D&D 5E Ban Variant-Human! Impact?

[Zardnaar]

I'm always amazed when you leave off inspiring leader off your lists.

It's good but a lot of charisma based classes that can use it well are better off with another feat like warcaster.

And Paladin's might be better off with a different feat as well.

I regard it as a good feat though. Healer is better though and is more abusive IMHO.

 

[GlassJaw]

I kinda agree - but I kind of think that variant human is the real issue and that feats themselves may be getting a bad rap due to variant humans.

Well it was the same in 3ed (human the only race that got a bonus feat). The difference was that feats were much more common in 3ed and they weren't as swingy.

Feats are much more rare in 5E, and the problem is compounded by the fact that there is WAY more variability from feat to feat.

 

[Esker]

My list is

SS
GWM
Healer
Warcaster
Resilient

Those are the big problem ones.

CBE
Alert
PAM

Are a bit OP.

CBE and PAM are more powerful than GWM and SS for most tier 1 characters, seems to me.

I don't see Alert being a particular problem in Tier 1. Or Resilient. Those are both feats that get more powerful later (Alert because of AoE spells, Resilient because it's linked to proficiency), but not problematically so, I don't think.

From Frogreaver's list, I'm not sure what the problem with Actor or Mobile is. Or War Caster for that matter.

 

[Oofta]

Every time I see a thread like this it just reaffirms how the 5E feat system is in desperate need of a redesign.

You literally have 1 guy saying it's a big problem and pretty much everyone else disagreeing.

Maybe the problem is not the system, maybe it's just their minority opinion.

 

[FrogReaver]

So, this thread quickly degenerated...

IMHO variant humans are fine. They're a strong PC race, but it's nice that for the first time since 3E came out, the human race is actually a viable choice for mechanical reasons. (Dwarf was the OP race in 3E, elf in 4E, and half-elf in 5E). I mean, seriously, the human race was the default race for the major civilisation in every edition, but humans were spectacularly underpowered compared to, well, just about every other race. And condemned for being just about the only serious PC race that didn't have supernatural senses.

I'm fine with replacing variant human with something

Having a feat at 1st level hasn't been an issue in the games I've played.

Meaningless -
1. You could have had no variant human
2. They could have taken no problematic feats
3. They could have take problematic feats and you simply aren't in tune with the problems they create
4. You are not sensitive to large disparities in character capabilities
5. There was never a similar character that didn't take a feat that really brought to light the disparity.
etc.

In short - without a lot more background - simply saying it's not been a problem in your games isn't convincing. I could easily play in your games and find problems that you've overlooked.

 

[jgsugden]

I've played on lots of games with variant humans. None of them were ruined by the variant human. In fact, I have yet to see any PC ruin a game by being so out of balance that they made the game unfun.

 

[FrogReaver]

You literally have 1 guy saying it's a big problem and pretty much everyone else disagreeing.

Maybe the problem is not the system, maybe it's just their minority opinion.

Maybe the problem is with you always saying 5e is perfect in every thread you join.

 

[FrogReaver]

I've played on lots of games with variant humans. None of them were ruined by the variant human. In fact, I have yet to see any PC ruin a game by being so out of balance that they made the game unfun.

Some people didn't mind being the guy carrying the wizard's books in previous editions either. Actually a lot of people didn't mind that it seems. Doesn't mean it's not a problem.

 

[Oofta]

Maybe the problem is with you always saying 5e is perfect in every thread you join.

LOL.

Thanks for letting me know what I think!

P.S. I don't think any game is perfect. I'm just not a whiner.

 

[Zardnaar]

CBE and PAM are more powerful than GWM and SS for most tier 1 characters, seems to me.

I don't see Alert being a particular problem in Tier 1. Or Resilient. Those are both feats that get more powerful later (Alert because of AoE spells, Resilient because it's linked to proficiency), but not problematically so, I don't think.

From Frogreaver's list, I'm not sure what the problem with Actor or Mobile is. Or War Caster for that matter.

At low level yes they are.

Warcaster is because it tends to trivialize concentration rolls. It's really noticeable in featless games.

And since there's not a lot of feats for spelkcasters.....