Feats are a great way to spice up how unique your character is in regards to any other character. As crafting a unique character with their own story, personality and abilities is one of the building blocks of the DnD experience.
As such, today we will explore what they are, what they offer the player, and how to get feats in 5e. So, without further ado. Let’s get into it!
Table of Contents
What are Feats?
Feats are special attributes that you can get for your character, some of these are race-bound while others are class-bound. They each offer you extra customizability to your character, making them truly unique.
In other words, Feats are what make you; “You.”
Think of them as “character special capabilities.”
There are many different types of feats with different effects & capabilities that they offer. But before we get into that, we have to answer another question.
How to get them?
Before we continue, it’s important to mention that this will only cover the rules as laid out in their respective guidebooks. So any optional feats rule may be invalid.
There are certain prerequisites and criteria that need to be met before you can get a feat. For starters, you get them at every odd-numbered character level (1, 3, 5 …). But to unlock some you have to have achieved a certain thing prior. These are:
- Sufficient Ability Score: For some feats, you need a sufficient Ability Score before you can unlock them.
I.E ability score improvements are a necessity for some feats – increase ability scores people! - Class: As mentioned in the introduction, some feats are class and race-tied.
- Other Feats: Some feats require a previous feat before you can get them.
- Base Attack Bonus: Some weapon-related feats require you to have a certain Base Attack Bonus before you can get them.
- Other factors: Sometimes there are x other factors that prohibit you from getting a feat, read the Handbook or PRD to better understand these prerequisites.
That’s all the basics you need to know about getting them, how about what types there are?
Types of Feats
As mentioned previously, there are many types that you can acquire throughout your game. The circumstances differ for each one, but here is a general list to understand the kinds of feats you can expect to find in a typical game of Dungeons and Dragons.
Combat Feats
These are the kinds that you get to help you in combat. This can either mean a bonus to a certain proficiency or the capability to wield a certain type of weapon. Pretty self-explanatory right?
Examples of these are the polearm master feat, the war caster feat, the lucky feat, the medium armor master feat, and much more.
Although untypical to DnD, some house rules or 3rd party rules may allow you to achieve a feat thanks to certain actions you perform – especially if it’s a roleplay-heavy game. Roleplaying feats really aren’t that uncommon if you think about it.
Critical Feats
This type of feat allows you to apply an additional condition or effect on a target hit by a critical hit. In essence, it allows you more options to choose from when you land a successful critical hit.
Item Creation
These types allow you to create and enchant items of different kinds. The principles remain the same though, regardless of type. They all have raw material costs, time, item costs, any extra costs, and skill checks that need to be checked before you can continue.
Metamagic Feats
These are fun. Think “spell feats.” These basically allow you to modify the effect of a certain spell of your choosing, it doesn’t change the level of the spell so the DC remains the same for casting it. In essence, giving your spell casting special abilities.
There are many factors that go into this one so it is best to consult the Handbook or PRD for any specific changes that you may want to make. And if the DM will allow you that is.
In Conclusion
That’s basically everything there is to know about feats. As you keep on playing dungeons and dragons and gain proficiency in all its mechanics, they should click right in. Feats are a great feature that really helps build up the world and the characters in it, truly making each and every one unique.
As was mentioned earlier. Each feat is an extra attribute to what your character is and can do. With this, you can get pretty creative and make a really wacky character, or you can optimize your character to how you like. Get creative with your character customization.
Of course, as there are so many factors that must be aligned when choosing one it’s always prudent to consult your handbooks, as one little factor that you’ve forgotten about could prohibit you from taking certain feats.
Even though the basics were presented here. It is best to discuss these things with the DM prior to the start of a campaign, (like the optional feat rule we mentioned earlier) as he may want to include certain other rules in regards to feats and how they work.
