PDA

View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Some Feats (Who Knows If They're Good?)



Amechra
2019-12-05, 01:08 AM
Blood Mage
Prerequisite: The ability to cast spells.
You have tapped into a tradition of gore-based magic, gaining the following benefits:
• You gain +1 Constitution, to a maximum of 20.
• Whenever you cast a spell, you may use your Constitution as your spellcasting ability score.
• Whenever you cast a spell with a single target, you may use your target's blood as an arcane or divine focus.

Torch Dancer
You have mastered a combat style centered around fighting with lit torches, gaining the following benefits:
• You gain +1 Strength or +1 Dexterity, to a maximum of 20.
• You may treat torches as a simple weapon that you are proficient with. If you do, it deals 1d4 fire damage on a hit and has the Finesse and Light properties.
• When you score a critical hit with a torch, that creature catches fire. It takes 1d4 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.

Frozenstep
2019-12-05, 02:05 AM
Blood mage: Too good. For the cost of one feat, casters can feel free to invest in their con instead of their primary attribute, boosting their tankiness and their spellcasting at the same time.

The use of blood as a focus is also strange, does the blood need to be in line of sight? Or can I start casting as soon as an enemy is close to me, even if they haven't bled? How does a DM rule where blood is on the battlefield? Can you just wipe your finger on a puddle of blood and use that? If I were trying to figure out where an escaped opponent was, and suspect they disguised themselves and are trying to blend into a crowd, could I use some of their blood and keep trying to use a spell that requires a focus until it works on someone?

Torch dancer: I can imagine a GM rolling their eyes as a rogue sneak attacks and gets a crit, and so with a tiny little torch inflicts 2d4 + 5 + 20d6 fire damage. I approve.

Seriously though, perhaps a bit too niche. Really useful to convert your damage to something that doesn't get resisted by the common non-magical weapon resistance, but almost useless past that unless you fight in an antimagic field against something resistant/immune to non magical weapons. Maybe if elemental vulnerability was a bigger thing in this edition...

Trandir
2019-12-05, 04:29 AM
Blood mage: Too good. For the cost of one feat, casters can feel free to invest in their con instead of their primary attribute, boosting their tankiness and their spellcasting at the same time.



Let's not forget our friends not full casters. Mostly eldritch knights that at the cost of half an ASI can remain as SAD as they where before 3rd level.

Blood mage is fun but you might want to put the good old gimmick of "suffer 1d6 necrotic damage add 1d6 to a spell damage" or similar. Messing with the spellcasting ability shouldn't be a thing. The blood as focus is maybe a little underdeveloped. Also not all spellcasters have a focus so what happens if a ranger takes this?


The torch one is fine. Not game breaking and better than some other feat. It's hilarious to set a water elemental to fire with a torch but it's balanced. Finally you can use torch and shield and still attack when you play a Vhuman.

JNAProductions
2019-12-05, 12:53 PM
Amechra, you usually do great work.

Torch Dancer is fine.

But Blood Mage is definitely not. As mentioned by others, the ability to make yourself Con-SAD is amazing-well worth a feat. Not to mention, it applies to ALL casting-so you want a crazy Bard/Wizard/Cleric multiclass? Well, good thing that for one feat, you only need Con for all them.

What I would do is perhaps allow you to spend hit dice to upcast spells.

Breccia
2019-12-06, 03:35 PM
"Blood as a reagent" is a neat idea, but requires actual game mechanics. Also, considering mid-level and up casters might have an enchanted focus, and also that's when they'll fight more and more creatures without blood, this benefit seems progressively less useful.

There are probably several alternatives you could use. The first one that leaps to mind is "If you attempt to cast an enchantment or necromatic spell at a single living creature that is below its maximum hit points, that spell's range is doubled" basically letting you cast wound-seeking spells. It's not a great suggestion, but I couldn't think of a good replacement on the same lines of thinking.

Replacing M-components or foci doesn't seem all that special, plus the blood mage would be crippled when the undead come around the corner if they just didn't bring them, so they probably have them anyhow just to be safe.

Amechra
2019-12-10, 12:07 AM
So Blood Mage is a no. Figures; I don't have a hang on the balance or feel for feats in 5e (which is ironic, considering that I literally wrote hundreds of the damn things for 3.X.)

I really like the whole "use Constitution as your casting stat" thing for thematic reasons (it isn't too crazy outside of multiclassing). I can think of some alternatives, but I don't really feel like pursuing any right now. Ah well.