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D&D 3rd / Re: [Archive] The Pathfinder Guide to Overpowered Feats by Libertad
« on: June 18, 2017, 03:15:34 AM »
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Strong-Arm
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can grab a foe by the throat, and lift him off his feet.
Prerequisites: Str 19, Dex 13, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: When you are grappling a single foe your size category or smaller, you may do so with only one arm and without gaining the grappled condition yourself. You cannot pin a foe you are grappling in this manner.
Throat-Crusher
[Horrifically Overpowered]
When you have a foe by the throat, there’s not much they can do.
Prerequisites: Str 21, Dex 13, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: You know how we said back in Strong-Arm you couldn’t pin a foe you were grappling using that feat? Well, now you can. Plus, foes you grapple cannot speak or complete somatic spell components until they escape the grapple.
Ultimate Combat
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
You are capable of delivering attacks against which there is no defense.
Prerequisite: Any Horrifically Overpowered feat, 4 or more levels in a class with a base attack bonus equal to its level.
Benefit: When you make an attack that misses, you may invoke Ultimate Combat as a free action. The attack hits. You may invoke Ultimate Combat a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Strength or Dex ability bonus (whichever is higher).
Ultimate Defense
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
You are capable of avoiding attacks that have you dead-to-rights.
Prerequisites: Any Horrifically Overpowered feat, class feature that adds a bonus to your armor class (such as a monk’s AC bonus or a duelist’s canny defense).
Benefit: When you are hit by an attack roll, you may invoke Ultimate Defense as a free action. The attack misses you. You may invoke Ultimate Combat a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Int, Wis, or Cha ability bonus (whichever is highest).
Ultimate Magic
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can cast spells that bypass all a foe’s defenses.
Prerequisite: Any Horrifically Overpowered feat, 4 or more levels in a class with a spell list that includes 9th level spells.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that has a duration greater than 1 round and a saving throw that negates it, and it is negated by a saving throw, spell resistance, or use of a feat, you may invoke Ultimate Magic as a free action. The target it is still affected by the spell, but only for 1 round. You may invoke Ultimate Magic a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Int, Wis, or Cha bonus (whichever is highest). This has no effect on creatures that ignore the effect of your spell for other reasons (such as not qualifying as a target or having enough energy resistance to avoid damage).
Vorpal Critical
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
Your critical hits behead things. Even jabberwocks.
Prerequisites: Critical Focus, base attack bonus +19.
Benefit: When you score a critical hit with a slashing weapon, the weapon severs your opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. Alternatively, if you wish, you may slice off some other extremity when you score a critical hit.
Additionally, all your attacks count as vorpal damage for purposes of bypassing DR (normally only relevant if you are facing a jabberwock, but if your GM lets you take this feat, obviously all bets are off).
This product presents numerous feats balanced for any character, but designed to make a few popular concepts easier to play from an early level. This product also introduces a few feats that draw on a character's resistance to magic and supernatural forces, focusing their efforts in ways that grant them benefits but require them to have no caster level. These "feats of battle" give characters who eschew magic altogether a reward for doing so without resorting to creating a whole new kind of magic under a new name.
Finally, among many players there is a perceived imbalance between high-level spellcasting characters, and high-level characters that lack any magic talent. While this point is debatable (and is debated hotly among many fans), it’s safe to say that for some play styles a lack of magic becomes a drawback at mid and high levels. Thus this product introduces a few feats that draw on a character’s resistance to magic and supernatural forces, focusing their efforts in ways that grant them benefits but require them to have no caster level. These “feats of battle” give characters who eschew magic altogether a reward for doing so without resorting to creating a whole new kind of magic under a new name.
It still boggles my mind that game designers can't see how broad the disparity of ability between casters and [Mooks] is and continue to widen it. Even when trying to do comedy! *bg_uhhuh.gif*
I think quantity alone isn't fair to judge him on.
While only a few feats were overpowered (the caster ones), many of those were LUDICROUSLY overpowered. Magnitude must count for something, right?
One interesting, and probably unintended, downside to Supernatural Spell Monster is that if your spells are now treated as SUs, then they can no longer be modified by metamagic feats. Doesn't really reduce the OP-ness of the feat that much, but still worth noting.
Your penalty: you must give up your title of "Wide-Girthed God of d20 Rules Crunch," which shall be taken by a worthier candidate if one shows up.
Quote from: KethrianOne interesting, and probably unintended, downside to Supernatural Spell Monster is that if your spells are now treated as SUs, then they can no longer be modified by metamagic feats. Doesn't really reduce the OP-ness of the feat that much, but still worth noting.
Good thing there's Metanatural to mitigate that.
Quote from: LibertadYour penalty: you must give up your title of "Wide-Girthed God of d20 Rules Crunch," which shall be taken by a worthier candidate if one shows up.
Dibs.
(I'm surprised nobody else has done this.)
EDIT: On second thought, the title is kind of inaccurate for my actual stature. I shall change it to fit better (and to avoid anyone accidentally thinking I may be Stephens, just in case).
There has got to be some kind of mysterious biological imperative that we are unfamiliar with that causes people to think Monkey Grip is broken. Seriously, people have been complaining about how overpowered that feat is (and more intelligent people have been telling them to stfu, go read power attack, and learn to math) since the damn thing was first printed.
