My (most excellent and generous!) DM is allowing our party to homebrew a feat at 8th level, if we choose to. I'm playing a monk (who is doubling as the party's rogue) and I have a vision of him parkouring all over the place. I'm looking for feedback on my idea for a "Parkour Master" feat. Is this OP'ed? Is there anything about it that I should change/add/remove? Thanks!
Prerequisite: Strength or Dexterity 13 or higher.
You can negotiate your environment by running, jumping and climbing with advanced parkour maneuvers.
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
You gain proficiency in either Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). If you are proficient in both skills, you gain expertise in one.
If there are surfaces (walls, trees, boulders, crates, statues, railings, dragons, etc.) to bound off:
your long jump and high jump distances are doubled.
your initial melee attack on your turn gains advantage if the target is within jumping distance.
you may use Dexterity (Acrobatics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for climbing.
difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement on that turn when you use the Dash action.
Standing up from prone costs 5 feet of your movement instead of half.
It looks pretty balanced to me! A lot of the abilities will be useful when the situation arises, but aren't overpowered. They're great situational abilities!
I am worried a bit about the expertise. Is it just a way to get your DM to give you expertise because you have 2 proficiencies in 2 skills?
Re: the expertise...yes, partly. But I was also just thinking about a real-life parkourer(?) and they seem like they have next-level athletic/acrobatic skills. (Certainly what I would think of as beyond "proficient".)
Thanks for the review! It's the first time I've tried to craft a feat and wanted to see if I'm in the right ballpark.
My (most excellent and generous!) DM is allowing our party to homebrew a feat at 8th level, if we choose to. I'm playing a monk (who is doubling as the party's rogue) and I have a vision of him parkouring all over the place. I'm looking for feedback on my idea for a "Parkour Master" feat. Is this OP'ed? Is there anything about it that I should change/add/remove? Thanks!
Prerequisite: Strength or Dexterity 13 or higher.
You can negotiate your environment by running, jumping and climbing with advanced parkour maneuvers.
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
You gain proficiency in either Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). If you are proficient in both skills, you gain expertise in one.
If there are surfaces (walls, trees, boulders, crates, statues, railings, dragons, etc.) to bound off:
your long jump and high jump distances are doubled.
your initial melee attack on your turn gains advantage if the target is within jumping distance.
you may use Dexterity (Acrobatics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for climbing.
difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement on that turn when you use the Dash action.
Standing up from prone costs 5 feet of your movement instead of half.
It is too much.
Compare that to Squat Nimbleness, Athlete, and Mobile, and Skill Expert. Pretty sure you have taken elements from at least 3 of those. This Feat does way more than any one of those. No, you have to scale this back, big time. Further, you added creatures into the mix that a char can bounce off of. No way that should happen.
The bounding off creatures part was somewhat an in-joke in our party. :) I can remove that. And the standing from prone is just cool, but if you think that's too much, I could remove that too.
And yes, I did steal the wording from some of those other feats, but I didn't just combined all of every part of those three feats. That would be over powered.
Essentially, it's got a half-ASI, a proficiency bump in one ability, and some situational/conditional features (must have a surface within parkour distance). Which of those are over powered? Or are you saying collectively it is over powered? (Just trying to understand.)
The bounding off creatures part was somewhat an in-joke in our party. :) I can remove that. And the standing from prone is just cool, but if you think that's too much, I could remove that too.
And yes, I did steal the wording from some of those other feats, but I didn't just combined all of every part of those three feats. That would be over powered.
Essentially, it's got a half-ASI, a proficiency bump in one ability, and some situational/conditional features (must have a surface within parkour distance). Which of those are over powered? Or are you saying collectively it is over powered? (Just trying to understand.)
I would say in general it is over-powered.
For starters, if I had already Athletics or Acrobatics, and adding a point to Dex or Str, then take Expertise in one of those 2 skills, that alone covers the entire set of features of Skilled Expert.
But then you add on:
1 feature from the Mobile Feat
1 feature from the Athlete Feat
2/3's of the Jump spell, but permanent
Pretty much guarantee yourself Advantage on your first attack each turn, as in most situations you can find a target within 15 or 20 feet of you, every turn.
