Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Get Better At Skills With These Feats

The latest Unearthed Arcana from Jeremy Crawford and again featuring guest writer Robert J. Schwalb introduces a number of feats which make you better at skills. Each increases the skill's primary ability score, doubles your proficiency bonus, and gives you a little bonus ability. "This week we introduce new feats to playtest. Each of these feats makes you better at one of the game’s eighteen skills. We invite you to read them, give them a try in play, and let us know what you think in the survey we release in the next installment of Unearthed Arcana."

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[pming]

Hiya.

Really? In my experience >90% of the players take ASI to boost either their attacks or spellcasting.

Then that's just a reflection on your groups gaming style, where the Combat pillar is obviously most of the game (or a large chunk...larger than the normal 1/3rd of it). In my games, however, RP and "figuring stuff out" get more or less equal time. Thus, 1/3 consideration for each of the pillars (or, 2/3 being wholly non-combat oriented...which works out to be Ability/Skill checks if there is a 'roll' for success/failure) makes improving the general, overall capability of the character is better (and more rewarding) than focusing on trying to get another +1 to hit/damage with your longsword or +1 to your spells DC's).

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[flametitan]

I like that. I was also thinking of an overcharge ability where you could do something higher level from your former class, but it comes with 1 level of exhaustion (and probably some other stuff), so the mentor could make the big save once a day, but very rarely more often (and as the party levels this becomes less important), which I have dubbed "I am too old for this...stuff".

Oh nice I like it. But let's remember we're trying to go for a support class as well, so let's try to think of some means of boosting the endeavours of others.

The easiest one I can think of is something akin to Bardic Inspiration (though keyed off of Intelligence to represent experience/make up for the lack of INT based classes?) that can provide additional combat boosts to make up for reduced/no spellcasting (like perhaps the ability for allies to use them as superiority dice and do battlemaster manoeuvres with them.)

EDIT: I don't think this is really necessary, but I had a silly idea for an ability. The mentor often dies in order for the party to learn some wisdom or escape an overwhelming foe. An ability to reflect that (perhaps a permanent bonus in exchange for not being able to raise the fallen mentor, or a temporary bonus in exchange for being able to raise them again) would be flavourful, but would probably encourage strange habits out of the players.

 

[bedir than]

Heck, I might even consider a houserule to give every starting character one free pick from this list. Everyone gets something special to set them apart or highlight their capabilities. Yeah. I think I like that.

This would be fun. I like First Tier play, so I'm a bit biased. I enjoy growing from commoner to special.

 

[Corwin]

This would be fun. I like First Tier play, so I'm a bit biased. I enjoy growing from commoner to special.

And because my houserule idea is applied at character creation, it obviates the issue of someone with expertise potentially losing out of the benefit from the feat. The player simply has another expertise slot to put elsewhere and takes this free feat instead. Win-win. I'm liking it more.

 

[Dausuul]

Well assuming you already have proficiency means you get double proficiency. That's how these feats are written. I'd argue that's often the most powerful aspect of these: double proficiency, which is not that common an ability and previously often required multiclassig to get it.

Agreed. It's basically an Expertise feat, duplicating the effects of Expertise on a single feat.

Which I wholeheartedly approve of, by the way, as long as they add a clause to prevent it stacking with regular Expertise.

 

[dco]

Feats were horrible and the new ones follow the same path, the power creep beyond the basic rules has never attracted me.

 

[Corwin]

Feats were horrible and the new ones follow the same path, the power creep beyond the basic rules has never attracted me.

You think these feats are power creep? Just think how much more power you get when you make 2nd level!

 

[dco]

You think these feats are power creep? Just think how much more power you get when you make 2nd level!

Yes, for example I'm not a fan of 2x proficiency, less of things like 2 free spells without ability restrictions + proficiency/2x proficiency to a kill + stat increase, or things like menacing, all people should be able to intimidate without a feat.
At lvl 20 there is more power, they could write feats that automatically kill enemies and let you surpass any skill or any challenge in the game for all I care, I would not like it but I'm sure some people would love the embrace of full storytelling without dice.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I don't usually contemplate building a new class wholesale, but this has got me thinking of a Mentor class (with subclasses based on fighters, barbarians, rangers, rogues, and paladins) for the old timer who can still swing a sword (not as fast as he/she used to), but who is mostly there to guide the "young pups" on their adventures. I think that avoids the leadership issue of the warlord (since in fantasy the mentor's leadership is usually short lived: time for the chosen one(s) to step up to leadership) and fits the 1-20 class structure a little better (the mentor is learning how to be a better mentor [translate experience into teachable lessons/advice] as the party progresses--also reflecting a switch from mentor to advisor as the party gains more xp). I am not sure if it will happen (or when), but it has got me thinking.

I think the overlap here is enough that it could fit inside the class as the noble/silver-tongue/captain/hector archetypes. I also wouldn't want a class that is so specific is tells you that you're older than the other PCs, ya know? I think that it could work very well as part of such a class, though.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yes, for example I'm not a fan of 2x proficiency, less of things like 2 free spells without ability restrictions + proficiency/2x proficiency to a kill + stat increase, or things like menacing, all people should be able to intimidate without a feat.

Everyone can intimidate without a feat. The feat makes you better at it, as it should.

And sure, the phb should have done more to make that general truth clear.