So I'm new-ish to DMing (having not been one since 2012 with 3.5) and I've been planning a campaign recently. My group, which just got started, has 3 DMs in it and we plan on taking turns to DM 3 parallel campaigns, alternating every 5-6 sessions. I want to start at level 1 for my go round, but I know that level 1 PCs are not very exciting or characterful to play, so I want to give them access to a 1st level feat to add some variety.
Has anyone compiled a good list of appropriate 1st-level feats? I know there are some that would just break the game at low levels (looking at you Luck) and I want to make sure I'm not hobbling my ability to run a game or creating an unfun experience for the rest of the group.
My first question would be, have you folks played much 5e?
Some comments :)
1) Playing 1st level characters is as much fun as playing higher level characters - it is a different challenge because they have fewer options but it is a role playing game and can be loads of fun at 1st level - especially if you are getting familiar with 5e. (The biggest issue from a DM perspective with level 1 characters are the low hit points such that an unlucky crit can knock them unconscious and in some cases instantly kill them ... so you need to watch out for that - even level 2 makes a big difference from that perspective so I'd suggest getting them to level 2 reasonably quickly).
2) Giving a feat at first level is fine ... however, if you think Lucky is a problem feat then I have the feeling that you've not played much 5e or when you have played it has been just one encounter/adventuring day. In a more typical adventuring day with 3 or so encounters in a day and normal variation from say 1 to 6 encounters (not necessarily combat) the Lucky is usually a second tier choice in my experience. It is a good back up, cool when it work, but most of the time, it doesn't work since you are most likely to want to use it on a difficult die roll and if the die roll is difficult the first time, it is difficult the second. Anyway, that comment is from experience, I have a couple characters with Lucky, I've DMed a couple of characters with Lucky and played with a couple more who took the feat (that is a small fraction of the people I've played with) and in all cases it was never a problem, and far from game breaking.
In tier 1, the most powerful combat feats tend to be ones that give you an additional attack - Polearm Master (particularly with a spear or quarterstaff so the characters uses a shield as well), and Cross Bow expert. Adding the stat to the damage of the second attack can come close to doubling the average damage of the second attack in tier 1 compared to two weapon fighting.
Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter by themselves are generally not an issue in tier 1. The -5 to hit/+10 damage against tier 1 creatures is usually a bad trade off and using it results in doing less damage in most cases except perhaps against a really low AC target. So, I haven't found those to be an issue either.
Those four feats are likely the ones most likely to be considered an "issue" in tier 1 - personally, in my experience, I don't have a problem with any of them in tier 1. However, when you reach late tier 2 and tier 3, when the characters have magical weapons, the AC of opponents starts to plateau, and the characters may have more ways to generate advantage on their attack rolls then the -5/+10 feature of SS/GWM and the additional attack from CBE/PAM develop a synergy so that these characters can really do a great deal more damage.
3) If you don't mind characters starting with an 18 in a stat then you could limit their feat choices to "1/2 feats" - the ones that increase a stat by +1 and come along with a couple of other usually interesting options. Base power levels get a lift with the 18, many will get their primary stat to 20 at level 4, but they will have a couple more options from the other aspects of the feat that will differentiate the characters a bit more. Some examples of 1/2 feats are Athlete, Actor, Durable, Fey Touched, heavily armored, heavy armor master, moderately armored, Shadow Touched, Resilient, Observant, Telepathic, Telekinetic ...
The issues with Lucky were more from reading others' experiences with 1st level feats.
My hope was to help my players get more into the story of their character with a feat that is connected to their class, race, or background and makes sense to have at that point.
Part of the reason I was hoping someone might have a list of "acceptable" 1st-level feats. I kind of went through the feat list here and made a list that I think will work. I guess it'll be trial and error! If it makes them too efficient at 1st level, then I just up the challenge of encounters.
My hope was to help my players get more into the story of their character with a feat that is connected to their class, race, or background and makes sense to have at that point.
You can still do that, just put it on the players. They can have a feat at level 1, if the can justify how/why they got it.
