Monday, December 26, 2022

B/X Mods: 3.5 Feats in B/X

If your B/X game needs a few more character options, there are many easy ways to fix that for a modded game. One of the easiest ways to mod B/X is to add the SRD 3.5 feat system to all characters. This makes characters more powerful, but if you like that style of heroic game, this may be great for you and your group.

Above is a nicely formatted PDF that is cheap, or you could always look the information up online.

Set a rate of feat advancements, such as one feat every even level or one every level divided by three, depending on how many feats you want characters to have at maximum level and what level your game will run to. For games like White Star, where the maximum level is 10, or ACKS, where it is 14, I may grant one feat every two levels. For games where the maximum level is 24+ (and you plan on playing that long), then one every 3rd level is good.

Not every feat will translate perfectly, and you can ignore "attacks of opportunity" - or rule a feat that gives you an AOO that gives you a "free attack" in certain situations. Improved Initiative is +4 on a d20, +2 on a d10, or +1 on a d6 initiative system. If a feat gives you a bonus to a skill check, make it a bonus to an ability roll in that situation. Fortitude, reflex, and will save bonuses apply when they should - reflex against dragon's breath, for example.

Some would need a little help, like a feat that lets you turn undead more "times per day" in a game where there are no limits to turning undead could just give a +2 bonus to turning them.

You could even rule giving up a feat pick would grant a character a +2 to an ability score if stat inflation doesn't bother your group too much. Or a +1.

If something makes no sense, don't use it.

If something breaks balance, tweak it or ban it for future picks.

If something makes the game annoying, toss it out or fix it.

Remember, what SRD 3.5 says is only a suggestion. You are free to modify or interpret it however you want, and the feat may change depending on the flavor of B/X you are playing.

If a player wants to make a new feat up, use the feat list as a guide and let them come up with something! You can work with the player if it needs to be balanced, but this is a fun way to make characters unique and let players flex their game designer skills. Maybe the player's dwarf wants "vibration sense" as a feat pick, and if it sounds fun - go for it!

I know there are "old school" feat products out there, but my preference is to take something that sort of works and translate it all in. This opens up the homebrew and custom player-created feats because having a perfectly balanced list gives you the impression you should "stick to the list!" This isn't how we did it in the old days, we had something that sort of worked with what we had, and we did the conversions ourselves and made up entirely new things to go along with the conversion.

B/X is your game. If you want to add some 3.5 flavors to your game (and avoid playing 3.5 entirely), just mod your B/X of choice when the campaign starts and see how it goes. You can always play the game unmodded next time.

But your homebrew could be cool and unique to your group, and then you will understand a little more about how we played the game in the old days.

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