which is not that bad because they are numerous in usual campaigns and tripping them is relatively easy (two legs, not flying). Gnomes profit from being able to trip a giant two sizes bigger, while dwarves get a bit more out of the Wis bonus to trip attempts and crit confirmation.

So your feat is roughly en par, making it balanced. I'd consider also making up a follow-up feat, like Imposing Bearing or Earth Child Binder.


If you're homebrewing anyway, you might consider eliminating the max size that can be tripped (the size bonus to CMD is already simulating them being harder to trip, so it's overkill to grant blanket immunity as well), and make the Improved Trip bonus scale with BAB (kind of like Power Attack does). That will get rid of Greater Trip, obviate the need for your new feat, and make the martial guys viable into somewhat higher levels than would otherwise be the case.

Spoiler:
As it is, to be even a semi-decent tripper I'd need to play a dwarf or gnome for some reason, and then I'd need Improved Trip, Greater Trip, Combat Expertise (plus 13 Int I have no use for), etc. -- and even then a lot of things are still outright immune (Pathfinder hands out CMB bonuses vs. trip like candy -- anything with multiple legs is pretty much impossible anyway). Overall, the game encourages you to trip mooks at very low levels, and then, during the rest of the game, sneers at you for wasting feats on something that will pretty much never work again. That's not something I'd want to encourage!

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