The One Rule aka the Odd Rule

[Darkshade]

In my homebrew campaigns, and all the home brew campaigns of my friends and their friends, this homebrew rule has been in effect since it was first created.

At 1st level and every odd numbered level thereafter a character gains a new feat.

it's a simple change, at 20th level it results in 3 more feats then you would normally have, up to 4th level there is no difference.

We have found that it doesnt seriously increase any one characters power level, but that it does increase the variety of things they can do. You'd be amazed how much more adaptable a few feats can make a group of PCs

I just wanted to share and see if anybody has strong opinions on this one way or the other

[Jack_of_Spades]

I think it'd be good for a smaller party of say two or three. They could really use that bit of help to survive. But for a part of 4 or 5 I think it's too good. Not horribly powerful, but more powerful than I would like.

[magic8BALL]

If that applies to everyone and everything (by this I mean monsters too) this will lead to one of three things:
- More specialised characters, the extra feats improving whats already a strong suit.
- More generalised charcters, the extra feats improving what was a weakness.
- More potent characters, the extra feats smoothing out an otherwise well rounded build.
These things, of cause will be balanced out with the the monsters and NPC's the PC's face having more feats too.

...now to convince my DM of this...

[Darkshade]

yes I apply it to monsters as well, in fact we started it back in 3rd edition when monsters got a feat every 4 monster hit dice, maybe depending on their type.
It means when you take a MM monster with several hit dice you just add a couple of feats, it helps everyone not just PCs which helps balance it.

[blackout]

This is a good idea, gotta let my DM know. We can discuss it at the next session. >:) MY MINOTAUR FIGHTER'S GETTIN' DUAL GREATSWORDS! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[MeklorIlavator]

watch out for certain PrC's, they sometimes use multiple feats to restrict entry level, like the shadow dancer

[mikeejimbo]

watch out for certain PrC's, they sometimes use multiple feats to restrict entry level, like the shadow dancer

Simple fix: Make the level a prerequisite too.

[prufock]

At 1st level and every odd numbered level thereafter a character gains a new feat.

it's a simple change, at 20th level it results in 3 more feats then you would normally have, up to 4th level there is no difference.

How do you get that? You'd be gaining new feats at level 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19. At level 20, that should be 6 extra feats, not 3.

[although]

How do you get that? You'd be gaining new feats at level 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19. At level 20, that should be 6 extra feats, not 3.
Yes, but you don't get feats at levels 6, 12, or 18. So it's three extra.

My main objection to the whole thing: it tends to lower the relative value of classes like fighter, ranger, and monk, which get a lot of bonus feats. Granted, that fighter will now have even more feats than before...but now that everyone has an earlier shot at getting the core few feats they need most, the fighter's extra feats provide less of an edge than before.

[Darkshade]

I have myself played a Fighter with this rule and while i can sorta see where your saying do you know how awesome it is to be a 10th level fighter and have more feats then you have levels? and get a feat every level for the rest of your class, it is fun.

I do wish to point out though that we also generally play gestahlt campaigns.

[Matthew]

Not a bad idea, this.

[Darkshade]

It's also addictive though, it's one of those things that once you play with it it makes playing without it feel like its missing something

[magic8BALL]

Yeah... Im going to use this in a high powered campaign that I may even get to run eventually... just waiting on the current DM to kill us all off... she tries hard!

[Darkshade]

suggest she implements the rule for NPCs and monsters only that will get you killed off a little quicker

[magic8BALL]

...probly not... we need to collect all these objects... at the moment our stratagy is teleport as close as we can to object x (using divinations and an artifact wich is a perfect real time udatating map of the plane of existance the map is on), grab it, teleport out. I think the dragon turtle we goaded onto land is the biggest threat we've had all campaign...

..anyway... I need more time to... build a world, for instance... I'veonly got ideas and head-humted homebrews like this one!

[Arlanthe]

In my campaigns, if players write a character history and weave a roleplaying reason in, at character creation they get one free regional feat.

A single free feat at level 1 seems a bit more balanced than all the extra feats, and encourages backstory.

But I can see how the idea would work in some campaigns.

[Azmo]

Very similar to the method outlined by Arlanthe, I give my players an additional Feat at 1st level, based on backstory and region of origin. It is an extra edge that the players enjoy, and does not undo the balance.

Another group we know uses the method of 1 bonus feat at every odd level, and it seems to work for them, but they also have a good many house rules applied as well. Higher-powered? It is all relative.

[Darkshade]

i just feel that a single feat at first level doesnt have the same effect because it can only give you diversity in areas that you can qualify for at 1st level.

[Destro_Yersul]

Sounds good to me. Think I'll be using this... The reason being that magic items are going to be harder to come by in my campaign, as only dwarves and Elves have the knowledge required to produce masterwork quality items. This could be a bit of a balancing factor. *goes to add to campaign*

[Darkshade]

*Bump*
I also wanted to point out that I have found this variant fits well in Gestalt.

[Macrovore]

wow. i use the exact same system. and it really works. makes for much more well-rounded characters. they can achieve their goals much faster, and it doesn't increase the power level much if you apply the same thing to monsters, too.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

*Bump*
I also wanted to point out that I have found this variant fits well in Gestalt.

Mr. Haul? Mr. Haul? Hey Monty! Get over here, we've got another game to play!