Designer Feats

Put them in your designer shoes

A couple weeks ago, I discussed building new races and classes. I mentioned that adding feats to the game is the quickest and easiest way to modify a class without breaking the system.

So how do you make feats?

Well, you look on that spreadsheet I linked, and make an ability from there into a feat. Done!

Oh, wait, you want a different feat?

A cool new feat that is totally unique?

And it isn't on the spreadsheet?

Okay, fine.

Making Feats

There are two types of feats in D&D 5e: Full Feats and Half Feats. A Half Feat is a few weaker abilities bundled with an Ability Score Improvement appropriate to the feat. It's called a Half Feat because Feats normally replace Ability Score Improvements, and a Half Feat takes half of both and combines them.

So, in terms of the spreadsheet above, a Full Feat should be worth about 8 points, and a Half Feat should be worth 4 points, with an ASI covering the other 4. This is pretty useful information, as it gives you a whole slew of abilities to use as a template for your new feats. Basically, add up 8 points of racial abilities, and you've got yourself a feat.

But not all feats are created equal. Some are worth more or less than others.

Exclusively uses great weapons

Here are some feats that break the mold:

• Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter are amazing feats, easily worth 10 points apiece.
• War Caster gives advantage on a common roll and two other abilities, making it at least 10 points.
• Shield Master is like Evasion + always half cover + another bonus action option
• Ritual Caster is incredibly useful for classes that don't already have the ability to cast rituals
• Healer is great for non-healing classes. Healer's Kits are cheap!
• Crossbow Expert gives you a bonus action, negates disadvantage on a common roll, and lets you use extra attacks with your crossbow. Amazing!
• Athlete: even with the ASI, these are situational at best, probably not worth 4 points.
• Durable: Won't even be useful half the time. Not worth it.
• Marital Adept: ONE superiority die. Nope.
• Skilled: Absolutely not worth it.
• Weapon Master: There's literally no class that benefits from this. They already have all the weapon proficiencies they need. Your basically just punishing multiclass character by forcing them to take another feat. I hate this feat.

So, when designing your feat, you can reasonably make a set of abilities in the 6-10 point range. Too much higher, though, and you risk making a feat that players will feel required to take. Too low, though, and you'll never see your feat be used.

And remember, when you make a feat, you aren't just going up against a 2 point Ability Score Improvement. You are also going up against character's potential build. A character in 5e generally wants their most relevant stats to be at 20 by level 8 or 12. This means that unless your player rolled well on their stats, they probably won't be taking feats until higher levels in the game.

Of course, this varies by class based on which stats the class needs, and how many ASI's they get over the course of the character.

• Barbarians have 5 ASIs, and need to get STR and CON to 20. Depending on their starting stats, might be able to take 1 feat, but it isn't likely until later in the build.
• Bards have 5 ASIs, and need to get CHA to 20, with a preference for high DEX. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Clerics have 5 ASIs, and need to get WIS to 20, with a preference for high CON. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Driuds have 5 ASIs, and need to get WIS to 20, with a preference for high CON or DEX. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Fighters have 7 ASIs, and need to get STR or DEX to 20, with a preference for high CON or INT. Depending on their starting stats, they will probably take anywhere from 2 to 4 feats.
• Monks have 5 ASIs, and need to get WIS and DEX to 20. Depending on their starting stats, might be able to take 1 feat, but it isn't likely until later in the build.
• Paladins have 5 ASIs, and need to get STR and CHA to 20, with a preference for high CON. With that many stat requirements, they aren't likely to be able to take a feat.
• Rangers have 5 ASIs, and need to get STR or DEX to 20, with a preference for high WIS. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Rogues have 6 ASIs, and need to get DEX to 20, with a possible need for high INT. Depending on their starting stats, they will probably take anywhere from 2 to 4 feats.
• Sorcerers have 5 ASIs, and need to get CHA to 20, with a preference for high CON or DEX. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Warlocks have 5 ASIs, and need to get CHA to 20, with a preference for high CON. You can expect them to take a feat once they hit higher levels.
• Wizards have 5 ASIs, and need to get INT to 20, with a possible need for high CHA. Depending on their starting stats and subclass, they will probably take anywhere from 1 to 3 feats.

So Fighters, Rogues, and Wizards have the most freedom to take feats, which means the most-used feats will be abilities that those classes don't normally have access to. These classes are also very generic, meaning with a simple feat you can make a ton of unique characters without much hassle. And because of the high number of feats such characters will take, it's likely the designers expected these to be the easiest classes to customize and add feats to.

Want to dual-wield axes? Why not?

But on the other end of the spectrum, you have the Barbarian, Monk, and Paladin. These classes aren't really going to have enough stats in their build to consider feats. If you want to make a feat for your Paladin, it better be worth them not reaching 20 STR or CON by the end of their build.

That said, an easy way to make a Feat more desirable (and encourage players to pick it up earlier) is to make it a Half Feat. Particularly for those classes that would wait until the late game to grab a feat, adding that ASI +1 makes their option a little less severe. The player doesn't feel like they've lost their chance at getting to 20.

For reference, to build a Half Feat, you'll need to make the feature the Feat grants related to the ability score that is affected. Here are the examples from the Player's Handbook:

• STR: Athlete, Heavily Armored, Heavy Armor Master, Lightly Armored, Moderately Armored, Resilient, Tavern Brawler, Weapon Master
• DEX: Athlete, Lightly Armored, Moderately Armored, Resilient, Weapon Master
• CON: Durable, Resilient, Tavern Brawler
• INT: Keen Mind, Linguist, Observant, Resilient
• WIS: Observant, Resilient
• CHA: Actor, Resilient

You'll find that the less feat-taking classes will be drawn towards these Feats, and you should model your new feats off of them.

I think that about covers it. For more examples of feats, I wrote a couple articles about them a while back. Check them out, and let me know how I did!

Won't you think of the paladins?

Thanks for reading!