Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Get Better At Skills With These Feats

CapnZapp · Apr 17, 2017

guachi said:
I like the idea generally except for the one feat that gives free spells.

There is already a feat that gives free spells. And D&D is bursting with magic.

I genuinely don't see why this is different...?

Ath-kethin · Apr 17, 2017

I love this one. All of these feats are just dripping with flavor, and I love the specific "trick" each one carries with it.

My only objection is that I think the spells granted by the feats shouldn't be spells. That is, I don't think that someone trained as a Naturalist (for example) should CAST druidcraft and detect poison and disease, they should perform some activity (investigation, woodcarving, weaving, whatever) that would duplicate the EFFECT of those spells, but the ability would be nonmagical.

I'll allow any of these feats in my game, with their effects nonmagical as I described above. But overall I'm in.

Gradine · Apr 17, 2017

Blue said:
Performer - hey, look, now DMs will say you can't use your performance skill to distract people without a feat.

This is the one that stuck in my craw the most. Diplomat, Empathic and Menacing are all also things I don't think you should need a feat to do. I'd even make the argument for Medic and maybe even Historian (though I personally love the flavor of that ability, if nothing else). I get that some of the other ribbon abilities just let you do things better or more quickly, but the action economy isn't that important outside of combat, where needing to use such skills might be. The spells are thematic and neat and not particularly game-breaking in any sense. I was about to quibble about Theologian's detect good and evil but I forgot they radically changed what that spell does without giving it an appropriate name change and I think it fits. Alarm is still a terrible fit for Survival, it seems to me that there is a lot of design space around the skill they could have figured out something a little more interesting.

And double proficiency is seriously fine; remember that a feat is a huge investment, even with the +1 ASI. I'll echo what [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION] had say; there's nothing wrong with a character wanting to specialize to such a degree that they are essentially grandmasters in their field. Especially something as mundane as a skill, which can become a character-defining trait without throwing the balance of an adventure out of whack (seeing as the point of challenges in an RPG are to be overcome, and D&D does not traffic in degrees of success).

Sure, Char-opers might have a field day with Perceptive, but what're you gonna do? Char-opers gonna char-op. Besides, they're already doing that with Observant, which seems more useful and relevant to their goals anyways. I'd think throwing Perceptive on top of that would be overkill and a waste of a good feat/ASI.

CapnZapp · Apr 17, 2017

nswanson27 said:
I'm kinda bummed they didn't offer buffed versioned of the existing feats that are underpowered but otherwise cool and thematic in theory.

A series of UA where they pick a category/feature and then update a dozen items which their feedback has shown them aren't popular.

Twelve Improved Spells UA
Twelve Improved Feats UA
Twelve Improved Magic Items UA
...

TwoSix · Apr 17, 2017

CapnZapp said:
A series of UA where they pick a category/feature and then update a dozen items which their feedback has shown them aren't popular.

Twelve Improved Spells UA
Twelve Improved Feats UA
Twelve Improved Magic Items UA
...

So UA combined with a Buzzfeed article, pretty much.

mellored · Apr 17, 2017

Blue said:
Yeah, really worried about DC inflation. And that means you fail unless you are of the right class or spend the feat tax.

or you auto-succed if you are the right class.

Let the guy who took the history feat be good at history. Let everyone else have a chance.

jgsugden · Apr 17, 2017

If you devote two feats to being able to spot things, spotting the impossible should be routine. That is a huge investment.

I'm thinking about the 15 or so characters I have built right now (many in games on permanent hiatus). I'm evaluating when and if I would take any of these feats. I'm not thinking I would choose these often if I was interested in efficiency, but some of the builds that focus far more on a concept than a benefit would be more interested in these feats. In the final version, I'd add one more element to each - something less mechanical that really supports role-playing surrounding the skill and encourage their use.

Kobold Stew · Apr 17, 2017

In the PHB, Expertise (double proficiency on skills) was limited to Rogues (any skill or Thieves' tools), Bards (any skill), or Knowledge clerics (knowledge skills). These feats dilute that niche. That's a problem, especially for Rogues, who now lose the ability to specialize through these skills (in that their benefit from the feats is smaller than another class).

While it is not spelled out, the only way to preserve the niche held by these classes would be to allow the expertise granted by these feats to stack (i.e. to give triple the proficiency bonus, not double). That will bend the limits of the game, but would help keep the rogue and the knowledge cleric distinct. (I am not sure the Bard needs more benefits).

Since all of these feats can grant expertise as well as +1 to a related stat, all of them end up more powerful than a feat such as Skilled. The third bullet point, then is gravy on top of an already strong feat.

I can't help feel many of these will be appealing to players, and that part of the reason is that they are all strong. I can think of cases where I would take these even without the bonus to the associated ability.

I will say, I think they have balanced the feats that grant spells (or, better as [MENTION=6798775]Ath-kethin[/MENTION] suggests, spell-like but nonmagical abilities) well: iI still suspect the bonus to the relevant stat is too much -- expertise on a skill and a 1st-level spell (and in three cases a multi-use, flavourful, but non-damaging cantrip), should be enough for a full feat; still, they have constrained the choice of first-level spell and limited the available cantrip.

smbakeresq · Apr 18, 2017

The question is if a feat is worth and ABI. Many of these solve that problem and add flavor.

Medic is what healer should have been. Or healer should have been +1 WIS. I play healer as its not d6+4, its d6 + your medicine skill bonus to encourage medicine skill.

Mercule · Apr 18, 2017

Ath-kethin said:
Isn't that the point of getting better at stuff? I mean, even at 5th level a character is doing stuff that was impossible at 1st. I don't see how having a kickass skill modifier does anything but reduce the impact and necessity of spells.

I was actually referring to the description of the DC. 30 is "nearly impossible". To be able to hit that with a passive check makes it routine. So, literally, the (nearly) impossible becomes routine.

And, no, I don't think the point is to become that good.