So in my current campaign I toyed with the idea of handing out certain feats for free, namely Exotic Weapon Proficiency.
In related news, I got around to thinking of handing out "feat taxes" for free to characters of certain concepts. To that end, I made this house rule in progress. Tell me what you think!
Free Market Feats
In Pathfinder, there are a few feats which are nigh-essential to popular character concepts. Take Precise Shot, for example: it’s a feat which does not let you do a cool thing, but merely removes a penalty for doing something which will happen a lot in a typical campaign. Given that most PCs at low levels will have access to only a few feats at most, customization is limited because the game mechanics practically require these options.
Rules: Certain feats already in existence have the [Tax] descriptor added to them, indicating them as feat taxes. At character creation, a PC may select up to four [Tax] feats as bonus feats. They do not need to meet the feats’ prerequisites in order to take them.
List of [Tax] feats:
Combat Expertise
Deadly Aim
Dodge
Exotic Weapon Proficiency [all]
Improved Bull Rush
Improved Dirty Trick
Improved Disarm
Improved Drag
Improved Feint
Improved Overrun
Improved Reposition
Improved Steal
Improved Sunder
Improved Trip
Improved Unarmed Strike
Martial Weapon Proficiency [all]
Mobility
Point Blank Shot
Power Attack
Precise Shot
Rapid Reload
Shot on the Run
Simple Weapon Proficiency [all]
Spring Attack
Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Finesse
