How to improve the past life feats

[Zuldar]

It's a pretty common conception that the past life feats are pretty weak overall. Most people don't consider them worth the feat expenditure. So without further ado, here's my suggestions to make the feats worth taking.


Past Life: Berserker's Fury
You recall more about your past life as a barbarian. You have +2 to your Intimidate skill and can enter a barbarian rage once per rest. Activate this barbarian ability to enter a bloodthirsty frenzy, granting you a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution, a +2 Morale bonus to Will saves, and a -2 penalty to AC. When the rage ends, however, you will lose the hit points granted to you by increased Constitution and become fatigued. Your rage will last for 30 seconds.

Modify the duration to add 6 seconds per con modifier and add barbarian dr based on character level for the duration.

Past Life: Bardic Dilettante
You recall more about your past life as a bard. You have +1 to all Charisma based skills and can Inspire Courage three times per rest. Activate this bard ability to rally your companions, giving them a +1 morale bonus to saves against fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls before enhancements.

Increase the inspire courage ability based on the players level, similar to how the bard's scales. It will continue to be a useful feat, but won't replace bards who have the enhancements to improve it.

Past Life: Initiate of the Faith
You recall more about your past life as a cleric. You have +2 to your Heal skill, and can produce a Healing Word effect three times per rest. Positive energy is channeled to heal light wounds of your target or damage undead for 1d4 hit points plus an additional 1d4 per two caster levels. Undead who make a successful Will save reduce the damage by half.

Let metamagic affect the heal, and have it remove conditions similar to panacea.

Past Life: Acolyte of Divine Secrets
You recall more about your past life as a favored soul. You have +2 to your Diplomacy skill and can call down the wrath of your former deity, producing an Avenging Light effect five times per rest. Activate this favored soul ability to cause a searing orb of radiant light to smite your target, dealing 1d8 hit points of light damage plus an additional 1d8 per three caster levels. A successful Fortitude save reduces the damage by half.

Also let metamagic affect the ability.

Past Life: Student of the Sword
You recall more about your past life as a fighter. You have +2 to your Intimidate skill and can remember your martial prowess three times per rest, increasing your base attack bonus to your level and granting +4 to hit.

Set the duration to 30 seconds + 6 seconds per level, change the +4 to hit to +2 to hit and +4 damage, and make it one use per shrine.

Past Life: Disciple of the Fist
You recall more about your past life as a monk. You have +2 to your Concentration skill and can enter an evasive trance once per rest, granting the evasion feat for a short period of time.
Note: You must meet normal evasion requirements for this one. No medium or heavy armor, no heavy encumbrance.

Set the duration to 30 seconds + 6 seconds per level and add your wisdom bonus to ac.

Past Life: Soldier of the Faith
You recall more about your past life as a paladin. You have +2 to your Heal skill, and can recall your bravery three times per rest, casting the Lionheart spell on yourself or an ally. Activate this paladin ability to imbue yourself or a single ally with great bravery, making them immune to fear.

Two ideas for this one, either add the first tier of the paladin aura to it, or alternatively grant one use of smite evil (minus the regenerating uses to keep it a paladin specific perk) and lay on hands.

Past Life: Warrior of the Wild
You recall more about your past life as a ranger. You have +2 to your Spot skill and can produce a Ram's Might effect once per rest. Activate this ranger ability to cause your hands increase in size, granting a +2 size bonus to Strength and damage.

Set the duration to 30 seconds + 6 seconds per level and add 5% faster attack speed while Two-weapon fighting, make it the same bonus type as tempest so they don't stack.

Past Life: Sneak of Shadows
You recall more about your past life as a rogue. You have +1 to all skills and three times per rest you can skulk with the skill of your past life, gaining bonuses equal to your level to your hide and move silently skills, a +1 bonus to sneak attack damage for every two character levels, and a +1 bonus to hit with sneak attacks for every four levels..

Set the duration to 30 seconds + 6 seconds per level.

Past Life: Arcane Prodigy
You recall more about your past life as a sorcerer. Your maximum spell points are increased by 10 at first level, and 5 spell points for each additional level and can produce random elemental damage spells ten times per rest.

Allow the spells to be affected by metamagic.

Past Life: Arcane Initiate
You recall more about your past life as a wizard. You have +2 to your Concentration skill and can cast the magic missile spell ten times per rest, creating a missile of magical energy that darts forth and unerringly strikes its target inflicting 1d4+1 force damage. For every 2 caster levels beyond first you gain an additional missile, maximum 10 missiles.

