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souldoubt
2009-05-01, 02:40 PM
Racial Power Swap Feats

These feats are based on Otogi's "Lineage Feats" (thanks, Otogi!) and are intended for use with my Chimeric City (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110146) setting, but feel free to use them for whatever.

When you take one of these feats, you elect lose one racial power in favor of gaining a power (or trait) from a different race, in addition to some other minor benefit. These feats also qualify you for feats that require the power you gain and/or the race of the given power swap feat. You cannot take a Racial Power Swap Feat for a race you already belong to; you may only take one Racial Power Swap feat, and it should be taken at 1st level. Also keep in mind that racial bonuses don't stack.

For races that don't have racial powers, below is a list of showing the racial trait you give up when you take a Racial Power Swap Feat.

{table="head"]Race|Racial Trait Lost
Dwarf|Dwarven Resilience
Half-Elf|Dilettante
Human|Bonus At-Will Power[/table]

The Feats:
{table="head"]Feat|Power Gained|Additional Benefit
Bugbear Power Swap|Predatory Eye|You can wield weapons of your size and weapons one size category larger
Deva Power Swap|Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes|You gain resistance to necrotic OR radiant damage = 3 + 1/2 your level
Doppleganger Power Swap|Change Shape|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense
Dragonborn Power Swap|Dragon Breath|Your healing surge value = 1/4 your max HP + your Con modifer
Drow Power Swap|Cloud of Darkness OR Darkfire|You gain darkvision
Dwarf Power Swap|Dwarven Resilience (Trait)|You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison
Eladrin Power Swap|Fey Step|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense
Elf Power Swap|Elven Accuracy|You ignore difficult terrain when you shift
Genasi Power Swap, Earthsoul|Earthshock|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Fortitude defense
Genasi Power Swap, Firesoul|Firepulse|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Reflex defense
Genasi Power Swap, Stormsoul|Promise of Storm|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Fortitude defense
Genasi Power Swap, Watersoul|Swifcurrent|You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against ongoing damage
Genasi Power Swap, Windsoul|Windwalker|You gain resist cold 3 + 1/2 your level
Githyanki Power Swap|Telekinetic Leap|You gain a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against charm effects
Githzerai Power Swap|Iron Mind|You gain a +1 bonus to initiative checks
Gnoll Power Swap|Ferocious Charge|You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls while bloodied; this increases to +2 at 21st level
Gnome Power Swap|Fade Away|You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions
Goblin Power Swap|Goblin Tactics|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Reflex defense
Goliath Power Swap|Stone's Endurance|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Will defense
Half-Elf Power Swap|Dilettante (Trait)|You gain a +1 bonus to Diplomacy checks
Halfling Power Swap|Second Chance|You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear effects
Half-Orc Power Swap|Furious Assault|You gain a +1 racial bonus to speed when charging
Hobgoblin Power Swap|Hobgoblin Resilience|You gain a +1 bonus to initiative checks
Human Power Swap|Bonus At-Will Power (Trait)|You gain training in one additional skill from your class skill list
Kobold Power Swap|Shifty|You gain a +1 bonus to defense against traps
Minotaur Power Swap|Goring Charge|If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can make a melee basic attack as a free action before falling unconscious
Orc Power Swap|Warrior's Surge|You gain a +1 racial bonus to speed when charging
Shadar-kai Power Swap|Shadow Jaunt|You gain a +1 racial bonus to your Fortitude defense
Shifter Power Swap|Longtooth Shifting OR Razorclaw Shifting|You gain low-light vision
Tiefling Power Swap|Infernal Wrath|You gain resist fire 3 + 1/2 your level
Warforged Power Swap|Warforged Resolve|You gain a +1 racial bonus on saving throws against ongoing damage and you only need 4 hours to benefit from an extended rest[/table]

So there they are. Questions? Comments? Random musings on the nature of reality?

Mephit
2009-05-01, 03:04 PM
I think those are...Very powerful feats, perhaps even slightly overpowered.
I can't imagine any human melee warrior not taking the Bugbear one. (That third at-will power isn't that great anyway, and hey, larger weapon sizes?)
In fact, there's tons of options for humans here. Who needs that third at-will if you can teleport or second wind as a minor action?

Change shape for the price of a feat is also a major advantage. Dopplegangers don't really have any great bonuses except for that power, and that's for a reason.

While it's a great idea, I'm not sure if it's really balanced. :smalleek:
After all, some races have weaker racial powers because they have powerful traits.

souldoubt
2009-05-01, 04:27 PM
This is exactly the sort of feedback I'm looking for; I just want to provide options, I don't want things to be overpowered. I'll definitely have to take the human thing into consideration.

Anyone else think others of these feats are particularly overpowered?

Shades of Gray
2009-05-01, 04:32 PM
Some are more OP than others. Notably Bugbear.

Suggestion: Make the powers one usage longer. e.g. Make at-wills (like change shape) encounter powers and encounter powers (like most) dailies.

souldoubt
2009-05-01, 04:46 PM
Suggestion: Make the powers one usage longer. e.g. Make at-wills (like change shape) encounter powers and encounter powers (like most) dailies.

That is what the original ones Otogi made were like, but you didn't lose a power to gain them. Maybe the originals were overpowered?

Conversely, I could drop the additional benefit and just have the feat allow you to swap your racial power for some other races power -- tweaking for the fact that some powers are better than others.

Anyone have thoughts on how I should make this less OP for a human to take?

Mephit
2009-05-01, 05:05 PM
I had some time to take a closer look at all the feats. Here's my list:

Bugbear Power Swap
Already mentioned. Large-sized weapons can make for crazy weapon damages. (At level one, a human can deal 2d10+Strength modifier damage, for instance)

Doppleganger Power Swap
In social situations, Change Shape can be very powerful. But I think it can pass in the sense that change shape isn't an immeadiate mechanical advantage. Plus, it can be the source of a lot of player creativity.

Dragonborn Power Swap
This is essentially two feats in one. A fire breath attack and adding your con to your surge is a big step forward in power level, to the extent of a minoraur with this feat being downright better than a Dragonborn.

Dwarven Power Swap
This is so incredibly awesome!:smallamused:
I'm not sure what to think of it, except that if you have a racial power that you don't have a use for, this is a very solid choice.


I thought a lot of other stuff was overpowered too, but when you remember that you have to give up your racial power for it, it becomes a whole lot more acceptable. :smallsmile:
A lot of powers don't really scale well with level though, so at high levels this might make a bigger difference.

Edit: Humans are a tough choice. You could take away their defense bonus, but that might be pretty harsh... :smallannoyed: