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Bjarkmundur
2019-09-19, 11:37 AM
Just because I don't use feats in my game doesn't mean I don't see the appeal. The great thing about feats is how they can help you customize your character, and even give you a chance to fulfill a fantasy that's out of your class' niche.

What I don't like about feats are the straight up boosts. I like feats that give new options, or lateral bonuses, but generally despise power boost feats.

Now, my group is reaching 4th level soon, and I was thinking about maybe surprising them by offering them some 'minor feats' they could take alongside their ASI's. I'll most likely offer it as a downtime.

I think this is a great solution; ASI's allow characters to scale in power, while minor feast allow them to gain some new options.

Like with everything else about this game, I like to look at it and think "is this necessary?". Meaning that if it can be removed from the game without affecting the experience, I don't really see a reason to keep it. Here are the feats I am contemplating, and I'd like your help to make sure I meet my design goals.

I just have to create the feats...

Design Goals:
- Small feats that keep the balance of the game relatively intact.
- Most feats should give options, such as new uses for bonus actions.
- Trivial bonuses are fine, if they help a player actualize a fantasy.
- Add support for various kinds of playstyles, such as grappler, mage-slayer, dirty fighter, tank, skirmisher etc.
- Keep the feat list short and sweet, yet feel extensive to the player.

The Help I Need
- Are there any feats that can be cut?
- Are there any feats that you feel are more boosts that option-granting.
- Are there any fantasies I am not supporting well enough?

Since these feats are all derived from the narrative, the general philosophy is "What's the minimum amount of power I can get away with, whilst still making the them thematically and narrative accurate"


-------------------------------

Battlewise
You can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative.

Charger
When you take the Dash action, you can use your bonus action to make a single melee weapon attack. If the attack hits you also successfully Shove the target

Mage Slayer
You can make an Opportunity Attack against a creature that begins to cast a spell within your reach. If the attack hits, the target has to make a Concentration saving throw or lose the spell.

Grappler
- When you take the Attack action you can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target.
- When you make an Opportunity Attack, you can attempt to grapple the target instead.

Hit-and-Run
When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don't provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn.

Warcaster
- When you cast a spell that requires your concentration you can instead cast it with a duration of 1d4 rounds. If you do so you automatically succeed on all Constitution saving throws made to maintain concentration for that spell.
- You do not have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls when you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature.

Dirty Fighting
- On your turn, after you take the attack action, you can use the Shove action as a bonus action.
- When you make an Opportunity Attack, you can attempt to shove the target instead.

Defender's Mark
When you make an attack against a creature, you can choose to mark the target. While marked, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls with attacks that don't include you. You can only have one mark active at a time and a create and a creature can only be subjected to one mark at a time.
Alternative: When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll.

Defensive Stance
When you are targeted by an attack, you can use a reaction to gain a bonus to your AC equal to your proficiency bonus until the end of the turn.

Heavily Armored
Prerequisite: Medium Armor Proficiency
You gain proficiency with heavy armor.

Pacifist
When you don't use your action to make an attack or cast a spell that could cause HP damage or do anything other than simply attempt neutralize the target, you can take the Dodge action as a bonus action.

Shield Master
When wielding a shield, you can add your Shield’s AC bonus to your Dexterity saving throw.

Magic Initiate
You learn one non-damaging cantrip of your choice. In addition, choose one of the following effects:

- Choose one 1st Level Spell with the Ritual tag. You can cast the spell as a ritual, even if you don't have the Ritual Casting class feature.
- Choose one 1st level spell from any class. You can cast your chosen spell once per long rest without expending a spell slot.
- You can add one 1st Level spell from your class spell list to your list of known spells, or into your spellbook if you have one.
- You gain one first level spell slot that you regain, once expended, at the end of a long rest.

If you take this feat a second time you can instead choose a 2nd level spell or spell slot.

Workaholic
You can choose two activities during Downtime instead of one.
-------------------
Added:

Quaff
You can imbibe a potion using a bonus action.

Pet-Keeper
As a part of a Downtime you can gain a Pet. The pet is an ordinary animal, specifically a beast of a size large or smaller with a CR of 1/4 or lower. You can communicate with your Pet as if you were under the effects of Speak With Animals. It is in no way compelled to put itself at risk for you, but loves doing favors for treats, such as fetching items, delivering messages or distract a creature.
You can choose a new Pet as a part of your downtime, but can only have one active at a time.

Helpful Adviser
You can use the Help action as a bonus action.

Combat Medic
You can use a healer’s kit or administer a potion as a bonus action. When you allow a creature to regain hit points, and it uses at least one Hit Dice, the creature regains additional hit points equal to its level.

Infiltrator
The number of rounds required for a Choke-Out is halved (minimum 1) and its duration is doubled.

Go Get'Em
When you roll a critical hit on an attack roll, your allies that can see and hear you and are within 60 feet of you gain the following benefits until the start of your next turn:
- Attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
- You have advantage on the first attack roll on your turn.

Elemental Affinity
Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder damage.
You can permanently change one spell and one cantrip from your class' spell list to your chosen damage type,.
In addition, once per long rest you can use a bonus action to ignore any resistances of same type for 1 minute

-------------------

Now, what general feat-like things am I missing?
What fantasies are not supported?
What playstyles are not supported?

nickl_2000
2019-09-19, 11:53 AM
Pacifist
Just FYI, casting a spell isn't an attack. Nor is activate a spell that is already running (like sunbeam or call lightning).

Defender's Mark
This is actually really, really strong as written. You are taking the Cavilier 3rd level feature, reducing it's power a little bit, but allowing infinite uses rather than strength mod uses per long rest. A monk takes this, uses it's mobility to mark everyone on the field and then runs for cover. Look, all baddies have disadvantage forever.

Moderately Armored
This is actually way more powerful than the feat with the same name. One free feat that is given away at level 4 instantly allows a Wizard to have an AC hovering around 20 (rather than 2).


Overall I see what you are going for, but it may be easier to go a slightly different way. Make the feat more minor instead. Charger, Battlewise, Grappler, and Dirty Fighter all support a different play style without adding more AC or more damage. That is the way I would go personally if trying to do this.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-19, 12:21 PM
Pacify
I know Pacify is a mess. I made a post about it a while ago, trying to find the correct phrasing. I ended up keeping it intentionally vague, but have its RAI very clear.

Defender's Mark
OMG! This is supposed to read "You can only have one mark active at a time". Does it need a bigger nerf than that?
I could limit it to "During its turn, its first attack against a creature other than you has disadvantage".
How about "You gain the Protection fighting style, and can use it without using a shield?"
I'm going for the 'taunt' and 'aggro' feeling many players are familiar with.

Moderately Armored
Okay, you're right. And, now that I think about it. I don't think this feat adds anything special to the game. I'll remove it.
You don't seem to mind Heavy Armor proficiency though?

---

I'd love to see more of your suggestions, since you seem to have a really good eye for this.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-19, 12:41 PM
Brainstorming another one. I want to enable the "Fire Mage" archetype. I was thinking something along the lines of.

Elemental Something
Choose of acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder damage.
When you choose this feat, you can permanently change one spell from your class' spell list from one damage type to another.
In addition, once per long rest you can use a bonus action to ignore any resistances to the chosen damage type.

This shouldn't add any power, but simply make up for lacking the ability to swap damage types based on the encounter.

nickl_2000
2019-09-20, 07:38 AM
Pacify
I know Pacify is a mess. I made a post about it a while ago, trying to find the correct phrasing. I ended up keeping it intentionally vague, but have its RAI very clear.

Defender's Mark
OMG! This is supposed to read "You can only have one mark active at a time". Does it need a bigger nerf than that?
I could limit it to "During its turn, its first attack against a creature other than you has disadvantage".
How about "You gain the Protection fighting style, and can use it without using a shield?"
I'm going for the 'taunt' and 'aggro' feeling many players are familiar with.

Moderately Armored
Okay, you're right. And, now that I think about it. I don't think this feat adds anything special to the game. I'll remove it.
You don't seem to mind Heavy Armor proficiency though?

---

I'd love to see more of your suggestions, since you seem to have a really good eye for this.

Pacifist
When you don't use your action to make an attack or cast a spell that could cause HP damage, you can take a dodge as a bonus action.

I don't mind Heavy Armor Proficiency as a free feat. By wearing heavy armor you are really only getting 1 extra AC max, at a significant cost (either being a Dwarf or having the strength to wear it). The cost of it makes this feel more like a flavour thing than one directly related to combat power.





Brainstorming another one. I want to enable the "Fire Mage" archetype. I was thinking something along the lines of.

Elemental Something
Choose of acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder damage.
When you choose this feat, you can permanently change one spell from your class' spell list from one damage type to another.
In addition, once per long rest you can use a bonus action to ignore any resistances to the chosen damage type.

This shouldn't add any power, but simply make up for lacking the ability to swap damage types based on the encounter.


I would pull thunder from the listing here. Simply because thunder is the least resisted damage type of the bunch. The rest are version similar. It is good you don't have Radiant, Psychic, and Force in there.


Some other things you could do.
-Free Fighting Style
-1 extra cantrip uses you mod if you have one, otherwise a mod from the caster list it is one (cannot get EB with this).
-Player gets one free bardic inspiration on themselves each long rest (basically can increase one d20 roll by 1d6)
-+1 to one saving throw type
-+1 to initiative
-Quaffing a potion is a bonus action instead of an action
-Whenever you throw a weapon a new one can be immediately drawn without using object interaction
-Gain a free Language
-+1 to a single skill (that you don't have expertise in).
-You can brew 1 Alchemist's Fire during each long rest for free.


Pathfinder has a mechanic called trait's that sounds like it would fit the bill quite well. Here is a site that lists a whole boatload of them you could adjust for your campaign https://aonprd.com/Traits.aspx

SpawnOfMorbo
2019-09-20, 08:01 AM
Charger, as is in the PHB, is only ever good for a melee cleric build.

Your change nerfs one of the worst feats in the game and then keeps it around some good to great options.

****
Charger
You can dash as a bonus action. If you hit with a melee weapon attack after using this bonus action dash, you shove the creature back 5'.

Additionally, you may use a bonus action to attempt to escape from a grapple on your turn.

****

This would be taken by a lot of characters in a "lateral power" feat list.

Why Bonus Action dash? Because the classes that would take this feat, weapon users, have extra attack and the one that doesn't get it, but is still primarily a weapon user in combat, gets BA dash so it's useless. Clerics are the only class that would think about grabbing this feat as normal but now this is opened up to everyone.

The shove back is just nice controllerish ability.

Why the anti-grapple feature? Ever see a running back charge through a grapple? That'a why.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-20, 08:19 AM
I'm happy to see some responses trickling in!


Pacifist
When you don't use your action to make an attack or cast a spell that could cause HP damage, you can take a dodge as a bonus action.
I like this. Thank you very much! It does make save-or-suck spells a bit more powerful, does that need to be addressed? Adding in a clause about effects that make a target roll a save would still work thematically, since the ultimate pacifist spell, Sleep, isn't affected by it. Thoughts?


I don't mind Heavy Armor Proficiency as a free feat. By wearing heavy armor you are really only getting 1 extra AC max, at a significant cost (either being a Dwarf or having the strength to wear it). The cost of it makes this feel more like a flavour thing than one directly related to combat power.
I'm glad I get to keep it in. It allows for some interesting character builds, since a player can now choose to have poor AC (no dex mod) and medium armore for the first 3 levels and count on this feat to carry him through the next tier, defensively.


I would pull thunder from the listing here. Simply because thunder is the least resisted damage type of the bunch. The rest are version similar. It is good you don't have Radiant, Psychic, and Force in there.
I'll think about it. Remember, the goal is to enable specific fantasies, so I don't know how I feel about limitin


Some other things you could do.
-Free Fighting Style
-1 extra cantrip uses you mod if you have one, otherwise a mod from the caster list it is one (cannot get EB with this).
-Player gets one free bardic inspiration on themselves each long rest (basically can increase one d20 roll by 1d6)
-+1 to one saving throw type
-+1 to initiative
-Quaffing a potion is a bonus action instead of an action
-Whenever you throw a weapon a new one can be immediately drawn without using object interaction
-Gain a free Language
-+1 to a single skill (that you don't have expertise in).
-You can brew 1 Alchemist's Fire during each long rest for free.