Allow the spells to be affected by metamagic, and add a clicky to increase intelligence by 4 for 30 second + 6 seconds per level once per rest.

[MDS_Geist]

Good changes, they make the feats worth considering and aren't game breaking. +1 rep for you. :)

[Xeriphim]

/signed good ideas an not any of them game breaking good works :)

[ddoer]

Past Life: Arcane Prodigy
You recall more about your past life as a sorcerer. Your maximum spell points are increased by 10 at first level, and 5 spell points for each additional level and can produce random elemental damage spells ten times per rest.

Allow the spells to be affected by metamagic.

Past Life: Arcane Initiate
You recall more about your past life as a wizard. You have +2 to your Concentration skill and can cast the magic missile spell ten times per rest, creating a missile of magical energy that darts forth and unerringly strikes its target inflicting 1d4+1 force damage. For every 2 caster levels beyond first you gain an additional missile, maximum 10 missiles.

Allow the spells to be affected by metamagic, and add a clicky to increase intelligence by 4 for 30 second + 6 seconds per level once per rest.

if so, I demand a clicky to boost cha by 4 for seconds for sorc.

For sorc, I still don't think they worth after your change.

my suggestions:
"can produce random elemental damage spells ten times per rest."
- random spell is quite useless. there is a high chance a mob will be immune to the element or even get heal by the "damage"
- i would rather to get several charges of polar ray, and for sure it has to be fully affected by potency (or equivalent), enhancement and metamagic

"can cast the magic missile spell ten times per rest"
- make it unlimited cast with a 6-second cool down timer

[Zuldar]

if so, I demand a clicky to boost cha by 4 for seconds for sorc.

For sorc, I still don't think they worth after your change.

my suggestions:
"can produce random elemental damage spells ten times per rest."
- random spell is quite useless. there is a high chance a mob will be immune to the element or even get heal by the "damage"
- i would rather to get several charges of polar ray, and for sure it has to be fully affected by potency (or equivalent), enhancement and metamagic

"can cast the magic missile spell ten times per rest"
- make it unlimited cast with a 6-second cool down timer

It's harder to handle the sorcerer one due to the lack of knowledge. Since it doesn't specify what kind of spells they are or how much damage they do, I thought it best to be conservative with it. If they just launch acid splashes and what not yeah it could use more of a boost, but if they do aoe spells like fireball it might be a bit too powerful.

As far as unlimited casting with a cooldown, that would probably be op if you combined it with the metamagic idea. Best to leave it with a limit, though perhaps after some testing they could regenerate slowly similar to the paladins smites.

[Angelus_dead]

Another way to improve Past Life feats:
Delete them and pretend they never happened.

Give +1% XP rate for True Reincarnate to compensate.

[Aesop]

I'm currently leaning towards this idea... less feats more generalized and more useful over all...

Armsman: Your Past Life as a heavy combat character (Fighter/Pally/Barb) has been reflected in your current incarnation in your hardiness and martial prowess. You gain 1 extra hp per level and can choose a single Martial Weapon to be proficient with. If you are already Proficient with Martial Weapons you instead gain a +1 to hit with said Martial Weapon.


Jack of All Trades: Your Past Life as a skilled scout or tactician (Rogue/Bard/Ranger) has been reflected in your current incarnation through your cerebral ability. You gain +1 to all skills and have learned to stick sharp pointy things into soft squishy things that scream and bleed (+1 to Hit and +2 Damage with SA)


Magic in the Blood: Your Past Life etc etc (Sorceror/Wizard) etc etc. +10 SP at first level and +5 SP per level thereafter. Additionally you gain a Cantrip that does 1d4 force damage and an additional 1d4 damage per 3 character levels. This cantrip costs 5 SP to cast


Blessing of Divinity: blah blah (Cleric/Favored Soul) blah blah. +10 SP at first level and +5 SP per level thereafter. Additionally you gain an Orison that heals 1d4 damage and an additional 1d4 damage per 3 character levels. This orison costs 5 SP to cast


stick monk either in Martial or Skilled section and be done with it... stick those original Skill bonuses into the free feat if ya want (or not)

let the Magic in the blood count as the prereq for Arcane Archer

let the Martial one count as Toughness for the Enhancement

Aesop

[Xenus_Paradox]

As I see it, there are a couple of requirements for PL feats:

1. No one should be significantly better than any other overall, though being better for a particular build is of course acceptable (that is, it's OK for some to be caster-specific, melee-specific, etc.)

