Your Favourite Feats

[Demetrio]

A spin off from the 'npc' thread.

What feats are your 'must have' picks for a pc? Ones you'll take more often than not almost regardless of class? Are there some that you think are 'too good not to take'? Are there some you take purely because you like the idea behind the feat even if mechanically it's not so hot? Etc.

My 'must haves' are:

Sleep Mastery - it's just great to be difficult to sneak up on when you're akip. And shrugging off fatigue induced by staying awake for long periods
is just grand too.

Endurance - this is one where I just 'like the idea' really. Mainly because I tend to like my characters to be able to 'keep going' when they're going through hell (a Churchillian recommendation).

I'd only not take the above if playing a Temptress or Scholar (and even then I'd be tempted...)

If playing a smart fighter, I like Combat Analyst too, but that is more dependent on the total build.

[Clovenhoof]

I said most of this over in the NPC thread, but you're right, it should be sorted into its proper place.

I also like Sleep Mastery for the same reasons.
My character builds usually revolve around Fierce classes, who get Endurance for free.

Improved Initiative is one of those feats "too good not to take", at least for classes with good Ref save. Striking first is immensely important in Conan due to MD and DV rules.
(However, classes with poor Ref save needn't bother. It doesn't matter if you go last by 10 points or go last by 2 points.)

Eyes of the Cat is another excellent feat that I usually take at 1st level, unless I plan to take 2 or more Thief levels.

Sorry, I have to interrupt here, will continue later.

[Malcadon]

I find most of the standard OGL feats to be a waste of ink - namely the skill-fluffers feats like Acrobatic. To me, feats should be special talents or abilities not covered by the normal rules.

Steely Gaze and Menacing Aura are my favs, because I like the idea of scarring the piss out of your enemies, at will!

Carouser and Debaucher are nice, colourful feats, but do you really think Conan characters need to take such feats to be good at all that?

[cbrunish]

Eyes of the Cat is a favourite!!! Run is also good also adds to jump skill. And I love the Leadership feat in Conan. MUCH better than in D&D.

[treeplanter]

For my part it is too hard to answer.

I'll only take a feat if it fit my character concept and background or historic.

For exemple, with my actual character (a Bossnian Borderer, living on the edge of civilisation and doing skirmish with the pict and a bit unevolued compare to civilised folk I took the Bori worship), so I started (level 3) with the Bossnian sniper combat style and took Alterness(could have been stealthy too i guess), rapid shot and improved initiative (the ambush style).
Of course my favored terrain was forest.

After we made a quest were time were running short and we were force to stay awake and walk for a night and making endurance check, so I took Sleep mastery as it was appropriate. Then we made lot of skirmish in the forest and some tracking, (so I was getting the +10 feet move from favoured terrain) so I took fleet-footed.

Of course I could have justify couple of other choice like stealthy, precise shot, weapon focus: bossnian bow or toughness.

but I would sure never take I feat I like if it has nothing to do with my character concept.

So in the end my favorite feat are any feat that help me define my character

[Ichabod]

From 2e mainbook only*

Just enjoy:
Diehard - Use it all of the time.
Knowledgeable - Ditto.

Best that are seemingly underrated:
Fleet-Footed
Knowledgeable
No Honor

Too good not to choose are role dependent and a lot of them are obvious. My scholar character has Power Attack because there are only three PCs in that party and I couldn't trust the fighter's player to build a good combat character. Anyone depending upon SA needs a way to have Improved Feint (I'd cheat it with K: Zingaran Fencing School). Sure, Eyes of the Cat is insanely useful, but, most well-designed characters get it for free. And, so forth.

As for Improved Initiative, I find initiative a massive randomfest that comes down to what the situation is. Most of the time, my main character doesn't want to go until the rest of the party has gone because any semblance of reasonable tactics is dependent upon cooperation or waiting until the party killing machine clears the battlefield. Of course, given the inept tactics consistently used and the ease with which the PKM clears the battlefield, doing anything tends to be a waste of time. Then, there are the various times when some nonattacking tactic - diplomacy, magic, closing a door, opening a door, running like hell - will end combat and it's necessary to wait on one or more characters. That doesn't mean that there's any actual disadvantage to having a high initiative, but it does make caring about improving initiative nonexistent.

[Stygian Devout]

Steely Gaze and Menacing Aura are my favs, because I like the idea of scarring the piss out of your enemies, at will!

+1, these are must-have feats for sorcerers. The flavor is cool and the mechanic is effective too, weakening their attack power and saving throws, setting up nicely for spells, poison etc. (great images for those too Malcadon!)

Crushing Grip is awesome and incredibly powerful (and versatile as you can choose which ability to damage)

No Prisoners is another great feat and especially effective in group combat.

The class sourcebook's also have some good feats, particularly the improved and greater versions of existing feats, such as Greater Combat Reflexes which allows an attack of opportunity against any failed attack on you.