The part about Acrobatics versus Athletics wrt to Climbing is not a big deal, since I know several DM's do that automatically.
I think you have to scale this back substantially. I would say losing the Advantage to attack, the 2/3 jump spell portions.
Thanks for that analysis. Your reply really put a different perspective on it. Based on your thoughts, I'll probably remove the proficiency/expertise part and change it to be:
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
If there are surfaces (walls, trees, boulders, crates, statues, railings, dragons, etc.) to bound off:
your long jump and high jump distances are doubled.
you may use Dexterity (Acrobatics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for climbing or jumping, and you gain advantage on climbing or jumping checks.
your initial melee attack on your turn gains advantage if the target is within jumping distance.
difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement on that turn when you use the Dash action.
I hear you on the 2/3 permanent jump spell part, but I will argue (with my DM, not with you!) that it's a conditional (must be a suitable surface near by) "permanent" and would be less powerful than the Ring of Jumping I could purchase from a local shop keeper. As for the initiative on first attack, I don't see that as too overpowered because our DM encourages us to do things/set up situations to gain advantage - and has the bad guys do the same to us! But again, I see your point and why it's valid when rolled into the larger discussion of why the feat is overpowered.
I only meant I was doubling as a rogue because I have the best stealth, climbing and best chance to lockpick. Not that I have any actual rogue skills like sneak attack.
I'd say drop the auto-advantage and just talk with your DM about granting the first attack advantage when you pull off a particularly cool or surprising bit of parkour. The feat seems to have been made exclusively for your character anyway, so just drop the broken part from the rules text and talk with your DM about it. (It's basically the same thing, as your DM has to approve homebrew feats anyway, right?)
Thanks for that analysis. Your reply really put a different perspective on it. Based on your thoughts, I'll probably remove the proficiency/expertise part and change it to be:
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
If there are surfaces (walls, trees, boulders, crates, statues, railings, dragons, etc.) to bound off:
your long jump and high jump distances are doubled.
you may use Dexterity (Acrobatics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for climbing or jumping, and you gain advantage on climbing or jumping checks.
your initial melee attack on your turn gains advantage if the target is within jumping distance.
difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement on that turn when you use the Dash action.
I hear you on the 2/3 permanent jump spell part, but I will argue (with my DM, not with you!) that it's a conditional (must be a suitable surface near by) "permanent" and would be less powerful than the Ring of Jumping I could purchase from a local shop keeper. As for the initiative on first attack, I don't see that as too overpowered because our DM encourages us to do things/set up situations to gain advantage - and has the bad guys do the same to us! But again, I see your point and why it's valid when rolled into the larger discussion of why the feat is overpowered.
I really appreciate the analysis!
For me, the Advantage portion is the thing that is the biggest issue.
I'd say drop the auto-advantage and just talk with your DM about granting the first attack advantage when you pull off a particularly cool or surprising bit of parkour. The feat seems to have been made exclusively for your character anyway, so just drop the broken part from the rules text and talk with your DM about it. (It's basically the same thing, as your DM has to approve homebrew feats anyway, right?)
Thanks for that analysis. Your reply really put a different perspective on it. Based on your thoughts, I'll probably remove the proficiency/expertise part and change it to be:
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
If there are surfaces (walls, trees, boulders, crates, statues, railings, dragons, etc.) to bound off:
your long jump and high jump distances are doubled.
you may use Dexterity (Acrobatics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for climbing or jumping, and you gain advantage on climbing or jumping checks.
your initial melee attack on your turn gains advantage if the target is within jumping distance.
difficult terrain doesn’t cost extra movement on that turn when you use the Dash action.
I hear you on the 2/3 permanent jump spell part, but I will argue (with my DM, not with you!) that it's a conditional (must be a suitable surface near by) "permanent" and would be less powerful than the Ring of Jumping I could purchase from a local shop keeper. As for the initiative on first attack, I don't see that as too overpowered because our DM encourages us to do things/set up situations to gain advantage - and has the bad guys do the same to us! But again, I see your point and why it's valid when rolled into the larger discussion of why the feat is overpowered.