Maybe it's the innate draw of the ability to wave an EVEN BIGGER phallic symbol than everyone else gets to wave...
I think quantity alone isn't fair to judge him on.
While only a few feats were overpowered (the caster ones), many of those were LUDICROUSLY overpowered. Magnitude must count for something, right?
Quote from: StreamOfTheSkyI think quantity alone isn't fair to judge him on.
While only a few feats were overpowered (the caster ones), many of those were LUDICROUSLY overpowered. Magnitude must count for something, right?
You might even say that some of them were horrifically overpowered? The product as advertised should have had everything be at least good feats. When they include actually bad feats in a product claiming to contain naught but overpowered ones, you just can't pull the average up enough.
Might not be horrifyingly strong, but most of the martial ones I'm going to make available to my players in the next 3.5 game I run (with minor edits for PF->3.5, where needed).
It's the "anime" factor. The same thing that makes feats that improve jumping ability overpowered.
Anybody who plays 3rd Edition full casters as per RAW has no right to complain about "anime" things being overpowered. End of discussion.
Class-Specific Archetype
(Horrifically Overpowered)
You gain a class-specific archetype.
Benefit: Select a class you have levels in, including effective levels gained from the Horrifically Overpowered feat Gestalt. You gain a single archetype, adding the abilities granted by the archetype to those you already have. You don’t replace any existing class abilities when you gain the archetype. Your effective level for the purpose of archetype abilities is equal to your effective class level.
Special: This feat can be gained more than once. Its effects do not stack. Each time you gain this feat you gain another archetype. Archetype abilities gained through this feat never reduce, replace, or modify previously existing class features unless it is advantageous to the character gaining this archetype. If you already have an archetype for a class you possess, you can gain the regular class abilities instead of another archetype.
There are 25 of those books on Drive-Thru RPG ($2-3 each). I don't think I'll get them just to review more feats. Sorry.
That's fine. I don't expect you to. Instead, I can put them up here and you can review them.
@Sor0:
1. You know, it's late and I should have known that. Same for D&D side, except you can burn a Standard Action to ready a Free Action (maybe same in pf).
2. Because that'd be to melee friendly right? Didn't know that, kind of half checking.
3. I'm thinking so. I mean it says you can use it, to it's fullest is flavor to me so I'd rule allowed to use doesn't mean you get infinite Runestaff usage. But it's wording is so horrible that if this was official rules, it'd pop up in the fun Finds thread and people would debate it.
4. They are super horrendously horrifically spork overpowered. And I'm not even sure why I used spork to describe it, that's just how bad (good?) it is.
I also suspect the MMB community could write their own guide to overpowered feats that was actually worthy of the name and let non casters get in on the fun.
After about 5 minutes contemplation, here's a stab:
Adaptive Fighting Style [Fighter, Horrifically Overpowered]
Your martial genius is such that you can change your approach to combat to fit the battle at hand.
Prerequisite: Fighter Level 6
Benefit: Once per encounter as a swift action you may replace any number of your [fighter] feats with other [fighter] feats for which you qualify. This effect lasts until the end of the encounter at which point you lose the benefit of the new feats and regain your original feats.
Does it need a "you may not replace prerequisites" clause or would feats you no longer qualify for just stop working?
Is this even overpowered?
I also suspect the MMB community could write their own guide to overpowered feats that was actually worthy of the name and let non casters get in on the fun.
After about 5 minutes contemplation, here's a stab:
Adaptive Fighting Style [Fighter, Horrifically Overpowered]
Your martial genius is such that you can change your approach to combat to fit the battle at hand.
Prerequisite: Fighter Level 6
Benefit: Once per encounter as a swift action you may replace any number of your [fighter] feats with other [fighter] feats for which you qualify. This effect lasts until the end of the encounter at which point you lose the benefit of the new feats and regain your original feats.
Does it need a "you may not replace prerequisites" clause or would feats you no longer qualify for just stop working?
Is this even overpowered?
Animated Leap
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can make vast jumps, well beyond the range of normal mortals.
Prerequisites: Acrobatic, Run.
Benefit: You can move your entire movement in a round as one or more jumps without making Acrobatics checks. If you take an action that allows you to move farther than your normal movement rate (such as the run action), you may make this entire movement as a leap or series of leaps. Each leap must be straight, must end on a surface able to support you (though if you have Dandelion Tread, see below, that’s pretty much any surface), and takes you to an altitude equal to 1/3 of the distance jumped. The highest you can jump is equal to 50% of your normal movement rate. You must declare each leap in advance (indicating where you jump from and your planned destination), and cannot change your route if you discover an invisible wall of force in the way, or you suddenly expose yourself to fire from a column of archers with readied actions.
Arcane Armor Lord
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
You are too skilled at casting in armor to be hindered by the limited range of motion armor leaves you.
Prerequisites: Arcane Armor Training, Arcane armor Mastery, Medium Armor Proficiency, caster level 11th.
Benefit: You ignore arcane spell failure.
Backswing Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
When your attacks bounce off a foe’s armor, you can use the momentum to backswing against another target.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: Three times per day, as a free action, when you make a weapon attack, unarmed attack, or natural weapon attack, and miss your target (but successfully hit the target’s touch AC), you may immediately reroll the attack as an attack against another target. This attack counts as the same attack for purposes of abilities that only work on a single attack roll, and the new target must be one you could have attacked instead of your original target.
