BONUS Level Up Perks | Character Customization for D&D 5e

[@DrewHerrema]

It's a good thing I waited to comment about doing the perks mid level. It would help by making time between levels feel shorter.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Exactly! We both had the same thought there lol!

[@BigCowProductions]

It was my idea to do mid-level, too :D

[@Bergmax1691]

I gave my alchemist artificer a bonus perk that let them spend a spell slot to roll on the Wild Magic Surge Table instead of the normal table when they made an experimental elixir. They threw their first potion at a Shadow and turned it into a potted plant.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Hahahaha EPIC!!

[@RoadAveku]

So he turned it into deadly nightshade?

[@Bergmax1691]

@@RoadAveku Nope! Just an innocent potted plant that they burned to ashes like coldhearted killers.

[@RoadAveku]

@@Bergmax1691 noice xD

[@jasonp9508]

My favorite DC tip I’ve adopted! I’m doing this now just at milestones (level 6, 10...). Really like perks that drive teamwork. Example: one PC has ranger/rogue build with crazy initiative always going first. Perk now allows him to swap initiative with another party member! Another example is barbarian can use his reaction to take a hit for another PC (human shield). More teamwork, without a net party power creep!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Ooooo totally a cool way to do them! Love it! and YES party combos! love it

[@alexanderrogers4557]

Best class reveal? Party of 4 though we never told each other what subclasses we took. Keeps things more intesting and allows for doing big reveals. Our warlock standard eldritch blasting stuff nothing special UNTIL we were level 5 and then he pulls out a HEXBLADE! He had been playing hexblade for 2 levels and we didn't know. We may have lost our collective sh*t when we were starting to get beaten down and then he and the DM exchange a look (was in person before COVID). Pulls a black, shadowy sword out of his own chest and calmy stabs a hobgoblin. Good times...

[@derekstein6193]

Cool story, bro.

[@OneNationRestorations]

You absolutely nailed that feeling at the table when players unleash their customizations for the first time

[@br41nc3ll]

Great work once again, Coach 👍

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Appreciate that, thank you once again!

[@fasthandshero85]

I gave one player advantage on any checks made with his deck of cards(street magician background) Another I gave “First aid” you can aid an ally and allow them to roll one of their own hit die for healing. He was a martial class that wanted to heal. Bonus perks are the best.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Omg exactly!! That’s perfect!

[@MaleusMaleficarum]

my favorite extra rule from Xanthar's Guide to Everything... is giving advantage on a Skill check if you have a relevant Tool Proficiency. Tool proficiencies are basically ignored... yet they still hand them out to Rogues and Artificers. This makes things feel so much more... functional.

[@jasonp9508]

Really like your First Aid idea.

[@WalkOnNick]

I do similar things with magic items. I also love homebrewing these and making them specifically tied to their character.

[@derskalde4973]

Some ideas for such "bonus feats": For swordsmen: *Bladeguard* As reaction, you can add your weapons attack die to your AC, to try and deflect arrows with your blade. For archers: *Shortdraw* As reaction, you can shoot an Enemy that is closer than your range of effectiveness without disadvantage (some people, like Lars Andersen, have shown that it's possible. I just thought to make it a reaction, so it doesn't change the game too much, but feel free to make it available as normal action, though I'd recommend to do this at a higher Level, where experiance explains it) *Returning Arrow* You can use your reaction, to grab an arrow, that is aimed at you, out of the air and shoot it back at the archer that originally shot it. This works similar to the Monks "Deflect Missile" ability. *Curved Shots* On your turn, you can decide to use your attack action to shoot your arrow in a way, that it flies in a curve around a corner. You have disadvantage on the shot, as you can't see your target. However, on a hit, it causes 1d6 additional piercing damage to the target, as it didn't expect the attack. (feel free to increase the DC after the first shot/hit or make it a "only once per encounter" or "once per enemy" thing. Or maybe "only a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus") All of these are just ideas, feel free to addapt them to your needs.

[@syvajarvi2289]

I home brew feats like this for my players to where, if they play long enough, become a person of legend and songs for things other than being in a campaign and it also can be the source to develop a home brewed sub class.

[@umbra4729]

This sounds like a cool alternative to something I already do - when a PC of mine has a big moment, through story, combat, roleplay, whathaveyou, I grant them a feat that reflects that. One of my players recently had a very cruel, sadistic encounter with an enemy they defeated and captured, and as such I granted him the Cruel feat from the Tal'Dorei Campaign Guide by Matt Mercer. It worked super well and he loved it! But now... You've helped me realise I can make it a little more custom... hehehe

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Ooooo YES I love when they tie into the story!

