D&D 5E Ruminations on Overpowered Feats and Crafting New Feats

[hejtmane]

Had feats day 1 and had no real problems with them at all being over powered

Have one with Tavern Brawler not a vary over powering feat but useful and he has tons of fun being a Goliath with Bear totem his lifting is off the charts so picks up big items and hits people with them and he likes to grapple people and drag them around while hitting them

I have one with pole-arm but he is a fighter/cleric multi class not the normal person using the attack but his build is a Swiss army knife and mixes spell casting, healing and weapon damage so he gave up asi for that so a trade off and not over powering

Got one guy with Sharp Shooter when he hits it is nice he is probably the biggest damage dealer of the melee type

none with GWM

we lost the one Crossbow expert do to schedule and far from being over powered note he did not have SS as while

I had a mix most of it allowed people to build a concept. The Sharp Shooter is a Ranger/Rogue sniper kill thought process you know one shot one kill hence taking sharp shooter

 

[Gimul]

Yes, I allow feats. No, I don't restrict them. No, I haven't crafted any feats. I haven't found any of the feats to be overpowered (individually, in a vacuum). Certain feats do synergize well with each other and/or fighting styles; however, I haven't seen this as a problem because these really only play out in specific situations (which rarely arise in my campaigns).

Note: Most of my (non-random) encounters tend to involve NPCs or intelligent monsters; which begets a certain amount of tactical flexibility. I don't intentionally screw my players over when it comes to tactics/encounters; but I also don't intentionally feed them their min-maxed best case scenario either.

 

[Kalshane]

All the games I've played in or run have allowed feats. I've also homebrewed some feats of my own, which one of my DMs promptly incorporated into his own game. So far we haven't seen any real issues with them.

The most novel use of a feat I've seen is our wizard in one game I'm playing in who combines Keen Mind with Minor Illusion to conjure up perfect images of books he's previously read or to display to the rest of the party what his familiar has seen when he's sent it scouting.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I voted the last option in the poll because the others didnt fit!

We allow feats, but have modified a couple - SS and GWM the +10 dmg mechanic has been changed to +1 stat, because we find otherwise it's too much damage. Also, CE has been modified so it doesnt get rid of disad when shooting in melee, coz again it seems too powerful, making ranged attacks always a better option than melee.

We also make our own feats, and I think that is the true awesomeness of the feats concept. What is in PHB are just examples. We have made a whip mastery feat and psionic feats (we play an athas game currently). If you are not making your own feat, I believe you are missing out on one of the most fun aspects of the game.

As with any RPG, the table/GM has the ultimate responsibility for keeping things fun. Sometimes that means tweaking the rules to better suit your table.

 

[Awesome Adam]

FEATS were my favorite addition to D&D back when 3E dropped. They allow your characters to do interesting things.

FEATS in 5E have to some ways been scaled back, no more absurd feat trees and feats required for other feats, while the fewer remaining feats are often as good as 2 older edition feats.

 

[Greg Benage]

We use them in the campaign I'm currently playing in. I don't think they're overpowered. As a DM, I'd play them by the book because I think the vast majority of players enjoy them. As a player, my objection to them is that the most combat-effective ones hyperspecialize the character and/or make combat less tactically interesting (Crossbow Expert, I'm looking at you). For that reason, as a player, I think I'd rather not use them, but for the same reason I think I'd rather just play B/X or AD&D if I had the choice.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Scissors are fine, but paper is overpowered -- Rock

remind me to put this in my sig. It perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the term "overpowered."

 

[crashtestdummy]

I originally saw it in someone's signature in the WotC forums before they disappeared.

 

[Celtavian]

I allow feats and I don't restrict them.
I have crafted custom feats. I generally create them to fill a hole I don't think is covered by the current feats like a -5/+10 feat for two-weapon fighters. I use the current feats to model their power and tend not to create any feat that is more powerful than any of the current feats.

 

[Sunseeker]

I typically allow all feats that are in the PHB. Anything outside the PHB is assumed to the questionable in balance and requires approval. Typically, I defer to players when it comes to custom feats. They tell me what they want, I tell them what its going to cost them, typically in terms of class features or feats. I don't usually create feats for my games as I don't feel there's any one feat that is so superbly broken or lacking as to require the effort to fix it.