Brow Cut
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
You cut a foe’s brow causing blood from the wound to flow into its eyes.
Benefit: Once per round as a free action, when you hit and damage a foe with a slashing weapon, you cause the foe to be dazzled for one round, +1 round per 5 points of your base attack bonus. Any magic healing directed specifically at healing the wound bleeding into the target’s eyes ends this effect, though it does not also restore hit points.
Special: Characters with Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple may also take this feat, calling it Eye Gouge, and using it when they hit a foe with an unarmed attack.
Channel Brightly
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can channel energy of an impressive intensity.
Prerequisite: Ability to channel energy, Improved Channel, Selective Channeling.
Benefit: when you channel energy, you may simultaneously heal all creatures you can heal with the ability, and harm all creatures you could harm with the ability. For example, Xasha is a 16th level cleric that channels positive energy with Alignment Channel (evil), Channel Brightly, Improved Channel, and Selective Channeling. When she channel energy, she can heal living creatures and harm undead and evil outsiders (using the same channeling dice for both), or heal living creatures and evil outsiders and harm undead.
Cohort Familiar
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You have forged a bond with a much more powerful familiar than the norm.
Prerequisites: Improved Familiar, Leadership, ability to acquire a familiar.
Benefit: Your cohort (from the Leadership feat) becomes your familiar. It’s alignment does not change, but it is devotedly loyal and obedient to you, regardless of any difference in alignment. Cohort familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature’s type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and cohort familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate). Your Leadership score does not take a penalty from having a familiar if it is a cohort familiar.
Combat Assault
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
You can increase your accuracy at the expense of your defense.
Prerequisite: Wis 13.
Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on your Armor Class to gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and combat maneuver checks. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the AC penalty increases by –1 and the attack bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat at the beginning of your turn, before moving or making any attacks. The effects of this feat last until the beginning of your next turn.
Combat Vigilance
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
You never let your guard down.
Prerequisites: Alertness or Combat Casting.
Benefit: Once per round, as a free action, when you take an action that normally provokes an attack of opportunity, you may decide to not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Special: This feat may be taken more than once. Each additional time you take it, add one to the number of times you can stand from prone (or whatever) without having an orc stab you for it.
Concussive Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
When you deal bludgeoning damage, you leave your foes reeling.
Benefit: Three times per day, as a swift action, when you make a weapon attack, unarmed attack, or natural weapon attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you may declare it to be a concussive attack. In addition to its normal damage, a concussive attack causes creatures that take damage from it to take a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks for a number of rounds equal to 1, +1 per 5 points of your base attack bonus.
Those stat changing ones are actually even more overpowered than you think, because I think you missed the biggest exploit:
It says that if you take it at level 1, you get half the PB for your physical stats. It doesn't specify that it must be taken at level 1.
Solution: Take it at level 2 (Pathfinder gives a feat at level 2 right?) or 3, in any game that starts higher than level 1.
32 PB for your Wizard becomes 18 Con, 18 Dex, 8 Str/Int/Wis/Cha, and then at level 2 or 3, you suddenly have 18s in every fucking stat except Str at the low cost of a few skill points. (Remember, Pathfinder doesn't give 4 times as much at level 1, so you really are just missing out on 5 or 10 skill points, depending on whether Pathfinder gives a feat at level 2).
Re: Hexes, there are a fair few that are only usable on a given target once per day. Notable among those are a sleep effect with no HD limit and a short-lived roll d20s twice, take the worst result curse. Taking that feat makes some hexes not quite as useless (looking at you, healing) and turns others into save-or-lose buttons. Well, they were already that, but now you can keep pressing the button if the candy doesn't come out the first time.
Dandelion Tread
[Horrifically Overpowered]
Your footsteps are so light you can stand on the slightest of structures, even a tiny flower.
Prerequisites: Dex 15, Acrobatic Steps, Nimble Moves.
Benefit: You may move through difficult terrain as if it was not difficult terrain. You have a climb speed equal to your ground movement, and you can climb (or stand on) structures regardless of their ability to support your weight. As long as some object reaches a point you wish to go, you can run and stand there – even if it’s standing on water, walking across the tops of blades of grass, or walking down the sail of a ship.
Elemental Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
When your attacks deal elemental damage, you can cause that damage to continue for 1 round.
Benefit: Four times per day as a swift action, when you make a weapon attack, unarmed attack, or natural weapon attack that deals acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage, you may declare it to be an elemental attack. If a creature is hit by an elemental attack, it takes acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage at the start of its next turn. This damage is equal to the acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage dealt by the elemental attack when it first hits.
Endless Cleave
[Combat, Horrifically Overpowered]
Your weapon attacks are made in wide, lethal arcs.
Prerequisites: Str 13, Cleave, Cleaving Finish, Great Cleave, Improved Cleaving Finish, Power Attack, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: Whenever you make a melee attack against a foe within reach, if you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using the same attack bonus as the initial attack) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. This is considered a use of the Cleave, Finishing Cleave, Great Cleave, or Improved Finishing Cleave feat. Each time you make an attack that is not instigated by a “cleave” feat, you cannot hit any given foe more than once with additional cleaving attacks. Additionally, you no longer take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn when you cleave.
Escape Is Impossible!
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
You can latch onto a foe and be dragged wherever it goes.