[@joshrogers4909]

One of my favorite homebrews. I think it also helps role-playing because they can do what they think is cool and I can keep them feeling good in a fight.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

100% agree!! 💜

[@williamjohnston5315]

A previous video brought to mind a "talents" concept I had which would do this- but give players the customization on the players. The idea is each level, the players get a talent. This can be used to learn a team maneuver, a combat technique, spell synergy, you name it. Then you could allocate a talent point, come up with a cool day, and train for it (long term skill challenge) One day I'll need to write this down, but things like a toss combat maneuver or casting fireball and lightning bolt to create a new more powerful spell. I might mix this concept with your perks, giving players a chance to train with allies to learn these abilities. Thanks!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Omg that sounds sweet! Love that I’ve helped in some way towards this! Awesome!

[@elmsigreen]

LOVE THIS. I took a small page out of your book and gave one of my players the ability to Rage once a day like a Barbarbian. He is a Strength based Monk and was planning on taking a level in Barbarian at some time but Monks get so many cool things almost every level so he was starting to stress out about when to actually take that dip. So I gave him this little perk (That was actually tied to a magic item that he already had). And they are most likely leveling up after next session so I might yoink a few little perks from your PDF =)

[@TheIncredibleFlyingD]

I’ve used this for my all Elven group going through LMOP. We had a Rogue & Ranger and I noticed in the first cave that they were always tempted to go ahead as scouts. Level 2 Perks were for the whole group to use the Rogues’ stealth score -1 as long as they are within 5’ of him and can see the hand signals he uses to communicate to them. I got a party that didn’t split up all the time and the players got to be the sneaky Elf party they had imagined. (The Rogue & Ranger got something just for them too).

[@guanacoasesino6495]

I love this mini perk rule, i'm using this and my player love it! And for me is so great to reward them for roleplaying or to help them in some way to achive their goals...

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Exactly! Achieving goals!!

[@cloak5857]

I did this for the first time when they hit 5 at the end of our last session. They were all excited about what they got and I'm hyped to see them in use. Here's what I went with for anyone interested: Shadar'kai Barbarian - When you teleport (Raven Queens Blessing race feature) to a square qithin 5 ft of an enemy you can make a free melee attack. Trickster Cleric/Rogue - (She was having issues not having darkvision so she was relying in the light cantrip a ton) Light spell can now creates a floating mote of light you can control mentally and make it return to you from any distance so she can see in the dark without having a beacon on her head. Blood Hunter - (He really wanted to do magic tattoos) I had an NPC teach him some methods to apply magic tattoos previously but he didn't have any so this perk gave him 3 magic tattoos he could apply with magic ink. Halfling Sorcerer - (We use a homebrew Intoxication mechanic similar to exhauation because they like to drink all the liquor they ever find) Whenever your level of Intoxication increases (Tipsy-Drunk-Wasted) you get 1 bonus sorcery point up to a max of 3 that expire when you long rest. Oath of Blood Paladin (Ravenloft homebrew) - She is completely focused on dual wielding and slicing up baddies so I just implemented DC's dual wield changes, letting her attack with both weapons at once.

[@TheRiveners]

A campaign that I'm running is just getting started with characters at level 6, and i basically included half feats for free that offer no ASIs. For instance i have a bladesinger who is compelled to feed the hungry whenever she can, so as part of it i gave her the flavor text from the Chef feat as well as proficiency in cooks utensils. For The paladin for the god of the dead, i made up a feat called Burial Rites that allows him to ritual cast Gentle Repose as part of a burial ceremony proficiency times per day, as well as having the spell always prepared so he can use it with a spell slot if they were in a pinch without revivify. I cant wait to check out your resource for more ideas!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Awesome! Sounds like we have some similar gameplay philosophies! Love it!

[@adriel8498]

Best reveal I had, I was a clockwork soul sorcerer and I had my healing spell (Aid) for a long time, but then 3 party members where down and then was the first time I used My spell, saving them. That was awesome, the team healer was down and nobody knows I had that spell in my list, so when I revealed that I was building my character as a secondary healer, was a good moment. In narrative he didn,t had those powers, he gained them in that critical moment when he tried to save his friends.

[@natedubman]

When I first heard you talk about this a couple months ago, I immediately threw it into my game. It's a fan favorite for sure. To those that are worried that the fun of this would be offset by too much work for the DM... then don't implement it. It's a great idea for those that like personalizing their player's characters and make then feel more unique, but I'm sure it's not for everyone out there.

