D&D 5E Feat Workshop

[Leatherhead]

I'm a bit surprised to see that you aren't considering Spell sniper, Polearm Master, and Lucky for review.

As for Athlete, combine it with Grappler.

Superior Athlete
Gives the character Expertise (and consequently proficiency if it did not otherwise apply) in STR checks, Shove checks, and Grapple checks, but not other attack rolls. In addition, this bonus is applied to calculating how well you can jump.
You are no longer restricted by size when attempting to make a grapple check.
You do not suffer a movement penalty for swimming, climbing or crawling; and standing up from Prone only costs 5' of movement. (Difficult terrain still applies).

This means a level 20 character can have a +17 bonus on str checks. Meaning they still fail "nearly impossible" checks on anything less than a 13. Alternatively single classed Barbarians can get up to a +19. Still not quite enough to take 10 on, but expect many displays of Herculean prowess reguardless.
Long Jumps go up to 32' after you dash. High jumps become 20'. I know the World Records for both of those are more like 9' and 8' respectively, but I honestly don't see it as unbalanced or game breaking to be allowed such minor (and I do mean comparatively minor) feats of Wuxia. Heck, it's not even really all that immersion breaking unless you somehow consider characters that are above level 6 to somehow still be "normal".

On grapple checks, it's a +6 bonus. But only to people who aren't Bards or Rogues, who can already gain that bonus, which is why they are favored in grappler builds to begin with. Yes, you can try to grapple the dragon in midair, I honestly would love to see what happens.

Really, the only weird part about this is being able to crawl across the battlefield at top speed. Giving the character a way to rush a group of archers, or chase after small creatures in cramped quarters. But I don't see either of those things as happening more than once an adventure, if that.

 

[DEFCON 1]

When I re-did some feats, I combined Grappler with Tavern Brawler and then edited. This is what I came up with and which two of my players have. Granted, they are not power-gamers by any stretch, so if there's an abuse here, they have not found it and I have not seen it. But I imagine it'd be the controller aspect that would probably need to be toned down if anything (probably the double-prof bonus I gave it.)

BRAWLER
- You are proficient with improvised weapons and unarmed strikes.
- Your unarmed strikes and improvised weapon attacks use a d4 for damage.
- When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on your turn, you can use a Bonus action to make an unarmed strike or attempt to grapple the target.
- Whenever you make a STR (Athletics) check to grapple a creature or escape a grapple, you are considered proficient in the Athletics skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
- You have Advantage on attack rolls against a creature you are grappling.
- You can use your Action to try to pin a creature grappled by you-- make another grapple check and if successful both you and your target are Restrained until the grapple ends.

 

[Lanliss]

Sharpshooter

• Add 1 to your Dexterity score, to a maximum of 20.
• You can take careful aim, even in the midst of battle. If you spend your bonus action, you gain advantage on your ranged attacks during the rest of your round.

1. +1 to dex replaces the bonus damage thing, just like +1 to str replaces it for the gwm feat (now renamed Cleave)
2. note how this advantage can be used to negate range disadvantage and/or to offset cover penalties WHILE STILL ensuring you have a reason to seek out short range and no cover (because there you gain actual advantage.
3. the way sharpshooter can't be stacked with other ways to gain advantage is quite intentional

If we compare this to dual wield (perhaps the first available way to use your bonus action), we see that instead of making two d20 rolls (two attacks) you make two d20 rolls (one attack with advantage). So that's a draw.

Once you gain extra attack, the feat becomes better. But, crucially, it always eats your bonus action, so it never becomes a free lunch - you can't stack it with other build strategies that also use the bonus action.

Is this perhaps still too attractive? Advantage on short range is awfully good.

Disclaimer: Not a power gamer/ optimizer.

I like this version a lot. I might rule it a bit differently, maybe only get the bonus if you do not move on that turn, or say that using "Steady aim" cuts your speed to half. The Disadvantage does an excellent job of stopping it from being too sweet. Unless there is a house rule in places that stops any heavy abuse, because how often can the players really get Advantage that you can't reasonably negate it? I would wager no more than once or twice per fight, at a guess.

Altogether it looks nice, and I think I will use this, and several of your other changes, in my game.

 

[Shiroiken]

Charger

• You can take the Dash action as a bonus action.
• Each time during your round you move at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hit it with at least one melee attack, you gain a free shove attack against it.

The intention is that you gain one free shove per creature you charge and hit. Charge a second creature (total movement 40 ft), if you hit it too, you gain a new shove.

