D&D 5E (2024) New Feats, avenues to diversity?

[Knaves Quill]

If this monk took up levels of Rogue (Assassin), you could get someone like Subzero from Mortal Kombat.

Well now I've got to play that.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

What new feats have gotten creative juices flowing? Any synergy? DMs rebranding setting specifics?... constructive ideas please, though feel free to mention nonbos if anyone idea does not work RAW

Well, some ideas I have for combinations

1. Short Rest Superstar Build now combined with maximum Inspiration Build:
   1. Either Monk with at least one level of Warlock or Sorlock
   2. Human because it is feat heavy.
   3. The Feats needed: Musician, Tireless Reveler, Lords Alliance Agent, Inspiring Leader, Chef
   4. You make a lot of attacks, you have high chance to crit and thus spread inspiration around, you rely on short rest but with Musician, Inspiring Leader and Chef your party will want to shrot rest too.
2. Holy Harper Hobgoblin
   1. Hobgoblin from Mordekainen's Monsters of Multiverse, the one who can use help as a bonus action and give extra benefits
   2. Feats: Harper Agent, Harper Teamwork
   3. Fighter 1/Celestial Pact Warlock 6
   4. Slow weapon mastery
   5. True Strike with Agonizing and Repelling Blast
   6. Your turn ins: Action to True Strike, deal Radiant damage, meaning you push enemy 10 feet, slow them 10 feet, deal 3x CHA on a hit and then use Help as a bonus action to aid your allies
   7. Also works with Rogue in place of Fighter, more damage with sneak attack for less defense from armor and shield proficencies of Fighter

I am also thinkering with some sort of build using Purple Dragon Commandant and Boon of Bloodshed, but I need to research this one a bit more.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

Well, some ideas I have for combinations

1. Short Rest Superstar Build now combined with maximum Inspiration Build:
   1. Either Monk with at least one level of Warlock or Sorlock
   2. Human because it is feat heavy.
   3. The Feats needed: Musician, Tireless Reveler, Lords Alliance Agent, Inspiring Leader, Chef
   4. You make a lot of attacks, you have high chance to crit and thus spread inspiration around, you rely on short rest but with Musician, Inspiring Leader and Chef your party will want to shrot rest too.
2. Holy Harper Hobgoblin
   1. Hobgoblin from Mordekainen's Monsters of Multiverse, the one who can use help as a bonus action and give extra benefits
   2. Feats: Harper Agent, Harper Teamwork
   3. Fighter 1/Celestial Pact Warlock 6
   4. Slow weapon mastery
   5. True Strike with Agonizing and Repelling Blast
   6. Your turn ins: Action to True Strike, deal Radiant damage, meaning you push enemy 10 feet, slow them 10 feet, deal 3x CHA on a hit and then use Help as a bonus action to aid your allies
   7. Also works with Rogue in place of Fighter, more damage with sneak attack for less defense from armor and shield proficencies of Fighter

I am also thinkering with some sort of build using Purple Dragon Commandant and Boon of Bloodshed, but I need to research this one a bit more.

That short rest superstar sounds fun. That feat assortment can certainly make for a quirky, non-traditional monk. I can imagine an insufferable "rise and shine" get-up-&-go character. Or like a military bugler+stand-in cook and latrine cleaner

 

[eclair~]

The problem is that none of the feats introduced in 2024 5e actually encourage flavourful and diverse builds, because they're designed to either be better than all other choices or to be mandatory picks for certain classes.

There's no flavour in "my character choices exist purely to power-game with overpowered character options". If you have Cold Caster or Grappler on an Elements Monk, then I'm going to know there's zero choices you have made for your character that weren't entirely about optimization.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

The problem is that none of the feats introduced in 2024 5e actually encourage flavourful and diverse builds, because they're designed to either be better than all other choices or to be mandatory picks for certain classes.

There's no flavour in "my character choices exist purely to power-game with overpowered character options". If you have Cold Caster or Grappler on an Elements Monk, then I'm going to know there's zero choices you have made for your character that weren't entirely about optimization.

I appreciate your negative feedback regarding them. I will disagree some though. While I agree Cold Caster is somewhat shoehorning, I don't think it's really an optimizer's choice for solely ele-monk... there is still a tax on taking that feat, it creates a cold specialist flavor.. overpowered on grapple specialist feats?.. maybe if you don't fight larger creatures I guess... in that case your specialist choice is suddenly negated. This is on a feat-hungry sample class too. There are other classes that can use those as well, again diversifying those options. The Origin feats, easily re-skinned (or not even), offer some interesting avenues. I LOVE an advantage payoff to being the bloodied martial, I feel that is solid design if your role is to always play the necessary dmg sponge

 

[eclair~]

I appreciate your negative feedback regarding them. I will disagree some though. While I agree Cold Caster is somewhat shoehorning, I don't think it's really an optimizer's choice for solely ele-monk... there is still a tax on taking that feat, it creates a cold specialist flavor.. overpowered on grapple specialist feats?.. maybe if you don't fight larger creatures I guess... in that case your specialist choice is suddenly negated. This is on a feat-hungry sample class too. There are other classes that can use those as well, again diversifying those options. The Origin feats, easily re-skinned (or not even), offer some interesting avenues. I LOVE an advantage payoff to being the bloodied martial, I feel that is solid design if your role is to always play the necessary dmg sponge

An Elements Monk who takes Cold Caster can get an effective +1-4 on their Stunning Strike DC, every single time they use it, for free. This is a huge advantage compared to every other Monk.

Do you think anyone will suggest flavourful builds using the Emerald Enclave feats? No, because they're garbage. Or the Harper feats, without relying on hobgoblin? No, because they're garbage for any other character.

Cold Caster on Elements Monks isn't going to be the "diverse" build, it will be the default, in the same way every Elements Monk is expected to abuse Grappler. 2024 5e actively discourages diverse builds, because not taking the Right Options means your character is simply going to be much worse than other players' characters.

(Also, advantage while bloodied is actually mediocre because almost every martial will be using a weapon mastery that provides advantage on most of their attacks—and almost every other weapon mastery isn't worth using in most circumstances even if you have auto-advantage.)

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

On the OP I recommended more constructive posting... but if you want to debate the application of the new feats I can, it just seems like you won't be seeing any virtues to them, but heres we go...

Optimizers exist so for one specific class you feel cold caster will eliminate the other options... I don't agree with this narrow view, I don't agree that even every elements monk always wants to stun or impose non-stop saves, or that the opportunity cost of getting this one feat supersedes all other choices, or that OTHER subclasses lose diversity by this option existing... if any class pigeon-holes with this one specific feat, it is the Winter Ranger anyhow.

A martial class can use garbage vex weapons so a feat that allows you to totally map a different martial is obsolete or mid? That is arguing against yourself, it is a feat that enables you to diversify by not using a poopy vex weapon. I would love to guild a "all in" martial that hits harder when he gets slapped. Change to a sap weapon and have a higher chance of applying sap to multiple enemies. Start combat with reckless attack as the barb, but also plan a barb that can switch to defensive mode when bloodied. Instead of the classic barbarian complaint of: "no choice other than reckless"... None of this is mentioning the temp HP boost that can bring you other directions.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

Lord's Alliance, likewise, lets me consider some different strategy

 

[Eubani]

More feats only create diversity of choice if they are viable.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

Zhentarrim Ruffian can open up some optional "Savage attacker" with limitations, but then team-buffing aspects. Additional use for inspiration seems cool. I like the option to make any character be a little less island/iso with the right fest pickup