I really appreciate the analysis!
For me, the Advantage portion is the thing that is the biggest issue.
Noted. I'll see what my DM has to say about it, but I really appreciate your helping me get the rest of it in-line. Thanks!
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My (most excellent and generous!) DM is allowing our party to homebrew a feat at 8th level, if we choose to. I'm playing a monk (who is doubling as the party's rogue) and I have a vision of him parkouring all over the place. I'm looking for feedback on my idea for a "Parkour Master" feat. Is this OP'ed? Is there anything about it that I should change/add/remove? Thanks!
Prerequisite: Strength or Dexterity 13 or higher.
You can negotiate your environment by running, jumping and climbing with advanced parkour maneuvers.
It looks pretty balanced to me! A lot of the abilities will be useful when the situation arises, but aren't overpowered. They're great situational abilities!
I am worried a bit about the expertise. Is it just a way to get your DM to give you expertise because you have 2 proficiencies in 2 skills?
Overall though, I really like this feat!
Re: the expertise...yes, partly. But I was also just thinking about a real-life parkourer(?) and they seem like they have next-level athletic/acrobatic skills. (Certainly what I would think of as beyond "proficient".)
Thanks for the review! It's the first time I've tried to craft a feat and wanted to see if I'm in the right ballpark.
It is too much.
Compare that to Squat Nimbleness, Athlete, and Mobile, and Skill Expert. Pretty sure you have taken elements from at least 3 of those. This Feat does way more than any one of those. No, you have to scale this back, big time. Further, you added creatures into the mix that a char can bounce off of. No way that should happen.
The bounding off creatures part was somewhat an in-joke in our party. :) I can remove that. And the standing from prone is just cool, but if you think that's too much, I could remove that too.
And yes, I did steal the wording from some of those other feats, but I didn't just combined all of every part of those three feats. That would be over powered.
Essentially, it's got a half-ASI, a proficiency bump in one ability, and some situational/conditional features (must have a surface within parkour distance). Which of those are over powered? Or are you saying collectively it is over powered? (Just trying to understand.)
I would say in general it is over-powered.
For starters, if I had already Athletics or Acrobatics, and adding a point to Dex or Str, then take Expertise in one of those 2 skills, that alone covers the entire set of features of Skilled Expert.
But then you add on:
1 feature from the Mobile Feat
1 feature from the Athlete Feat
2/3's of the Jump spell, but permanent
Pretty much guarantee yourself Advantage on your first attack each turn, as in most situations you can find a target within 15 or 20 feet of you, every turn.
The part about Acrobatics versus Athletics wrt to Climbing is not a big deal, since I know several DM's do that automatically.
I think you have to scale this back substantially. I would say losing the Advantage to attack, the 2/3 jump spell portions.
Vince,
Thanks for that analysis. Your reply really put a different perspective on it. Based on your thoughts, I'll probably remove the proficiency/expertise part and change it to be:
I hear you on the 2/3 permanent jump spell part, but I will argue (with my DM, not with you!) that it's a conditional (must be a suitable surface near by) "permanent" and would be less powerful than the Ring of Jumping I could purchase from a local shop keeper. As for the initiative on first attack, I don't see that as too overpowered because our DM encourages us to do things/set up situations to gain advantage - and has the bad guys do the same to us! But again, I see your point and why it's valid when rolled into the larger discussion of why the feat is overpowered.
I really appreciate the analysis!
A monk as the parties rogue? Yeah no, instant advantage for a rogue is utter BS.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
I only meant I was doubling as a rogue because I have the best stealth, climbing and best chance to lockpick. Not that I have any actual rogue skills like sneak attack.
I'd say drop the auto-advantage and just talk with your DM about granting the first attack advantage when you pull off a particularly cool or surprising bit of parkour. The feat seems to have been made exclusively for your character anyway, so just drop the broken part from the rules text and talk with your DM about it. (It's basically the same thing, as your DM has to approve homebrew feats anyway, right?)
For me, the Advantage portion is the thing that is the biggest issue.
Thanks!
Noted. I'll see what my DM has to say about it, but I really appreciate your helping me get the rest of it in-line. Thanks!