# The Gaming Den

Welcome to the Gaming Den.

Skip to content

## [Tome] Feats to fill Item Slots?

The homebrew forum

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply

- Print view

7 posts • Page 1 of 1

Lokathor
  Duke
  Posts: 2185
  Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:10 am
  Location: ID
  Contact:
  Contact Lokathor
  Website

### [Tome] Feats to fill Item Slots?

- Quote

Post by Lokathor » Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:00 am

I think it's been mentioned once or twice that you could just have feats fill up a character's 8 magic item slots if you really wanted to. Has anyone bothered to write up what exactly those feats would look like?
Item Slot Feats
These feats allow you to fill your Continual Magic Item slots with an effect. Activating or deactivating any of these feats takes 15 minutes, the same as attuning a magic item.
Inherent Magic Weapon [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, you can add 1/3rd your level (round up) as an enhancement bonus to your attacks and damage with one weapon per Item Slot devoted to the feat. You can reassign what weapon you're applying the bonus to once per round as a free action.
Inherent Magic Armor [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, your armor or shield gains an enhancement bonus to its armor or shield value equal to 1/3rd your level (rounded up). You can reassign what armor or shield you're applying the bonus to once per round as a free action. You can have both affected at once by activating this feat twice and devoting one Magic Item slot to each.
Inherent Ability [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, a single ability score of your choice gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/3rd your character level (round up). You can activate this feat more than once by spending additional Magic Item slots, applying it to a new ability score each time.
Inherent Resilience [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, all of your saving throws gain a Resistance bonus equal to 1/3rd your character level (round up).
Supernal Competence [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, a single skill of your choice gains a Competence bonus equal to your character level. You can activate this feat more than once by spending additional Magic Item slots, applying it to a new skill each time.
Energy Skin [Item Slot]
Benefit: Select one energy type when you activate this feat, you gain energy resistance against that energy type equal to your character level. You can activate this feat more than once by spending additional Magic Item slots, applying it to a new energy type each time.
Spirit Ward [Item Slot]
Benefit: While this feat is active, you gain a deflection bonus to your AC equal to 1/4th your level (round up).
And so on. I suppose my question is: Given [Tome] feats are really good, and these aren't actually getting you anything new, is the "I don't need magic items" benefit good enough to justify a feat? I don't think it really is, but I could be wrong. If it isn't, what kinds of side benefits could be tacked onto the feats to make them stack up well?
Last edited by Lokathor on Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
[*]The Ends Of The Matrix: Github and Rendered
[*]After Sundown: Github and Rendered
Top

IGTN
  Knight-Baron
  Posts: 729
  Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:13 am

###

- Quote

Post by IGTN » Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:25 am

Remember that magic items that don't suck also add a non-numeric benefit off a powers list. Not getting that, and charging a feat? These are just terrible all around.
So the minimum for these feats is:
1) Give the numeric bonus
2) Give a lesser/moderate/major item power (probably scale through them)
3) Pay for the cost of a feat.
If you don't do 3, you have a tolerable item, but I wouldn't spend a feat on it.
So something like:
+1/3 level to Strength
+Save or stun on hit (1/target/round, 1 round duration) at some level.
+At some level, +1 to size category. Maybe without some of the benefits Large Size gives.
All or nothing on/off, of course, since the 3rd benefit is already settled as being worth a feat, so a feat that gives you Large Size and an unstealable item is better than Large Size on its own.
So now you have an item that can't be separated from you, that does:
Strength Bonus
Stunning hits
Righteous Might
at the cost of a feat.
Large Size might actually be too good of a feat to give like this (it's up there with Blitz or Combat School). Maybe something like the one that gives you a tail to squeeze with instead.
"No, you can't burn the inn down. It's made of solid fire."
Top

Lokathor
  Duke
  Posts: 2185
  Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:10 am
  Location: ID
  Contact:
  Contact Lokathor
  Website

###

- Quote

Post by Lokathor » Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:41 am

I completely spaced out on that. That's the obvious thing to scale up (since Tome loves scaling feats). At 6HD you can add a Minor ability, a 11HD you can add a Moderate ability, and at 16HD you add a major ability? Assuming that your group has created a big "list of magic item abilities" over time that'd work out. Each feat might need its own list of 3 to 5 benefits and then you pick one to have active.
Does stuff like this step on the Totemist / Soulborn too much?
[*]The Ends Of The Matrix: Github and Rendered
[*]After Sundown: Github and Rendered
Top