[@jozcofoz8560]

My god man, fricking creative perks, plus players loooooove this

[@neokoga]

I actually took this idea and spun it onto my NPCs. I thought narratively and logically about what would make sense and came up with some interesting ideas. Not just baddies, but 'good guy' NPCs, guards, etc. For one example, the party has interacted with these two specific gate guards on multiple occasions. I know that the town will be attacked at some point in the near future and was trying to figure out what would make sense to stat out the Town Guard as they aren't really top notch soldiers or anything, but realized after this that these two they had interacted with should have their own custom perks/feats. So one now has a Great Weapon master like perk since he is always sharpening and talking about his Great Axe and how Offense is more important. And the other, who talks about defense being more important, who had purchased extra chainmail to go under his plate, so he now has a perk like Tough and a raised armor class. Also the town's Baron who is a Cleric who has devoted himself to the study and the use of healing magic on a larger scale, (i.e. being able to cure maladies of an entire town at once with a mass curse disease or an upcast mass healing word on an entire army unit [balanced by essentially he uses all his spell slots at once to accomplish these feats and needs to rest for 24 hours after from the exertion]) I'm going to give him a modified Beacon of Hope spell that will stabilize all downed allies within the town walls and increase healing for 1 minute. Narratively this will be an epic moment and a surprise for the players as they have only heard rumors of his power up to this point and don't really believe it. I love how hearing things like this can spur imagination, thanks DC!

[@JudgeKrod]

Long time viewer, first time poster. Love your homebrew advice. I was running an evil campaign where all my players were followers of Orcus. The campaign started at level five and the first real mission they completed was destroying an alter in a forest temple to Mielikki that was housing the Wand of Orcus They had to immediately hand it over to the avatar of Orcus that manifested from all the corpses laying around, but when they did I unvieled the custom revamped system I created that allowed not just the cleric but also the warlock and sorcerer to use animate dead and they wreaked so much havoc with the mini army of zombies and skeletons they had. Such a fun campaign, so sad it ended before I could give them the Wand back. I was using boons from Orcus as my in game reason for giving them occasional extra powers just like your system before I found your channel. Great work, love your videos!

[@antoniolins420]

I used it last time my players leveled up, I gave more breath weapon uses to the dragonborn and uses a bonus action instead of an action, the monk can use ki points when doesnt have any, but gets a level of exhaustion for each ki, and the wizard can learn one spell just by whacting someone casting it. I'm from Brazil, sorry if there is something wrong

[@TheDungeonCoach]

That’s awesome! Those sound GREAT!!

[@Natsirt666]

Just last week in the game i play in, I am a level 6 Light Cleric, and got to cast my first Fireball. It was awesome! Big badda boom!

[@scatterbug]

Shout out to the multi-class video! One of my favorites. :)

[@Ramperdos]

I found your channel about a year ago and it's awesome to see how much it has grown! Keep up being awesome and bringing more positive energy to D&D!

[@dennysquintanilha4917]

For my first campaign I started with a simple premise, "you are mercenaries for an investigation company", everyone made their characters (Drow Rogue, Drow Druid, Aasimar Fighter, Duergar Paladin, Tiefling Barbarian, and Human Hexblade), this was their first mission together (almost a suicidal mission), they bonded but most went their separate ways after it (except the two Drows who finally had someone to trust, and the Aasimar Fighter who wanted to become a Paladin so he started following the Duergar Paladin). That was the end of Season 1 of the campaign, and after that, we had a 6-year time skip before Season 2 started, everyone was free to make new characters if they wished, but as expected, they didn't. The only change was the Hexblade, he just told me, "I'm changing my character's appearance and name so everyone thinks it's a different character, and at the right moment, I will reveal the big surprise". I thought it was pretty cool, but as the sessions went, we both started developing this surprise a lot more; The new appearance is a new guy who was sent to kill the Hexblade, and the demon inside the blade killed him so the Hexblade gave his body to the mind of the new guy, and is now asleep inside his own body. Now we are at the end of Season 2, the Hexblade finally awoke, he and new guy are sharing the body, so they got the ability to once a day concentrate on 2 Spells at once. It's pretty strong but my encounters usually are pretty hard so it becomes balanced.

[@dallinlowe2627]

Had a forge domain cleric and a ranged fighter. The cleric found a cool npc in the first town who was a blacksmith of cool magic items. He wanted to surprise the fighter with a special bow so throughout the campaign I had him looking for materials and when they visited the blacksmith again, he and the npc made a magic bow. A shield bow. Has longbow stats, +2 to attack and damage rolls and ac. Could use a reaction to boost ac from an incoming ranged attack, potentially making it miss. And I had the player grant this to the other player and they both loved it!!

