You may have missed the very important detail that you can't see in the magical darkness from Shadow-Touched.
Not sure how important that really is, because your allies never could already. This doesn't change that, either, unless the whole party coordinates for Eldritch Adept: Devil's Sight. Which is a whole separate Feat.
They're going to have problems implementing most of these. The Innovations and Metamagic most likely don't have support, and the Chef and Poisoner are limited by proficiency bonus, which they've said they couldn't do yet
They're going to have problems implementing most of these. The Innovations and Metamagic most likely don't have support, and the Chef and Poisoner are limited by proficiency bonus, which they've said they couldn't do yet
I've been wanting to homebrew invocations and metamagic for eons, but couldn't because apparently no-one thought that it was a possible thing that these would get expanded upon. Besides that, this type of feat isn't unprecedented. Martial Adept did this kind of thing, but with Battle Master maneuvers.
I honestly hope that we see all of these and more in a book by the end of the year. I like not having to level dip to get just an ability from another class. The weapon abilities gives more flavor and purpose to weapon selections. And the best part is these feats are not tied to races so adds to the variety of builds that we could see in our games.
It's worth noting that Martial Adept is, itself, not truly implemented correctly. Your "extra" superiority die is not added to your pool, nor are the maneuvers you get from Martial Adept listed with the other maneuvers in the Fattlemaster class. It's its own separate unique thingus that does not actually interact with 'regular' Maneuvers in the slightest.
It's functional, in that a player with a brain in their head can figure it out and keep track of their stuff properly, but yeah. Anyone who thinks any of this is getting implemented in DDB is off their rocker. Sadly, if it's not a janky subclass or a basic magic item, the current software tools are largely unable to support it.
Shield Training - I'm not sure if it's just me but I find this feat to be pretty underwhelming with the strongest part being the ASI and shield as a spellcasting focus being the strongest part of the feat.
...
For martial characters and partial casters, sure, but this means that wizards and sorcerers will all carry shields now. There's simply no better way to bump your AC by 2 as a full caster. Mage Armor + Shield already gets you +7. An actual shield gets you another +2, and that's before your dex mod. We're gonna see wizards with AC > 20 from this.
If we assume you have a dex of 14 and are a wizard with Mage Armor + Shield + a shield, your AC went from 19 to 21.
True, but after level 3, I've honestly never seen wizards or sorcerers get so low on slots that they can't afford to cast shield when they need it. If all else fails, you can always overpay for it by upcasting. Not ideal, but certainly preferable to an orc smashing your face in.
Also, it's not like they're using their reaction for anything else most of the time. Counterspell and Absorb Elements (which I've only ever seen cast once because people forget about it) don't come up often.
This is awesome! I'm a little sad about the prerequisite clause in Eldritch Adept requiring warlock levels, but I suppose a full Sorcerer/Bard/Paladin+Spell Sniper (Eldritch Blast)+Eldritch Adept (Agonizing Blast) is just a bit silly. Like others have said, it really seems like we'll get Xanathar's 2.0 this year.... is it too much to hope for expanded Racial Feats?
Yes this was caught by me on second read. If the invocation has ANY prerequisite at all, you have to be a warlock to take it. This leaves only a handful left for players that want a mini-pact in their character. This might need a bit of rephrasing.
Yeah I'll admit I completely spaced on the use for full casters. For them it's amazing, I'm just not the kind of person who sees a shield feat and instantly thinks about how I can use a shield on a full caster. Call me a bit generic but I tend to like my mages be more of the robe and staff.
Shield Training is an interesting alternative to War Caster for battlemage-style builds that're looking to bulk up, in that the shield becomes a focus and thus stops hindering spellcasting. Many robe-and-stick casters will still prefer War Caster to pick up advantage on concentration saves, but there other thing to consider is that Shield Training is a half-feat, and you get a point of Strength, Dex or Con when you take it. Getting a point of Con, proficiency with shields, and the ability to use shields as spell foci is a pretty tasty package for a number of war mages, the sorts who often start with a level of fighter to emphasize the 'Battle' in their battlemage.
