D&D 5E So let me get this straight about feats....

[Evenglare]

"Classes gain feats at a rate appropriate to that class. Fighters might get more feats than wizards, for example. We don't have a universal rate where all characters gain a feat at levels X, Y, and Z."
.... alright I can get behind this....
"A feat can be used to gain +1 to an ability score, to a maximum of 20, or to gain a special ability that is equivalent in power to that ability bonus."
Alright this sounds good, balancing feats giving an equivalent +1 ability bonus...
but... wait.... if feats are going to be the equivalent of giving a character a +1 bonus to an ability, and fighters will gain many more feats than wizards, in what universe does this even make sense?? Are they trying to balance feats against spell casting? If so why does expertise dice exist? I thought THAT mechanic was supposed to give fighters what they needed. The logic presented on the feats today makes absolutely NO sense. (I am neutral on making feats have level requirements)

 

[MoonSong]

Could it be Feats are the new Powers?

 

[keterys]

Dunno - Bless gives you and all your allies +1 to attacks and saves as a swift action.

Getting +1/2 (1 ability point) to some specific saves and checks and maybe attack and damage at low level is able to be compared on the same plane as that.

And that's just a 1st level spell.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I asked Mike on Twitter. He said that the main reason why Fighters get more feats is because they have more levels that would otherwise be "dead"--the point is to eliminate dead levels.

 

[Szatany]

I asked Mike on Twitter. He said that the main reason why Fighters get more feats is because they have more levels that would otherwise be "dead"--the point is to eliminate dead levels.

Who knows, that may very well lead to wizards getting more spells.

 

[Rhenny]

If they make the new feats more interesting, more versitile and more powerful, it may go a long way toward drawing in more 4e fans because they essentially become "Powers". That might not be so bad. For the earlier fans of D&D (pre 3e), they can always play without feats entirely or they can use a special subsection of feats that grant weapon specialization or other popular ideas from 2e, 1e, etc.

Depending on what the new feats look like, I think this (or something like it) could work to make the game truly modular. With the right feats, people could play a 1e, 2e, 3e or 4e type of game, or they could just go completely wild and play classless. If they really hit it right, any one of these builds would be able to play with any other (one of their design goals). I'm getting more interested.