[@JackOfHearts42]

I like the idea of how it can balance the power level for characters that are really lacking in an area. Otherwise, I don't particularly like the HUGE superpowerful feel of characters with 20+ abilities, but upgrading an ability they use often seems great. Looking at comics, for example, Marvel and DC characters tend to have between 1&3 powers, that over the run they get better at, and it's the villians that have a big pool of a variety of powers.

[@Arekkusu666]

One thing I've done for my players is, whenever they gain an ASI for their character, they also get to take a bonus feat as well. That way they don't have to pick between one or the other, and since each class is different, they get more flexibility in how they want to build their character. And I'm not worried about them being "too strong". As DM, I can adjust combat encounters to be harder or easier as needed.

[@Dyrnwyn]

I am a huge fan of this approach and it works very well in OD&D to AD&D 2nd edition or so. It can work in 5th as well as you say, but to my personal taste the heroes are already way too powerful to begin with. To give you some old school perspective, the powers that a character would amass over their adventuring career would be in most part from the magic items they won through adventuring. That was how characters were diversified. Because characters didn't get ASIs and supernatural combat feats every couple of levels, finding a magic item was so much more special. Now, maybe your game didn't have so much dungeon delving and treasure finding. So you could absolutely grant your players custom-tailored abilities as they levelled up. My take on it is to give them abilities based on what they've been doing, how they've been roleplaying, and what they've achieved. For example, if a fighter makes it a point to roleplay him playing soothing music around the campfire every night from level 1 onward, then at level 3 or so I might give him some kind of ability that aids the party's healing with music. If a mage has been spending a lot of time dealing with political issues in the court of the King, then I might grant a permanent bonus to checks made involving court intrigue, etiquette, and so on, or the ability to muster a couple of loyal henchmen at the beginning of an adventure. If a character has a couple of uncanny and related successes, like dodging deadly arrow traps or landing critical hits on dragons with her bow, then I'd give a permanent bonus to trap-related saving throws or a bonus to shooting dragons. It's amazing how much D&D of every edition can open up once you start to put the rulebooks aside.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Love it! Yea I usually don’t have a TON of back to back dungeon delving in mine 👌🏼

[@MaleusMaleficarum]

see... for these very reasons... is why i prefered 4th edition. I would rather have the Martial characters have relevant abilities that shine... without giving them fantastic magical items just to keep them on par with the Wizards and Sorcerers. WotC can talk about class balance without magic items all they want... but the whole game starts to break down as soon as characters can start rewriting reality.

[@xxphantomboomxx244]

Gotta say, I love the idea Coach! Fantastic work as usual.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Thanks Phantom!! BOOM! 💜

[@brettmiller7431]

Dude I love this concept, especially the part of giving other class features to players other classes giving them the multiclassing feel without having to multiclass. I have a player in a Space Campaign who is playing a gunslinger and wants to become a gun paladin, this concept would work perfectly with that.

[@OldmanModo]

Cool idea this gave me is to have cards that can give ideas for something a player could work on. For example a card that says to a person with fire spells, "You can actively work on your ability to manipulate fire, spending your free time fiddling with your cantrips expanding your spell slots out of combat even to ponder over the nature of how you control fire." This perk wont be mentioned but they know doing so would lead to one. Then have the perk reveal be they reduce fire damage taken by (x amount) depending on how well they rolled on their practice checks or something because now they understand fire more and can manipulate it around them to an extent. Providing clue cards as to potential player level buffs they can get by going down a certain path.

[@NobodyDungeons]

So, one thing I do is an alternate feat system which lets them pick up feats outside of ASI's, and what this does is lets me break the feats into much smaller parts which can be used to increase complexity and player customization. How it works is every time the players level up they get a feat point which can be spent to get the new or broken down feats which have a cost ranging from 1 to 5 points with 1 point feats being really weak and minor upgrades, but stronger ones being 5 points. Additionally, I have increased the requirement so that certain feats require additional feats or abilities to get. For example I broke down the elemental adept feat into three separate parts the first lets you reroll ones and twos costing 1 point, the second lets you ignore resistances costing 3 point, and the last part lets you ignore immunities costing 5 points which means you'd need to wait 9 levels in order to max this out.

[@NobodyDungeons]

I also created a new feat which costs 4 points, and is called educated. What the educated feat does is give the player additional proficiencies equal to their intelligence modifier so that wizard with 20 intelligence is going to get an extra 5 proficiencies if they pick this feat up.

