Talk:Always Ready (3.5e Feat)

Balanced?

This feat basically replaces feats that add additional uses per day for abilities that are used once per combat (or per day). Consider: Rage, Defensive Stance, Half-Dragon breath weapon, and Arcane Archer tricks. That is just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are lots of busted things that can be done with this feat and 1/use per day prestige class abilities. --Aarnott 10:27, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

Seconded -- Flession 10:39, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

Yes, this feat rebalances a few things. There has been a very recent trend away from "per day" abilities to stuff that is usable once per encounter or always. It started harmlessly with the Combat Form feats, then came the Warlock, Tome of Battle, Reserve Feats...

Conventional game design wisdom has it, that D&D is balanced against 4 encounters per day, or rather, 4 encounters before the group can rest and recharge. But if you look at real campaigns, that is hardly realistic. On the one hand, you have overland travel episodes, where there is always exactly one encounter before the party reaches their destination, because after that one battle everyone is bored and wants to get on with the story (a theory famously brought up by Varsuuvius of the Order of the Stick). On the other hand you have dungeon runs, where there could be any number of consecutive encounters, up to a dozen, until the party decides to chicken out and retreat.

So, what the feat does is even out the score a bit between classes that are locked in a X/day scheme, with the barbarian the worst affected, and "always ready" classes. The power of the feat really depends on the style of the campaign. If the DM prefers few, but big battles, this feat is not worth it, as most characters will be 100% prepared most of the time. But in campaigns with long dungeon runs or many small combats, this feat is invaluable (as are classes like the warlock).

Of course, I posted this here so people can find rules loopholes, so if you have a PrC where this feat is broken please bring it on. My guess is that any build where this feat is broken will be broken without it anyway in campaigns with low encounter per day ratings. --Mkill 11:27, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

To add some grounds for discussion, a list of classes where the feat is useful and where not:

Extremely Useful

Barbarian (Rage) (includes PrCs that work in a similar way like the Dwarven Defender), Hexblade (Hex)

Useful

Cleric, Paladin (Turn Undead + Divine Feats), Druid (Wild Shape), Monk (Stunning Fist)

Slightly useful

Bard (Bardic Music, but seldom runs out of it)

Useless

Sorcerer, Wizard (mainly spellcasting), Rogue, Fighter, Scout, Ranger, Warlock (no X/day abilities) --Mkill 11:36, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

I think that this is a perfectly good feat. Most daily abilities graduate to two or more times per day over the life of the character. If you require that the character already have two uses per day, then you close the loophole on true once-per-da abilities, such as clerical domain abilities.--Dmilewski 11:39, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

Done. Actually I was considering this when I wrote the feat. That somebody else came up with it independently seems to be a sign this is a good idea. --Mkill 11:59, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

2/day as a requirement is a great change -- I'm in full support! With the 2/day however, I still see an Archmage having a lot of power (a level 9 spell every battle plus 2 extra uses). 2 uses for 1 slot is not broken in low encounter per day games, 3+ uses for 1 slot really starts to be. I can say the same about the Hierophant (a druid could transfer all his wildshapes to allies while still having free uses for himself). The 1/day would have been silly with a Metamind --> Free powers every combat (good thing it was changed). All in all though, the change makes this feat much more balanced. --Aarnott 13:04, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

Archmage... okay, so you go all the way up to 18th level, choose the archmage prestige class, and pay one of your archmage high arcana, one 9th-level spell slot, one 5th level spell slot, and one feat.

What do you gain? One 9th level spell as an SLA 2/day + 1/encounter. Not bad, put you pay a high price. I doubt it breaks the game at the point where the wizard can gate in Epic Monsters or create a demiplane with slower time to planeshift out and reprepare spells. Or just create a Staff with the spell for backup. Besides that, a level 18 wizard has all the means to leave an encounter when he does not want to fight it out. I would not judge the power of this feat at a point where the game is broken anyway. --Mkill 22:12, 28 June 2007 (MDT)

I suppose it is not game breaking, just very synergistic. Especially since it forces the DM to have every single encounter be difficult (otherwise the 9th level spell will trivially end it). If you combine it with the Extra Uses feat you made, it can be game breaking, but I wouldn't allow that as a DM anyways :-). --Aarnott 11:14, 3 July 2007 (MDT)