Most of these are power boosts, rather than something that fulfills a fantasy or adds options. Initative and potion quaffing is fine I guess. I do like to give a lot of consumables and we reroll initative every round. I'm already lenient on object interactions, no need to bog down the narrative with nit-picky mechanic (until a player decides to abuse it). I already allow languages and additional skills to be picked up via Downtime. Alchemist's Fire can be crafted using Alchemist's kit. Glad to see you engaging the problem, so keep at it! You've already given me two cool options to add :D


Pathfinder has a mechanic called trait's that sounds like it would fit the bill quite well. Here is a site that lists a whole boatload of them you could adjust for your campaign https://aonprd.com/Traits.aspx
:O THANK YOU


Charger
You can dash as a bonus action. If you hit with a melee weapon attack after using this bonus action dash, you shove the creature back 5'.
Additionally, you may use a bonus action to attempt to escape from a grapple on your turn.

Thanks man! :D

nickl_2000
2019-09-20, 08:33 AM
I'm happy to see some responses trickling in!

I like this. Thank you very much! It does make save-or-suck spells a bit more powerful, does that need to be addressed? Adding in a clause about effects that make a target roll a save would still work thematically, since the ultimate pacifist spell, Sleep, isn't affected by it. Thoughts?



Yes it does, but your goal here is that you are trying to encourage a character that isn't doing damage. Casting Entangle, Sleep, Hold, Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire, Fog Cloud, Banishment, Force Cage or anything else like that is not doing damage (although it is helping others do it in time). If someone wants to focus on the support role and do that rather than deal direct damage I'm good with it. It seems fine to me, although you would have to see how it shakes out in play.


I will continue to think on things, but if you have other characters tropes that you want to empower or encourage let me know and I will see what I can do.

Composer99
2019-09-20, 08:34 AM
For Pacifist, what about:

You can take the Dodge action as a bonus action as long as you do not do any of the following on your turn:
- make a weapon attack
- cast a spell that deals damage to another creature or forces another creature to make a saving throw
- use your action to trigger a spell effect, class feature, or other ability that deals damage to another creature or forces another creature to make a saving throw.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-20, 08:37 AM
Hm, you are both right about the Pacifist. I'll give it a think. Since these are feats for my own game, I do have the power of making it SUPER vague, and just make rulings on a case-by-case basis until I've seen what kind of requirements work best in practice. Hold Person and Banish aren't specifically pacifist spells, but you are right that the feat is meant to be a support-role enabler. I'm leaning towards non-damaging spells being okay, even though they force a creature to make a saving throw. It's the idea of instead of stabbing a person you try to pacify them with a choke hold. (https://i.redd.it/zghp7ajn2on31.jpg)

Since you are asking about character themes, how about a Pet-Keeper? I added a prototype, and would love to get some tips. I'm trying to think about something my current group of players would like. It's easy to think of what kind of power-boosts they would like, it's harder to think about lateral bonuses. It also has to be something that is feasable for them to learn during a downtime, since that's how I'll be presenting the feats to my players.

I'm also glad I made the races so thematic, there are a lot of would-be feats that are already part of their iconic race; which makes me feel less obligated to add them as feats.

- One of my character loves the idea of being heavy. He keeps throwing himself off buildings on top of enemies and dreams about grappling giants. Any ideas? Remember, lateral bonuses and doable as a part of 30-day downtime, which makes a lot of ways to represent this out-of-bounds. He is a warforged, so that might help, or just flavor it as heavy eating xD

I already enable a lot of different things with my downtime, so that should help keep the feat list relatively short and sweet. I want them to be as easy to read as possible.

I'm also looking at the link you gave me, thank you for that :D

You guys are amazing!

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-20, 09:11 AM
Immovable
You have advantage on Strength saving throws. In addition, when an effect would forcefully move you, reduce the distance it would move you by half.

I did a couple of more changes.

Composer99
2019-09-20, 08:41 PM
- One of my character loves the idea of being heavy. He keeps throwing himself off buildings on top of enemies and dreams about grappling giants. Any ideas? Remember, lateral bonuses and doable as a part of 30-day downtime, which makes a lot of ways to represent this out-of-bounds. He is a warforged, so that might help, or just flavor it as heavy eating xD


Heavyset
You are considered to be one size larger than normal for the purpose of determining your carrying capacity, and for the purpose of determining your ability to grapple other creatures.

Something like that? Most of the classic giants are Huge, so a Medium character being treated as Large means they can actually grapple them. This also means you could haul around Small creatures in a grapple without a penalty to your movement.

Also, if memory serves the DMG has rules for climbing on creatures that are much larger than yourself.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-21, 11:15 AM
Is it in poor taste to take subclass features and convert them into feats?

I'm looking at things like Fast Hands, Master of Tactics and more.

nickl_2000
2019-09-21, 11:54 AM
Is anyone playing those subclasses? If they are, absolutely. If not it isn't as big of a deal.

WotC had done it themselves, although they weakened it when they did.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-21, 01:46 PM
Well, these features are kinda one sided, how would you suggest one would make them less impactful, while still being competative to the other feats on this list. Right now it seems the goal is to make no feat stronger than magic initiate, Shield Master and Workaholic, which are arguably the strongest feats on the list.

Help as a bonus action, no bonus range, and the other one could simply be use Healer's Kit as a bonus action, insted of all object interactions. I've done some fun stuff for my Healer's Kit so that might work.

Edit: I added the two feats to the added sections of the original post. I'm unsure about combat medic, since it touches on a handful of houserules. It at least should make a player feel more like a medicial officer from star trek, if that was his/her fantasy.

I was wondering if I should add the 1 hit point when stabilizing, or maybe give the player a fun reaction? It might work as long as all the uses share a charge. once per character per short rest.

Any other subclass utility features that might be fun, that aren't too niche.