[@NobodyDungeons]

This also frees up the ASIs for ability scores

[@NobodyDungeons]

Before you go complaining this is overpowered let me just say as the dungeon master you control the difficulty level not the players so if you have players who are basically demigods then you should be putting them up against demigod level threats

[@gavinsaylor7347]

With me, one of my players wanted to basicaply be Blade, a vampire slayer who's a vampire himself. So I had him be a Warlock of a Great Old One, reskinned it as a True Vampire, and he's trying to unseal him from his tomb. He tends to like getting into the frey without looking at his spells, nearly dropping him each combat, so at 4th level, instead of doing a stat modifier, I let him have an ability to sap life out of people he hits with his pact weapon. A number of times equal to his CHA Mod per long rest, he can regain 1d8 hit points if he dealt damage. This definately helps him stay up when running in, and it helped progress his vampire-turning process.

[@Flaraen]

Great video :) One minor thing, if the die from unreliable prediction works exactly like portent, then the feature is actually a non-feature, as you're just replacing a random d20 roll where you don't know the outcome with another random d20 roll where you don't know the outcome.

[@marulienswiftarrow9243]

That thing about using these perks instead of magic items make SO much sense! aside from giving out items to the wrong person, one thing I've disliked about magic weapons(or other items) is that they don't fit with the character's kit. Maybe this came from playing pathfinder, but if you took a feat or some other feature that gives you a plus one with shortswords, but the magic weapon your dm gives you is a longsword, therefore not eligible for any shortsword specialty or the piercer feat. But this allows a character to keep the tools they are proficient and expert at.

[@rustlepalace-inn7229]

Love this idea! I’ve been playing around with some similar ideas. Such as a random encounter that can potentially grant a PC 1lvl in sorcerer because the interaction will unleash their hidden ability. Then when they level up from there they can choose to keep exploring this new power or continue along with their original class.

[@scottbloomfield3655]

I think this sounds kind of cool, it makes me wish wizards would make a class where you can take a ability from another class as your ability you get for specific levels. But you can only have one ability from that level.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I see that, that’s why I try and weave in more customization!

[@scottbloomfield3655]

Yeah it would be like muli-classing but better

[@Shalakor]

WotC won't do that because they already tried it in 4E and everyone hates on that edition.

[@scottbloomfield3655]

But that was for 4e not 5e

[@Shalakor]

@@scottbloomfield3655 That's the point, a lot of 5E's design was about distancing themselves from as many elements of 4E's design as they reasonably get away with.

[@gstaff1234]

Love the COACH! Great thoughts on how to differentiate your “instruction”. Total Pro Level

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Gotta keep it varied up! 👌🏼 thanks for that!

[@loganshockey4041]

I've been using these and skill challenges in my games and its been AMAZING!! THANK YOU SO MUCH COACH!!!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Heck yes!! That’s the goal! That’s awesome man!

[@crimsonhawk52]

Big agree that it feels bad that the same class/subclass will essentially have the same character sheet. Big DISagree that the solution is more mechnical rules that the player gets to pick from away from the table. When the player's primary means of customizing their character is by leveling, the adventure becomes an obstacle on the way to that, and one that they want to surmount as quickly as possible. ESPECIALLY if you use milestone xp. Rather than customizing the character via more rules, players should get cool powers from the world. Give a player a custom feat as a reward for taking the oath of the ancient knights to open the secret door to the tomb beyond. Give the players magical weapon with more than just a +1 to hit on uhhhh everything. Give the players customization options that they can ONLY get in THIS game. Rather than busting through the adventure to hit that next level to get their stipend of character control, they'll be delving deeper and deeper into dungeons looking for that one weird shrine in the corner that could give them their next hit.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

O for sure, this is why I tie these to story moments too, I’ve even had some characters get a “perk” and some not yet based on what was going on

[@shonlewis8336]

Another win, Coach!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I JUST found a way to find all comments from KZbin members! I SEE YOU!!!

[@airdragon11studios]

This is great!!! I'm adding these in as a bonus system earned through rp. They loved the idea! So can't wait to make some new stories with them!! Your homebrews always make me want to do more!!

