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

FormerlyHemlock · Apr 25, 2017

transtemporal said:
Lucky only procs 5% of the time and it only lets you roll again once. I struggle to see how that's overpowered.

It's not overpowered, but it's better than you make it sound here. It's somewhat equivalent to a global +N to all checks, where N is a number between 0 and 1 equal to your success rate without Lucky, which we can crudely estimate is intended to be around 60% or so based on MM design. (I can go into detail if needed but would rather not go on that tangent here.) A global +0.6 to every roll you make, ever, is sort of like +1.2 to every ability score, which, coincidentally is almost exactly what non-variant humans get.

For attack rolls and other rolls against a primary/specialized skill, it can easily be something approaching +1. Since it's on top of the regular +2 Dex bonus that halflings get, it's really quite decent from a quantitative power perspective.

transtemporal · Apr 25, 2017

Hemlock said:
It's not overpowered, but it's better than you make it sound here. It's somewhat equivalent to a global +N to all checks, where N is a number between 0 and 1 equal to your success rate without Lucky, which we can crudely estimate is intended to be around 60% or so based on MM design. (I can go into detail if needed but would rather not go on that tangent here.) A global +0.6 to every roll you make, ever, is sort of like +1.2 to every ability score, which, coincidentally is almost exactly what non-variant humans get.

For attack rolls and other rolls against a primary/specialized skill, it can easily be something approaching +1. Since it's on top of the regular +2 Dex bonus that halflings get, it's really quite decent from a quantitative power perspective.

Really? From levels 4-10 my halfling got to use that ability maybe six or seven times total. It saved my bacon once when I rolled a one against a medusas gaze but otherwise didn't seem that useful in the usual course of play.

Lanliss · Apr 25, 2017

lowkey13 said:
I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a tyrannical DM. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror... Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies!

I remember when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons ... seems a thousand centuries ago. We were rolling up characters. We had all made our characters, and this other player came running after us and he was crying. He had seen the monstrosity Paul had created. We went back there, and we saw what Paul had created. A multiclass Paladin/Monk. A Monkadin.

And I remember... I... I... I cried, I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out; I didn't know what I wanted to do! And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it... I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God... the genius of the Monkadin! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized Paul were stronger than we, because Paul could ... Paul WOULD make sure that the Monkadin had a Holy Avenger as a Monk Weapon. Paul would combine the insufferable smugness of the Paladin with the inestimable beauty of the Monk, and create a terror that could not be countenanced.

You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to create perfectly optimized characters without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us and makes us creates Paladins and all of the unholy Paladin hybrids.

I need to know. Was it a Gnome?

FormerlyHemlock · Apr 25, 2017

transtemporal said:
Really? From levels 4-10 my halfling got to use that ability maybe six or seven times total. It saved my bacon once when I rolled a one against a medusas gaze but otherwise didn't seem that useful in the usual course of play.

Six or seven times is about in the right ballpark to be the number of times a +0.6 to all saves would have saved you, too. Mechanical +1 bonuses aren't really all that strong in the same way a qualitative ability like Mobile is. 95% of the time, a +1 bonus is irrelevant[1]; 5% of the time, it's the difference between failure and success.

Maybe it's the nature of my games (tend towards combat-light, but difficult when it occurs, which means fast advancement) but I sort of doubt that my players roll more than 140 dice per PC before hitting 10th level, so six or seven times it mattered would be right in line with an ASI. (And that is why feats are more compelling than ASIs, especially early on.)

[1] Or nearly so--some things like drow poison care how much you failed the save by. Against drow poison, a +1 bonus is only 90% irrelevant because there are two possible breakpoints it can help you reach: fail vs. pass the save, and fail by 5 vs. fail by less than 5.

Flexor the Mighty! · Apr 25, 2017

I think half my players have taken it as a feat. Not a fan. You fail a roll then you fail a roll! You don't whimper and use your "I roll over feat"! Don't get me started on halflings.

jrowland · Apr 25, 2017

I am playing a Halfling Wizard (Diviner) with Lucky Feat.

In play, re-rolls don't always work. Many times I've re-rolled a 1, got a low number (fail), cursed, used a lucky dice, failed, and used a portent dice - because the roll HAD to work.

Is it cool and awesome to essentially auto-succeed? Yes. Is it game-breaking? by no means.

Another instance: Run through a room full of Drow bent on my destruction provoking opportunity attacks. Lucky and portent, shield spell, got me through the move action (to the macguffin we were after) followed by dimension door back. Lots of fun.

rczarnec · Apr 25, 2017

jrowland said:
I am playing a Halfling Wizard (Diviner) with Lucky Feat.

In play, re-rolls don't always work. Many times I've re-rolled a 1, got a low number (fail), cursed, used a lucky dice, failed, and used a portent dice - because the roll HAD to work.

You probably should have started with the Portent if the roll had to work, particularly since the choice to use Portent is supposed to come before you make the roll.

The Grassy Gnoll · Apr 25, 2017

Having played a Halfling monk I can say that it is both undisputedly meta gamey and amazing fun.
With 4 attacks a round using FOB I have on more than occasion rolled 2 natural 1s and rerolled for 2 crits!
Our table uses max weapon damage+damage die+stat bonus for a crit so it got messy but very IC colourful (uppercutting a bugbear into a stalactite was a highlight).
It is super useful for martials with extra or bonus attacks (the more you roll, the greater the chance of a critical hit/fail).
The Feat, I can't comment on. I suspect with 3 rolls only it might be kept for special occasions - I'd always as Dm or as player make a point of narrating the reroll in some way to give it life (e.g., "the Orc stabs downwards [nat 20] but just as he thrusts his spear, he slips in the pool of blood from his comrade and the point narrowly misses you [reroll 8]". Or, "as you attempt to sneak past the guards your shoe leather squeaks on the paving slabs [nat 1], but just at that moment a flock of geese fly overhead and your squeaky shoes are lost in the avian cacophony [reroll 17]". You get the idea.

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The Grassy Gnoll · Apr 25, 2017

[MENTION=6776887]Tormyr[/MENTION] you forgot deflect missiles...gotta love being able to catch an arrow and kill the archer with his own weapon!

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Dax Doomslayer · Apr 25, 2017

I like that narrative [MENTION=6788652]The Grassy Gnoll[/MENTION] - that's a fun way to spin it. I guess I'm going to keep letting this go for now. I'm not bothered by it but was curious as to what people thought more than anything else. I appreciate everyone's input!!