Utterfail
  Master
  Posts: 221
  Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:03 am

###

- Quote

Post by Utterfail » Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:13 pm

I thought that what was talked about were magic items that take up feat slots. The theory being that since "swinging magic swords" around is part of the Fighter class, having a magic sword is a class feature, and you pay for it.
Not that I don't like this Idea, its pretty cool. But the problem is that you end up paying a feat slot and losing your magic item slots use. And in theory you should be getting a magic item at some point anyway. The only thing that such a feat could do, unless the effect is totally rad and above and beyond what a magic item does, is make whoever takes them less powerful compared to everyone who uses actual magic items in the long run.
So, what you'd want to do is probably come up with a balanced normal scaling feat. Come up with a balanced scaling magic item (complete with whizzbang magic effects). And mash them together.
Taking this model, and just taking already existing material, we could make an example one pretty easy. Let's add Combat School and... a Fire theme weapon together, and make it for a monk.
Fists of the Blazing Sun [Combat]
Your kung-fu is so great, that you set people on fire. It's freakin' rad. Also, this feat takes up a magic item slot.
+0: All unarmed strikes, slam attacks, and other natural attacks now have an enhancement bonus to hit and damage equal to 2 + 1/3 your level.
+1: You gain +2 to damage rolls with all unarmed strikes, slam attacks, and other natural attacks. Also, all those things have the Flame property now (Book of Gears)
+6: When you strike your opponent with any natural attack in melee, they must make a Fortitude Save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Wisdom bonus) or become dazed for one round. Also, your natural attacks can now slice and dice ethereal creatures as if they had the ghost touch property.
+11: You may take 10 on attack rolls while using your natural weapons. Now, with a swift action, you can change the Flame quality of your natural attacks to the Sun quality, and vice versa.
+16: You may add +5 to-hit on any one attack you make after the first each turn. If you hit an opponent twice in one round, all further attacks this round against that opponent are made with The Edge. Now, with a swift action, you can switch out the Sun or Flame qualities of your natural attacks, and make them Vorpal. Your Kung-Fu is just that great.
Last edited by Utterfail on Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Failing since 1989
I suppose this signature has run it's course.
Top

Lokathor
  Duke
  Posts: 2185
  Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:10 am
  Location: ID
  Contact:
  Contact Lokathor
  Website

###

- Quote

Post by Lokathor » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:28 am

I've got two thoughts:
1) Making them combat feats bones anyone without full BAB, which is not at all cool for Rogues or Sorcerers or whoever, which it why I was just gonna tie it to HD directly.
2) My improvement, which I might not have made clear, was that at 6HD you can add a Minor Power to your item effect, but every time you activate the feat you can select any Minor Power to go with it. The advantage of the feat is that you can pick the right Minor Power for the right situation when you know what you're going into, which DnD already tries to encourage.
2b) Similarly, the skill bonus and energy resistance and so on would be swappable each time you activate it, making the skill bonus one an extremely good feat for the skill users. Though, at that point it'd probably be a hair too good.
That all said, Fists of the Blazing Sun is really cool.
[*]The Ends Of The Matrix: Github and Rendered
[*]After Sundown: Github and Rendered
Top

Utterfail
  Master
  Posts: 221
  Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:03 am

###

- Quote

Post by Utterfail » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:10 pm

Ah, I didn't understand the swapable bonuses, that bumps em up into the potentialy useful category, though strictly speaking actually having a sack of varied magic items would still be better.
And on Fists of the Blazing Sun style feats, not all of them have to be [Combat] feats. Art of the Wayward Dagger could totally scale to sleight of hand ranks.
Failing since 1989
I suppose this signature has run it's course.
Top

Ice9
  Duke
  Posts: 1568
  Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

###

- Quote

Post by Ice9 » Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:11 am

Because of the selectable benefit, Supernal Competence is a lot better than the other feats, and a much better use of a slot than an actual skill-boosting item. Basically, you get the bonus to all skills that you have a few minutes to prepare for.
Last edited by Ice9 on Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:13 am, edited 3 times in total.
Top
Post Reply

- Print view

Display:
Sort by:
Direction:

7 posts • Page 1 of 1

Return to “It's My Own Invention...”

Jump to

- Main
- ↳ About the Gaming Den
- ↳ In My Humble Opinion...
- ↳ I Gave the Mouse a Cookie...
- ↳ In The Trenches
- ↳ It's My Own Invention...
- ↳ MPSIMS