ANYWAYS.
Artificer Initiate is a big one, methinks. Somebody else already pointed it out, but by selecting Alchemist's Tools as your AI choice, you can use the Alchemical Savant ability of the otherwise putrid Alchemist subclass on any spell you cast with Intelligence. Mostly, anyways. Particularly awful DMs will say anything that isn't an artificer-specific spell or which has a Material component cannot benefit from a focus, but if your DM allows you to use a focus for spells with a somatic component regardless, then Artificer Initiate allows you to pull off some shit.
Fighting Initiate isn't seeing as much love as it should be, either. Yeah, everybody's all "well basically it's just +1 AC to someone who already has a fighting style"...but they're wrong. Rogues can now take Fighting Initiate to get Archery fighting style and +2 their ranged sneak attacks, heavily improve their hit chances. Monks have proficiency with shortswords, which are a martial weapon, and thus they can qualify for Dueling - or Archery themselves, if they're a Kensei focusing on the bow. Barbarians are martial characters with martial proficiencies but no native access to a fighting style; Fighting Initiate solves that issue. And remember, at some point maybe we're getting a bunch of new fighting styles, and this feat as written retroactively includes any Fighting Style available to fighters whenever you're making your character. Monks with Blind Fighting? Barbarians with Unarmed Combat? here ya go, no fighter dip required anymore.
I see lots of fun with this UA like Variant Human Shadow magic Sorcerer taking the Eldritch Initiate for Armor of Shadows for no more mage-armor tax, or the Bard that takes the Chef feat he isn't a traveling musician but a traveling celebrity cook and with the bard class features you really want the Chef Bard during your short rests. Lots of fun in this one.
Fighting Initiate isn't seeing as much love as it should be, either. Yeah, everybody's all "well basically it's just +1 AC to someone who already has a fighting style"...but they're wrong. Rogues can now take Fighting Initiate to get Archery fighting style and +2 their ranged sneak attacks, heavily improve their hit chances. Monks have proficiency with shortswords, which are a martial weapon, and thus they can qualify for Dueling - or Archery themselves, if they're a Kensei focusing on the bow. Barbarians are martial characters with martial proficiencies but no native access to a fighting style; Fighting Initiate solves that issue. And remember, at some point maybe we're getting a bunch of new fighting styles, and this feat as written retroactively includes any Fighting Style available to fighters whenever you're making your character. Monks with Blind Fighting? Barbarians with Unarmed Combat? here ya go, no fighter dip required anymore.
I feel that most people don't bring it up because it's a good and we all know how good it is. Least that's the reason I only did a small snippet.
Yeah, Fighting Initiate on barbies would be handy for Great Weapon Fighting, especially for Greatswords and Mauls, which will also benefit from Crusher and Slasher (which both work on opportunity attacks!). That said, GWF only increases the average damage of them from 7 to 7.8, which is only an 11.4% buff.
Edit: math error. GWF increases it from 7 to 8.3, which is a 19% buff, which is much more substantial.
I've also taken a look over the metamagics to see what they enable when used on not-Sorcerers:
Careful/Distant/Empowered Spell Sure, this is useful for a Wizard or Druid, but I don't see this any better than it is on a Sorcerer.
Extended Spell I think this one benefits the most from being unchained from Sorcerers.
Rituals. I think Detect Magic, Comprehend Languages, Telepathic Bond, and Phantom Steed would benefit the most.
Summoned celestial, devil, elemental, or fey for 2 hours instead of 1, which would be big for Conjuration Wizards or Shepherd Druids.
Wind Walk since you could essentially travel anywhere you wanted in a day for a single slot.
Planar Ally is now half the cost, depending on your DM
Regenerate almost becomes decent
Creation would be more usable
Foresight and Mage Armor would last for 16 hours
Dream's duration being extended would be weird. Would it be able to force a creature to sleep for longer? That could be useful.
Heightened Spell Unless you take this feat multiple times, you can't afford it, so I'm not concerned about balance here.
