D&D 5E Thoughts on Halfling "Lucky" trait and the "Lucky" feat

Dax Doomslayer · Apr 24, 2017

Hi Folks,
I was wondering what people's thoughts on the Lucky trait and feat. It seems to be somewhat powerful compared to others (excluding the whole GWM/Sharpshooter issue). I was just wondering what the general consensus was on these 2 features. The Halfling trait being an unlimited times a day is really the only thing that bothers me (it's essentially advantage always when you roll a 1 though it's less of an issue when trying to hit high AC). The lucky feat itself seems pretty powerful period. Out of curiosity, what do people think on these?

Oofta · Apr 24, 2017

I think people underestimate lucky, especially since there's no restriction to the number of times it can be taken. Some of it does depend on your game and how many encounters you have.

I have considered running a human fighter called (of course) Lucky just to see how broken it would be, but I don't hate my DM that much. Well, and in campaign I'm playing in at the moment the DM is also my wife so if I push it I may never get "lucky" again.

[EDIT] as has been pointed out there's last sentence of a paragraph stating you can only take a feat once which I missed. So never mind the whole "take multiple times thing".

Tormyr · Apr 24, 2017

Oofta said:
I think people underestimate lucky, especially since there's no restriction to the number of times it can be taken. Some of it does depend on your game and how many encounters you have.

I have considered running a human fighter called (of course) Lucky just to see how broken it would be, but I don't hate my DM that much. Well, and in campaign I'm playing in at the moment the DM is also my wife so if I push it I may never get "lucky" again.

At the beginning of the Feats section in the PHB it says that you can take each feat only once unless the feat description says otherwise. I believe Elemental Adept is the only feat in the PHB that can be taken more than once.

Even if you could take feats more than once, my reading of Lucky, specifically where it says "You have 3 luck points..." would mean that after taking it twice you would have...3 luck points.

FormerlyHemlock · Apr 24, 2017

I'm very torn on the Lucky feat. It's very powerful and as a player I love it; but I also hate it both as a player and as a DM because it's so very metagamey. Whenever you have to make a decision whether or not to "use your luck", you're being pulled right out of the fantasy world and back to a bunch of people sitting around a table trying to decide whether or not to roll some extra dice. It's immersion-breaking and dissociative.

So I love it because it's very strong and versatile, but I hate it because it damages the fun of the game.

Fortunately, the problem is fixable: ask the player to declare in advance (at character creation time, although he's free to change it whenever) specifically what kind of lucky he is, and then the DM will apply the luck when needed just like any other game rule. "I'm lucky at saving throws" means Luck automatically gets invoked whenever he fails a saving throw; "I'm lucky at making precise shots with my bow" means Luck gets invoked whenever you miss on a Sharpshooter attack; "I'm lucky at anything involving redheads" means Lucky gets invoked on any miss/saving throw failure/ability check failure/initiative roll involving a redhead, even a redhead in disguise. Or he could specify a combination of these, or even "I'm Lucky at everything" to invoke his luck on any failure whatsoever (which means he'll probably run out of luck dice really fast).

This doesn't increase the power of the Luck feat at all, but it prevents it from being a dissociated mechanic, so it doesn't hurt the game. The PC doesn't have to make any decisions about luck during the game, and now neither does the player, so the player can put himself fully into the shoes of the PC and just roleplay.

thethain · Apr 24, 2017

Dax Doomslayer said:
Hi Folks,
I was wondering what people's thoughts on the Lucky trait and feat. It seems to be somewhat powerful compared to others (excluding the whole GWM/Sharpshooter issue). I was just wondering what the general consensus was on these 2 features. The Halfling trait being an unlimited times a day is really the only thing that bothers me (it's essentially advantage always when you roll a 1 though it's less of an issue when trying to hit high AC). The lucky feat itself seems pretty powerful period. Out of curiosity, what do people think on these?

Lucky feat can cause huge potential swings in a given scenario. You can literally turn a critical hit against you into a miss, without even using an action. Or turn a failed save vs disabled into a successful one.

