D&D 5E Hypothetical Campaign: No ASIs, Only Feats.

[Illithidbix]

I really like this idea but after reading the posts I do have some concern about the same feats appearing over and over again...

... time to look at what's available in the DMs Guild!

Would a ASI-less game be mitigated by bloat?

Not really; from what I recall of the height of the sea of feats in 3E and 4E you mostly saw the same Feats (or chain of feats) being taken over and over again. Because they were just mathematically better.
Except by people who had no interest/unaware of optimisation.

I like the idea in principle, but I think it needs to be approached from the opposite direction to make it work.
It needs the players to want to use feats to create mechanically varied and unorthodox characters with encouragement from the DM to write a game that caters to such characters better than high Damage-per-turn. That's easy enough really.

In a game I'm playing in at the moment my friend is playing a firebending inspired Monk (basically a female Zuko) who took Magic Initiate to get Produce Flame, Create Bonfire and Endure Elements. She's got a ton of millage out of it.

But again, it was player-led, I'm not sure how well it would work from the DM pushing it unless the players were likewise enthusiastic about the idea.

 

[bid]

That might make every character look the same:
- Cha18: half-elf with actor feat
- Wis18: observant and resilient (Wis) (only for monk/ranger)
- Int18: some permutation of observant, keen mind and linguist
- Con20: dwarf with durable, tavern brawler and resilient (Con)
- Dex20: halfling/elf with athlete, weapon master, resilient (Dex) or some armor boost
- Str20: mountain dwarf with athlete, weapon master, tavern brawler or HAM

Mountain dwarf barbarian/fighter: athlete, tavern brawler, HAM, durable for Str20 / Con18

Dwarf wizard: durable, tavern brawler, resilient (Con), observant, keen mind and linguist for Con20 / Int18 (well that's 6 feats but hey)

Wood elf monk: athlete, durable, observant and resilient (Wis) for Dex18 / Con16 / Wis18 (add weapon master to start with a 10 somewhere else)

Half-elf paladin: athlete, HAM, tavern brawler, resilient (Con) and actor for Str18 / Con18 / Cha18


You could only allow ASI as +1 anywhere and +1 on a stat below 14.

 

[GX.Sigma]

So, for a while now, I've been considering the ramifications of running a campaign with feats, but no ability score increases gained through leveling (possibly in conjunction with the 3d6-in-order-with-one-switch-allowed generation method). Characters would still get racial adjustments and could still increase ability scores with magic items or feats that grant increases. Also, special class features could, as well (the barbarian capstone, in particular. Hypothetical future classes, too).

I may well be missing some unintended ramification, but here's what I think would happen:

• High level characters look more different from each other than in standard 5e (not just because the don't max out stats, but also because they'll instead pick up multiple feats through their careers).
• Half-feats look more attractive. This could possibly take some of the punch out of the (perceived) overpowered feats (GWM and Sharpshooter). Certainly, it will make taking -5 to hit a harder choice.
• Bounded Accuracy would be more bounded. Even so, the theoretical power increase that feats provide should keep PCs viable.
• In a funny way, this seems like it would be more of an old-school feel than a featless game would. At least to me, one of the defining characteristics of pre-3e D&D was that the framework of your character, the ability scores that define who s/he is, are almost never going to change. Put another way, each set of stats had its own personality--and kept it.

But I'm sure y'all will see something I'm not. Discuss!

I wouldn't want to play in this campaign. Here are some reasons:

• I don't like the feats in the PHB; I'd rather play with no feats at all
• I'd have to end up taking a bunch of feats that I don't want (e.g., there are no feats for a Wizard)
• The game would get a lot more complicated, which is the last thing I want in my D&D
• Everyone would keep forgetting what their feats do, and we'd have to constantly waste time looking them up