Prerequisites: Str 13, Dex 13.
Benefit: Whenever you hit a foe with a weapon that is flexible over 2/3 or more of its length -- including the bladed scarf, cat-o’-nine-tails, dwarven chain-flail, flying blade, flying talon, harpoon (if a rope is attached), net, scorpion whip, spiked chain, snag net, whip, and various Asian weapons; but not flails or heavy flails – as a swift action you may make a grapple check. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If the grapple check is successful, the foe is not grappled, but you wrap enough of your weapon around some part of the foe that wherever it goes, you are dragged along. You maintain a distance based on the length of your weapon (adjacent to the target for most weapons, 10 feet away for reach weapons, and a variable distance based on how much slack you leave in the case of weapons with greater length such as harpoons with ropes attached).
You gain the grappled condition as long as you hold onto your weapon, and must use at least one hand to maintain your grip (the GM may make exceptions for weapons with enough slack to tie the weapon around your waist). You may disengage your weapon from the target at any time, ending the grappled condition on yourself and ceasing your automatic movement with the target creature. If you are within range of the creature you may attack it with attacks you could make while grappled. The target cannot free itself from your weapon, but it does have options to make you let go. If the creature is able to move through areas with multiple obstacles you might hit (such as a dragon flying through rocky crags, or a giant running through a forest), it can attempt to slam you against these painful protrusions as a free action if it takes at least a move action. A flying foe makes a fly check, while a running foe makes a CMB check. In both cases, you make an opposed Acrobatics check. If the foe’s check exceeds yours, you take damage equal to the difference between the two checks.
The target can also attack you freely, attempt to sunder the weapon, or take other appropriate countermeasures such as turning insubstantial.
Due to lack of specification on 'Asian weapons', I can only assume that, if I were so inclined, I am now allowed to grapple with a wakizashi, which is in no way suited to such things.
Flaying Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
When you deal slashing damage, you can painfully flay the flesh from your foes.
Benefit: Three times per day as a swift action, when you make a weapon attack, unarmed attack, or natural weapon attack that deals slashing damage, you may declare it to be a flaying attack. In addition to its normal damage, a flaying attack causes creatures that take damage from it to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 +1/2 your base attack bonus + your Str or Dex bonus) or be dazed for one round.
Flex
[Horrifically Overpowered]
Your appearance is so intimidating, just cracking your knuckles frightens people.
Prerequisites: Cha 13, Dazzling Display.
Benefit: As a move action, you can make a display of your physique, pop your vertebrae by rolling your neck, or just put on your killing face. Make an Intimidate check to demoralize all foes within 60 feet who can see your display.
Greater Alignment Channel
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can channel energy to heal or harm all those of a specific ethos.
Prerequisite: Ability to channel energy, Alignment Channel, Improved Channel.
Benefit: When you choose to channel energy to affect an alignment you have selected with the Alignment channel feat, you may heal or harm all creatures of that alignment (rather than just outsiders). If you choose to heal or harm creatures of the chosen alignment, your channel energy has no effect on other creatures. The amount of damage healed or dealt and the DC to halve the damage is otherwise unchanged.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a new alignment you have selected with the Alignment Channel feat. Whenever you channel energy, you must choose which type to effect.
Imperial Spell
[Horrifically Overpowered, Metamagic]
Your magic can take command of the magic of others.
Benefit: You can cast a dispel magic, greater dispel magic, or disjunction spell as an Imperial Spell. When you use an imperial spell to counterspell a foe’s spell, you gain control of that spell. On the next round you may cast the spell you counterspelled without expending any spell slots of your own. You make all decisions regarding this spell (area, targets, and so on) and are considered the caster of the spell. If you do not cast the spell by the end of your next turn, it is lost.
An Imperial Spell takes a spell slot five levels higher than the spell’s actual level.
Mega-Magic Spell
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You know a few spells you have made horrifically overpowered.
Prerequisites: Two or more metamagic feats.
Benefit: Select one spell you can cast. Its level may not be higher than half the highest level spell you can cast. Select one or more metamagic feats you know. The total level adjustments of these metamagic feats cannot exceed the level of the spell you have selected. Whenever you cast the selected spell, you may choose to apply the selected metamagic feats without changing the spell’s level or casting time. You cannot also add other metamagic feats when you do this.
For example, Davor Runetusk is a 16th level half-orc wizard who knows fireball and has the Enlarge Spell and Maximize Spell feats. He takes Mega-Magic, and selects those two metamagic feats (with a total level adjustment of +4, half the level of the highest level spell he can cast – 8th), and fireball, allowing him to cast an Enlarged Maximized fireball as a 3rd level spell. If he decided to add another metamagic feat to the spell, he could not also apply the two feats he selected with Megamagic Spell for free (though he could add them with the normal increase in the fireball’s effective spell level).
Special: If your GM is crazy enough to let you take this feat once, there’s no reason not to let you take it multiple times. Its effects do not stack, though. Get real. Each time it is selected, it applies metamagic feats to a different spell known.
Metanatural
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can modify how your supernatural and spell-like abilities work.
Benefit: You can use metanatural points to apply metamagic feats you know (or have access to through a rod) to your spelllike and supernatural abilities. You have a number of metanatural points per day equal to 3 + your Int, Wis, or Cha bonus. For every spell level higher than a spell’s normal level a metamagic feat uses, it takes one metanatural point to apply it to a spelllike or supernatural ability. You cannot use more metanatural points for a single use of an ability than 1/3 your hit dice.