Quickened Spell This might have interactions with Eldritch Knights or Paladins, but I'm not super familiar with either. Call Lightning is the only spell that really benefits from this that didn't before that I can find.
Subtle Spell The wizards can now resist Counterspell. High-level Druids could also cast any non-material spell while a spider for some assassination goodness.
Twinned Spell Honestly, this isn't that strong. The fact that sorcery points scale with slot level keeps this from doing anything crazy like dual-summoning with Gate or twinning Infernal Calling.
Elemental/Seeking/Unerring Spell None of these UA metamagics were that strong to begin with, and this doesn't change that.
Monks have proficiency with shortswords, which are a martial weapon, and thus they can qualify for Dueling - or Archery themselves, if they're a Kensei focusing on the bow.
Doesn't "Proficiency with Martial Weapons" mean the actual classification Martial Weapons, and not *a single* Martial Weapon? I'm not so sure a vanilla Monk is valid for that. But I do absolutely see where you're going with that.
Artificer Initiate: It's like Magic Initiate, but better! Also, you still get to take Magic Initiate! I like this feat, but think it will be nerfed (I also second the idea for an Artificer Infusion as a feat). This is a great feat for artificers, wizards, and good for the 1/3rd casters.
Chef: Good, I guess. I mean, I'd never take it, or encourage a player to take it really, but I could see situations where this would be very useful. I would prefer it as an Artificer (maybe bard or cleric subclass if it has to be), but this feat can stay. I think there should be some pre-requisite, based on needing healing spells or something, as it doesn't make much sense for a Wizard to have it, or an Archfiend Warlock. (Great feat for clerics, bards, druids that focus on goodberry, and alchemist artificers)
Crusher: I like the feat. Some people have expressed concern about the name, but I think it fits. This is a good feat, and fits well with the other weapon-damage focused ones (This feat is great with Monks).
Eldritch Adept: Nice feat. I always wanted more invocations as my Hexblade, and this would be nice. This will be very popular if it makes it into the book as is (The infinite mage armor or false life will be very attractive for Sorcerers and Wizards).
Fey Touched: Good feat. I'm sure a lot of Archfey warlocks will take this, as well as certain wizards and bards.
Fighting Initiate: Great feat. Some have mentioned Rogues getting Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting, and others have mentioned Barbarians getting a Fighting Style. I think a lot of people will take this, either to get more Fighting Styles as a Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger, or for a Hexblade or Bladesinger to get a fighting style.
Gunner: Besides firearms being broken, this making them even worse, and it being an amazing feat if you want to be a gun-user (especially as a Battlesmith Artificer or Battlemaster Fighter).
Metamagic Adept: Also, besides screwing the sorcerer even more (and helping it as well) it seems like a good feat. This will be a very attractive feat to people arcane casters, which they needed more of.
Piercer: Nice feat, like the Crusher feat. This is useful to archers, gun-users, cavaliers, rogues, and many more subclasses.
Poisoner: I mean, poisons do need help. Good feat, not much else to say.
Practiced Expert: I really hated that Prodigy was limited to humans, half-orcs, and half-elves. I mean, what the heck? Only people with human blood, rogues, and bards can be very, very good at a few certain things? If allowed, I will take this as every single character I play in the future. My changeling hexblade needs this for Deception, a Wizard needs this for Arcana, a Paladin needs it for Persuasion, Athletics, or Intimidation.
Shadow Touched: Good feat, except for the subclass it fits with the most: Shadow Sorcerers. They already get darkness, and I think you should be able to choose a different necrotic/illusion spell for this, like Blindness/Deafness or Ray of Sickness.
Shield Training: I mean, amazing feat. I would literally never not take this as a non-gish spellcaster without shields. It's even useful to gish spellcasters, and non-spellcasters. War Wizards would have great ACs with this, especially Hobgoblins with light armor.
Slasher: Good feat. Not much else to say, except slashing-sword users will have a great time with this feat.
Tandem Tactician: Good feat. People have been saying it screws the Mastermind, but not really. They still have a range of 30 feet for their abilities.