BerzerkerUnit
2019-09-22, 01:10 AM
From what I've read:
Your Heavy Armor proficiency is explicitly better than the norm. Norm grants +1 ASI and proficiency, yours grants proficiency alongside normal +2 ASI. While others might say this is a minor bump, its a huge bump for a Barbarian that has a mediocre dex or any PC with a bad one and medium proficiency (read: cleric)

Your Charger feat is better than the norm. Norm affords only 1 attack action with +5 damage, yours allows for multiple attacks with their Action and free shoves, so possible prone after first attack (explicitly better 100% of the time).

Dirty Fighting and Grappler opportunity attacks are explicit upgrades for any character with Expertise or mere proficiency in Athletics as they add statistically High DC lockdown as a reaction (normally only achievable by monsters with Grapple riders on their attacks).

The Concentration portion of your Warcaster feat does nothing as far as I can tell since it "still counts as concentrating." Unless you meant damage cannot break concentration for the duration.

Pet-Keeper explicitly adds power to party as an additional target/obstacle/source of cover. "Non-Combat" will mean different things to different people. If what you mean is "cosmetic" then you shouldn't be offering it side by side with combat options. If you mean "it doesn't attack" then it can still be a target meaning it can be loaded with Temp Hp or parked in a doorway to keep badguys in a room. If it won't be a target, you've created a narrative issue. I'd just lose it or scrap the "non combat" part since a 1/4 CR creature will die in 2 hits from anything at which point it's a wasted "feat."

Combat Medic explicitly increases the power of a cleric or other healer by boosting the amount of healing they can do beyond expected norms for negligible GP expense.

Defender's Mark greatly increases the power of most Tank characters as that mechanic is normally held by a few subclasses. The Sentinel Feat or other punishment mechanics are the usual meat of a tank subclass.

Quaff significantly increases the damage output of any character by allowing them to drink their healing and attack in the same turn. This further improves the healer's damage out by allowing the party to take pressure off the healer by self healing and being able to act. Alternatively, become invisible and disengage on the same turn, polymorph themselves and attack, etc.

Shield Master- you kept the only part that is a straight improvement and cut out the two parts that are actual choices to use and additional functionality.

No disrespect intended, you did say you don't use feats, but there seems to be a lack of familiarity with how they actually impact the game's balance. ASI's are straight boosts to player power. You trade them for a feat, so a feat should be a straight boost to player power, usually more niche, at the cost of a continuous numeric improvement.
Whether it makes you better at something you're specialized in (like a Great Weapon Fighter boosting strength), gives you unique options like Shield Master or Sentinel, or a combination
like the Mimicry of Actor, the Cryptology of Linguist, or the Lip Reading of Observant and their other bonuses, has always been immaterial to me.

Given how you've balanced what's here, I think you would be better served just cutting out Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master, and Sharpshooter, then when the PCs have finished leveling up, including adding in their ASIs, grant them Feats of YOUR CHOOSING as a boon, exactly as written. Call it training with a special unit or guild. Then there's less chance a player will feel like they got the short end.

You could even look at just the list of feats that grant a +1 ASI, find out which stats the players are boosting, and hand them the other half of one of those feats saying that training is what boosted their stat.

Example: the Wizard is boosting Dexterity. You give them Weapon Training and say their practice with weapons is what got them more dexterous and they gained these proficiencies in the process.

Good luck whatever you decide.

SpawnOfMorbo
2019-09-22, 02:08 AM
Your Charger feat is better than the norm. Norm affords only 1 attack action with +5 damage, yours allows for multiple attacks with their Action and free shoves, so possible prone after first attack (explicitly better 100% of the time).



Charger absolutely needs to be better than the normal charger feat.

The current PHB version is utterly terrible and no one outside of a Melee Cleric would think about taking it.

The bonus action attack isn't the attack action so melee types with more than one attack aren't touching it as most of them have some sort of ranged/thrown options (or can take the dodge action).

Rogues get cunning action, won't be taking charger.

Want to shove and do damage? Extra Attack lets you do this.

+5 damage isn't worth giving up attacks.

PHB Charger is just... Bad.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-22, 04:20 AM
Oof, yeah, this is what I was afraid of. This something that can happen when you have houserules and a specific playstyle. I'll try to explain.

Heavy Armor Proficiency: Since both Half-Plate and Plate armor are treated as magic items at my table, this isn't a problem. You can just as well call it "Splint Armor Proficiency". Those two armors cannot be bought, and we use random rolls to determine quest rewards. On top of that, I do not include +1 shields or armors in my game; only ring of protection and armor of resistance. So frankly, high AC is never going to be too much of an issue.
Charger: I'll look into it. How would you say it compares to other feats on THIS list?
Dirty Fighting, Grappler: We use Strength for shoving and grappling, so no expertise. It's a trade-off: damage vs. control.
Pet-Keeper: First consider that this is offered alongside Magic Initiate, and now think what kind of player this feat caters towards. It's a kid's feat. It's a feat for all those orphan wood-elf rangers whose eyes change color when they get mad who want a pet-cat. I'm not worried about the power-level of this feat.
Warcaster: Ah, right, I'll clarify.
Combat Medic: This feat touches on so many houserules, you're just going to have to trust me this is alright xD
Defender's Mark: How about if the market target has advantage on attacking you? Would that help?
Quaff: At a price, and a bonus action, and a resource. I'm fine with that. It encourages spending money on consumables, which is perfect.
Shield Master: I wanted to keep it simple while still getting the point across. I'll think about it. How do you think this compares to Magic Initiate?


No disrespect intended, you did say you don't use feats, but there seems to be a lack of familiarity with how they actually impact the game's balance. ASI's are straight boosts to player power. You trade them for a feat, so a feat should be a straight boost to player power, usually more niche, at the cost of a continuous numeric improvement.
Whether it makes you better at something you're specialized in (like a Great Weapon Fighter boosting strength), gives you unique options like Shield Master or Sentinel, or a combination
like the Mimicry of Actor, the Cryptology of Linguist, or the Lip Reading of Observant and their other bonuses, has always been immaterial to me.

Given how you've balanced what's here, I think you would be better served just cutting out Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master, and Sharpshooter, then when the PCs have finished leveling up, including adding in their ASIs, grant them Feats of YOUR CHOOSING as a boon, exactly as written. Call it training with a special unit or guild. Then there's less chance a player will feel like they got the short end.

