This pdf is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, so let's check this out!
This being one of the initial 4 releases of Abandoned Arts, this pdf kicks off with a full page listing the 22 combat feats contained in this pdf, so let's take a look!
The first feat herein is rather specific, but interesting design-wise due to the synergy with the bravery class feature - you gain your bravery bonus to initiative. Rather weak and bland, but the design-idea is neat.
Where the pdf starts to get interesting is with feats à la "Battering Bludgeon" - when power attacking with power attacks and clubs/greatclubs, you may double your power attack bonus damage and the one gained by specializations (and its derivatives) - if you choose to do so, however, you deal nonlethal damage. YES! My players love this feat - while it does not help against undead etc., it's an awesome choice if you're like me and run a campaign that expects good PCs not to kill every civilized being they meet, but rather capture them. For such campaigns, or anyone's dark fantasy campaign, this is glorious.
Battle-hardened lets you ignore the shaken condition a number of times per day equal to your bravery class feature - cool indeed for the hardened soldiers. Clobbering Feint enables you to dazzle foes you hit with unarmed strikes, while Die by the Sword enables you to convert all damage from attacks and effects other than melee attacks into non-lethal damage while under the effects of the diehard feat. Hurling Disarm is another definite winner - disarm foes and make the disarmed weapon hit other enemies - quite cool imagery and solid mechanics. It should be noted that 3 improved variants also are included for mini-feat trees in this pdf. Potentially problematic, but rather cool is the Lashing Strike-feat: Whip-armed characters that use vital strike or greater vital strike, deal an equal amount of non-lethal damage at the end of the next turn.
King of the Hill, on the other hand, though, is LAME. +2 to atk and damage while on higher ground than your foes instead of +1 to atk. That's not interesting, that's not cool, that's filler. Precise Sunder is another problem in my book - you detract your dex-modifier from an objects hardness when sundering and can now crit objects with the sunder maneuver. I get the idea, but its benefit is so terribly specific - perhaps 0.5x dex modifier and instead grant some benefit against constructs? Splintering Sunder is another one of these sunder-feats, but one with cool imagery would be splintering sunder: If you destroy a shield or weapon, your foe takes damage equal to the weapon's damage or depending on the type of shield. Cool, but again, quite specific. I don't have a particular bone to pick with that one, though.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good - while I did notice some minor hiccups in the flow of text, that's still ok. Layout adheres to a parchment-style background and a two-column standard and there are no artworks. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. For me, this pdf was a mixed bag - similar to Rite Publishing's excellent "101 Combat Feats", this pdf includes some rather specific feats that require quite some feat investment, but also provide a neat payoff. The feats per se range from aforementioned rather bland ones to those that can be considered pure awesomeness - I know that one of my players will bugger the hell out of me for lashing strike, though I'm slightly uncomfortable with that one. In the end, personally I consider the good feats among them well worth the very low asking price - for less than a buck, you get a solid selection of feats that make sense and are nice. My final verdict, thus, will be 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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