[@Bracus_Jawn]

I gave my Druid’s Focus the ability to store 1 healing spell a day. It recharges when she meditates amongst plant life and the spell slot used depends on how long she meditates 1 hour for every level

[@Aires101]

I love this! I wasn't really into the idea of bonus perks when I first heard you mention it in other videos, but this video and having the PDF available really makes me want to try it out. I think I'll have to go pick up that tier 3 Patreon now because of this, I'm super excited and I know my players will love this too :)

[@ashlynnengel2134]

I just found your channel yesterday while prepping for a new campaign im running, and i am so sorry to have not found you sooner! your homebrew fixes are great, and you deliver them well on camera keep it up coach, this shit is fire

[@schylerfontenot7358]

Appreciate this video. Been waiting for it for a while! I’ve been doing bonus perks for a bit now, thanks to your wisdom lol, but this video helped me think of more ideas and ways to implement them, which is exciting to me. I like powering up my players and making them feel like their character is unique and this helps so much

[@awlsond5367]

This is a very interesting concept. I have been there with the magic items before, so I totally get what you are saying there. I like the concept of story driven character awards, instead of right on the level up. Makes them want explore more, and fight less. (I give xp for roleplay encounters also, but most is from hack and blast sadly.)

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I love when it comes from the story! You can just stagger when you give each player theirs across their level ___. Journey

[@Indomakio]

My wife created an Open Hand Monk and she was extremely cautious spending ki points, so at level 4 we had a one on one adventure and an NPC (her character from another campaign) trained the monk to "restore", her lo points, meaning that when she's at zero ki, she can use, an action to recover her proficiency Bonus in ki points once per short rest, virtually having a 66% more ki than the average Monk.

[@broke_af_games9661]

Hey, have you considered making a Dungeon Coach Playbook and have it self published on amazon?

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I have a Kickstarter in the works for this summer!! Big stuff!

[@broke_af_games9661]

@@TheDungeonCoach i'll keep an eye out. But i'll be honest, i'm usually a missed sale for a kickstarter but purchase when it hits the market. It's probably better if I don't open up that kickstarter can of worms lol. But if you're looking for more frequent publications, one you get a stable of artists you could get by without relying on kickstarter. What I'm saying is, there are other low risk opportunities with print on demand :)

[@GunnerM60]

I've got 2 perks so far on my Celestial Tomelock. ▶I am able to cast rituals in half the amount of time they normally do, so that's great for utility spells. ▶ I have extra warlock spell lot that I can only use on my expanded spell list. (My DM treats it like a Cleric bonus list, I just have those spells as a gift from my patron).

[@eafigarella]

This is awesome. I tend to let people experiment with their features and perks be gained as result of that. Also as you say, not everything is combat guided. I let wizards create spells under certain circumstances. They may earn too stuff similar to those background features. I like those ones a lot.

[@louisthewolf0816]

I dunno about the others, but I love to play homebrew anime-themed campaign just for this reason, character customization. Its something normal dnd cant give, but i heard of many dnd players hates on anime style campaign and i just gotta say: it really depends on ur dm

[@quixilver0143]

For those who want a group more focused on roleplaying, this is really great. Don't worry about the most "optimized" choice. Play your character. I (the DM) will optimize you for the sake of fun.

[@bananabanana484]

One suggestion might be to make this a system that incorporates working out or practicing a skill. DND normally only progresses you by allowing you to level up, so what if a barabaian could become more intelligent by learning to read from the wizard? Might make cool moments.

[@f.b.3263]

First of all, love your videos! I like very much the idea to connect the perks to the story and not necessarily to the level up but that’s a bit the idea of milestones leveling, right? When it makes sense, your character reaches a new level of “maturity” in their skills and get a perk because they solved a mission or come back changed by that magic swamp they explored... Keep up the good work!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

You see it!! 👍🏼 thanks for that!

[@knightghaleon]

I’ve given spellcasters perks for unarmed fighting, allowing them to basically arcane smite with unarmed attacks. The idea being that magical people are still magical even when breaking someone’s jaw so why can’t the sorcerer or warlock deck someone with a haymaker while juicing it with a spell. Basically ended with the creation of lightning knuckle and blazing palm fighting styles. I did have to rev the power down originally as I didn’t give a spell limit as to what spell slot they can burn on the attack. We decided to go no higher than level 3 spells as any higher would cross into Paladin and warlock territory. I’ve also given sorcerers the ability to levitate when making athletics/acrobatics checks to jump from one spot to another. It was inspired by Infamous.

[@royjaskowski905]

I allow extra curricular training of 1 new skill each tier. Players hire a tutor for 40 hours to get half bonus, and do solo exercises for another 120 hours to get fully trained. 1 gold per hour for tutor is all I ask, but if you need a gold sink maybe another gold per hour of self study time for materials, consumables, training partners, whatever.

[@skeetazaurus]

It's finally here! Oh boy I can't wait to look through the Ranger section!

