A couple of things.Feronius wrote:The most exciting thing for me about playing a caster is always getting new spells or more to choose from. As a Druid, Priest or Wizard this might have somewhat less of a 'Wow factor', as they can swap out spells before resting, but as a Bard or Sorcerer you are pretty much stuck with the spells you chose for what can be a very long time. Beyond level 4 this will be 2 months or more and, short of a relevel, you are stuck with your selection of spells indefinitely at level 8.
To idea of gaining additional feats as a caster after level 8 is nice, I guess, but kind of makes me go "What would I do with them?" It would probably just lead to more passive feats, which are unlikely to really impact my gameplay experience in any meaningful way.
So for caster classes it would be cool if they were able to continue to learn new spells, increasing their number of known spells, but without gaining any more uses a day in any spell circle as you usually would when leveling up. Allowing them to pick a wider variety of spells, including some that you may normally pass up on because they offer little more than to add flavour to your roleplay.
I have no idea how overpowered this would make casters, but game balance aside that is the coolest thing I can come up with. That is, short of giving them access to completely new spells beyond level 8 or offering them more spell slots, but that would without question make them overpowered.
For melee classes I would suggest a similar thing, but instead offering them bonus feats that fit their class. As if they were still training to learn new combat moves, instead of learning new spells.
Mainly active feats along the lines of Called Shot, Disarm, Knockdown, Shield Bash and Stunning Fist or group feats such as Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Phalanx Fighting and Shield Wall. Things I would normally be very hesitant to invest too much in, finding them fun yet only useful under very specific circumstances, or would pass up on because I am too short on feats and need them all for more important 'must-have' (passive) feats.
Whether your character would gain bonus feats and additional combat abilities or would get to broaden their selection of known spells would simply be based on the class that you have invested the most levels in.
I considered also suggesting something for level 8 characters with no inclination towards combat (or who have chosen the Civilian class), something along the lines of an option to invest in a Skill Focus feat instead that increases your knowledge skills? But then I realised that it would be an incredibly unlikely scenario for such a character to ever reach level 8 several times over without at least picking up some combat abilities.
Why focus on offering them more known spells and active feats? Because by giving players access to tons of passive feats, one level 8 could become a hell of a lot stronger and harder to kill than another level 8 who has gained less feats. But in the end, there are only ever so many spells and abilities that you could use at once or per round. So statistically speaking the gap between older and newer level 8 characters will stay a lot smaller if it provides mostly actively used abilities, whilst at the same time still allowing characters to keep growing and learning. But mainly just because these are the things I enjoy most and look forward to most when leveling up, it gives players access to more of the fun to use mechanics that help keep combat from getting a little too repetitive.
Game balance wise the main worry about this would probably be that this might still lead to casters who pick up every spell imagineable that provides a stackable buff and take away from the challenge of the end-game content. But when you think about it, if a player were so inclined they could probably already go that route with a level 8 character even without having any additional known spells at their disposal. Mechanically speaking, melee classes should ultimately gain more from this idea than casters will, but I am fine with that.
1) You keep referring to "caster classes" but the only ones this would effect are bard and sorc. Divine casters always can prepare every spell they could cast, and wizards can find spell scrolls.
One of the fundamental differences netween sorcs and wizards on TER is that sorcs cast more spells and can cast them quickened for a time causing far more devastation than a wizard could. They give up variety for power mechanically, and RP wise their power is innate.
If learning new spells is something you really enjoy wizard would seem a better fit.
2) The difference between a fresh level 8 and one with a handful of e8 feats will probably not be that dramatic as the vast majority of players will pick up their core power feats as soon as possible, and most characters won't gain much from passive feats in terms of power.
Consider a character who takes expertise pre-8 and then takes toughness or save feats later. Other than hp total, it would be difficult to notice the difference, and imp. expertise becomes immediately apparent after a few combat rounds.
There are exceptions, Jerek is one of them due to Paladin not getting many feats and having more divine feats than usual to choose from. But generally I believe the magical and unique items each character acquires from 1-8 will have more of a dramatic impact than the passive feats would with the current selection.
However, things like increased effective spell level do make significant changes, especially if it can be taken repeatedly, so we'll have to see how everything works in the end.