Alternative Combat Feats

by Tim Wallace

After reading this blog post, I was inspired to actually write up some feats that I have had bouncing around in my head. You will notice that I replicated some of his suggestions while also ignoring or applying my own twist on others.

Combat Flexibility (Combat)

You can swap penalties to attacks, damage, or AC to increase on of the other values.

Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on attack rolls or AC or a ­–2 penalty to damage to gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls or AC or a +2 bonus to damage. The penalty or bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with a secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalties and bonus increase according to the char below. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn.

Base Attack Bonus	Penalty or Bonus to Attack	Penalty or Bonus to AC	Penalty or Bonus to Damage
+1	+/–1	+/–1	+/–2
+4	+/–2	+/–2	+/–4
+8	+/–3	+/–3	+/–6
+12	+/–4	+/–4	+/–8
+16	+/–5	+/–5	+/–10
+20	+/–6	+/–6	+/–12

Special: Combat Flexibility replaces and counts as Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, and Power Attack for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites.

Illustration by Yama Orce and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. (original image)

Dodging Mobility (Combat)

Your training and reflexes allow you to react swiftly to avoid an opponents' attacks.

Prerequisite: Dex 13.

Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC and +4 dodge a bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.

Special: Dodging Mobility replaces and counts as Dodge and Mobility for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites.

Flurry (Combat)

You can take an additional attack each round.

Prerequisite: Dex 15, Weapon Group Proficiency.

Benefit: You gain an extra attack with weapons from any weapon group you are proficient with, as indicated on the chart below. If you are wielding two or more weapons, you can alternate attacks in any combination you wish. The damage from these extra attacks adds your full Strength modifier, no matter what type of weapon it is that you are wielding.

Special: If you are proficient with the close, monk, or natural weapon groups, you may intersperse unarmed strikes and natural weapon attacks with manufactured weapon attacks. Flurry replaces and counts as Double Slice, Rapid Shot, and Two-Weapon Fighting for the purposes of fulfilling prerequisites.

Base Attack Bonus	Attack Bonus with Flurry	Attack Bonus with Greater Flurry
+1	–1/–1	–1/–1
+2	+0/+0	+0/+0
+3	+1/+1	+1/+1
+4	+2/+2	+2/+2
+5	+3/+3	+3/+3
+6/+1	+4/+4/–1	+4/+4/–1/–1
+7/+2	+5/+5/+0	+5/+5/+0/+0
+8/+3	+6/+6/+1	+6/+6/+1/+1
+9/+4	+7/+7/+2	+7/+7/+2/+2
+10/+5	+8/+8/+3	+8/+8/+3/+3
+11/+6/+1	+9/+9/+4/–1	+9/+9/+4/+4/–1/–1
+12/+7/+2	+10/+10/+5/+0	+10/+10/+5/+5/+0/+0
+13/+8/+3	+11/+11/+6/+1	+11/+11/+6/+6/+1/+1
+14/+9/+4	+12/+12/+7/+2	+12/+12/+7/+7/+2/+2
+15/+10/+5	+13/+13/+8/+3	+13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3
+16/+11/+6/+1	+14/+14/+9/+4/–1	+14/+14/+9/+9/+4/+4/–1
+17/+12/+7/+2	+15/+15/+10/+5/+0	+15/+15/+10/+10/+5/+5/+0
+18/+13/+8/+3	+16/+16/+11/+6/+1	+16/+16/+11/+11/+6/+6/+1
+19/+14/+9/+4	+17/+17/+12/+7/+2	+17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2
+20/+15/+10/+5	+18/+18/+13/+8/+3	+18/+18/+13/+13/+8/+8/+3

Greater Flurry (Combat)

You gain more attacks with weapons you are proficient with.

Prerequisites: Dex 17, Flurry, Weapon Group Proficiency, base attack bonus +6.

Benefit: You gain an additional attack with weapons from any weapon group you are proficient with, as indicated on the chart above. When your base attack bonus reaches +11, you gain a final extra attack.

Special: Greater Flurry replaces and counts as Manyshot, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting for the purposes of fulfilling prerequisites.

Illustration by Yama Orce and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. (original image)

Graceful Combat (Combat)

You rely on agility rather than might to deal damage in combat.

Prerequisites: Dex 13, Weapon Group Proficiency, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: Choose one weapon group for which you have already selected Weapon Group Proficiency. When wielding weapons from that weapon group, you may treat them as finesse weapons and you can add your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to damage with them.

Special: You can gain Graceful Combat multiple times. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group.

Special Weapon Quality: Finesse Finesse is now a special weapon quality, akin to brace, reach, or trip. All light melee weapons, as well as rapiers and scimitars, have it. Finesse: A finesse weapon allows the wielder to choose whether they want to add their Strength modifier or their Dexterity modifier to attack rolls.

Weapon Group Proficiency (Combat)

You are proficient with a specific group of weapons.

Benefit: Choose a weapon group. You are proficient with all weapons associated with that weapon group.

Special: You can gain Weapon Group Proficiency multiple times. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group. Weapon Group Proficiency (close) and Weapon Group Proficiency (monk) both replace and count as Improved Unarmed Strike for the purpose of making lethal unarmed strike attacks and fulfilling prerequisites.

Beginning Weapon Proficiencies for Classes Classes which normally gain proficiency with all marital weapons instead gain proficiency with four weapon groups. Classes with a 3/4 base attack bonus which would not normally gain martial weapon proficiency instead gain proficiency with two weapon groups. Classes with a 1/2 base attack bonus gain proficiency with one weapon group. This replaces the normal weapon proficiencies gained by classes.

Weapon Group Focus (Combat)

You are more accurate in your strikes with a specific group of weapons.

Prerequisites: Weapon Group Proficiency, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: Choose one weapon group for which you have already selected Weapon Group Proficiency. You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls you make with weapons from the selected weapon group. When your base attack bonus increases to +11, this bonus increases to +2. This bonus stacks with other bonuses on attack rolls.

Special: You can gain Weapon Group Focus multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group for which you have already selected Weapon Group Proficiency. Weapon Group Focus replaces and counts as Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Focus for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites.

Illustration by Yama Orce and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. (original image)

Weapon Group Specialization (Combat)

You are skilled at dealing more damage with a specific group of weapons.

Prerequisites: Weapon Group Proficiency, base attack bonus +3.

Benefit: Choose one weapon group for which you have already selected Weapon Group Proficiency. The minimum damage increases for weapons from that weapon group, as shown on the table below.

Base Attack Bonus	Minimum Weapon Damage
+3	1d6
+5	1d8
+10	1d10
+15	2d6
+20	2d8

Special: You can gain Weapon Group Specialization multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new weapon group for which you have already selected Weapon Group Proficiency. Weapon Group Specialization replaces and counts as Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites.