D&D 5E To feats or not to feats...

[Delandel]

I agree the -5/+10 mechanic for GWM and SS is OP and is best substituted for +1 str or dex respectively. I also houseruled crossbow expert does not remove disad of shooting in melee. With those 3 amendments, I have found feats work perfectly well and are great for PC customisation. I also think feats are brilliant for making your own, tailored to your PC or table. I dont allow multiclassing however, so not sure if there are OP combos with MCing.

The swap to +1str/dex is wonderful. This is what I'll do if/when I start adding houserules to my games. (I technically already play a houserule, when you are knocked unconscious and brought back you suffer 1 level of exhaustion, but it's an "official" variant from the DMG.)

 

[vandaexpress]

The swap to +1str/dex is wonderful. This is what I'll do if/when I start adding houserules to my games. (I technically already play a houserule, when you are knocked unconscious and brought back you suffer 1 level of exhaustion, but it's an "official" variant from the DMG.)

Gahhh, this is a DMG variant? How did I miss it! I am definitely implementing this immediately.

 

[Celtavian]

I use feats. Customization is enjoyed by players.

I let them choose feats according to the concept. Players get bored playing the same thing over and over again. So that prevents the same feats from being chosen every campaign.

Some feats are better than others. I've added feats or abilities on feats to balance them out. We added the ability to use spells at close range to Warcaster. We added a feat to give TWF and Dueling fighters with no shield the =5/+10 damage. Heavy Armor Mastery is powerful, but not OP. A HAM can be brought down. Given the heavy damage of 5E, we don't mind a heavy armor wearer having more survivability.

The main problem with feats we didn't like was overshadowing other types of characters even of the same class. That doesn't sit well with me or most in the group.

 

[Delandel]

Gahhh, this is a DMG variant? How did I miss it! I am definitely implementing this immediately.

I believe so. I'm pretty sure at least. We decided to implement it after I was revived in a battle 4+ times and got back into the action each time without skipping a beat. Hilarious but a little too silly.

 

[Celtavian]

I believe so. I'm pretty sure at least. We decided to implement it after I was revived in a battle 4+ times and got back into the action each time without skipping a beat. Hilarious but a little too silly.

It is silly. But with ACs low and healing about the same as 3E with fewer spell slots, it sure makes the game go easier.

 

[brehobit]

I will say that removing feats has a pretty big negative impact on higher-level fighters. Once you max out your primary ability (str or dex) the rest aren't all that good, even con. And when you get to Wis, you are really in trouble. And (theory crafting here) that would seem to hurt fighters who get two bonus stat/feats quite a bit.

One other interesting thing (that sucks for me...) is that there just aren't a lot of good feats for a Dex fighter. Once you get the two-weapon one (which is fairly solid with the +1 AC), I just don't see a lot of good options. Lucky, sharpshooter, and defensive duelist are all fine. OK, sharpshooter rocks, but doesn't help with the prime attack mode. It's just that polearm mastery and great weapon master are just a lot better. And with no light armor mastery, there is no great pickup there. I think it works out okay as dex fighter have a lot of advantages over str fighters and the feat options counter balance that a bit. But would be nice to see some options.

 

[Kobold Stew]

that there just aren't a lot of good feats for a Dex fighter. Once you get the two-weapon one (which is fairly solid with the +1 AC), I just don't see a lot of good options. Lucky, sharpshooter, and defensive duelist are all fine. .

I would add alert (never surprised), observant (effectively +10 wis and int for the most common checks), resilient (Wis) as highly desirable for every DEX-fighter, and magic adept or ritual caster if you can tolerate a bit of spellcasting.

I think there's a lot for a DEX fighter.

 

[the Jester]

Feats are clearly made to be an important source of power for martials.

Since feats are clearly- even explicitly- completely optional, I would dispute this.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I believe so. I'm pretty sure at least. We decided to implement it after I was revived in a battle 4+ times and got back into the action each time without skipping a beat. Hilarious but a little too silly.

The section on injuries (DMG, p. 272) details some options for lingering injury triggers and effects (reminded me of injuries in Dragon Age when I first saw it). These options are on the grittier side of things: you've got three chances in twenty of losing an eye or limb, for example, which will require some high level magic to restore.

They don't mention using exhaustion, but it seems like a good alternative if you want some lingering effects for getting knocked out but don't want your party looking like a troupe of wound men by the time they reach level three.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I will say that removing feats has a pretty big negative impact on higher-level fighters. Once you max out your primary ability (str or dex) the rest aren't all that good, even con. And when you get to Wis, you are really in trouble. And (theory crafting here) that would seem to hurt fighters who get two bonus stat/feats quite a bit.

It's more that adding feats has a strong positive impact on fighters.

Have you noticed that fighters are kind of the star of the show, at high levels? It's because feats are balanced against +2 to your prime stat, so fighters essentially get 4-6 boosts that are all as good as increasing their prime stat. Part of the balance of the way different classes gain stat boosts is that you hit 20, and then you get diminishing returns on any subsequent boosts. Including feats is a choice which removes that balance.

If your game decides to include feats, then you gain the dual problems of 1) Increasing the number of boosts that you have to sink into pure power; and, 2) Penalizing any class that doesn't have multiple useful feats that increase their power.