[Teriudin]

There are just so many good ones.

For example, I'd love to have sleep mastery on my scholar - I just can't find room.

So, my top 3, regardless of class:

1. Fleet Footed - I can go faster than you, means I get to escape if things go bad or catch up to the villian when he runs. Just too good to ignore.

2. Steely Gaze is darn good as well for most characters, plus it has that fun staredown. Fluffy and Crunchy! Delicious like lucky charms!

3. Combat Expertise - Really good if you're bad at combat, and not too bad if you're good at combat. Best way in 1 feat to boost your defense, stay alive, and let someone else apply the beatdown.

Note, Except for maybe Fleet Footed, class/role specific feats are so much more important though. A barb without power attack, or a sorc without meditation is just... well, not as good.

[Malcadon]

Menacing Aura + Crushing Grip = One Badass Pimp!!!

[Clovenhoof]

Crushing Grip is certainly very powerful, but also quite expensive, requiring 3 feats altogether.

Question for those who list Fleet Footed: do you use battle maps in play, or do you just always assume a FF char can get where he wants to go where a regular char cannot? How do you handle the feat in game?

[Ichabod]

Battlemaps. But, it has been relevant for strategic movement as well.

[Spectator]

For non-corrupt sorcerors the way to go is:
(I'm still rolling with the 1st ed.)
Meditation(From 1st ed. Skrolls of skelos)
Greater Meditation(From 1st ed. Skrolls of skelos)
Cling of Power (from Across thunder river; you lose excess PP at 1/4 the rate, or maybe 1/2 the usual rate)
Magic Power Attack (From 1st ed. Skrolls of skelos)
Adept Hypnotism (great feat to have, since everyone is entranced lickety split).

Eyes of the cat- who wants to carry a torch everywhere?

I love the Debaucher (From 1st ed. Skrolls of skelos).

[treeplanter]

Crushing Grip is certainly very powerful, but also quite expensive, requiring 3 feats altogether.

Question for those who list Fleet Footed: do you use battle maps in play, or do you just always assume a FF char can get where he wants to go where a regular char cannot? How do you handle the feat in game?

Me don't use battle map. I just determine and keep track of the distance between PC and foes.

[Stygian Devout]

Crushing Grip is certainly very powerful, but also quite expensive, requiring 3 feats altogether.

Well yes, many of the feats at the 'peak' of the feat trees are indeed powerful, but at least the two other feats required for Crushing Grip (Improved Unarmed strike and Improved Grapple) are no slouches themselves and greatly improve the character's unarmed abilities.

[Vambelte]

Ahh feats, I've changed and created many of them, and I just don't use many others. Crushing grip and Greater sunder are the most problematic ones, in the main book, and I've removed them for good.

My favorite feat is menacing aura. I really enjoy intricate sword play too, but the most powerfull feat ever is light footed!

[Krushnak]

Crushing grip and Greater sunder are the most problematic ones, in the main book

How are these the most problematic? I have a pc in my game with greater sunder and he loves it.

[Vambelte]

yeah back in the time I allowed greater sunder, one barbarian had it, and he used it all the time.

Well, let's look at that barbarian in my old campaing. He was Cimmerian and had Str20 at lvl8, he managed to get a great sword, and being a barbarin, he could use it. So he had +13 to attack whit his huge sword. When making an oposed attack test, to break someone's weapon, he had +17, +19 in madness or +21 in charging. Whit so high bonus he usualy emplyed 4 in power attack, and still had +15 to the oposed test. Winning, he inflicted 2d10+18 in the oponent's weapon, which is enough to break any weapon. So the problem whit Greater sunder is that he doesn't even lose his round breaking the weapon, he gets the extra attack, for breaking the weapon, and smash his opponent, that can unable to parry, if he doesn't have a shield or weapon in the off hand.

For us that was broken, and that made me ban greater sunder and rethink power attack.

[Clovenhoof]

Well, Greater Sunder does cost 3 feats altogether - although one of them is the must-have Power Attack - and something that costs a third of your total feat slots _should_ be powerful.

However, I've always handled Sunder simply so that if you try to sunder a bladed weapon with a bladed weapon, both blades damage each other. Not so for hafted weapons like Axes etc (as you'd rather aim for the haft). Also you cannot sunder with Piercing weapons (I don't know if that's already in the rules).
All in all, none of my players ever really bothered with sunder, and as a GM I didn't inflict Sundering enemies on them.

[treeplanter]

but then his weapon less opponent (also a 8th level barb with 20 str) use his improved grapple + crushing grip killing the poor sunderer in 3 round lol

I think sunder is fine. normally you'll have a +4 against a same-level opponent, wich could miss.

[Vambelte]

Improved sunder is fine for me, but Greater is the problem...