You could even look at just the list of feats that grant a +1 ASI, find out which stats the players are boosting, and hand them the other half of one of those feats saying that training is what boosted their stat.

Example: the Wizard is boosting Dexterity. You give them Weapon Training and say their practice with weapons is what got them more dexterous and they gained these proficiencies in the process.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Wow, this is great advice! I have a couple of weeks to decide. I'll create some guidelines for both approaches. Thanks for taking the time :D

Changed Charger again.

BerzerkerUnit
2019-09-22, 09:06 AM
Charger absolutely needs to be better than the normal charger feat.

The current PHB version is utterly terrible and no one outside of a Melee Cleric would think about taking it.

The bonus action attack isn't the attack action so melee types with more than one attack aren't touching it as most of them have some sort of ranged/thrown options (or can take the dodge action).

Rogues get cunning action, won't be taking charger.

Want to shove and do damage? Extra Attack lets you do this.

+5 damage isn't worth giving up attacks.

PHB Charger is just... Bad.

We can all agree charger is bad as written, but we're not talking about fixing feats, we're talking about turning the majority of feats (generally intended to be balanced against giving up an ASI, sometimes poorly) into weaker variants for a game that generally does not use feats.

If you're just gifting a player with additional option I would think leaving charger as is would be the way to go. It becomes what I always thought it was, a way for a melee PC to dash into combat or after a foe 35 to 60 feet away and still get an attack.

Really, if they're getting the ASI boost as well you could just give them the Orc Aggressive trait.

SpawnOfMorbo
2019-09-22, 09:12 AM
We can all agree charger is bad as written, but we're not talking about fixing feats, we're talking about turning the majority of feats (generally intended to be balanced against giving up an ASI, sometimes poorly) into weaker variants for a game that generally does not use feats.

If you're just gifting a player with additional option I would think leaving charger as is would be the way to go. It becomes what I always thought it was, a way for a melee PC to dash into combat or after a foe 35 to 60 feet away and still get an attack.

Really, if they're getting the ASI boost as well you could just give them the Orc Aggressive trait.

You can't make charger weaker and have it be a viable option. You actually have to buff it for it to be useful.

What you seem to want to do is just make charger even more irrelevant so that no one ever touches it instead of one build (melee clerics) having a good time with it.

Not all feats are equal in the PHB, just because you have to nerf other feats doesn't mean all feats need that nerf.

It's like saying weapon master needs to be needed to onpy give one weapon proficiency

BerzerkerUnit
2019-09-22, 09:43 AM
Oof, yeah, this is what I was afraid of. This something that can happen when you have houserules and a specific playstyle. I'll try to explain.

Heavy Armor Proficiency: Since both Half-Plate and Plate armor are treated as magic items at my table, this isn't a problem. You can just as well call it "Splint Armor Proficiency". Those two armors cannot be bought, and we use random rolls to determine quest rewards. On top of that, I do not include +1 shields or armors in my game; only ring of protection and armor of resistance. So frankly, high AC is never going to be too much of an issue.
Charger: I'll look into it. How would you say it compares to other feats on THIS list?
Dirty Fighting, Grappler: We use Strength for shoving and grappling, so no expertise. It's a trade-off: damage vs. control.
Pet-Keeper: First consider that this is offered alongside Magic Initiate, and now think what kind of player this feat caters towards. It's a kid's feat. It's a feat for all those orphan wood-elf rangers whose eyes change color when they get mad who want a pet-cat. I'm not worried about the power-level of this feat.
Warcaster: Ah, right, I'll clarify.
Combat Medic: This feat touches on so many houserules, you're just going to have to trust me this is alright xD
Defender's Mark: How about if the market target has advantage on attacking you? Would that help?
Quaff: At a price, and a bonus action, and a resource. I'm fine with that. It encourages spending money on consumables, which is perfect.
Shield Master: I wanted to keep it simple while still getting the point across. I'll think about it. How do you think this compares to Magic Initiate?



Wow, this is great advice! I have a couple of weeks to decide. I'll create some guidelines for both approaches. Thanks for taking the time :D

Changed Charger again.

I'm sure there's a specific literary or streaming game reference to your Pet Keeper response but I'm unfamiliar, so I'll try to tighten up my response:

If it has stats, then it can do things in game that are combat relevant even if it can't attack. How readily the player puts it in situations where it's at risk will depend on a number of factors, but if it is essentially a singular pet that can't be replaced, it's a Trap option, something they have but never want to use for fear of losing it.

Shield Master vs Magic Initiate: feels kind of apples and oranges but I think narrowing the options provided by magic initiate just makes it less appealing to everyone but no less problematic if it were going to be a problem.

For example: avg on a d6 is 3.5. Bonus from 16 str is 3. D10 avg 5.5 from heavy crossbow. So Fighter PC with 16 Dex and heavy crossbow deals 5.5+3 damage on a hit with a max of 13, normally limited to 1 attack per round due to loading property.

Eldritch Blast deals d10. Hex deals d6 per hit. Caster will deal avg of 9 damage per hit with max of 16. Sorcerer that takes Warlock initiate, Eldritch Blast cantrip and Hex as a Sorcerer spell with the Quicken metamagic will operate like a 20th level fighter for 2 rounds. Even better if they shoot scorching ray and then quicken the eldritch blast for 5 attacks in one turn. Is that a problem? I don't think so but based on your above comments I might assume you've houseruled pieces of it away.

I play a MC Sor/lock in two games right now. The lack of AoE was very problematic in yesterday's game and continues to be in my AL games but I'll pick up fireball at level 8, just in time for its relevance to start diminishing.

Combat medic: If your PCs need that much in combat healing, and you feel it's balanced against everything else you've done, I would opine that you have overcorrected. Example: if your tank had slightly more ready access to Plate armor they wouldn't need healed as often which means the healer could be attacking, which drives combat to an earlier end which conserves PC hp overall.

For this campaign, given the depth of houseruling that you seem to have done, I'd recommend posting a link to your houserule document with the request for assistance regarding feats otherwise the responses here are really meaningless since no one knows what they're balancing against. A good example was the Charger response above.

Good luck!

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-22, 10:07 AM
Huh, you're quite right.

