My New Campaign

[SchokoNougat]

Hey guys,

so i am starting a new campaign in a few weeks. Currently i am working on the handout for my players thats telling them all they need to know.
Which classes and subclasses are fair game, a little bit about the world, and homerules i would like to establishe before the game starts.

But i run into an issue. I really really really love feats. They just give more options and allow for really cool builds. But a plain cold ASI in in most cases just better.
I already read alot of suggestions about how to fix that but there were one thing i didn´t found anywhere. My idea was to NOT allow feats in place of asis. Instead players gain feats based on player level 4/8/12/16 and possibly 19. This way they aren`t forced to make the decision ASI or Feat but gain both. Multiclass PCs still have the ASI delay but would gain the feats non the less. In turn i would scrap all +1 to an ability score in all feats. Ofcourse i would need to scale the encounters a bit but i do not see a problem with that as I want to run hard encounters and challenge my players either way.


So do i overlook something obvious here that makes this whole idea just stupid? Whats your opinion? I would glad to get some feedback from you!

[Zhorn]

end result is you're just upping the power scale of the characters. If you're raising the encounter difficulty to match, then it balances out with a slightly higher level of complexity based on builds, but that would be it.

If everyone is getting access to a large number of feats without sacrificing ASI, probably best to take Lucky off the table. A whole party with that is a bit over the top, even for power fantasy.

[Foxhound438]

It definitely gives more free good stuff to martial types than casters, since fighters and the like typically benefit more from stacking feats than a caster does. A fighter can stack the benefits of polearm master, sentinel, great weapon master, and mobile in every combat, but a caster would be picking maybe elemental adept and war caster, and then past that they're just taking resilient in whatever stat they think is their weakest... Note that resilient is a half feat, and as such while your wizard is picking his second extra save type with no stat boost he's probably going to feel a little cheated compared the fighter that's still gaining valuable tech from full feats that he can actively use to his advantage.

A better option would probably be to just offer a free feat to non-v-human characters at level one, so that everyone gets to have a bit of tech that they want, and then your players can from there decide whether the ASI is more valuable to their build than a feat at a given level. As they're probably used to doing anyways. If you want to encourage people taking certain "flavor feats" like keen mind or actor, maybe make a short list of the ones you think are less valuable than an ASI and restrict the free feat to those.

[Shuruke]

I think it sounds good

Generally way I dm is roll 4d6 straight for stats higher then 18 is 18 lower then 12 is 12

Start with a feat.

As long as everyone has fun and you trust that all players are their for same kinda play its fine.

If u have a rp mono class glamour bard player taking skilled linguist and actor

And a player wanting to hit 200 dpr than u might have issues

Key word might

It can still be fun experience if everyone gets along and understands their there for different things

[Zhorn]

A better option would probably be to just offer a free feat to non-v-human characters at level one, so that everyone gets to have a bit of tech that they want, and then your players can from there decide whether the ASI is more valuable to their build than a feat at a given level. As they're probably used to doing anyways. If you want to encourage people taking certain "flavor feats" like keen mind or actor, maybe make a short list of the ones you think are less valuable than an ASI and restrict the free feat to those.

This is actually pretty close to what I'm setting up for the game I'll DM. Every player will be given a free bonus feat at level 1, but will be picked from a list of 4 that I present them. They can choose a racial feat, the healer feat, or a one of a couple I've paired up with each class:



Class
Feat
Feat


Barbarian
Martial Adept
Grappler


Bard
Inspiring Leader
Ritual Caster*


Cleric
Magic Initiate*
Ritual Caster*


Druid
Magic Initiate*
Ritual Caster*


Fighter
Martial Adept
Dungeon Delver


Monk
Martial Adept
Grappler


Paladin
Martial Adept
Inspiring Leader


Ranger
Skulker
Dungeon Delver


Rogue
Skulker
Dungeon Delver


Sorcerer
Ritual Caster*
Spell Sniper*


Warlock
Magic Initiate*
Spell Sniper*


Wizard
Magic Initiate*
Spell Sniper*


* chosen from the same list as the selected class.

Gives them a bit more utility, options, or even just a bit more flavor in the early game.

[Man_Over_Game]

A few other solutions I've heard of:

Using the VHuman as the statblock, replace racial features with specific feats based on their growth in their societies.
Remove backgrounds and replace them with specific feats.
Everyone gets a bonus feat, but can only pick a half-feat for their choice. Normal humans can pick any feat to start with.

[MrStabby]

It's probably ok, unless someone wants to play a fighter.

With all their extra ASIs and not being able to spend them on feats they are a bit stuffed. Depending on stat generation an 18 and a 16 (including race) can be common. By level 10 they are putting score increases into tertiary stats, relatively unexciting compared to a feat.

Some classes just like feats more and free ones are great. A paladin that needs con cha str will love being able to take feats as well. A rogue or sorcerer might feel this is a bit less of a boost.