Oversized Fighting
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can swing a sword WAY too big for you.
Prerequisites: Str 19, Lunge, base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You can use weapons one size too large for you without penalty, and those two sizes two large for you as if they were one size too large. Thus a Medium creature with this feat can use a Large longsword in one hand without penalty, or a Large two-handed sword in two hands, or a Huge longsword as a two-handed weapon with a -2 attack penalty.
Special: While you take no penalties from using oversized weapons, this feat cannot prevent you from looking ridiculous.
Quote from: Concerned Ninja CitizenI also suspect the MMB community could write their own guide to overpowered feats that was actually worthy of the name and let non casters get in on the fun.
After about 5 minutes contemplation, here's a stab:
[...]
Is this even overpowered?
Nah, that's not overpowered. You still have 6 levels of Fighter after all! Let you ignore feat prerequisites too, then you may be on to something.
Nope [Horrifically Overpowered, Mook]
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: You may, as no action, resolve one spell, spell-like ability or supernatural power as if you were immune to it. Once you use this feat in response to one individual's action, you may not use it again in response to them that encounter.
[Mook] Feats cannot be taken by anyone with the ability to cast spells. If you take a [Mook] Feat and later take a level in a class that grants spell casting you lose the benefits of the feat, you stupid mook.
Penetrating Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
You can focus on an attack, making it more difficult for foes to ignore.
Benefit: Four times per day, as a swift action, when you make a weapon attack, unarmed attack, or natural weapon attack, you may declare it to be a penetrating attack. A penetrating attack ignores 10 points of hardness or DR on its target (even DR with no type).
Ready For Anything
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can be ready for any possible event.
Prerequisites: Alertness, Improved Initiative
Benefit: When you take the ready action, you do not need to specify in advance what event you are readying for, or what action you will take when that event occurs. Once you take a ready action, you simply have a partial action you may use to pre-empt any one thing you can perceive that occurs.
Shish-Kebab
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
You can ram a spear through one foe, lifting him off the ground, and still stab it into another target.
Prerequisites: Str 19, Dex 13,
Benefit: Once per round, as a swift action, you may make a grapple check against a foe you have hit with a piercing reach weapon that has a solid haft (not a flexible reach weapon). This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If successful, you ram several feet of your weapon through the foe and take a free 5-foot step to move into the foe’s space.
You are not considered grappled, and you cannot pin the foe.
Whenever you successfully attack another target, the impaled target takes damage equal to your weapon’s base damage dice (not including any ability score modifiers, magic properties, feats, or maneuvers). As long as you make at least one attack per round with the weapon, the impaled foe cannot free itself
from this grapple until you are disarmed or forced to drop your weapon. If you do not make an attack, the creature may attempt to free itself by making a grapple check as a full-round action (crawling along the haft and dropping off the end). You may have impaled at one time, a single creature of your size category, or two creatures one size smaller, or up to four creatures two or more sizes smaller.
Splash Spell
[Horrifically Overpowered, Metamagic]
Your single-target spell splashes onto a second, adjacent target.
Prerequisites: Int, Wis, or Cha 13, Magical Aptitude.
Benefit: When a splash spell targets only a single creature, and either hits that creature (if an attack roll is required)- or the creature fails its save (if a save is allowed), the spell can also target a creature adjacent to the first target that is an appropriate target of the spell and within the spell’s range. The second target is affected as if it was the target of the spell. Splash Spell has no effect on spells that affect more than one target, or do not either require an attack roll or allow a saving throw. A splash spell takes up a spell slot 0 levels higher than the spell’s normal level.
QuoteMega-Magic Spell
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You know a few spells you have made horrifically overpowered.
Prerequisites: Two or more metamagic feats.
Benefit: Select one spell you can cast. Its level may not be higher than half the highest level spell you can cast. Select one or more metamagic feats you know. The total level adjustments of these metamagic feats cannot exceed the level of the spell you have selected. Whenever you cast the selected spell, you may choose to apply the selected metamagic feats without changing the spell’s level or casting time. You cannot also add other metamagic feats when you do this.
For example, Davor Runetusk is a 16th level half-orc wizard who knows fireball and has the Enlarge Spell and Maximize Spell feats. He takes Mega-Magic, and selects those two metamagic feats (with a total level adjustment of +4, half the level of the highest level spell he can cast – 8th), and fireball, allowing him to cast an Enlarged Maximized fireball as a 3rd level spell. If he decided to add another metamagic feat to the spell, he could not also apply the two feats he selected with Megamagic Spell for free (though he could add them with the normal increase in the fireball’s effective spell level).
Special: If your GM is crazy enough to let you take this feat once, there’s no reason not to let you take it multiple times. Its effects do not stack, though. Get real. Each time it is selected, it applies metamagic feats to a different spell known.
The verdict: Overpowered. Persistent Spell as we know it does not exist in Pathfinder, but this feat is still open to some horrific abuse.
So, yeah, basically all the caster feats or feats more useful to them than mundanes are overpowered, and the mundane ones all suck. Shocking.
