D&D General Path of Feats: a Superior Design than Subclasses

[Tonguez]

Are there no crazy builds in 5e?

Is there something inherent about feats being prereqs for other feats which exacerbates this?

Not trying to pull your leg or anything. I’m genuinely curious. I’ve played 3.5e quite a bit so feel free to point out anything in particular that you feel is relevant, and I might remember…

One of the issues that people cite regarding 3.5e is the proliforation of feats, especially 3rd party splatbook feats which were sometimes pointless, unbalance or not well considered. Feat chains in particular could lock you into rigid lines that ended up being traps - though personally I think the same is true of some subclass abilities too.
Having come from GURPS, I personally loved the customisability, but do agree that the bloat did make things more complex and tended to add to the bonus stacking problem. (I stopped playing GURPs due to complexity too)

 

[Li Shenron]

Feat chains were in 5e before the start i.e. in the 2012-2014 playtest at some point. I don't remember if they were called "themes".

And yes, they are a great concept. They don’t compete with subclasses though. Subclasses are class-specific augmentations of the base class concept, and feats are open to all. If any spellcaster can become a Lich, then making a Lich subclass just wouldn't work.