--- woodelf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:At 9:10 -0700 4/9/04, Fred wrote:
>But isn't the very idea of a FEAT a mechanic that is derived from the SRD?
Well, earliest use of the term for a special power your character has that i'm aware of is Marvel Superheroes. And, apparently, the specific mechanism (gained with level increases, etc.) in D&D3E is pretty much taken from an identical mechanism in RMSS. So, in short, no. I'd say the concept of feats, as presented in D&D3E, predates D&D3E, and thus can't be derived from the D20SRD.
Do you mean CAN'T be derived from the SRD, or MIGHT NOT be derived from the SRD? I've been writing up feats for years now, and I've never heard of RMSS, so if I can't derive them from the SRD, where have I been deriving them from?
You've probably heard of "Rolemaster", just not the acronym ("Rolemaster Standard System"--effectively the 2nd ed, i believe). In any case, i wasn't aware that the feat mechanism in D&d3E was taken largely from RMSS, i'm just taking that on faith from someone who's actually familiar with RMSS (considering that Monte Cook apparently did a lot of work on RMSS before going to WotC). Nonetheless, in much the same way that if i pick up a copy of Spycraft and derive something from it, and along the way use some mechanics that originate in the D20SRD, my new mechanics are not, ultimately, derived from Spycraft, they're derived from the D20SRD--whether i know it or not--i don't think it's reasonable to claim someone must be held to the strictures attached to the D20SRD if an idea/mechanic is not original to the D20SRD. But, i probably should have been clearer. What i should've said is that
"I'd say the concept of feats, as presented in D&D3E, predates D&D3E, and thus are no more derivative of the D20SRD than is the concept of rolling a die and adding your skill and attribute to it to see if you exceed a target number. You might have derived from teh D20SRD, but there is no reason to assume this, just because it's 'a feat'."
--
woodelf <*>
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