Suggestion: You can take the Dash action as a bonus action so long as you take the Attack action afterwards. Otherwise this would find more use outside of move and attack, as well as stepping on the Rogue a bit.

 

[Shiroiken]

Great Weapon Master
Split into two feats: Cleave and Great Weapon Master

Cleave

• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When you reduce a foe to 0 hit points using a melee weapon, you can make a melee attack as a bonus action during your turn.

This is the old Great Weapon Master feat with the -5/+10 part replaced by +1 Strength (as suggested by many). Because there no longer is any connection to heavy weapons specifically, the feat is renamed. Like before, Cleave applies equally to all melee weapons, including finesse ones. The way the feat only adds to Strength and not also to Dexterity is intentional.

I don't know if anyone would take this Feat, however. This is not the primary use of GWF, merely a small side benefit. By itself, it comes off rather weak, since you never know when (or if) you will ever drop an enemy to 0 HP. You might want to also allow the bonus action Attack after a Critical Hit as well.

Great Weapon Master
When making a melee attack using a weapon in both hands, you may decide to trade accuracy for momentum. You can take disadvantage on two-handed attacks until the end of your round. If you do, you add your proficiency bonus to damage of each of these attacks.

Notes:
The “-5” part is replaced by disadvantage, ensuring it can't be combined with advantage. This alone is a powerful check on minmax combos. The “+10” part is replaced by your proficiency bonus, which keeps the effect within reason for low-level characters (getting +10 at low level is a stupendous difference, and is very hard to explain within the game world. It messes too much with out of combat situations like "break this chain" or "axe this door", and it means you can't introduce hardness as an effective slow-down measure.

You still gain +6 at high level, though. Since “no advantage” is equivalent to anything between -2 to -5 but typically -3, I consider the feat to grant -3/+6 to optimized high level users. Bringing us back to where we started, though without the charop cheese!

Part of the problem of GWF (and SS) is that it's limited to certain weapons. It would be better to have a Feat for melee weapons and a (slightly different) Feat for ranged weapons. I like the use of Disadvantage, rather than the -5, even though Disadvantage is often less than that. I also like the use of the Proficiency bonus, but I would suggest it be double the Proficiency modifier. Gaining Advantage for +2 damage is pretty weak, and it doesn't really become worthwhile until much higher level (16, by your -3/+6 example).

 

[guachi]

Athlete - Maybe increase your dash speed? Advantage on one strength or dexterity check per short rest? (though that adds more accounting fiddliness)

Charger - Change "during your round" to "on your turn" to match the standardized usage. Change "hit with one melee attack" to "hit with a melee weapon or unarmed attack" so you can't use a melee spell attack with the feat.

Crossbow Expert - Good riddance, I say.

Grappler - I like the idea of the feat removing disadvantage on a melee attack if you are prone.

Great Weapon Master (aka your Cleave) - Leave the text of bullet point one identical to that of the original feat, remove bullet point two from the original feat, add +1 strength.

Great Weapon Master - New text suggestion:

"You've learned to trade accuracy for momentum.

Before you make a melee attack with a heavy or versatile weapon that you are proficient with and wielding with two hands, you can choose to take disadvantage on the attack. If the attack hits, you add your proficiency bonus to the attack's damage."

Martial Training - The text should be cleaned up so that it indicates you must have proficiency in a lower level of armor before you take a higher level.

Savage Attacker - I suggest leaving the current text as it is and adding the frightened condition (which is neat) and maybe adding a +1 Strength rider and making it a half feat. Or is adding both too powerful?

Sharpshooter - I really like the Sharpshooter changes. Proposed text change:

"You have mastered ranged weapons and can make shots that others find impossible. You gain the following benefits:

Increase your Dexterity score by one, to a maximum of 20.

If you take the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to gain advantage on all ranged weapon attacks until the end of your turn."

I believe this would work with thrown weapons.

I wouldn't think you'd need to change move speed, though, as a normal 30 foot move is only 3.4 mph. I can easily believe a trained archer can move that speed and still take aim by concentrating enough (aka, spending a bonus action concentrating).

 

[Shiroiken]

Sharpshooter

• Add 1 to your Dexterity score, to a maximum of 20.
• You can take careful aim, even in the midst of battle. If you spend your bonus action, you gain advantage on your ranged attacks during the rest of your round.

1. +1 to dex replaces the bonus damage thing, just like +1 to str replaces it for the gwm feat (now renamed Cleave)
2. note how this advantage can be used to negate range disadvantage and/or to offset cover penalties WHILE STILL ensuring you have a reason to seek out short range and no cover (because there you gain actual advantage.
3. the way sharpshooter can't be stacked with other ways to gain advantage is quite intentional

If we compare this to dual wield (perhaps the first available way to use your bonus action), we see that instead of making two d20 rolls (two attacks) you make two d20 rolls (one attack with advantage). So that's a draw.