I understand the misunderstanding, the post's names asks for scrutiny, while the OP asks for suggestion for additional feats.

But since we're here anyways, let's make these feats presentable.

You suggest:
- Buffing and clarifying Pet-Keeper
- Removing damaging cantrips from magic initiate
- Making sure my game works without Combat Medic

The link to my houserules are in my signature, but I hope we don't have to go there. I supposed we

- Make sure the players have varied enough feats that almost everyone finds something they love
- The feats are roughly on the same level of balance. Further balancing can be done once we know which feats will be taken by the players.
- Think of any other feats a player might want to express a certain identity or playstyle not readily supported. An example of this would be my newest addition, which builds on my Choke-Out rules.

Infiltrator
The number of rounds required for a Choke-Out is halved (minimum 1) and its duration is doubled.

I'm going to clean up my OP now, just to keep things organized.

I'm also looking at ways to make Parkour a feat. It's a bit hard with our naturally flowing theater of the mind style gameplay. I'll give it a think. It'll definitely involve advantage on ability checks made to reduce falling damage, but I feel like it needs a more rooftop-chase-sequence feel to it, without being to rule-heavy.

Charger now uses your action to dash and allows you to make a single attack using your bonus action. The added benefit is that you get to shove (push or prone) for free as long as the attack hits (no contest). I think that puts it at a nice spot. Bonus point for doing "what it says on the tin". A player expects a Charge to be an attack, and possibly a bull-rush. This meets both those expectations, which for me is a complete win. If this is too strong I can make it "a single melee weapon attack OR a Shove". If this is too weak I'll make it a part of the action instead of a bonus action.

I'm going to use the same approach for pet-keeper. The intended market for this feat is Disney-Style animal friends. Think Iago and Abu from Aladdin, and that guy's horse from Hunchback. To achieve this I'll include the ability to speak to the animal, and it being able to hold items. I'll cook something up. I had a very nice handwave-y rule in 4, where animal companions would not be hurt as long as they stayed out of combat. This was generally well recieved. I'll take a long hard think about how I want to treat the pet of the pet-keeper. I could restrict it's possible actions, or just make the RAI very clear. This would give me the freedom of managing expectations whilst still giving me freedom to make rulings on a case-to-case basis.

Work in Progress:


Pet-Keeper
As a part of a Downtime you can gain a Pet. The pet is an ordinary animal, specifically a beast of a size large or smaller with a CR of 1/4 or lower. You can communicate with your Pet as if you were under the effects of Speak With Animals. It is in no way compelled to put itself at risk for you, but loves doing favor for treats, such as fetching items, delivering messages or distract a creature.
You can choose a new Named Pet as a part of your downtime, but can only have one active at a time.

This keeps the actual rules vague, but gives plenty of suggestions. We take 30-day downtimes every two sessions or so.

BerzerkerUnit
2019-09-22, 02:44 PM
That Pet-Keeper is a lot tighter. Having a pet monkey to poison your arrows for you is definitely worth a feat. Hell, it was worth 3 levels of warlock to my Assassin for a Sprite that does the same.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-22, 02:53 PM
Having a pet monkey to poison your arrows for you is definitely worth a feat.

Haha, I'm glad it translates well into the narrative ^^
I've been looking at homebrew feats from elsewhere, but most of them are balanced around giving bonuses to combat stuff, and less so on theme and flavor. There are a LOT of feats that make no sense gaining over a long rest. Like actual physical changes, which all seem very weird when put into narrative context.

The only one that really spoke to me was the Leader-Bannermen-Battle Standard-Warcry type feat. I have no idea how to pull that one off, but the theme is so strong I have to figure something out. My initial thoughts were "Allies that can see you and are within 60 feet of you gain _____ when they roll initiative." but that is giving out a lot of free power. Maybe as an action you can give temporary hit points that last for 1 minute. That could work. What do you think is the most appropriate flavor: A warcry or an actual physical flag?

EDIT: I gave it a lot of thought, and I came up with this beauty:

Go Get'Em
When you roll a critical hit on an attack roll, your allies that can see and hear you and are within 60 feet of you gain the following benefits until the start of your next turn:
- Attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
- Attack rolls are made with advantage.

Breccia
2019-09-22, 06:36 PM
Before I start, I want to say that I like the idea of what you're doing and I hope it works. That said, yes, that means the feats need to be tuned down.




Battlewise
You can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative.
Considering how Init works, I don't see a problem with this.

Charger
When you take the Dash action, you can use your bonus action to make a single melee or unarmed weapon attack. If the attack hits you may also attempt to Shove the target
Recommendations bolded.

Mage Slayer
You can make an Opportunity Attack against a creature that begins to cast a spell within your reach. If the attack hits, the target has to make a Concentration saving throw or lose the spell.
Subjectively, I think the bolded is not necessary. In my campaigns, if someone takes damage while trying to cast the spell, they have to try Concentration anyhow. Your use of it suggests that's not the case, which in turn, meaning that a triggered action "shoot him if he tries to cast a spell" won't work. If that's your implication, leave the bolded in.

Grappler
- When you take the Attack action you can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target.
- When you make an Opportunity Attack, you can attempt to grapple the target instead.
Considering how weak I feel grappling is in 5E I don't see a problem with this.

Hit-and-Run
When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don't provoke opportunity attacks because of movement from that creature for the rest of the turn.
Bolded only because there might be some other option. It's an insurance policy clarification.

Warcaster
- When you cast a spell that requires your concentration you can instead cast it with a duration of 1d4 rounds.This part is no longer required.
- You do not have disadvantage on ranged spell attack rolls when you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature.
Once again, bolded for phrasing suggestions. Also, maybe 1d4 could become "proficiency" or "spellcasting stat modifier" or something less random?

Dirty Fighting
- On your turn, after you take the attack action, you can use the Shove action as a bonus action.
- When you make an Opportunity Attack, you can attempt to shove the target instead.
Like grappling, this is such a niche action that i see no problem with it.

Defender's Mark
When you make an attack against a creature, you can choose to mark the target. While marked, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls with attacks that don't include you. You can only have one mark active at a time and a creature can only have one mark on it at a time.
This seems far stronger than the Protection fighting style. I think it's too strong, but I don't have a good weaker suggestion. My bad weaker suggestion involves a saving throw, as a Martial Maneuver. Regardless, the bolded is mandatory or you'll just have two people take the feat and use it to cause Disadvantage on all attacks.

