D&D 5E Giving Feats to Monsters

[Nebulous]

Old thread, but I wanted to chime in. A couple years ago I adapted some 13th Age monster abilities to 5e, but I've been thinking about going back and doing it over. We use PC Feats in our game, and they're pretty darn strong, especially by 8th level. I've recently been using a houserule that monsters get 1 Feat as well when the PCs reach 4th level. The exact NATURE of said Feats is still up for debate. Sometimes I will take an existing player Feat and slap it on, but it is usually more fun to take a unique thematic feat that makes the monster better at something it was already good at.

I'm toying with the idea of making a short document and arranging the feats by monster subtypes, and then having a short list of options that a DM can plug and play. I don't think in general a monster needs more than 2 feats, but some especially tough or unique boss monsters might.

I can't imagine what players would do when they run up against a squad of elite warriors all with the Sentinel feat that prevents escape.

Anyway, some of my recent additions in ToA included making firenewts do an extra die of damage, or their fire spit has a higher DC and damage. Simple things like that. The terror folk have Flyby attack, and the girallons have improved undead fortitude, making them even harder to put down permanently.

I'm still thinking how I would want to approach this, or if it is even worth the time and effort. Any thoughts?

 

[jgsugden]

D&D is an RPG. A role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. Make it a good story. Let the mechanics serve the story.

Should an ogre have Great Weapon Master as a feat? Why would he have it? Is he a trained warrior? Who trained him? Or did his mastery of great weapons just come with so much experience squashing little ones? Does that mean he is an old ogre?

Should an ogre have Ritual Caster? Why? What story leads to that combination?

Sometimes the story will point you towards creating or finding mechanics. Other times you'll come up with a cool combination of mechanics that you'll need to figure out how to slip into the story seamlessly. Either way, make sure the story is served and you'll be fine.

 

[CleverNickName]

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I just wanted to chime in and say:

Yes. Emphatically. I allow feats in my campaign, and I allow monsters to use them as well. The rules I use are pretty simple:

• Monsters get a maximum of one feat for every 8 Hit Dice (~half as many as the characters typically have)
• Monsters choose their feats from the same list of allowable feats that the players choose from.
• For every feat that a monster gets, one ability score is reduced by 2 (or two scores are reduced by 1).

The result is a much more dynamic, interesting, and memorable encounter. A group of kobolds with the Magic Initiate feat, a gang of GWM hobgoblins, a Sentinel ogre...

If your monsters are lackluster, and if your campaign allows feats, I recommend spreading them around.

 

[Stormonu]

Great thread necromancy!

But yeah, I see no issue with giving creatures feats, as feats are considered optional anyways.

Though I would consider that since feats normally replace ASI’s, a balancing factor might be to reduce a creature’s stat by 2 points to reflect taking a feat instead.

Even if that isn’t done, it would be a good idea to see if adding the feat changes the monster’s CR. In the original example of the Ogre, giving it GWM & Sentinel, for example, would probably end up bumping its CR by 1.

 

[Shiroiken]

I recalculate the CR afterward.

I think this is the thing to remember. Most feats won't change the CR, but a few of the power ones might (GWM, PAM, and SS specifically). Certain monsters seem closer to the top of their CR threshold, so those are the ones to look out for.

 

[mrpopstar]

The 5E ogre is a boring bag of hit points, but with the right feat or feats it could at least be a LITTLE interesting.

If a DM allows feats in his game, could he not also give feats to monsters?

I'd advise said Dungeon Master to go the route of adding a special trait to customize a monster, which is kind of like a feat but not exactly.

How many feats should he give them? One per four hit dice?

I wouldn't set a standard across the board. Reserve doing so for set-piece encounters.

 

[pnewman]

RAW says that generic monsters such as "Veteran" or "Thug" or "ArchMage" may be given racial abilities for their race. For the Races "Human" and "Custom Lineage" a Feat is already possible. Thus, just as you could give a Dwarven Veteran Darkvision you could give a (Variant) Human Veteran any Feat that humans qualify for.