Some Feat Fixes

[DracoKnight]

What does everyone think of these (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uzbZk4HgXk)? I disagree with him about Tough being a terrible feat, but I think the rest of his fixes are pretty solid.

[ad_hoc]

Yeah, his Tough is too much. It doesn't need the +1 Con.

I also don't like his design philosophy. You don't need to turn non-combat feats into combat ones for them to be good.

It's okay to have feats that only benefit the social or exploration pillars.

Here are my reworked feats:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?497638-Reworked-Feats

[DracoKnight]

Yeah, his Tough is too much. It doesn't need the +1 Con.

I also don't like his design philosophy. You don't need to turn non-combat feats into combat ones for them to be good.

It's okay to have feats that only benefit the social or exploration pillars.

Here are my reworked feats:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?497638-Reworked-Feats

Yeah the more I thought about it, the more I realized I only really like the Armory Apprentice and Weapon Master fixes.

[ad_hoc]

Yeah the more I thought about it, the more I realized I only really like the Armory Apprentice and Weapon Master fixes.

His Armory Apprentice is way too much. Even just all amour and shields would be too much, but he adds on a +1 stat too (and some weapon proficiencies). The problem with the armour feats is that it takes too long to get what you want. I have put them all into 1 feat where you pick 2 benefits. +1 stat, or armour upgrade. So you can go from no armour to medium or light to heavy, or light to medium and a +1, etc.

His Weapon Master feat is also problematic. Any feat that just adds damage is either going to be too good or too bad since a stat bump does something similar (see Savage Attacker). It is both boring and limiting for the character.

[Foxhound438]

I'd say all of his fixes are a bit heavy handed.

First off, keen mind can be put to good use by a tactful DM, particularly something like...

"Once the entrance to the small room is sealed, [the NPC] goes to a corner and touches a couple bricks, then goes to the other corner and touches a couple more, and VIOLA another passage opens"

Note that in there there's not enough information for a player to repeat the process later, but a character through keen mind would remember exactly the combination of movements made to open this passage. However, that said, it kind of has to be built around, but if your campaign has built in things like that which could otherwise be solved by a high int check, you're golden.

Weapon mastery is definitely the most easily breakable option there, Vuman crossbow expert with archery style takes WM: hand crossbow at 4th. game solved.

Tough is usable in very niche builds, such as a crown paladin turbo-tank that's built to have as many HP as possible to milk that damage steal as hard as possible, so it's kind of short-sighted to say that it needs a boost.

Proficiency-all is kind of okay if not for the free stat boost he ties to it, if only because it makes the tired fighter 1 / caster x no longer necessary for any STR based gish.

Linguist save advantage is kind of off in my mind. Good, worth a feat, not OP, but not thematically sound. (honestly it's kind of like having worse gnome cunning)

[DKing9114]

Not a fan of these fixes, even where I feel the feat could definitely use some improving.

Keen Mind: Yes, the second and third points are pretty useless (to the point where you should get bonus experience if you can actually bring it into play), but I think the fourth could come up fairly often with a savvy player (especially when a DM enforces separation of player and character knowledge). It could even go either way, either justifying that your character remembers what happened an in game month ago during last weeks session or, in the opposite case, making the GM recite back the exact details of your quest giver's instructions and story when you think the GM is having you work for the bad guys.

Conversely, I believe his variant limits flexibility. He's taken an action which most characters should be allowed to take and locked it inside a feat. I personally feel any character should be able to try to remember information about an enemy, especially if it's one they're class and/or background would have faced. On top of this, any high int character should have the opportunity to research enemies they expect to face before setting out to find them. Using a DC of 10 + CR is also awkward, because this check is unlikely to help until the party starts facing CR 5 and up, making it difficult to both beat the check and get any good information out of it.

I'd keep the increase to intelligence, keep the automatic memory within one month, and add advantage on Intelligence checks to recall information outside of that time. If you're character backstory involves significant time in study, that advantage can be applied to checks related to said study.

Weapon Master: Yes, this feat is weak for any combat oriented class, and yes, you can simply pick elf for the sword and bow proficiencies if you're taking a class without martial weapons, but I still feel this variant is off, and frequently OP. As mentioned above, a v human with crossbow expert, archery, and a hand crossbow, or a v human ranger with archery and sharpshooter (for the sheer number of attacks you can make), or a sword and board dueling style from one of the fighter classes (ranger, fighter, paladin) which then gets +4 to damage (at level 1 or 2, if you take this as your v human feat) even before adding ability modifiers. Better to just leave the feat as is and use the new weapon specific feats from UA/in development; either that or add exotic weapons to your campaign, which need this feat to be wielded properly.

Linguist: not really bothered by his addition, although it does seem a little thematically off. Maybe replace improving saves against spells with advantage or the ability to translate, decipher, or comprehend written or spoken information? In a dungeon, that might mean using you're knowledge of dwarvish to translate ancient runes which either warn you about traps, give a clue about the underlying puzzles in the dungeon, or let you know that the cool looking spear three rooms down is actually cursed. In the city, it might assist an Investigation check where your character is sifting through documents, because they're knowledge of common is so good they can speak lawyer, or gain temporary proficiency in thieves cant by observing conversations between criminals. It would be a good match with the cipher ability, letting you encrypt and decrypt information.