Tracker: Great feat. I would take it as a Ranger, but it does feel like another feat to make a class not feel needed anymore (Take this as a monk. You get the most attacks at lower levels, and will benefit the most from this).
Summary:
I like these feats in general. I see the problems with them, and expect several of these to be dropped/changed before entering Xanathar's 2.0. They are all good, all useful to most characters, and let me steal abilities from other classes without having to do all the multiclassing nonsense.
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I really like all of them, most specifically i love Eldritch Initiate. Very helpful to help fill out build, especially warlock multi class builds that may not get all the options you want.
I have a small issue with Metamagic Initiate; the fact that you learn 2 different metamagic options. That feels a little much to me cause metamagic options are a lot more powerful than something like battle master maneuvers where you only learn two and can only use one once. I feel like you should either get; 1 option with two points, or 2 options with 1 point.
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Not sure how important that really is, because your allies never could already. This doesn't change that, either, unless the whole party coordinates for Eldritch Adept: Devil's Sight. Which is a whole separate Feat.
They're going to have problems implementing most of these. The Innovations and Metamagic most likely don't have support, and the Chef and Poisoner are limited by proficiency bonus, which they've said they couldn't do yet
I've been wanting to homebrew invocations and metamagic for eons, but couldn't because apparently no-one thought that it was a possible thing that these would get expanded upon. Besides that, this type of feat isn't unprecedented. Martial Adept did this kind of thing, but with Battle Master maneuvers.
I honestly hope that we see all of these and more in a book by the end of the year. I like not having to level dip to get just an ability from another class. The weapon abilities gives more flavor and purpose to weapon selections. And the best part is these feats are not tied to races so adds to the variety of builds that we could see in our games.
All good stuff in my opinion.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
It's worth noting that Martial Adept is, itself, not truly implemented correctly. Your "extra" superiority die is not added to your pool, nor are the maneuvers you get from Martial Adept listed with the other maneuvers in the Fattlemaster class. It's its own separate unique thingus that does not actually interact with 'regular' Maneuvers in the slightest.
It's functional, in that a player with a brain in their head can figure it out and keep track of their stuff properly, but yeah. Anyone who thinks any of this is getting implemented in DDB is off their rocker. Sadly, if it's not a janky subclass or a basic magic item, the current software tools are largely unable to support it.
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Yeah if you want to see in magical darkness, pick Eldritch Adept feat.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
For martial characters and partial casters, sure, but this means that wizards and sorcerers will all carry shields now. There's simply no better way to bump your AC by 2 as a full caster. Mage Armor + Shield already gets you +7. An actual shield gets you another +2, and that's before your dex mod. We're gonna see wizards with AC > 20 from this.
If we assume you have a dex of 14 and are a wizard with Mage Armor + Shield + a shield, your AC went from 19 to 21.
So let's consider some various monster to-hit bonuses...
+2 enemies would deal 50% their previous damage
+5 enemies would deal 60% their previous damage
+8 enemies would deal 80% their previous damage
+15 enemies would deal 88% their previous damage
Remember that the Shield spell only lasts for one round.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
True, but after level 3, I've honestly never seen wizards or sorcerers get so low on slots that they can't afford to cast shield when they need it. If all else fails, you can always overpay for it by upcasting. Not ideal, but certainly preferable to an orc smashing your face in.
Also, it's not like they're using their reaction for anything else most of the time. Counterspell and Absorb Elements (which I've only ever seen cast once because people forget about it) don't come up often.
Yes this was caught by me on second read. If the invocation has ANY prerequisite at all, you have to be a warlock to take it. This leaves only a handful left for players that want a mini-pact in their character. This might need a bit of rephrasing.
Yeah I'll admit I completely spaced on the use for full casters. For them it's amazing, I'm just not the kind of person who sees a shield feat and instantly thinks about how I can use a shield on a full caster. Call me a bit generic but I tend to like my mages be more of the robe and staff.
