Tasha's half-feats for casters

[Greywander]

I was looking at building a warlock, and noticed I can grab Fey Touched, Shadow Touched, Telekinetic, and Telepathic, bumping CHA from 16 to 20 in the process. Since all of these feats give a choice of INT, WIS, or CHA (i.e. this works for any caster, not just warlocks or CHA casters), I was curious how many people decide to grab these instead of a regular ASI?

I suppose it's a matter of whether I'd rather trade these four feats for two full feats, which is a tough call. It's nice to be able to get a feat while also boosting your spellcasting stat, but there are some other really great feats that you'll miss out on in the process. Perhaps these are best used to even out an odd score, rather than boosting a stat all the way to 20. If I start with a 17 in CHA, then it might be good to pick one of these, but not to get all the way to 20.

[Blood of Gaea]

I don't think I'd go that crazy and scoop every one of them up. But I think it makes starting with a 17 in your casting stat a very strong option. Most casters don't really need over a 14 in anything but their casting stat, so it's easy enough to arrange.

There's also a kind of cheese strategy where a Custom Lineage could start with an 18 in their casting stat by putting both their +2 and half-feat in their casting stat.

[Ashe]

I suppose it's a matter of whether I'd rather trade these four feats for two full feats, which is a tough call.

You can't take two 'half feats' instead of an ASI. You get the ASI, or a feat (including 'half feats').

[Greywander]

You can't take two 'half feats' instead of an ASI. You get the ASI, or a feat (including 'half feats').
You're spending four ASIs to either (a) pick up four half feats, or (b) pick up two full feats and two +2s. Either way you end up with a 20 in your casting stat if you started at 16.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You could go elf or half-elf, start with 17, and swap two of those for Elven Accuracy. I'd keep Telekinetic and one of the -touched feats.

A Changeling can start with 18 Cha, since their +1 can go anywhere.

[P. G. Macer]

You could go elf or half-elf, start with 17, and swap two of those for Elven Accuracy. I'd keep Telekinetic and one of the -touched feats.

A Changeling can start with 18 Cha, since their +1 can go anywhere.

That was changed in the Eberron errata, the +1 now has to go to a stat other than Charisma.

[da newt]

In my opinion starting w/ a 16 in your casting stat and then taking 4 1/2 feats to get to 20 is far too costly for the benefit.

I do think it is a great option for starting w/ a 17 in your primary stat and then taking a half feat.

This is even better if you start Custom Lineage for an 18 in your primary stat at level 1 with a feat too - if this is allowed at your table. Custom Lineage + Fey Touched for 18 at level 1 seems almost unfairly good.

[Gignere]

For a warlock getting all four is probably not very efficient I’d probably at most grab Fey Touched and Shadow Touched, if I was playing a caster warlock. Especially if I was the only semi full caster in the group.

[Unoriginal]

Telepathic and Telekinetic are pretty good, I've been considering several builds using them.

[Waazraath]

They are strong feats; I'd definitely aim for starting with a 17, if possible, and pick one of those at lvl 4 if it would fit my concept. After that, dunno... I don´t like picking a half feat, and having to wait 4 levels before the `+1´ half of that feats get useful (when taking another half feat). I'd sooner see myself taking a half feat at 4, +2 to max to 20 at 8, and maybe another half feat at 12 if I could use it to raise another odd mental score.

[Emongnome777]

I'm a big fan of Telekinetic and Fey Touched, less so Telepathic and Shadow Touched.

I'd rate Telekinetic higher than Fey Touched for a class without a consistent use of their bonus action. My DM let me retcon my +2 Int at 8th level for Telekinetic (9th level wizard) when TCoE was released. First session, I used the shove feature a couple of times. It was nice to have a bonus action option each round. The mage hand part may or may not see use, but it's there if I need it.

Fey Touched spell options are way better than Shadow Touched to me. I've read the list a couple of times and there aren't any I can get excited about.

IMO, Telekinetic + Fey Touched is every bit as good as +2 casting stat and one full feat. Less so with the other two you mentioned.

[Gignere]

I'm a big fan of Telekinetic and Fey Touched, less so Telepathic and Shadow Touched.

I'd rate Telekinetic higher than Fey Touched for a class without a consistent use of their bonus action. My DM let me retcon my +2 Int at 8th level for Telekinetic (9th level wizard) when TCoE was released. First session, I used the shove feature a couple of times. It was nice to have a bonus action option each round. The mage hand part may or may not see use, but it's there if I need it.