I'm ok with combing tough and durable into one more effective feat, because this feels like a solid tank role feat, and there's only a couple in the main list.

As to the last...no. The potential for abuse and absurd combinations is just too high. Yes, you can get those same absurd results by starting as a fighter, paladin, or cleric, but at least it's easier for the GM to require role-playing reasons, shut munchkins down, or simply balance the benefits if you pick up levels in another class. With this and v human, you could just say "hey, my first level wizard is capable of wearing heavy armor!" A modest investment of gold (85 gp) turns that wizard into an AC 18 weapons platform, nerfing any ranged attackers you throw at the party. Not sure what I'd rather do, but this seems excessive.

Overall, I tend to disagree with his design philosophy. Some of it may be him using previous edition attitudes towards feats, some of it is probably his very combat focused tendencies (actor as a dishonorable mention? Really?), but I just can't agree with a lot of it.

[Ugganaut]

Like the other guys, I think he was a bit heavy handed.

Keen Mind: As DKing said, that sounds like something everyone should be able to do, a Knowledge check. And going on about vulnerabilities and special abilties sounds like a monster hunter, not a general knowledge or "Keen Mind". Adding damage onto that is a rather excessive party buff, with the same observations DKing mentioned. The DC should have little to do with a creatures CR, but more how likely is it you've heard about a creature, or encountered it(which is campaign/area dependent). DM should determine the likelihood, and set the DC accordingly.
My favourite mechanic in 5th edition is Advantage. Increasing reliability, but leaving the maximum skill alone - and it doesn't stack. So maybe advantage on Knowledge checks, something general. If you're not using out of character knowledge of monsters, having your character remember the undead in front of you is vulnerable to radiant damage can certainly be a combat benefit, or remember its special abilities etc. If a feat has +1 stat, the accompanied perk is usually a bit weaker compared to feats that don't have the stat boost.
If its a monster hunter feat you're after, then maybe something like this"
Monster Knowledge • +1 Intelligence, to a maximum of 20. • Advantage on Knowledge checks for Monstrosity, Undead and Abberations.
• As a bonus action, you can make a Knowledge check during the the first round of combat, and if successful, allies that can hear you gain Advantage on the next attack roll they make before the start of your next turn.

Weapon Master: Agree its weak. His version is too strong. Maybe "+1 Str or Dex, proficiency in one weapon, and you gain 1 superiority dice(d6) and one maneuver when using that weapon". With the standard interaction Martial Adept has with Battlemaster.

Linguist: Does need a little something extra, but really dislike that saving throw flavor and power. Its a personal preference I know, but I see verbal components as arcane words, not a little rhyme in a common language. Not many spells don't have verbal, so a Comprehend Language spell sounds like it would ensure you have advantage on half the saving throws. Even without the spell, you'll probably know 5 languages at least after taking this feat. With a +1 stat on top. I can't think of a fix.

Tough/Durable: The only time I've ever seen Durable considered, is if the Con stat is odd. Now there is Gourmand competing for that slot(from a strictly metagame pov). Both do seem a bit lack luster, I can see that, but combining is a bit much. Could make Tough(+2hp/lvl and the min Con on HD rolls from Durable), and have Durable(+1 Con, +1HP and keep its Con on HD). Or one of them could allow you to add a HD to your pool each long rest, without you rolling extra hit points for it - so a bit more out of combat healing potential.

Armory Apprentice: Sweet baby bejebus, +1 stat and 4 feats rolled into one. Welcome to Nopesville. Ad_Hoc mentioned putting them all in one and choosing 2. That seems more appropriate.
"+1 Str or Dex, choose 2: Proficiency in Light Armor, Medium Armor(req Light), Heavy Armor(req Medium), Shields, Weapon of choice".

I always like the idea of finding weak spots in the system and trying to smooth it out a bit, so not bagging the guy, just don't agree with his design approach.

[djreynolds]

This is strange, but I thought I would add this tidbit in.

In COS I played a hill dwarf life cleric.

Mt dilemma was at around levels 8th to 10th, we had found multiple magic swords, 3 swords, the sun sword for battle versus Stradh, luck blade and a great sword.

One of our elves, turned evil in the Amber Temple, note to self--- never touch stuff.

Anyhow, at 8th level I was really considering taking the weapon master feat to gain access to these weapons. But we needed all the help we could get with spells, so I was leaning in taking my ASI and my wisdom to become a 20.

But then we found the tome of understanding just before level up at 8th

So my dilemma was +2 extra in wisdom via tome and the ASI at 8th level for a 22 in wisdom

or select weapon mastery and take proficiency in the swords, adding in divine strike at level 8, at a cost of the ASI in wisdom but the tome would still give me a 20 in wisdom

or take magic initiate for shillelagh, at a cost of the ASI in wisdom. Plus adding in divine strike at level 8

or take a level in fighter or barbarian for weapon proficiencies at level 9 or 10. Plus adding in divine strike at level 8

So I can see where weapon mastery feat could serve a purpose, all be it very small. Plus adding in divine strike at level 8

But I decided my casting was more important, since 22 in wisdom really buffed my DC in spells and added 1 more hitpoint to healing spells

And I did not take the fighter level because 10th added an additional spell slot, I think another 4th level.