Damien
Mongoose
Question for those of you familiar with Malhavoc's Iron Heroes.
Has anyone added (or considered adding) the concept of feat masteries to the Conan rules? I haven't had a lot of time to consider it, myself, but it is something that has bounced around in my head once or twice and I'd like to take a bit just before the start of my next Conan game (which is set to start in two weeks or so).
I think the concept of feat masteries is extremely solid. Feats are one of the nicer aspects of d20, and most people I know agree that you get so few of them, in comparison to how many are out there that are quite excellent. Now, I haven't gotten to use feat masteries all that much; I only have so much time that I can spend gaming, and I already play Conan and CODA (LotR RPG) regularly, so I've only gotten to play a few sessions of IH.
That said, I really do like the way feat masteries work, and the benefits they can impart. The -only- issue I see (and I'm looking for other interpretations, so if you see more issues than this, please point them out) is that increasing the number of feats increases the power of characters.
I don't see this as too much of a problem, however. Humans make up the majority of villains in Conan anyway, so they'll have access to the same things as the Player Characters. When monsters occur, a DM often has to really consider the party's actual members, rather than level, when deciding what's going to be a proper challenge anyway. Adding a few more feats and new abilities to each character over the course of 20 levels isn't likely to hugely impact that.
However, in order to make feat masteries useful, players need access to more feats. How many is fun, without being far too powerful, is really the question. I'm not convinced that characters under the standard rules get enough feats for feat masteries to be useful or fun.
Now, I'm sure at least one of you is thinking "what do you hope to accomplish?" Two things.
1.) Adding feats adds options and abilities. And that's fun. Shield feats in IH, for instance, would fit very well into Conan, not only for knights, but for the Kushite warriors, who clearly rely very much on shields. Everyone likes being slightly more effective and having nifty abilities.
I'm not suggesting characters need to become uber-powerful, but I really don't think an extra +3 parry bonus from shields over the course of 10-20 levels is really game-breaking.
2.) Versatility. Various Charisma- and Intelligence-based feats can be turned into masteries, which drastically increases the likelihood that anyone will bother with them. I -love- to see warrior-types investing in things like this, but without more access to feats, and interesting choices, most fighter-types don't bother too much with 'wasting' a feat on things of that nature. I think adding feat masteries will encourage more versatility in characters. Allow them to branch out some.
Thoughts?
Has anyone added (or considered adding) the concept of feat masteries to the Conan rules? I haven't had a lot of time to consider it, myself, but it is something that has bounced around in my head once or twice and I'd like to take a bit just before the start of my next Conan game (which is set to start in two weeks or so).
I think the concept of feat masteries is extremely solid. Feats are one of the nicer aspects of d20, and most people I know agree that you get so few of them, in comparison to how many are out there that are quite excellent. Now, I haven't gotten to use feat masteries all that much; I only have so much time that I can spend gaming, and I already play Conan and CODA (LotR RPG) regularly, so I've only gotten to play a few sessions of IH.
That said, I really do like the way feat masteries work, and the benefits they can impart. The -only- issue I see (and I'm looking for other interpretations, so if you see more issues than this, please point them out) is that increasing the number of feats increases the power of characters.
I don't see this as too much of a problem, however. Humans make up the majority of villains in Conan anyway, so they'll have access to the same things as the Player Characters. When monsters occur, a DM often has to really consider the party's actual members, rather than level, when deciding what's going to be a proper challenge anyway. Adding a few more feats and new abilities to each character over the course of 20 levels isn't likely to hugely impact that.
However, in order to make feat masteries useful, players need access to more feats. How many is fun, without being far too powerful, is really the question. I'm not convinced that characters under the standard rules get enough feats for feat masteries to be useful or fun.
Now, I'm sure at least one of you is thinking "what do you hope to accomplish?" Two things.
1.) Adding feats adds options and abilities. And that's fun. Shield feats in IH, for instance, would fit very well into Conan, not only for knights, but for the Kushite warriors, who clearly rely very much on shields. Everyone likes being slightly more effective and having nifty abilities.
I'm not suggesting characters need to become uber-powerful, but I really don't think an extra +3 parry bonus from shields over the course of 10-20 levels is really game-breaking.
2.) Versatility. Various Charisma- and Intelligence-based feats can be turned into masteries, which drastically increases the likelihood that anyone will bother with them. I -love- to see warrior-types investing in things like this, but without more access to feats, and interesting choices, most fighter-types don't bother too much with 'wasting' a feat on things of that nature. I think adding feat masteries will encourage more versatility in characters. Allow them to branch out some.
Thoughts?