Fey Touched spell options are way better than Shadow Touched to me. I've read the list a couple of times and there aren't any I can get excited about.

IMO, Telekinetic + Fey Touched is every bit as good as +2 casting stat and one full feat. Less so with the other two you mentioned.

For a wizard I would agree but for a warlock with quite a bit of bonus action economy already I probably rate Shadow Touched higher than both psychic feats. Due to:

1. Warlock has way less spells known so getting extra spells known is a pretty big effing deal.
2. Warlock has several bonus actions built in to the class via hex, moving hex, etc.
3. Limited spell slots getting additional castings per day is also a much bigger deal for a warlock than say a wizard.

[Emongnome777]

For a wizard I would agree but for a warlock with quite a bit of bonus action economy already I probably rate Shadow Touched higher than both psychic feats. Due to:

1. Warlock has way less spells known so getting extra spells known is a pretty big effing deal.
2. Warlock has several bonus actions built in to the class via hex, moving hex, etc.
3. Limited spell slots getting additional castings per day is also a much bigger deal for a warlock than say a wizard.

This is all true. The bow ranger I'm in a party with has his BA totally used up from Hunter's Mark, so a warlock using Hex has his bonus action spoken for. I'm still a little sour on Shadow Touched. The 1st level spell selection is weak and I'm a bigger fan of Misty Step from Fey Touched than Invisibility (though both are great).

[Cikomyr2]

This is all true. The bow ranger I'm in a party with has his BA totally used up from Hunter's Mark, so a warlock using Hex has his bonus action spoken for. I'm still a little sour on Shadow Touched. The 1st level spell selection is weak and I'm a bigger fan of Misty Step from Fey Touched than Invisibility (though both are great).

I expressedly play a non-EB/hex warlock. I rely on a custom Toll the Dead use, but also the fantastically useful and versatile Summon Undead as my concentration spell.

So my bonus action is free every round. And oh man do I love Telekinetic. I am my group's savior against grappling enemies.

[Ogun]

Say, how does that work against grapplers?

Also, what is your custom toll the bell spell?

I had been thinking of flavoring magic stone as a telekinetic attack, but its just not up to par with EB.

[QQinfinity]

I love these feats, I generally take two at most.

My Variant Human Wizard with rolled stats has taken Telekinetic as their starting feat, he is 19 int at lv1 and can push/pull people at will with a bonus action. This push/pull works on all targets regardless of sizes (unlike thorn whip and gust, which have size restrictions) and creatures can willingly fail the save. This allows you to relocate allies to help them avoid opportunity attacks and so much more.

I also planned to make my wizard pick up Fey Touched at lv4 to reach that 20 int. Misty step is always useful, and I plan to give them the "Gift of Alacrity" spell from the Wildemount book. I already have the permission of the DM to use that spell. So each day I can simply slap a bonus of 1d8 to my initiative for free, and I can give it to any teammates who ask my old miser of a wizard nicely.

Even if you don't roll for stats, telekinetic is still a wonderful choice for casters who are lacking in bonus action. Like let's say druids (no, not you star druid), and any other specific build that doesn't have too many things to do with their bonus action, like bards who want to ration out their inspiration or warlocks that only have hex and nothing else.

A friend of mine who is playing Bladesong decided to take shadow touched, and they're loving it too.

[Silpharon]

Fey Touched (hex, bless, or gift of alacrity) and Skill Expert (stealth) appeal to my builds.

[Cikomyr2]

Say, how does that work against grapplers?

Also, what is your custom toll the bell spell?

I had been thinking of flavoring magic stone as a telekinetic attack, but its just not up to par with EB.

when someone is moved out of a grappler's reach, the grapple is automatically ended. Telekinetic allow only unwilling moved people to have a saving throw, so a grappled ally voluntarily fails the throw and is automatically ungrappled.

the custom Toll the Dead spell comes from the Master of Undead homebrew Warlock Pact (https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LSsloXOv8CJe8T0oJ2j). It's basically +Cha to damage, and you can use it once per short rest to do a fear effect. It's been my bread and butter damage generator and part of my battlefield control suite.

edit: regarding the "Moving out of someone's grapple", that would also apply with any effect that forces movement in an ally. It's just that most of these effect usually also cause damage (repelling blast, thorn whip, etc...). Telekinetic is smoother, AND a bonus action! :smallbiggrin:

[Ogun]

Thank you Cikomyr2!