Defensive Stance
When you are targeted by an attack, you can use a reaction to gain a bonus to your AC equal to your proficiency bonus until the end of the turn.
Even as written, I feel this is stronger than intended. Too many D&D fights are "large solo monster vs. player party" and the only turn this matters, the feat will just raise the AC of the target for all of the attacks for the entire fight. Considering a fighter or paladin probably has a high AC as it is, adding more is overkill.

Heavily Armored
Prerequisite: Medium Armor Proficiency
You gain proficiency with heavy armor.
Add light and medium.

Pacifist
When you don't use your action to make an attack or cast a spell that could cause HP damage, you can take the Dodge action as a bonus action.
This also feels quite strong. For an enchanter or healer, it's nearly Disadvantage applied all the time. I would also block the effects if they cast a spell that allows unwilling targets a saving throw, because that's an "attack" to me.

Shield Master
When wielding a shield, you can add your Shield’s AC bonus to your Dexterity saving throw.
Looks good to me.

Magic Initiate
You learn one non-damaging cantrip of your choice. In addition, choose one of the following effects:

- Choose one 1st Level Spell with the Ritual tag. You can cast the spell as a ritual, even if you don't have the Ritual Casting class feature.
- Choose one 1st level spell from any class. You can cast your chosen spell once per long rest without expending a spell slot.
- You can add one 1st Level spell from any class spell list to your list of known spells.
- You gain one first level spell slot that you regain, once expended, at the end of a long rest.

If you take this feat a second time you can instead choose a 2nd level spell or spell slot.
I am not a big fan of allowing wizards to cast healing spells. That's personal opinion.

Workaholic
You can choose two activities during Downtime instead of one.
I don't see why not. Downtime is underutilized, and a campaign with a timer would emphasize this.
-------------------
Added:

Quaff
You can imbibe a potion using a bonus action.
I like this one in particular.

Pet-Keeper
You gain one non-combat pet of your choice. The pet must be a beast and of a size large or smaller with a CR of 1/4 or lower.
I don't think a non-combat pet should be a feat. I think it should be a purchase.

Helpful Advisor
You can use the Help action as a bonus action.
This feels strong to me, considering the Advantage it gives. Problem is I don't have a good suggestion that tunes it down a little -- Advantage is kind of on/off.

Combat Medic
You can use a healer’s kit or administer a healing potion to a dying character as a bonus action. When you allow a creature to regain hit points, and it uses any number of Hit Dice in its short rest healing, the creature regains additional hit points equal to its level. This part is unnecessary.
Suggestions bolded.

Infiltrator
The number of rounds required for a Choke-Out is halved (minimum 1) and its duration is doubled.
I don't use Choke-Out so I abstain.

Go Get'Em
When you roll a critical hit on an attack roll, your allies that can see and hear you and are within 60 feet of you gain the following benefits until the start of your next turn:
- Attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
- Attack rolls are made with advantage.
I had a hard time mathing out this one. Giving the entire party Advantage but only in random spurts is tough to do. This feat also gets far stronger as you get more attacks and the party size increases. At the very minimum, I would require the bonus only apply to attacks against that same target, and as mentioned above, that's still pretty strong for a lot of party-on-one fights. And I might also limit the number of people you can grant the benefit.

-------------------


What playstyles are not supported?[/SIZE]
I see nothing about stealth, gaining extra skills/tools/languages/weapons, area spells, magic healing, or movement. They're not necessary, but you did ask.


Opinions above. Again, I really like the idea you're going for. Good luck!

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-23, 03:19 AM
Wow what a response! I really didn't expect this kind of traction ^^

Your suggestions are met with open arms :D

I'll implement the changes that convinced me. Do you want me to let you know which changes I'm not as sure about?


I see nothing about stealth, gaining extra skills/tools/languages/weapons, area spells, magic healing, or movement. They're not necessary, but you did ask.

I have another thread about brainstorming Stealth feats, exactly for this reason.

In my game we have a 30-day period of downtime every other session.
During that downtime a player can learn skills, weapons and languages.

Due to the nature of our gameplay, movement feats aren't nearly as strong at our table as they would be in a tactical grid-style game.

I'm not sold on making spells more powerful, but it is an idea. What fantasy were you thinking about fulfilling, specifically?

-------------------------

Charger: Updated
Defender's Mark: Updated. Alternative effect suggested.
Pacifist: Updated. I'm considering returning this feat to its vaguest state, in order to better facilitated case-by-case rulings; a rules lawyer can't argue with RAI if there are no RAW. There are a bunch of arbitrary limitations we can add. "When you are concentrating on a spell" or "When you are not concentrating on a spell" for example.
Magic Initiate: Updated.
Pet Keeper: Updated.
Combat Medic: Updated.
Elemental Affinity: ​Added.

AdAstra
2019-09-23, 03:53 AM
Both Battlewise and Go Get 'Em are just straight power boosts. A bonus to initiative that outscales Alert at high levels and a significant buff to martials when you get a critical hit. Go Get 'Em is especially egregious, since if you've got a fair number of martials, you can all take the feat and have a fair chance of keeping the buff going. Dedicated crit-fisher builds become exceptionally powerful, and can enable characters like Rogues and Paladins to be nearly as effective at it. 19% crit chance, ~27% if they can pick up Elven Accuracy is a lot for classes that do so much extra damage on crits.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-23, 09:49 AM
I'm at least reducing Go Get'em to "first attack on your turn".

Is it in poor taste to give feats that give similar effects to a spell? Been thinking about stealth a lot lately and due to the non-tactical style of our game, the only thing I can think of is just straight up Invisibility spell at a reduced duration once per long rest. Everything else is just too... consistent.

Yakk
2019-09-23, 10:53 AM
Instead of "Defender's Mark" I'd go with "Threat".

Implicit Threat
When you end your turn adjacent to an enemy while wielding a melee weapon, you threaten it. If you are not hit by an attack or fail a saving throw before the start of your next turn, all of your attacks on that creature have advantage on your next turn.

