D&D 5E (2014) Feat, Magic Items, or Multiclassing? Which do you choose?

[DEFCON 1]

F feats, Marry magic items, Kill multiclassing.

 

[Horwath]

4. Skip

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I...don't really think I can choose.

D&D without magic items is...theoretically tolerable but it would be extremely disappointing.

Feats are one of the only things 5.0 has gotten actually mostly right (with occasional exceptions, like Elven Accuracy), and the hatred I see for them so frequently is probably my #3 frustration with the culture-of-play created by 5.0 fans.

Multiclassing is a thing I personally haven't done yet...but it's an extremely important tool to have in your back pocket and most people I know have multiclassed on at least one character at some point.

So....yeah. This is like asking me which of my three best friends I want to keep, and the other two will hate me forever. I don't want to choose any!

I guess I could maybe give up multiclassing, given I haven't personally used it in 5e yet, but I can't really accept giving up either of the other two.

 

[greymist]

Magic items.

I don’t allow multiclassing in my game, so that’s not an issue. I nerf or ban a number of feats and I'm stingy with permanent magic items, but the latter have been a core of D&D since day one.

 

[Corinnguard]

Multiclassing. Half of my group (including myself) are currently playing multiclassed characters. Despite the obvious drawback to multiclassing in D&D, they do add some versatility to the game. Feats are okay, but you really need to think about which feats you want for your character. Magic items are a reward for reaching and accomplishing a particular action within the adventure.

 

[GrimCo]

Magic items. Without them, you get best gear by level 3-4 and then you are stuck with what you have for the rest of the game. I played and ran games without feats and it was ok, even with feats, most people still took ASI over them. Since most games end at about level 10, you get 2, maybe 3 ASI/feats ( 4 as variant human fighter). Multiclassing is also not that big of a deal since 5e introduced subclasses that add extra flavour. I'm somewhat restrictive about multiclassing in the first place ( except for one-two shot beer&pretzel games, then it's no holds bared).

 

[CreamCloud0]

i wonder how different the poll results would be if minor magical items weren't included in that category? the lack of healing potions and bags of holding might be a lesser factor in that category but they're also a massive convenience feature, if people had those would they be more inclined to vote for feats or multiclassing as their 'one thing' rather than holy avengers, elven cloaks and the like.

 

[Corinnguard]

i wonder how different the poll results would be if minor magical items weren't included in that category?

If minor magical items were not included, feats would probably beat out multiclassing. Not everyone likes multiclassing or is likely to allow it at their tables. Feats in 5e are okay but again do require some thought when a PC gets the option to choose between them and an ASI at key levels.

 

[aco175]

If minor magical items were not included, feats would probably beat out multiclassing. Not everyone likes multiclassing or is likely to allow it at their tables. Feats in 5e are okay but again do require some thought when a PC gets the option to choose between them and an ASI at key levels.

I would even throw out subclasses before magic items.

 

[Corinnguard]

If the poll was just between subclasses and multiclassing, I would go with subclasses because some of them allow you to 'lean' into another class without the need to multiclass. There just needs to be more of the former in 5e. Preferably by converting the 3e Prestige classes into subclasses.