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“Feat tax” is a term used in the third and fourth editions of the game to describe feats that granted static bonuses so useful they were considered must-haves by many players (e.g. There’s another reason to stay away from feats that grant static bonuses to AC, attacks, and damage. Likewise, a feat shouldn’t grant static bonuses to attack and damage with melee weapons, because increasing a character’s Strength score has the same effect. For instance, a feat shouldn’t grant a static +1 bonus to AC, since increasing a character’s Dexterity score has the same effect. What Feats Should Not Doįeats should not do what ability score improvements already do. I’ll walk you through creating each of these three kinds of feats in detail, but first a word on what feats do not do.
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If you make this kind of feat, measure it against similar feats created by Wizards of the Coast. Actor, Keen Mind, Linguist, Observant, and Weapon Master from the Player’s Handbook are all good examples of this kind of feat. You can think of that bullet point as half the feat’s power and the other bullet point(s) within the feat as the other half. This single feature is clearly not as powerful as a normal ability score improvement, since only one score gets raised by 1. The third kind of feat is similar to the second, but one of the feat’s features is an increase of a single ability score by 1. If you make this kind of feat, measure it against similar created by Wizards of the Coast. Alert, Dungeon Delver, Grappler, Shield Master, and War Caster from the Player’s Handbook are all good examples of this kind of feat. These features are less powerful and often only apply under a strict set of circumstances, like War Caster granting advantage on Constitution saving throws only if the roll is made to maintain concentration on a spell. The second kind of feat is made up of two or more smaller features, usually broken out in bullet points in the feat’s description. If you sit down to create a feat like this, weigh it against these similar options and ask yourself, “Does my feat outshine these? Does it measure up?” Defensive Duelist, Inspiring Leader, Lucky, Ritual Caster, and Tough from the Player’s Handbook are all good examples of this kind of feat. The first gives a character a single, powerful ability, akin to something you might see as a class feature. There are three kinds of feats in fifth edition D&D. Would I rather take an ability score improvement to my most important ability than take this feat? The answer to this question should be yes (in most cases).Would I rather take an ability score improvement to my least important ability score than take this feat? The answer to this question should be no (in most cases).Two questions to ask yourself when designing a feat: It needs to be a difficult choice, which is why creating a feat is tricky. At the same time, feats should not be so powerful that choosing them over ability score improvements is a no-brainer. Feats have to be powerful enough to attract a player away from taking an ability score improvement. Ability scores are at the core of D&D and most of a character’s features are tied to those abilities. Each time a character chooses to take a feat they give up at least some, and in many cases all, the benefits of an ability score improvement. When it comes to designing feats, the guideline to start with is ability score improvements. Can I reskin or tweak another creation to suit my needs?.Does my creation already exist as official D&D content?.
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Before You Start, Ask the Important Questionsīefore you begin to design any new element of the game, don’t forget to ask these three questions, the importance of which are discussed in the backgrounds post: This article gives you guidelines and tips to make feat creation easy. The line between too powerful and not powerful enough is thin and ill-defined when it comes to new feats. Unlike backgrounds, which all follow the same formula, and unlike spells or monsters, which have plenty of numbers to help you figure things out, feats are tiny, powerful, and can do almost anything. Design Workshop – Featsįeats are one of the toughest elements of Dungeons & Dragons to balance.
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If you want advice on how to build a background specifically in D&D Beyond, check out that version of the article. I’ve stripped most of the references to the D&D Beyond to keep the advice here more universal and streamlined. This article first appeared on D&D Beyond. Hey guess what? You can preorder my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure right now! Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games