[@donatszabo141]

My monk is the strongest man in the World. He is zook, the man who Broke gods with his hands. But he lose one time. And get closed, but one time bandits awaken him. But he dont Remember any thing. He is Just a man, who thikns he is a Bandit to. My player dont know yet but he always get memories back some place, and get bonus things. Like his fist attacks dmg is dex+str now. He is so happy and love all that.

[@ikeillue8385]

I once gave a druid (who was not just nature oriented by normal druid standards, but literally spent most of their time talking to trees and crap. The interactions with the party were the most non plant interactions they had in pretty much their entire life.) the ability to 'beast shape' into a pile of autumn leaves, that could move around the battle field, as if being manipulated by the wind. While in leaf form, they had immunity to being grappled, and didn't take opportunity attacks, and resistance to certain kinds of damage, but gained vulnerabilities to others (I was vague on this one, specifically because I wanted it to make sense. For example, someone throwing a fire bolt through a bunch of leaves blowing in the wind will singe a couple, but isn't going to do much. However, lighting up the area with burning hands is going to mess up that pile of leaves. I made sure to be very clear about this with the player.). Basically, they could bonus action use, more or less, misty step, with the restriction that they could only 'teleport' to locations that a leaf would feasibly be able to fit into (a completely sealed room would be off limits, but if a leaf could slide under the door, then they could manipulate their pile of leaves inside.). They would then choose to either remain as leaves until the start of their next turn, or immediately turn back to normal. This was usable once per day (though, if I did it again, I would probably give it to them based on their proficiency). Unfortunately, though I thought it was a cool perk to give, I apparently missed the mark, since the player never actually used the ability. Oh well, it was a learning experience, I suppose.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

O dude I have given plenty of perks that flopped and through that both myself AND the player learned what they truly wanted / loved

[@AcePlaysTCGs]

This kind of makes me think of something I was considering where in lieu of people committing to a full multi-class level, I would treat every class feature of the first 2 levels of any class (minus spellcasting) as a feat. Like a wizard with second wind or a Monk with sneak attack. It's still in the development stage and I'd have to put it into practice to see just how broken it could be but even if I had caveats like "you can't multi-class if you take features from at least 2 classes in addition to your main class" or "you can't pick subclass features" or some other restriction. It just seems like a loose way to allow people to think outside the box more as players and not feel so pigeonholed into archetypes based on complete classes.

[@raidmaster6879]

Pathfinder feats but in dnd, perfect.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Good way to describe it lol

[@PatrikSiljestam]

I like your vaultboy icon!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Hahaha my artists drew it up for me! 💜💜 so cool! Thanks!

[@Shattered_Entertainment]

i actually made a level up feat called cantrip sneak attack it allows that player to apply their sneak attack to their cantrips

[@justinsarno6847]

PORT’NT! But seriously, one of my favorite videos thus far. Well done as always!

[@SoftwareNeos]

I have always wanted something in magic shops or armory that the players could get instead of just a consumable. What I do is a rune system. At level 3 or lower for a magic shop. I'd do something like a rune that gives +5 health but it is -5 on movement speed. At levels 5 or higher I have the effects be better. Like "reversing a roll of 1 and 20 on a d20" For an armory I usually have the person give custom moves (something I found on reddit.) Instead of doing full damage, you can do half damage and an effect from your weapon. Like bleeding for 2d4 each turn if you have sais. If anyone got any more ways to improve or do this better. Much appreciated.

[@GunmanJag]

@The Dungone Coach, Was wondering if there was a reason there wasn't a perk in the PDF for the Inquisitive Rogue subclass from Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Was hoping to see what you had in there for one of my players when I picked up the PDF but didn't see it in there! Appears to be the only Rogue archetype not represented

[@andynelson952]

Love these ideas.

[@ThePersonToBlame]

I really enjoy your content and would buy, right now, A book filled with all your mini books. Coaches book of knowledge or something.

[@James-ht6fd]

10:28 interesting how OneDnD did this, sadly they reduced the versatility and number of spells as they did it 😢

[@Ailingstar]

Hey coach. I love your systems and i use a number or your rules in my game. I'm having a ton of issues with a player who just doesn't seem to have the imagination to expand on the RAW. It's been causing a lot of stress on my end as the DM, to the point I'm ready to ask him to change his attitude or leave. He is a hardcore rules lawyer and power game and although he doesn't see it, he is removing the fun from my game

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I had one of those and I had to talk to him one on one and be like “this is the kind of game I run here, here is what I expect from my players and how should we move forward here” they understood that I was more “outside the box” and backed off some and over time they turned around... BUT it doesn’t always work and I would say to be prepared to loose a player

[@FriarRoss]

I’ve got a Druid who has been going for a water bender vibe. I’ve given them the ability to use control water to make an ice weapon to use in their hand. Do you think it could be a good 4th lvl bonus perk to have a 10’ range weapon attack with it? And what would you call the dmg/modifier? Is d8+wis too much to have that range? Also I am such a fan of your work coach! As one teacher DM to another, thank you.

