D&D (2024) On Feats & ASIs

[FitzTheRuke]

I've been making a bunch of playtest characters and it occurs to me that there is no reason at all to have Level 1 and Level 4 feats be separate things, if you make your "at character generation" +1 ability score improvement tied directly to your Level 1 "Background" feat.

Well, there's ONE reason (and only one) that I can think of: The Human's "bonus feat". But then, you can simply say that the human does not get the +1 ASI when they pick their bonus feat.

And while we're on the subject: As we have removed the other char-gen ASI (the +2) from species (race), well then, why don't we move that to where it very likely belongs: CLASS. (99% of characters, in my totally not-studied expectation, will have put it in their class's prime ability).

So: In a nutshell, at level one, you'd get your +2 ASI based on your class pick, and your +1 based on your background (coming from your background feat) AND you'd get to chose from a much bigger list of feats (as it would include what are currently Level 1 AND Level 4 feats).

Thoughts?

 

[mellored]

Level 1 feats are weaker than level 4 feats. Not just the ASI, but in general.

I do like the idea of changing the name to "background feat" or something like that.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Level 1 feats are weaker than level 4 feats. Not just the ASI, but in general.

I do like the idea of changing the name to "background feat" or something like that.

Are you sure? I mean, crazy stuff like Lucky and Magic Initiate are in there.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Are you sure? I mean, crazy stuff like Lucky and Magic Initiate are in there.

I’m not sure, but they did hint that it was the point.

However, I like the general direction you are going with character creation. I believe PF2 does it this way (give an asi based on class). Though I would like to keep level feats separate and actually have them renamed (background features or similar)

 

[mellored]

Are you sure? I mean, crazy stuff like Lucky and Magic Initiate are in there.

Generally, yes.

Lucky is an outlier. I would not expect it to survive proficiency times per day. Though I'm not 100% sure how it is supposed to work now.

I don't see magic initiate as that powerful. A fighter picking up shield once per day isn't going to be the same as picking up Sentinel.

 

[Corinnguard]

And while we're on the subject: As we have removed the other char-gen ASI (the +2) from species (race), well then, why don't we move that to where it very likely belongs: CLASS

In Level up, char-gen ASIs were moved to Background. For instance, a player choosing the Soldier background would get a +1 ASI to their Strength score and a +1 ASI to an ability score of your choosing. The class you picked for your character would then depend more on the background you picked than your character's heritage.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Generally, yes.

Lucky is an outlier. I would not expect it to survive proficiency times per day. Though I'm not 100% sure how it is supposed to work now.

I don't see magic initiate as that powerful. A fighter picking up shield once per day isn't going to be the same as picking up Sentinel.

Shield spell isn't that great for most fighters, but it is amazing for any spell-using melee combatant (Paladin, Ranger, Cleric, Druid, etc.) because it also becomes a prepared spell you can use with your other spell slots.

 

[Horwath]

Level 1 feats need to be balanced around power level of a half-feat.

Then you can take level 1 feat at 4th level with added +1 ASI or as an option you can take any half-feat at 1st level with condition that you do not get the +1 ASI.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

In Level up, char-gen ASIs were moved to Background. For instance, a player choosing the Soldier background would get a +1 ASI to their Strength score and a +1 ASI to an ability score of your choosing. The class you picked for your character would then depend more on the background you picked than your character's heritage.

I think that is a bit unfortunate. I would like background, race, and class to be fairly independent decisions

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

In my perfect of world, I've been noodling with the following concept (assuming 5e continues on the "relatively high powered" trend).

Character creation has the following choice points-
1. Species (formerly race)- This doesn't provide ASI, but would provide some type of innate ability. This is the darkvision etc. stuff.

2. Lineage. This is the "add-on" that we saw in VRGTR (dhampir, hexblood, etc.). But instead of replacing race, it will be an additional "thing" that is different from background.

3. Background. This will be improved to be a bigger source than it is in terms of skills, ASI, etc.

4. Class.

You can muck around with where to place bonuses, and in relation to each other, but given that so many people love the chargen minigame, I think that breaking out four independent choice points would be an interesting twist.