Level 1 feat

[Blackflight]

In the last couple of 5th edition games I've played almost all players around the table (including myself) pick the human variant for the bonus feat at level 1. Not only is it strong but also adds a lot of options for customization and creativity. I kinda feel that it is a bit boring to always play human and would like to have a similar variant option for the other races.

Do you guys think it would be balanced if other races had the option of taking a bonus feat and only get something like 24 point buy for attributes instead of 27?

[nickl_2000]

It is actually extremely common for DMs to remove variant human completely and give a feat for free at level 1 to everyone.

However, if you are wanting to give it, just make the point buy 25 instead of 27. I mean a feat is considered the same power an an ASI in WotC's mind. You may end up with PCs who are a little more powerful in the long run, but you can adjust the adventure to take care of that.

[Maelynn]

Okay, first a few basic observations:

- Variant Human replaces the '+1 to all stats' of the regular Human
- regular Human has no decent racials except for the aforementioned stat increase
- other races have various racials that give benefits, ranging from Darkvision to Cantrips to rerolling a 1

So if you'd want to apply the Variant rules to another race, you'd have to gimp these other racials the same way Variant does with a Human, just to keep it a fair deal. The problem with that is that you essentially remove key pieces that makes that race interesting to play. You'd get a Dwarf without their poison resistance, a Halfling without its luck, an Orc without Darkvision. For a Human it feels like no big issue, because all they lose is some bonus stats. For all the other races, however, it feels like you're stripping their uniqueness.

If you really want other races to get a feat, then I'd advise to use the houserule already mentioned: just scratch Variant Human and allow all players 1 feat at level 1.

[Xyrz]

Funny thing, in the games that I play in, my DM runs human only campaigns, so everyone is a Variant Human lol!

[Blackflight]

Just adding a feat to all races and removing the human variant option would of course be the simple option :D It does however shift the powerlevel of all characters a bit but I guess that is easy to balance as the DM.

Otherwise it is true that a feat is considered the same as ASI so I guess you could argue that 25 point buy + feat is justified. I originally came to the conclusion that 24 point buy would be fair since some attribute scores cost 2 points.

[Anymage]

If all the PCs get a free feat, they should generally wind up on the same power level. It will give them a slight edge over monsters, but again that's not bad considering that they're supposed to be the stars.

It does make humans less attractive. Plain humans don't get enough to stand out, which is why vhuman is the only appealing one. Most players are okay with this, since they're happiest treating racial features as just another way to customize their playing piece.

[Man_Over_Game]

You could make it so that humans can pick any feat, but non-humans can only pick half feats (ones that provide +1 to a stat). Everyone still gets something, and most of the combat-focused feats are the ones that don't offer a +1, so it'd add a lot of diversity without increasing the power level by much. You'd also see some of the more unorthodox feats (like Actor) be more relevant.

[Nifft]

It is actually extremely common for DMs to remove variant human completely and give a feat for free at level 1 to everyone.


Just adding a feat to all races and removing the human variant option would of course be the simple option :D It does however shift the powerlevel of all characters a bit but I guess that is easy to balance as the DM.

This is my preference.

One variant I've seen is to only allow half-feats and racial feats at level 1; another variant is to just disallow the Big 3 feats (SS / GWM / PAM).

[Steampunkette]

This is my preference.

One variant I've seen is to only allow half-feats and racial feats at level 1; another variant is to just disallow the Big 3 feats (SS / GWM / PAM).

I give out a free feat in my games and let still let people choose Variant Human, but disallow GWM and SS -completely-. I get maybe one or two humans in a party of 6, with most players choosing Dwarf, Elf, or something off the wall (Volo's, Elemental Evil, and Dragonborn have all been in my 5e games, but never a gnome or halfling). Often enough, the humans will either both be standard, or one and the other. Never had 2 Variant Humans in the party together.

Of course, my table isn't about powergaming for the most part... more casual story-explorers and loot-getters.

[Cerefel]

In my experience it makes a lot of sense to let everyone take a feat at 1st level, but still allow variant humans to exist since for most builds having two feats is less valuable than one feat and good racial abilities. I've found that it helps enable players to play nonhuman characters without making humans completely pointless.