The hex feat is strictly better than Accursed Hex, which "only" gives you one re-try, only works if they save (sometimes, just being able to re-slumber someone that gets woken up before he dies is handy), and *must* be attempted the very next round or be forfeited. Since Accursed Hex is already a very strong / overpowered feat, I think one that is plainly better is thus overpowered, even if the differences aren't that wide.
No AoOs is hardly even close to the benefits that making spells Su brings. No components, can cast in grapples just fine, no SR, no concentration... Crazy broken.
In many ways, these feats are classic bad examples, doing exactly the sorts of things feats shouldn’t. If you ever design a feat you expect to work in a normal campaign and it looks a lot like one of these feats, that’s a clear sign you’ve done something wrong.
Backswing Attack: 3 times per day, as a free action, you can roll a new attack against a new opponent within reach if you miss the original opponent in melee. Pre-requisite of +6 BAB.
The verdict: Not overpowered. Very situational, slightly less useful than Great Cleave.
Animated Leap: You can make a long jump up to your movement rate without an Acrobatics check, or a high jump equal to 1/2 that. It has a feat tax of 2 bad feats (Acrobatic, Run), and you cannot change your route mid-jump.
The verdict: Not overpowered. Overland Flight still exists in Pathfinder.
So, I guess this list does not contain Spell Perfection, Persistent Spell, Dazing Spell, Quicken Spell, Flyby Attack, Split Hex, Split Major Hex, Divine Interference, any of the wizard's arcane discovery pseudo-feats, Selective Spell, Reach Spell.... ?
DESIGNATION OF PRODUCT IDENTITY: The Super Genius Games (SGG) and OtherWorld Creations (OWC) company names and logos; the “Genius Guide To: Horrifically Overpowered Feats” name and logo; all artwork, backgrounds, and logos; all trade dress, and graphic design elements.
DECLARATION OF OPEN CONTENT: All game mechanics, proper names of classes, prestige classes, archetypes, feats, skills, spells, magic items, monsters, rituals, artifacts AND OR the names of abilities presented within this book are Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.
Denied
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can simply refuse to be affected by a specific attack, spell, or ability.
Benefit: Once per day as a free action, you can decide to not be affected by a single attack, combat maneuver, spell, or effect. All its effects on you are immediately negated. This decision must be made as soon as you are aware of the effect you wish to negate. Only a single use of the effect is negated -- if you prevent an ancient red dragon from grappling you, that does not prevent it from making a new grapple check on its next attack. You may use this twice per day at 8th level, and one more time per day for every additional 8 levels you gain, to a maximum of six times per day at 40th level.
Empowered Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can focus all your power and rage into an attack.
Benefit: Two times per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be an empowered attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. An empowered attack increases the damage it does by 50%.
Enlarged Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can concentrate all your attention and will on the accuracy of one attack.
Benefit: Four times per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack to be an enlarged attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. If the attack is with a ranged weapon, the range increment of the attack doubles. If the attack is with a melee weapon, you may throw it as a ranged thrown weapon (not taking the normal penalty for throwing a melee weapon) with a range increment of 30 feet.
Eschew Foci
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You have no need for idols and mirrors to cast spells.
Prerequisite: Eschew Materials
Benefit: You do not need to fulfill the focus or divine focus components of spells in order to cast them.
Eschew Gestures
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You have no need to wiggle your fingers to cast spells.
Prerequisite: Still Spell
Benefit: You do not need to fulfill the somatic components of spells in order to cast them. You effectively treat all the spells you cast as if they had been cast using the Still Spell metamagic feat, but the spell’s level does not change, and no extra time is required to cast it.
Eschew Incantations
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You have no need to speak to cast spells.
Prerequisite: Silent Spell
Benefit: You do not need to fulfill the verbal components of spells in order to cast them. You effectively treat all the spells you cast as if they had been cast using the Silent Spell metamagic feat, but the spell’s level does not change, and no extra time is required to cast it.
Extended Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can drive an attack deep into a foe to insure the wound continues to tear and bleed, at least briefly.
Benefit: Three times per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be an extended attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. If the attack hits, the target suffers bleed damage at the beginning of its next round. For this bleed, roll the extended attack’s damage again, using the same modifiers as the original attack.
Extra Lives
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are just hard to kill.
Benefit: Your character can come back from the dead, with no penalty, three times in its total career. This happens at the end of whatever encounter you died in, unless that would cause your character to immediately die again (such as if your body was dropped into a pool of lava). In that case, you return to life at some safe location within a week, at the GM’s discretion. If you think your character is likely to be raised quickly and easily, you may choose not to use this ability when you die, in which case it does not count against your three total uses of this feat.
Special: This feat can be taken more than once. (Although, really, you need to take Toughness if you’re dying that often. Or maybe Dodge. Or just stand closer to the cleric.) Each time you take it, the number of times your character may freely return from the dead increases by three.
Extra Meta-Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered]
Benefit: You gain additional uses of meta-attack feats. You gain two additional uses per day, plus one additional use for every meta-attack feat you have. This does not allow you to use meta-attack feats you have not taken, only to get extra uses for meta-attack feats you have. You may spend these extra uses on any meta-attack feat you have, as long as you do not exceed 2 + (total meta-attack feats) per day in additional uses of all your meta-attack feats.
Favored
[Horrifically Overpowered]
The universe likes you, and gives you gifts.
Benefit: For every HD you have, you may select one favored class benefit from any character class. This is in addition to favored class benefits you receive if you actually take a level in a favored class. For more information on favored class benefits, see the Advanced Player’s Guide.