The halfling lucky trait really isn't a big deal unless your table uses critical failures. It basically a reroll for 1/20 rolls, but they aren't necessarily the important ones. But halfling luck+being able to hide behind your allies make halflings really nice ranged rogues.

Feats are very powerful. Most people rush to get +5 mod in their primary ability, but many situations a feat will have a greater impact on your character. Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter have had many discussions on their game changing potential. Polearm master grants extra attack and gives you a much better chance to use reactions. Magic initiate can open up huge potential for a character (getting guidance and goodberry from druid gives you a bonus to every out of combat skill check and you can feed 10 people every day without wasting time to track down food, and can always revive players who are unconscious). Healer lets you use an inexpensive item to heal 1d6+14 hp at level 10. That's slightly better than a greater healing potion, for practically nothing.

Tormyr · Apr 24, 2017

Dax Doomslayer said:
Hi Folks,
I was wondering what people's thoughts on the Lucky trait and feat. It seems to be somewhat powerful compared to others (excluding the whole GWM/Sharpshooter issue). I was just wondering what the general consensus was on these 2 features. The Halfling trait being an unlimited times a day is really the only thing that bothers me (it's essentially advantage always when you roll a 1 though it's less of an issue when trying to hit high AC). The lucky feat itself seems pretty powerful period. Out of curiosity, what do people think on these?

I am one of the people who really doesn't have much of a problem with anything in the PHB (well, maybe a little bit of a grumble with monks

). I have had at least two PCs with Lucky, one halfling, and an optimized half-orc GWM GWF Champion with a +3 Defender. I center my games around collaborative storytelling, I don't worry about killing PCs, and the features and feats in question have helped add to the enjoyment of the game for everyone. Additionally, the mentioned stuff has also saved the party in more than one situation.

Check the thread on nerfing GWM for my thoughts on it->http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...eapon-Master&p=7090709&viewfull=1#post7090709

Halfling lucky saves against a 1 most of the time for halflings and is there iconic thing. It models how halflings get out of trouble. It works all the time, but doesn't save them from a 2.

You only get 3 Lucky feat rolls a day. They are powerful in that they can tilt the scales in a needed direction, but they do not protect from two bad rolls in a row. They are also really useful for death saving throws.

My suggestion is to let stuff run as written for a while with the understanding with your players that if something starts breaking the game and you cannot work around it that it will be modified and the player can rebuild their character. There are tons of things in the PHB that are powerful on a situational basis. I view these as places each PC gets to shine rather than something that is too powerful in its niche.

lowkey13 · Apr 24, 2017

*Deleted by user*

Oofta · Apr 24, 2017

Tormyr said:
At the beginning of the Feats section in the PHB it says that you can take each feat only once unless the feat description says otherwise. I believe Elemental Adept is the only feat in the PHB that can be taken more than once.

Even if you could take feats more than once, my reading of Lucky, specifically where it says "You have 3 luck points..." would mean that after taking it twice you would have...3 luck points.

D'oh! You're right. Missed that. Not like I've been playing the game since the playtest.

Oh well poor old Lucky, the character that never was and now will never be.

It still depends on your campaign structure though. Even 3 times per day can be quite a bit if you only have a few short fights between rests.

Tormyr · Apr 24, 2017

lowkey13 said:
WHAT'S WRONG WITH MONKS!!!111??!!!

Sorry, I meant to say ... would you mind explaining the basis for this contentious issue that you have raised in passing?

Actually, I love monks. They really are awesome as a class with the only downside being maybe a little less damage, but I have found them able to throw more spanners in the works than other classes.

*ki allows a cornucopia of options from stun-locking enemies or a whole battlefield to running in, hitting, and disengaging as a bonus action.
*Falling from any height and using reaction to land without damage even at middle levels (generally narrated with a small Dragonball Z style crater on landing).
*Rerolls on saving throws.
*High AC if any magic items are add (bracers, X of protection, etc.)
*etc.

Dont' get me wrong, they are fantastic and have a lot going their way. On the few times things don't go their way, they can squish fairly quickly.