Regional Feats

[Prophetsteve]

Got a few questions about Regional feats, ala the EarthForce Factbook:


1. Is the Regional feat an extra feat that you get when make a Earth Alliance character? Or do you have to use up one of you existing Feat slots (such as the bonus one for being a human).

2. The the above answer is "its an extra feat", then how does that balance with the other races. For those with the Minbari supplement, do Minbari Federation characters get a regional feat choice too?

Note that I'd like this thread to stay away from the validity of the Regional feat system (such as the flamestorm that was the EA factbook discussion), rather looking at the system in terms of pure mechanics.

Just my quest to understand the rules better... despite my misgivings about the class/prestige classes, the game is growing in me. Its just there is some things that I need to get a handle on.

 

[Igor]

EA Factbook, p190:
"The main benefit of a Nationality feat is that human characters get to select one of them for free at the character creation. This is additional bonus feat, ..."

 

[Greg Smith]

It doesn't balance with the Minbari. Although warrior caste Minbari can get fighting styles for free.

 

[August]

You have hit on the wonderful thing about Babylon 5, Greg. It, like many worlds and settings, do not have to balance. As long as things are accurate to the source material and people make characters they enjoy, game balance (especially for a non-combat game like B5) is a very secondary concern.

If balance really is that much of an issue in your game, you ALWAYS have the option of saying NIMWP! (Not in my world, pal!) You are well within your rights to say that Nationality feats exist but are not bonus. No big deal...

-August

 

[Greg Smith]

I agree. Game balance isn't neccesary. Playing an interesting character is far more fun than worrying about whether my character is better or worse than somebody else's.

Of course sometimes a tough character is essential.

 

[Waylander.]

Is it possible in some case to have a non-human using a alien variant of there regional feats ?

 

[lastbesthope]

It's your game Faenril, you or your GM can decide that if you want.

LBH

 

[Flarn]

Just so long as we don't get back to the blow up over a certain nationality feat. That was just crazy ;-) I like them, they do add some flavor and encourage more character development.

I would use those feats as a way of enforcing some RP on a player. If they're going to reap the benefits from being from a certain area, they need to try to play the character as being from that area. It doesn't have to be over the top, just stuff that let's the GM know that the character hasn't forgotten their roots.

That's how I'd use them in game terms.

 

[The Cheat]

These things always seemed highly stereotypical, and slightly racist. I mean, there haven't been individual countries for over 100 years, 200 for most people. Therefore, there's very, very little different from someone living in Australia and someone living in Iceland as of 2260.

Mostly, I just let my characters choose from the list regaurdless of birth location. The colonials are more independant, and the Earthers are richer, but thats it and the rest is individual, not national, personallity quirks.



Now, some of the colonials were nicely written, not everybody deserves radiation restance after all. But come on: Unflappable? :roll:

 

[Hellhawk]

Well... the book is "slightly" English in outlook, taken from 2000 and projected 250 years into the future... look at "Stubborn" for the Scots and "Born Pilot" for the Welsh (you know, because of the terrible infrastructure of Wales... must have been written by somebody who had just gone from South Wales to North Wales by train and was still suffering from the experience...).

Rainer