Full Casting Action
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can cast multiple spells as a fullround action, much like a warrior can make multiple attacks if his base attack bonus is high enough.
Prerequisite: Caster level 6.
Benefit: As a full-round action, you can cast two spells that have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. The first spell is cast normally, while the second spell uses a caster level 5 lower than your normal caster level, and the DC of any saving throw it requires is reduced by 2.
Gestalt
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are practically a member of two character classes, rather than just one.
Benefit: Select one character class. You gain all the class features (proficiencies and abilities listed in the “special” column of the class writeup) of that class other than spellcasting, as if half your total character level was your class level. (If you are 1st level, gain only the armor and weapon proficiencies of your selected class until you reach 2nd level.) If you actually have levels in the selected class, you gain class features as if your class level was equal to your actual class level plus one-half of all your other levels.
Go First
[Horrifically Overpowered]
No one can more before you. No one.
Prerequisite: Improved Initiative.
Benefit: You go first in any initiative order. If there are multiple creatures present that have feats or abilities that state they each go first in any initiative order, those creatures roll initiative to see what order they go in, and all other creatures go after them (regardless of relative initiative check results).
Greater Full Casting Action
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can cast up to 3 spells as a full-round action, much like a warrior can make multiple attacks if his base attack bonus is high enough.
Prerequisite: Caster level 11, Full Casting Action.
Benefit: This functions as Full Casting Action, except you can also cast a third spell with a casting time of 1 standard action or less. The third spell uses a caster level 10 lower than your normal caster level, and the DC of any saving throw it requires is reduced by 5.
Healing Factor
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You have a mutant healing factor.
Benefit: You gain fast healing equal to 1/3 your HD (minimum fast healing 1).
Heighten Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can put more muscle behind an attack to make it more effective against thick-skinned foes.
Benefit: Four times per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a heightened attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. The attack ignores a number of points of DR and/or hardness equal to your base attack bonus.
Heroic Grace
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are destined for greatness, and are thus unlikely to be petrified by a wandering monster.
Benefit: You may add your Int, Wis, or Cha bonus to all your saving throws, in addition to your normal ability modifier. This does not stack with the paladin’s divine grace class feature, or any other ability that adds your Int, Wis, or Cha to all your saving throws. (You are still allowed to add your Wisdom bonus to your Will saves, as normal.)
The Trial: For the purposes of this review, I'll be acting as judge, jury, and executioner. The accused party is Owen KC Stephens, and his crime is false advertising of overpowered feats. After each feat's description, I'll lay down the verdict as to whether the feat in question is Horrifically Overpowered. In the rare case I cannot decide one way or the other, I'll turn things over to the community to decide on my behalf. If you disagree with any of my conclusions, feel free to state your case.
Does Pathfinder still have the rule that you can cast a spell with a CL lower than the CL you'd normally have at the level you get the spell? That would put a damper on the Full Casting Action feats, since you'd be restricted to using your lower level spells. Not enough to remove it from the OP category, but it's worth noting.
A spell's power often depends on its caster level, which for most spellcasting characters is equal to her class level in the class she's using to cast the spell.
You can cast a spell at a lower caster level than normal, but the caster level you choose must be high enough for you to cast the spell in question, and all level-dependent features must be based on the same caster level.
In the event that a class feature or other special ability provides an adjustment to your caster level, that adjustment applies not only to effects based on caster level (such as range, duration, and damage dealt), but also to your caster level check to overcome your target's spell resistance and to the caster level used in dispel checks (both the dispel check and the Dc of the check).
Hex Maven
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
Your hexes are much more persistent than most witches’.
Benefit: Your hexes which state they can only affect a specific target once per day, can instead affect the same target a number of times per day equal to your Int bonus.
Magic-User
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You’ve picked up a considerable amount of spellcasting above and beyond your normal training.
Benefit: Select one spellcasting character class. You can cast spells as a member of this class of a level equal to half your total hit dice. (If you are 1st level, you cast spells as a 1st level member of the class, but can only cast 0-level spells).
Special: This feat may be selected more than once. (Why not?) Its effects do not stack. (Get real.) Each time it is selected, you must choose a new spellcasting class in which you gain spellcasting ability.
Master of Magic Items
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can use any magic item to its fullest.
Prerequisites: Use Magic Device as class skill.
Benefit: You can use any magic item, even if you would not normally be able to do so.
Maximize Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
Once per day, you can give an attack your all.
Benefit: Once per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a maximized attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. A maximized attack deals maximum damage.
Mental Paragon
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are the peak of mental perfection for your race.
Benefit: Your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are a base of 18 (before racial and level-based adjustments). If you take this feat at first level and roll for ability scores, you may only roll for your physical statistics. For example, if your campaign normally has new characters roll six times for ability scores, rolling 4d6 and take the best 3 each time, you are only allowed to do this three times (using the values for your Str, Dex, and Con). If you take this feat at 1st level and use a point-buy for ability scores, you get only half as many points (round up) to buy your physical ability scores.
Offensive Combat Training
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You fight like a warrior-born.
Prerequisite: Defensive Combat Training
Benefit: Your base attack bonus is equal to your total hit dice.
Physical Paragon
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are the peak of physical perfection for your race.