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So I'm new-ish to DMing (having not been one since 2012 with 3.5) and I've been planning a campaign recently. My group, which just got started, has 3 DMs in it and we plan on taking turns to DM 3 parallel campaigns, alternating every 5-6 sessions. I want to start at level 1 for my go round, but I know that level 1 PCs are not very exciting or characterful to play, so I want to give them access to a 1st level feat to add some variety.
Has anyone compiled a good list of appropriate 1st-level feats? I know there are some that would just break the game at low levels (looking at you Luck) and I want to make sure I'm not hobbling my ability to run a game or creating an unfun experience for the rest of the group.
Any suggestions?
My first question would be, have you folks played much 5e?
Some comments :)
1) Playing 1st level characters is as much fun as playing higher level characters - it is a different challenge because they have fewer options but it is a role playing game and can be loads of fun at 1st level - especially if you are getting familiar with 5e. (The biggest issue from a DM perspective with level 1 characters are the low hit points such that an unlucky crit can knock them unconscious and in some cases instantly kill them ... so you need to watch out for that - even level 2 makes a big difference from that perspective so I'd suggest getting them to level 2 reasonably quickly).
2) Giving a feat at first level is fine ... however, if you think Lucky is a problem feat then I have the feeling that you've not played much 5e or when you have played it has been just one encounter/adventuring day. In a more typical adventuring day with 3 or so encounters in a day and normal variation from say 1 to 6 encounters (not necessarily combat) the Lucky is usually a second tier choice in my experience. It is a good back up, cool when it work, but most of the time, it doesn't work since you are most likely to want to use it on a difficult die roll and if the die roll is difficult the first time, it is difficult the second. Anyway, that comment is from experience, I have a couple characters with Lucky, I've DMed a couple of characters with Lucky and played with a couple more who took the feat (that is a small fraction of the people I've played with) and in all cases it was never a problem, and far from game breaking.
In tier 1, the most powerful combat feats tend to be ones that give you an additional attack - Polearm Master (particularly with a spear or quarterstaff so the characters uses a shield as well), and Cross Bow expert. Adding the stat to the damage of the second attack can come close to doubling the average damage of the second attack in tier 1 compared to two weapon fighting.
Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter by themselves are generally not an issue in tier 1. The -5 to hit/+10 damage against tier 1 creatures is usually a bad trade off and using it results in doing less damage in most cases except perhaps against a really low AC target. So, I haven't found those to be an issue either.
Those four feats are likely the ones most likely to be considered an "issue" in tier 1 - personally, in my experience, I don't have a problem with any of them in tier 1. However, when you reach late tier 2 and tier 3, when the characters have magical weapons, the AC of opponents starts to plateau, and the characters may have more ways to generate advantage on their attack rolls then the -5/+10 feature of SS/GWM and the additional attack from CBE/PAM develop a synergy so that these characters can really do a great deal more damage.
3) If you don't mind characters starting with an 18 in a stat then you could limit their feat choices to "1/2 feats" - the ones that increase a stat by +1 and come along with a couple of other usually interesting options. Base power levels get a lift with the 18, many will get their primary stat to 20 at level 4, but they will have a couple more options from the other aspects of the feat that will differentiate the characters a bit more. Some examples of 1/2 feats are Athlete, Actor, Durable, Fey Touched, heavily armored, heavy armor master, moderately armored, Shadow Touched, Resilient, Observant, Telepathic, Telekinetic ...
That all makes sense to me.
The issues with Lucky were more from reading others' experiences with 1st level feats.
My hope was to help my players get more into the story of their character with a feat that is connected to their class, race, or background and makes sense to have at that point.
Part of the reason I was hoping someone might have a list of "acceptable" 1st-level feats. I kind of went through the feat list here and made a list that I think will work. I guess it'll be trial and error! If it makes them too efficient at 1st level, then I just up the challenge of encounters.
Thank you for the input and the help!
You can still do that, just put it on the players. They can have a feat at level 1, if the can justify how/why they got it.