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Shield Training is an interesting alternative to War Caster for battlemage-style builds that're looking to bulk up, in that the shield becomes a focus and thus stops hindering spellcasting. Many robe-and-stick casters will still prefer War Caster to pick up advantage on concentration saves, but there other thing to consider is that Shield Training is a half-feat, and you get a point of Strength, Dex or Con when you take it. Getting a point of Con, proficiency with shields, and the ability to use shields as spell foci is a pretty tasty package for a number of war mages, the sorts who often start with a level of fighter to emphasize the 'Battle' in their battlemage.
ANYWAYS.
Artificer Initiate is a big one, methinks. Somebody else already pointed it out, but by selecting Alchemist's Tools as your AI choice, you can use the Alchemical Savant ability of the otherwise putrid Alchemist subclass on any spell you cast with Intelligence. Mostly, anyways. Particularly awful DMs will say anything that isn't an artificer-specific spell or which has a Material component cannot benefit from a focus, but if your DM allows you to use a focus for spells with a somatic component regardless, then Artificer Initiate allows you to pull off some shit.
Fighting Initiate isn't seeing as much love as it should be, either. Yeah, everybody's all "well basically it's just +1 AC to someone who already has a fighting style"...but they're wrong. Rogues can now take Fighting Initiate to get Archery fighting style and +2 their ranged sneak attacks, heavily improve their hit chances. Monks have proficiency with shortswords, which are a martial weapon, and thus they can qualify for Dueling - or Archery themselves, if they're a Kensei focusing on the bow. Barbarians are martial characters with martial proficiencies but no native access to a fighting style; Fighting Initiate solves that issue. And remember, at some point maybe we're getting a bunch of new fighting styles, and this feat as written retroactively includes any Fighting Style available to fighters whenever you're making your character. Monks with Blind Fighting? Barbarians with Unarmed Combat? here ya go, no fighter dip required anymore.
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I see lots of fun with this UA like Variant Human Shadow magic Sorcerer taking the Eldritch Initiate for Armor of Shadows for no more mage-armor tax, or the Bard that takes the Chef feat he isn't a traveling musician but a traveling celebrity cook and with the bard class features you really want the Chef Bard during your short rests. Lots of fun in this one.
I feel that most people don't bring it up because it's a good and we all know how good it is. Least that's the reason I only did a small snippet.
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Yeah, Fighting Initiate on barbies would be handy for Great Weapon Fighting, especially for Greatswords and Mauls, which will also benefit from Crusher and Slasher (which both work on opportunity attacks!). That said, GWF only increases the average damage of them from 7 to
7.8, which is only an 11.4% buff.Edit: math error. GWF increases it from 7 to 8.3, which is a 19% buff, which is much more substantial.
I've also taken a look over the metamagics to see what they enable when used on not-Sorcerers:
Careful/Distant/Empowered Spell
Sure, this is useful for a Wizard or Druid, but I don't see this any better than it is on a Sorcerer.
Extended Spell
I think this one benefits the most from being unchained from Sorcerers.
Heightened Spell
Unless you take this feat multiple times, you can't afford it, so I'm not concerned about balance here.
Quickened Spell
This might have interactions with Eldritch Knights or Paladins, but I'm not super familiar with either. Call Lightning is the only spell that really benefits from this that didn't before that I can find.
Subtle Spell
The wizards can now resist Counterspell. High-level Druids could also cast any non-material spell while a spider for some assassination goodness.
Twinned Spell
Honestly, this isn't that strong. The fact that sorcery points scale with slot level keeps this from doing anything crazy like dual-summoning with Gate or twinning Infernal Calling.
Elemental/Seeking/Unerring Spell
None of these UA metamagics were that strong to begin with, and this doesn't change that.
Doesn't "Proficiency with Martial Weapons" mean the actual classification Martial Weapons, and not *a single* Martial Weapon? I'm not so sure a vanilla Monk is valid for that. But I do absolutely see where you're going with that.
Fighting Initiate only says "proficiency with a martial weapon". Shortswords are a martial weapon, and monks have proficiency with it.
