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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AaronOfBarbaria" data-source="post: 6777776" data-attributes="member: 6701872">That people assume something doesn't actually mean their assumption is correct. Especially not when their assumption is in direct conflict with presented evidence: in this case, the evidence is that the game has been designed so that feats are optional - not technically optional, full-on have to pay for an expansion to the game to get them in the first place optional - and the designers have been clear about the intent that any optional rule is intended to be included only if those including it like it.I don't think that folks that want something from the feat system other than what it provides, by which I mean the ones that you describe as looking at Tavern Brawler (or any other feat) and thinking it is "a piece of garbage", are actually the target audience.I also don't think that Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter are actually as over-powered, must-have, and "tax" status as folks are claiming they are - of course, I've only got my own experiences with the system and my own players that have thus far found Actor, Weapon Master, Elemental Adept, Observant, and Dungeon Delver to be far more useful than the one player that has been interested in taking Great Weapon Master thinks the feat is in practical usage.I don't think the sort of players you are describing are anywhere near as common as they might seem on the internet, and at the very least, feeling like you are required to take some option that you don't actually like because it is mechanically better than other options, but those other options are mechanically good enough that you do just fine if you take them instead, is completely on the player. No amount of game design can change a player from thinking that their is either "the best" or "garbage".This illustrates that your expectation of the game differs from the expectation the designers have for it, because you just described a feat that only applies in certain situations as being "always-powerful."  The -5 to hit for +10 damage from Great Weapon Master is of as much use outside of combat as the advantage on checks to pass yourself off as a different person from Actor is in combat, which is to say basically no use because both feats (all feats, actually) are situational.Yes, a lot of groups have a lot more frequent combat situations than other types of situations - but that's their choice, so it's there use of the tools at hand, not the tools' design, that creates the problems they experience.</blockquote>

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