De-Feated .... Help!

[LokiOne]

Is it just Me ? or does Anyone else have fumbling moments during game play, cross referencing and 'boiling down' the net effects of Character Feats (usually NPC's) during play ...

There seems to be such an awesomely Overwhelming collection of Feats out there, with Prerequisite(s) 'xxxx.xx', and Prerequisite 'xxxxx.xx.xx' ...and son on .... and so on .... (sigh). I have GM'ed and played other RPG's that simply have Character abilities and skills - and that's it. Some custom modification makes things more unique and interesting, but .... I guess I'm trying to figure out a methodical system for dealing with the Feat thing. In the end, We end up with a small pile of relevenat game text for the effects and some total stats. modifications.

Solution : I was thinking along the lines of collating the relevant Types of Feats together into similar 'blocks'. IE - Combat (only) Feats, Sorcery Feats, Thieving/ Espionage Feats ... Or even tighter Catagories like Finesse Fighting Feats, etc. I does involve combing throughout every Mongoose text that I have, and making up a referance and Master Listing first.

I am still miffed though, as I always seem to come unstuck at some critical moment, fumbling through a book to re-read a particular Feat for it's full application or effect in the game. I'm sorry - I'm just not good enough to remember all several hundred current listed Feats by Name, and automatically know their details by memory ...

Even 'Monsters' have their own particular block of Feats ... (The 'Slams', Improved Grapples etc -etc).

 

[thulsa]

Is it just Me ? or does Anyone else have fumbling moments during game play, cross referencing and 'boiling down' the net effects of Character Feats (usually NPC's) during play ...

Stick to the feats in the core book (AE) and you should remember their effects after a while. Then, and only if necessary and only if the players have been very persistent in their whining for more feats, introduce a feat or two from other books, like Scrolls of Skelos.

While the Conan RPG has managed to stay away from the terrible deluge of prestige classes that plagues D&D, it has always bothered me that each new Conan book adds 20-50 new feats. There must be literally hundreds of feats by now, and I don't think the game needs them. However, they are easy enough to ignore.

Just use the feats in the core book. Just do it. :wink:

- thulsa

 

[LokiOne]

Good Advice Thulsa - I'll try to Keep Things Simple and avoid deluging My Players with every Feat known to man ...

Has Anyone compiled a set of the Monster's Feats (actual monstrosities, animals, etc). They seem to have their own class of them, as they (mostly) don't use hand weapons.

I also refer back a lot to the mention of the Scent ability(?)/skill(?) from my basic Conan RPG book. I have just recently sent away for my own AE at long last via Sons of Cimmeria (offer form).

 

[Oly]

Hi,

Well you can always ignore the feats that NPCs have. I don't find PC feats an issue, they don't gain new ones that often and you can largely leave the mechanics of them down to the players.

What I tend to do with NPC feats is ignore them for minor NPCs while bigger NPCs might have a feat or two that they use that's almost a signature for them. For creatures I'll swat up on a feat or two that they've got, such as the grappling ones, and make a note of how they work next to their stats. That way they're ready to use them without page flipping.

In game you won't be randomly facing any one of hundreds of feats, there will only be a couple that will appear in each session and those will be ones that you've planned for.

Basically I hate page flipping for NPC actions and will only do it if the NPCs are really close to winning and I want to make sure that the players don't feel cheated. When it comes to players I let them do their own flipping and will cut away from them for a minute or two while they do it.

 

[VincentDarlage]

I have found that Players usually know what their feats do (or they wouldn't have chosen them), and I just use the Core feats for NPCs unless I have something specific in mind - in which case I usually have the relevant feat or two fresh in mind.

 

[Trodax]

I only use feats from the core and Scrolls of Skelos in my game. Makes it a lot easier, and I really don't feel that all the extra stuff in the supplements would add any enjoyment to my game.

 

[Krushnak]

mostly for beasts and monsters they have a set few feats they tend to get ie: improved grab and alertness and then whatever special abilities they have. so it's pretty easy to remember most of them and then do a quick check if you need to before combat starts.

for the human npcs i tend to either give just the basic core fighting feats to the mooks ie: power attack, point blank shot or no feats at all. however for named npcs i tend to give them all the feats that suits their character and to give them a distinctive style that makes them stand out.

as for the players i let them take any of the feats they meet the prereqs for from any of the books i currently have.

 

[argo]

IMC I expect the players to know the rules as they relate to their own character including any feats they have, though of course I am familiar enough to double-check them.

As for NPC's, I tend to give them lots of "inactive" feats like Dodge/Parry, Improved Initative, Alertness, Toughness, etc. So I only have to worry about these when calculating the stat block and not durring play. For mooks I sometimes even leave a few feats "blank" figuring that they blew it on something like Skill Focus [Perform (square dance)] which is something that "average" people do. Only PC's and other similar psychotic social rejects spend every waking moment training for combat.

Later.

 

[rgrove0172]

I know there are some lists out there of all the various Feats but they normally dont have the details with the entries. Is there a master list out there somewhere, something a GM could print out to have all the info at hand without having to Xerox pages from this book and that and stuffing them all together in a folder?

 

[Sutek]

I was planning to do one that will act as a feat tree so you can see what leads to what more easily. It's a huge undertaking though, so may not be finished until the fist or second week of November. I'll post a thread when it's ready.

8)

 

[Paul16120]

For me I use those damn useful NPC cards (anyone have them hosted somewhere?) -- but like the rest I stick to the core book unless I need to create someone memorable.

[/url]http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5831&highlight=npc

 

[Bjorn the Barbarian]

Sutek,

That would be most useful. Your work would be greatly appreciated. 8)

 

[Sutek]

One of the main problems I'm running into is all the other pre-reqs, like race based ones and so on. I dont' quite know how to list or point those out in the tree, but I may just have them as foot notes to the feats that have them.

 

[rgrove0172]

How about an update on that list of Feats? Surely somebody has a list of all those listed in the books published so far, even if its just by name and book.

 

[Strom]

How about an update on that list of Feats? Surely somebody has a list of all those listed in the books published so far, even if its just by name and book.

have you seen this thread?

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22095&highlight=feats

Bobsan and urdinaran have lists available - just scroll down. 8)

 

[Myrmidon]

I constructed a feat document for my group that compiles the write-ups for every published feat along with a subject index. I'd be willing to send a copy to anyone who was willing to construct a feat tree. It also wouldn't be that difficult to to construct a list of feats from it, since the feat names are all in a separate header style that allows them to generate a table-of-contents. If anyone wants either document let me know.

Myrmidon