Give a feat reward for backstory mission?

[KittenEV]

So, I'm DMing a group and I made it a point to give each of the players an important backstory mission for them to complete. They've started to dip into these special missions so I was wondering something.

I was thinking of gifting each player with a single feat upon completion of their special backstory mission as a reward. My question to you guys is what do you think the players would appreciate more, being given a specific feat or being able to choose from the list of feats?

What would you want as a player?

[nickl_2000]

A player if going to appreciate being able to choose the feat themselves more. Most players have a designs for their character in mind all the way to level 20 and would choose the feat that fits that design best. That being said, they will also choose the most powerful feat for their character, possibly messing with the current balance of the game. If you are worried about that you can give a lesser feat, something that will be useful but not upset the balance as much (maybe the Skilled feat and let them choose the skills/tools so they still have a choice in the matter).

[MrStabby]

This is a tricky one.

A feat is kind of a major class feature, representing most of the benefits of a level. As players will not complete their backstory missions simultaneously it will end up being like you have levelled up some characters and not others.

I would try and find feats that scale as time goes by - for example something like the ritual caster feat that lets you collect rituals. This gives the feat immediately but the benefits grow throughout the game as more rituals are collected.

Spells known, wildshape/polymorph forms, battlemaster style manoeuvres and so on might be accessible through a feat but be learned through the campaign. This might help ensure that the power gulf between players is controlled whilst at the same time handing out feats at a time that makes narrative sense.

Within this, I would suggest showcasing a handful of feats as examples but then getting the players to develop their own with you so they get a say in how their character progresses and they get something that most closely matches their vision.

[Pex]

It's fine. It's another name for a magic item. It might be a better idea to only give the less taken feats as a reward. If everyone or anyone in your group would be taking Lucky or Great Weapon Master, then give something else useful. Warriors would like Toughness. The monk might like Acrobatics. Any character could like Skilled. I'm sure those feats are taken too, but the idea is sound. Popular feats are fine as a reward. The idea is not giving out the very popular feats. They'd be taken anyway.

[Gray Mage]

It's fine. It's another name for a magic item. It might be a better idea to only give the less taken feats as a reward. If everyone or anyone in your group would be taking Lucky or Great Weapon Master, then give something else useful. Warriors would like Toughness. The monk might like Acrobatics. Any character could like Skilled. I'm sure those feats are taken too, but the idea is sound. Popular feats are fine as a reward. The idea is not giving out the very popular feats. They'd be taken anyway.

Agreed, I think it's fine for you to decide what feat to give them, as it's a bonus. I'd, maybe, give each player a choice between two or three feats so that they have some input on this. I'd advise against giving them feats with vastly different power levels. The player that got Skilled might get a little mad if someone else got to get War Caster, Lucky or a Resilience on a good stat.

I think the thing is that the feat should be related to the quest. The feats from UA that give expertise in a skill would be cool and thematic, I think. And if I'm not mistaken they all have a small stat boost incluided, so your players should be happy with that, even if they are not crazy about getting a proficiency or an expertise.

[Vorok]

Sounds pretty good to me, you could get inspiration from the ua feats (racial, feats linked to skill (either the newer ones, where they give proficience/expertise in a skill plus a small bonus), weapon feats... Maybe give a feat based on the most used/relevant skill for the quest (e.g. if they talked their way to a succesful completion, maybe they'd get the Actor feat, if they used previously remembered stuff and were using their brains, Keen Mind it is).

As a player, if it was a free feat, I'd be fine with whatever feat the gm chosen, if it would be taken out of my allowed ASIs, then I'd rather choose myself.

[Spiritchaser]

I'd try and pick feats that relate to their backstory where I could... Race and skill feats from UA are good... Let them pick one of those.

[Everstar]

I'd try and pick feats that relate to their backstory where I could... Race and skill feats from UA are good... Let them pick one of those.

This is the route I would take. I gave all my players a free starting feat but it had to be one of the racial or skill UA feats.