Once you gain extra attack, the feat becomes better. But, crucially, it always eats your bonus action, so it never becomes a free lunch - you can't stack it with other build strategies that also use the bonus action.

Is this perhaps still too attractive? Advantage on short range is awfully good.

I would suggest instead:

• +1 Dex
• You do not suffer Disadvantage on Ranged attacks until after double the Short Range
• Reduce by 2 the Cover AC Bonus of the target of your Ranged Attacks

Advantage seems too strong, but ignoring Cover and Long Range entirely are a bit much as well. This allows for longer range, with a penalty for extreme long range. 1/2 Cover will be ignored, but heavier cover cannot be.

Oh, and I would suggest taking the -5/+10 part of SS and making the following Feat instead:
Rapid Fire
You can give up accuracy to fire more missiles than you otherwise would. When you make a Ranged Attack, you may make two attacks (using extra ammunition), giving both the attacks Disadvantage.

 

[CapnZapp]

Thank you

I will try to discuss each feat in its own post. (Boy this will take some time)

(If y'all combine replies because that's the way the forum works, perhaps I should instead have created different threads, one for each feat?)

Since the discussions weave in and out between each other, it's entirely possible I will miss a comment of yours. If you don't see me responding, feel free to repost - I won't mind.

 

[CapnZapp]

Charger

Note that your wording allows you to hit a single creature twice with the shove at a little risk.

Thank you - this is exactly the kind of hole I want to close up. How do you see the wording work this way? My intention is that in order to give the free shove, you must move at least 20 ft straight toward the creature. How do you do that twice to the same creature? (Please tell me even if it feels "gamey", so I can close the loophole)

Suggestion: You can take the Dash action as a bonus action so long as you take the Attack action afterwards. Otherwise this would find more use outside of move and attack, as well as stepping on the Rogue a bit.

I see your point, though I felt it slightly strange you could only move fast in combat and not out of it. (Stepping on the Rogue isn't a big concern to me; after all you need to take a feat to get this, and it's only Dashes, not hide or dodge).

I can envision variants in the same vein as yours, but should the feat really only apply in combat?

More directly, should it only apply the round when you close to melee? I realize that's what the d20 "charge" action meant, but I feel it is needlessly harsh to prevent the feat from working if you have to run a few rounds to reach the enemy.

Compare expeditious retreat (the spell) - it doesn't enforce an actual retreat, you can use that spell to run sideways or towards the enemy just fine.

Charger - Change "during your round" to "on your turn" to match the standardized usage. Change "hit with one melee attack" to "hit with a melee weapon or unarmed attack" so you can't use a melee spell attack with the feat.

Thanks. Guess I'm overly conservative with turns (since sometimes you do need to specify "your round" to avoid the effect working on Opportunity Attacks). In this case, you seem to be right, and your turn shouldn't pose any problems.

Re: "melee attack", yes, I dislike having to say "melee weapon attack or unarmed attack". But before making the change: what's wrong with a bladesinger (say) charging? Would it really be bad to allow melee spell attacks?

 

[CapnZapp]

Cleave

I'd suggest leaving in the ability to cleave on a crit as well as dropping a creature.

I don't know if anyone would take this Feat, however. This is not the primary use of GWF, merely a small side benefit. By itself, it comes off rather weak, since you never know when (or if) you will ever drop an enemy to 0 HP. You might want to also allow the bonus action Attack after a Critical Hit as well.

Doubly noted (Yes, I can't remember consciously dropping the crit bit, so it's my mistake)

I would have thought Cleave is a generally attractive ability to have, even if it isn't exactly the "great cleave" or "whirlwind" of d20!

Since it's a half feat (you get a +1 too) I hesitate to make it more powerful (other than the lost crit-bit).

Even if this only rates black on the power scale, that's good enough for me.

My main aim was to still offer a cleave, even though the Great Weapon Master feat no longer offers it. My secondary aim was to provide a "clean" Cleave feat, one that you can pick up even with a non-great weapon, without feeling you only use half of the feat's benefit, like the original GWM.

Great Weapon Master (aka your Cleave) - Leave the text of bullet point one identical to that of the original feat, remove bullet point two from the original feat, add +1 strength.

Since I attempted to do exactly that, what do you feel I missed (other than the crit-bit )?