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Ah, I read it wrong. My mistake.
Okay, here's my full reviews:
Artificer Initiate: It's like Magic Initiate, but better! Also, you still get to take Magic Initiate! I like this feat, but think it will be nerfed (I also second the idea for an Artificer Infusion as a feat). This is a great feat for artificers, wizards, and good for the 1/3rd casters.
Chef: Good, I guess. I mean, I'd never take it, or encourage a player to take it really, but I could see situations where this would be very useful. I would prefer it as an Artificer (maybe bard or cleric subclass if it has to be), but this feat can stay. I think there should be some pre-requisite, based on needing healing spells or something, as it doesn't make much sense for a Wizard to have it, or an Archfiend Warlock. (Great feat for clerics, bards, druids that focus on goodberry, and alchemist artificers)
Crusher: I like the feat. Some people have expressed concern about the name, but I think it fits. This is a good feat, and fits well with the other weapon-damage focused ones (This feat is great with Monks).
Eldritch Adept: Nice feat. I always wanted more invocations as my Hexblade, and this would be nice. This will be very popular if it makes it into the book as is (The infinite mage armor or false life will be very attractive for Sorcerers and Wizards).
Fey Touched: Good feat. I'm sure a lot of Archfey warlocks will take this, as well as certain wizards and bards.
Fighting Initiate: Great feat. Some have mentioned Rogues getting Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting, and others have mentioned Barbarians getting a Fighting Style. I think a lot of people will take this, either to get more Fighting Styles as a Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger, or for a Hexblade or Bladesinger to get a fighting style.
Gunner: Besides firearms being broken, this making them even worse, and it being an amazing feat if you want to be a gun-user (especially as a Battlesmith Artificer or Battlemaster Fighter).
Metamagic Adept: Also, besides screwing the sorcerer even more (and helping it as well) it seems like a good feat. This will be a very attractive feat to people arcane casters, which they needed more of.
Piercer: Nice feat, like the Crusher feat. This is useful to archers, gun-users, cavaliers, rogues, and many more subclasses.
Poisoner: I mean, poisons do need help. Good feat, not much else to say.
Practiced Expert: I really hated that Prodigy was limited to humans, half-orcs, and half-elves. I mean, what the heck? Only people with human blood, rogues, and bards can be very, very good at a few certain things? If allowed, I will take this as every single character I play in the future. My changeling hexblade needs this for Deception, a Wizard needs this for Arcana, a Paladin needs it for Persuasion, Athletics, or Intimidation.
Shadow Touched: Good feat, except for the subclass it fits with the most: Shadow Sorcerers. They already get darkness, and I think you should be able to choose a different necrotic/illusion spell for this, like Blindness/Deafness or Ray of Sickness.
Shield Training: I mean, amazing feat. I would literally never not take this as a non-gish spellcaster without shields. It's even useful to gish spellcasters, and non-spellcasters. War Wizards would have great ACs with this, especially Hobgoblins with light armor.
Slasher: Good feat. Not much else to say, except slashing-sword users will have a great time with this feat.
Tandem Tactician: Good feat. People have been saying it screws the Mastermind, but not really. They still have a range of 30 feet for their abilities.
Tracker: Great feat. I would take it as a Ranger, but it does feel like another feat to make a class not feel needed anymore (Take this as a monk. You get the most attacks at lower levels, and will benefit the most from this).
Summary:
I like these feats in general. I see the problems with them, and expect several of these to be dropped/changed before entering Xanathar's 2.0. They are all good, all useful to most characters, and let me steal abilities from other classes without having to do all the multiclassing nonsense.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I really like all of them, most specifically i love Eldritch Initiate. Very helpful to help fill out build, especially warlock multi class builds that may not get all the options you want.
I have a small issue with Metamagic Initiate; the fact that you learn 2 different metamagic options. That feels a little much to me cause metamagic options are a lot more powerful than something like battle master maneuvers where you only learn two and can only use one once. I feel like you should either get; 1 option with two points, or 2 options with 1 point.