Not a Decepticon
Adventurer
Okay, so here is what problem I have with General Feats in...whatever we call this edition now, 5.24? 5.5? ODD, sort for One D&D? Nevermind. Here is my problem:
Every class except Fighter and Rogue gets the same number of Feats it did Ability Score improvements with class levels in 2014 5e (as ASI is now a feat). This means that if you do not multiclass, you will get 5 of those. However, the Feat you get at level 19 allows you to pick Epic Boon, which are simply stronger than other feats. Meaning you are left with 4 Feat slots to take over the course of your adventuring career, that will be either ASIS or another General Feat.
however, in order for your character to stay good at what they do and keep up with increasingly stronger enemies, they need to invest in ASIs relevant to their own class abilities. You are, if you use point-buy and minmax, likely to begin the game either with three 16s or 17, 16 and 15 in three Ability Scores - that is assuming you won't sacrifice power for roleplaying flavor and invest in less relevant ability score. And that means some classes have it easier than others. Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard can get by by increasing just their casting ability, meaning they will have two feat slots to actually invest in interesting and cool abilities. However, Barbarian, Monk, Ranger and Paladin usually have two key ability scores - STR and CON for Barbarian, DEX and WIS for Monk and Ranger or STR and CHA for Paladin - to invest in. Which means for the majority of the game they will not be able to get any cool and interesting feat if they want to keep up, only going by origin feat and hoping to get Epic Boon. This will especilly hurt Monk and Ranger, two worst classes in the game. Bards, Clerics and Druids are swing classes here - whenever they rely in one or two Ability Scores depends on the build or subclass. Usually Bard wants jsut good Charisma and Cleric & Druid want good Wisdom, but certain builds or subclasses may want to invest in more (INT for Lore Bard, CON for Moon Druid now they don't get temporary hit points, STR or CON for War Cleric etc). Character who does have a 17 in their key abilities can round it up to 18 with a Single Feat.
And this is all assuming you will be a minmaxer and stay in a single class. Barbarian, Monk and Paladin now actually want to stay in a single class because of their capstone abilities, but they could potentially multiclass with Fighter for more feats. However, in many cases I believe this will deter the players from multiclassing - a good chunk of multiclassing builds would require you to sacrifice feats/ASIs. Unless you are careful to have right number of class levels and do also not get a feat by the time you'd qualify for an epic boon (why would you want to avoid an Epic Boon is beyond me), you will probably end with 4 feats, which may all go into your ASIs. I do beleive this is on purpose, a psychological trick to keep players who like "big number go brrr" from multiclassing. Doesn't mean I like it.
And all of it assumes player won't just invest in Constitution, which is everyone's favorite Ability Score.
This was not as much of an issue in 2014 version, where usually you'd pick feat you wanted at first level, and were much more free to juggle feats and ASIs without Epic Boon eating one slot.
I am considering few ways to fix this problem:
Every class except Fighter and Rogue gets the same number of Feats it did Ability Score improvements with class levels in 2014 5e (as ASI is now a feat). This means that if you do not multiclass, you will get 5 of those. However, the Feat you get at level 19 allows you to pick Epic Boon, which are simply stronger than other feats. Meaning you are left with 4 Feat slots to take over the course of your adventuring career, that will be either ASIS or another General Feat.
however, in order for your character to stay good at what they do and keep up with increasingly stronger enemies, they need to invest in ASIs relevant to their own class abilities. You are, if you use point-buy and minmax, likely to begin the game either with three 16s or 17, 16 and 15 in three Ability Scores - that is assuming you won't sacrifice power for roleplaying flavor and invest in less relevant ability score. And that means some classes have it easier than others. Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard can get by by increasing just their casting ability, meaning they will have two feat slots to actually invest in interesting and cool abilities. However, Barbarian, Monk, Ranger and Paladin usually have two key ability scores - STR and CON for Barbarian, DEX and WIS for Monk and Ranger or STR and CHA for Paladin - to invest in. Which means for the majority of the game they will not be able to get any cool and interesting feat if they want to keep up, only going by origin feat and hoping to get Epic Boon. This will especilly hurt Monk and Ranger, two worst classes in the game. Bards, Clerics and Druids are swing classes here - whenever they rely in one or two Ability Scores depends on the build or subclass. Usually Bard wants jsut good Charisma and Cleric & Druid want good Wisdom, but certain builds or subclasses may want to invest in more (INT for Lore Bard, CON for Moon Druid now they don't get temporary hit points, STR or CON for War Cleric etc). Character who does have a 17 in their key abilities can round it up to 18 with a Single Feat.
And this is all assuming you will be a minmaxer and stay in a single class. Barbarian, Monk and Paladin now actually want to stay in a single class because of their capstone abilities, but they could potentially multiclass with Fighter for more feats. However, in many cases I believe this will deter the players from multiclassing - a good chunk of multiclassing builds would require you to sacrifice feats/ASIs. Unless you are careful to have right number of class levels and do also not get a feat by the time you'd qualify for an epic boon (why would you want to avoid an Epic Boon is beyond me), you will probably end with 4 feats, which may all go into your ASIs. I do beleive this is on purpose, a psychological trick to keep players who like "big number go brrr" from multiclassing. Doesn't mean I like it.
And all of it assumes player won't just invest in Constitution, which is everyone's favorite Ability Score.
This was not as much of an issue in 2014 version, where usually you'd pick feat you wanted at first level, and were much more free to juggle feats and ASIs without Epic Boon eating one slot.
I am considering few ways to fix this problem:
- Whenever a character gains a redundant class feature, as in, one identical to what they already got from another source (eg. Fighter 5/Barbarian 5 with Extra Attack, Monk 7/Rogue 7 with Evasion), thye instead gain a free General Feat.
- Barbarian, Monk, Ranger and Paladin have now a small list of favored feats, gaining additional +1 to one of their key Ability Scores if they select it. Such feat can either be Origin Feat (granting you +1 at beginning of the game) or General Feat (turning their +1 into +2 or two +1s).
- Everyone, except Fighter and Rogue once at level 10, do not get to pick up General Feats other than ASI. Each General Feat now however has a prequisite of an accomplishments you can perform in-game to be granted them. You do not need to sacrifice ASI for it, and you get them automatically once you fufill the requirements. It could be things like "Athlete: Roll Critical Success on 10 Athletics or Acrobatics checks" or "Crossbow Expert: spend at least 30 days and 1000 gp on crossbow training under a master maksman and pass their final test". This way feats actually become feats, accomplishments you can brag about and their abilities reinforce reputation you have gained.