There is no "Marking", no "aggro". Just ... unless someone attacks you, you are about to mess them up good.

Do they feel lucky?

Now, most legendary monsters can attack more than one target per round, so they can possibly handle having 2-3 "tanks" threatening them.

By making it "hit" or "fail a saving throw", we force the legendary monster to either keep targeting the tank until they land a blow, or suffer the consequences.

Against mooks or the like, you can plow into a pile of them. They, together, have to manage to land a blow on you.

Multiple tanks "stack" naturally, as each one has to soak up a blow before the enemies are safe.

You could replace "advantage" with some other punishment mechanic (your attacks deal +10 damage, for example), if you find that everyone always has advantage already.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-23, 12:33 PM
Alright, looking at stealth options.

STEALTH FEAT
- You don't make noise while walking.
- When you are hidden and a creature spots you, but succeeds on their perception check by less than 5, you can use your reaction to dive back into cover. Make a dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to the triggering perception check. On a success, you remain hidden.

courtesy of Tiadoppler

Breccia
2019-09-23, 02:59 PM
Do you want me to let you know which changes I'm not as sure about?

Sure, but DMing is subjective. You have to do what's right for your group. And some of my suggestions were based on personal bias anyhow.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-23, 04:43 PM
Sure, but DMing is subjective. You have to do what's right for your group. And some of my suggestions were based on personal bias anyhow.

Exactly. This thread is about sharing opinions and suggestions, not debating which opinion or suggestion is the correct one, so let's leave it at that :D

AdAstra
2019-09-24, 08:10 AM
Agh, forgot the obvious problem with Go Get Em. It completely conflicts with your design goals. It’s a simple (though random) straight combat buff. It doesn’t add any options, it doesn’t have much RP value, it’s just a strong short-term buff that you can’t control. Plus there remains the problem of crit fishers and Assassins being able to apply the buff reasonably regularly (assassins especially will make surprise attacks even more deadly than before, and it was already a huge benefit).

Kane0
2019-09-24, 04:34 PM
Feats that aren't meant to be straight power boosts and taken alongside ASIs? Has anyone linked you to this guy's Talents (https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Dragonix) yet?

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-24, 07:55 PM
I'll take a look at talents and go get em :)

AdAstra
2019-09-25, 10:19 AM
What about an ability that allows you to switch your initiative with another willing creature at the start of combat? It’s definitely combat focused, but doesn’t directly add to anyone’s power except assassins (whose abilities require going before the target), but even then it’s not a huge deal. It adds to your options, offers some utility, and can encourage teamwork. Could work as a replacement for battlewise

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-25, 11:31 AM
We roll initiative every round, so I'm afraid that would slow down gameplay a lot :/

I often like putting a project like this away for a few days, and then come back to it with a fresh perspective. I've now done so, so I'm going to go over the feats and see if anything sticks out.

Battlewise: Looks nice as is.
Charger: Very happy with this.
Defender's Mark: How about using the Marked (https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Marked)mechanic, but using a -1d4 instead of disadvantage? It's only going to apply to my monsters anyways, so shouldn't slow things down too much. If i find no way to balance the marked mechanic I'll just make it a shield-less protection style.
Defensive Stance: Seem like a fair use of a reaction, although I'm worried this will scale way too fast.
Dirty Fighting: Just, sure, whatever.
Combat Medic: Because of the HP scaling in my game, I think this is OK for testing.
Elemental Affinity: I hope this is enough to fulfill the fantasy of "frost mage" or "fire mage" or "thunder fist". I'd love to get more suggestions on how to better make this character.
Grappler: Yeah, sure.
Go Get 'Em: I don't think this is much more powerful than the other feats we have here, and it's a personal favorite of mine ^^
Heavily Armored: Since Half-Plate and Full Plate are rare items, I can see this as a popular 8th level feat for many.
Hit-and-Run: I don't know how popular this is going to be, since all the nimble classess can already disengage as a bonus action. I don't think that's reason enough to remove it.... yet.
Infiltrator: It's fun, and supports a style of play i thoroughly enjoy.
Mage Slayer: This one worries me, since it is fairly strong, but the theme and utility is very strong.
Magic Initiate: This is a must-have, not much I can do about it.
Master Cloaker: I love this ability. Thank you good sir!
Helpful Adviser: It's boring, but useful. At least it doesn't include the 30 feet range.
Pet-Keeper: I can't wait to see the shenanigans this feat will cause.
Quaff: Another favorite of mine.
Shield Master: I like it.
Warcaster: Another favorite of mine, very happy with it.
Workaholic: Definitely a good pick for everyone, which makes it a good "I don't know what to choose" feat.

------------------------

I have a some rather long-lastingconditions in my game, including a houseruled Exhausted condition, lingering injuries and Death Saving Throws. I've done my best to make the penalties small enough so they don't just cause the party to give up and take a long rest. It would still be nice to offer a feat that further encourages powering through over resting up.

Maybe a bonus for each lingering injury, failed death saving throw or condition currently affecting you.

What should the bonus be?

I could make the bonus bigger by limiting it to exhaustion, failed death saving throws and lingering injuries. Or of you have any good phrasing for requiring two of something. Two failed death saving throws / one failed death saving throw and one injury / exhaustion and an injury etc.d f

I could also use death saving throws and lingering injures (which are mostly interchange-able in my game) as a resource for a special ability. Something nice and berserker-y like 2x proficiency bonus to damage rolls.

"You can use this a number of times equal to your combination of failed death saving throws and lingering injuries. When you gain an additional failed death saving throw or lingering injury you also gain an additional use of this ability"

For a more situational ability I could say "When you gain the exhausted condition, a lingering injury or a failed death saving throw, you gain X to Y until Z."

Note: Exhaustion: HP halved until long rest.

Strength of Enduring Pain
You gain a stacking bonus to damage rolls equal to your proficiency bonus for each of the following.
- If you have at least 2 failed death saving throw
- If you have at least 1 lingering injury
- If you have the exhausted condition.
- If you have at least one Madness effect.


---------------------------

EDIT: Now is a good time to repost any opinions before I consider this project mostly done and present it to my players. So if there was anything you said before that you feel still applies, please let me know :D