2. They should be equally useful to a character of the same class as for a character of another class. So the bard one, as it stands, does not meet this criterion. If it gave you +3 bard music uses per day and a stacking +1 to-hit/damage boost to Inspire Courage, it would.

3. They should stack with themselves in some way. Not necessarily doubling their effectiveness, but gaining something additional if you TR into the same class twice.

[transtemporal]

1. No one should be significantly better than any other overall, though being better for a particular build is of course acceptable (that is, it's OK for some to be caster-specific, melee-specific, etc.)

2. They should be equally useful to a character of the same class as for a character of another class. So the bard one, as it stands, does not meet this criterion. If it gave you +3 bard music uses per day and a stacking +1 to-hit/damage boost to Inspire Courage, it would.

3. They should stack with themselves in some way. Not necessarily doubling their effectiveness, but gaining something additional if you TR into the same class twice.

/agree. To be a compelling reason to reincarnate, they must be useful in all of these scenarios.

1. 1st class/1st class/1st class
2. 1st class/1st class/2nd class
3. 1st class/2nd class/1st class
4. 1st class/2nd class/2nd class
5. 1st class/2nd class/3rd class

If they aren't, you may as well dump them entirely.

[Cyr]

Another way to improve Past Life feats:
Delete them and pretend they never happened.

Give +1% XP rate for True Reincarnate to compensate.

lol and /signed

[redoubt]

I'm currently leaning towards this idea... less feats more generalized and more useful over all...

Armsman: Your Past Life as a heavy combat character (Fighter/Pally/Barb) has been reflected in your current incarnation in your hardiness and martial prowess. You gain 1 extra hp per level and can choose a single Martial Weapon to be proficient with. If you are already Proficient with Martial Weapons you instead gain a +1 to hit with said Martial Weapon.

Jack of All Trades: Your Past Life as a skilled scout or tactician (Rogue/Bard/Ranger) has been reflected in your current incarnation through your cerebral ability. You gain +1 to all skills and have learned to stick sharp pointy things into soft squishy things that scream and bleed (+1 to Hit and +2 Damage with SA)

Magic in the Blood: Your Past Life etc etc (Sorceror/Wizard) etc etc. +10 SP at first level and +5 SP per level thereafter. Additionally you gain a Cantrip that does 1d4 force damage and an additional 1d4 damage per 3 character levels. This cantrip costs 5 SP to cast

Blessing of Divinity: blah blah (Cleric/Favored Soul) blah blah. +10 SP at first level and +5 SP per level thereafter. Additionally you gain an Orison that heals 1d4 damage and an additional 1d4 damage per 3 character levels. This orison costs 5 SP to cast

stick monk either in Martial or Skilled section and be done with it... stick those original Skill bonuses into the free feat if ya want (or not)

let the Magic in the blood count as the prereq for Arcane Archer

I really like this one.

let the Martial one count as Toughness for the Enhancement

and this one.

Aesop

When I first read through some of the feats (Turbine's not Aesop's) I was really confused because I did not understand why many of them were helpful. My issue was my initial (and limited perspective.) I have been considering the TRs as going back into the same class, just making them a bit better. As such I asked things like so what if a cleric gets a 1d4 cure... what good is that to a cleric. The answer is that its not, but it would be to a cleric who became a non-healing class.

Thus I finally came to the thought shift to understand where some become more helpful as you switch classes and some are only helpful if you stay in a "genre" of classes. Maybe this will help someone else who was wearing similar glasses to mine. :)

Back to Aesop's post: I'd put monk in with the melee guys.

Alternately you could allow a choice of feats, for example:

Bard could go magic in the blood or jack of all trades

Rangers/rogues could go jack of all trades or armsman

Cleric/FVS could go magic or armsman

You get the idea. I think it would be too hard to actually code it to be based on how you designed your character, i.e. know that a FVS was melee or casting to determine which feat to give. Probably just have to give the player the choice.

[redoubt]

As I see it, there are a couple of requirements for PL feats:

1. No one should be significantly better than any other overall, though being better for a particular build is of course acceptable (that is, it's OK for some to be caster-specific, melee-specific, etc.)

2. They should be equally useful to a character of the same class as for a character of another class. So the bard one, as it stands, does not meet this criterion. If it gave you +3 bard music uses per day and a stacking +1 to-hit/damage boost to Inspire Courage, it would.

3. They should stack with themselves in some way. Not necessarily doubling their effectiveness, but gaining something additional if you TR into the same class twice.

/agree.

I tried to explain in my other post, but I think you said it better.