Benefit: Your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are a base of 18 (before racial and level-based adjustments). If you take this feat at first level and roll for ability scores, you may only roll for your mental statistics. For example if your campaign normally has new characters roll six times for ability scores, rolling 4d6 and take the best 3 each time, you are only allowed to do this three times (using the values for your Int, Wis, and Cha). If you take this feat at 1st level and use a point-buy for ability scores, you get only half as many points (round up) to buy your mental ability scores.
Perfect Blow
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
You can make a perfect attack.
Benefit: Once per day you can choose to make a single attack a perfect strike. Rather than make an attack roll, you hit any AC equal to 20 + your attack bonus or less. The attack automatically threatens a critical. The attack hits even if the target has a defense that would normally cause the attack to be ineffectual or have a chance to be mistargeted, such as mirror image, displacement, concealment, invisibility, etherealness, or feats that allow an attack to be blocked or dodged. The attack bypasses any DR or other defense of the foe, but can be healed, recovered, or regenerated normally.
Prestigious
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are practically a member of a specific prestige class.
Prerequisites: Character level 6, no levels in selected prestige class.
Benefit: Select one prestige class. You gain all the class features (proficiencies and abilities listed in the “special” column of the class writeup) of that prestige class other than spellcasting. Your effective level for the prestige class (to determine both what powers you receive, and any level-dependent effects of those powers) is one-half of (your HD -5), with a minimum of 1.
Quicken Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
Once per day, you can make an attack faster than the eye can follow.
Benefit: Once per day as a free action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a quickened attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. A quickened attack is a swift action. Targets within 30 feet of you are flatfooted against a quickened attack. If it is a ranged attack, it does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Silent Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can kill while silent as a shadow.
Benefit: Three times per day as a free action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a silent attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. A silent attack does not end any Stealth you are using, does not count as an attack for the invisibility spell, and cannot be traced back to you with a Perception check.
Skill Domination
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are an expert in a wide range of skills.
Benefit: All skills count as class skills for you. You can always make a skill check untrained.
Skill God
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are the best at one thing you do.
Benefit: Select one skill. Whenever you must make a check for this skill, you always act as if you had rolled a 20.
Special: This feat can be taken more than once. Its effects can’t logically stack, but if you can talk your GM into believing you should get to “roll 40” on a skill check, go ahead. The idea, however, is that each time you select it, it applies to a different skill.
Spell Shifting
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can twist your spells into different spells.
Benefit: You have access to pattern spells. You have a number of pattern spells equal to your HD, to a maximum of two pattern spells per spell level. When you select a spell as a pattern spell it must be a spell of a class and level you are able to cast, and the choice cannot normally be changed. You are allowed to swap out one pattern spell for a new choice at every even level. How pattern spells work depends on how you cast spells. If you are a preparation spellcaster (such as the cleric, druid, and wizard), pattern spells are spells you can cast in place of a prepared spell of the same level or higher, in the same way a cleric can replace a prepared spell for a cure spell. Your pattern spells must be selected from spells you could prepare if you chose to (nearly any class spell for clerics, but limited to spells in your spellbook for wizards). If you are a spontaneous spellcaster (such as the bard and sorcerer), pattern spells are additional spells known, which you can cast once per day by using a spell slot of the same level or higher. If you ever gain one of your pattern spells as a spell known, you may replace it with a new pattern spell of the same level.
Still Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can kill without moving.
Benefit: Three times per day as a free action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a still attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. A still attack does not require for your arms to be free or that you move, and can be made while you are grappled or pinned (without requiring a grapple check to do so), held or paralyzed.
Supernatural Spell Monster
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You’re not really a spellcaster, but you might be mistaken for one.
Benefit: Select one class you have levels in that casts spells. Though you must meet the casting time and all the prerequisites of those spells to use them, they do not count as spells. For rules purposes, they function as supernatural powers.
Ultimate Full Casting Action
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You can cast up to 4 spells as a fullround action, much like a warrior can make multiple attacks if his base attack bonus is high enough.
Prerequisite: Caster level 16, Full Casting Action, Greater Full Casting Action.
Benefit: This functions as Greater Full Casting Action, except you can also cast a fourth spell with a casting time of 1 standard action or less. The forth spell uses a caster level 15 lower than your normal caster level, and the DC of any saving throw it requires is reduced by 7.
Unflappable
[Horrifically Overpowered]
You are the sort of person who says “I would not be a bit surprised if the dragon is an illusion and we’re actually surrounded by invisible ninjas.” What’s more, you really aren’t a bit surprised when that turns out to be the case.
Prerequisite: Alertness.
Benefit: You are never surprised, and never flat-footed.
Widen Attack
[Horrifically Overpowered, Meta-Attack]
A limited number of times per day, you can lay about you in a frenzy of blows to kill foes near and far.
Benefit: Three times per day as a swift action, you may declare one weapon attack, natural attack, or unarmed attack to be a widened attack. You must make this declaration prior to making your attack roll. A widened attack allows you to compare your attack roll to the AC of every foe in any four spaces (each adjacent to at least one other of the four spaces, and all within 1 space of an area you threaten). Each foe whose AC is exceeded by your attack roll takes damage from the attack.
StreamoftheSky pointed out that 100% negation can be overpowered, but the feat did not specify that it can be used out of turn, and so I changed it. I will do the Final Four write-ups soon.