[@marlight3686]

Trying to buy 2 digital assets but I cannot get from the buy screen to my cart with the proceed option. I go to the cart directly and cannot get to the checkout option. Someone help :)

[@valasafantastic1055]

Great stuff thanks!

[@davidc9005]

Love this idea

[@christianstarr9188]

Hey Coach, any thoughts about a build series here on the channel?

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Like making a “How to play a Paladin?” Type deal?

[@christianstarr9188]

@@TheDungeonCoach That would be a great primer for new players for sure, but I was thinking of more specific templates, something like "How to build an Int Tank."

[@christianstarr9188]

Like multiclassing to fill gaps, or for specific flavor

[@theonetruedonut]

So basically, you're giving your player's custom-made feats outside of the ability score improvements levels.

[@eddieblanton2981]

It's more like getting one bullet of a feat, rather than a whole feat.

[@eddieblanton2981]

@@kellyweaver8422 that talent system looks more like 3.5 feats in 5e. It uses a lot of the same names with the same effects. I'm sure they aren't all copies, but they lean heavily toward 3.5 style feats.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

@@eddieblanton2981 great description of it!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Like a mini feat 👌🏼

[@kellyweaver8422]

@@eddieblanton2981 I don't know. I never played 3.5. I went from 2e to 5e. But the example given in the video of being able to keep two concentration spells up but having disadvantage on concentration checks is in the Talents system. And I thought concentration was a new thing to 5e. But from what I've read about feats in previous versions they were essentially just single bullet point feats vs the 3 bullet point feats of 5e. And the Talents system as well as the system he is presenting here appear to be single bullet point feats. So essentially the same thing.

[@greennite101]

Just bought the Level up perks bundle and Almanac to use in our new campaign! Been watching a lot of your videos as I want this to be a very flexible homebrew based campaign and you've given me a lot of ideas of how to run things! I also picked up the Level up advanced 5e stuff so will see how the two mesh together and should make for an interesting game :D

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Wow thank you for that! Glad to know I’m helping you unlock your DM potential! 💜💪🏼

[@marcdesnoyers1839]

How do I get ahold of this system cause I checked the website and can't find it. Love this system.

[@Brickzar86]

Love the channel; I watch all of your videos and am inspired a lot by your content. So...I usually put these types of perks into magic items. (my players prefer having a weapon that levels up with them and armor sets; so the weapon will end up with 3 perks fully leveled up, and the armor sets will have a 2 piece and 4 piece set bonus on top of all 4 pieces of the armor having small bonuses, and a trinket/ring/amulet) and with just those few tweaks, they often feel overwhelmed and forget about them most of the time, even though they're strong and play into what they're trying to do. it's just a lot for most people to remember they have on top of their class features. That being said, would doing something like this not only overwhelm players with features but also step on the toes of some really cool magic item ideas? It just feels like too much. I think I prefer wrapping up some stronger features into magic items and let the players pick and choose which magic items they want to run with, which combination of features they want to use. This not only lets you thrown out a ton of fun and impactful features via magic items, but it gives your players a choice of what they want to use and how they want to play. If I were to do this at my table, I feel like I would have to resort to mundane loot, and that feels bad

[@Brickzar86]

Damn, no reply? You make me sad -King Arthur

[@Friendlygiant666]

Did something like this once and I gave the whole party one thing and didn't realize how broken it was. Needless to say I had a lot of fun trying to kill them

[@KevinVideo]

These perks would definitely work well as magic items too.

[@leoluke-uy7zw]

Hello there, I have a question. If I subscribe to patreon now will I get the pdf of this level up perk too?

[@nesamu3013]

When is website release? I can't wait!!!! Love your content!

[@johngleeman8347]

Anything to make the static class feature levels or actual 'dead' levels more interesting.

[@CCartman69]

Man I wish I could buy the pdf without going on patreon, my card just isn't accepted on it. Great stuff though!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Ahh that’s weird, I didn’t know it was like that! If you want to PayPal me dir3ctly and put your email in the note I can send it to you one on one? Just tying to problem solve with ya 👍🏼

[@CCartman69]

@@TheDungeonCoach Oh don't worry about it, I figured out the PayPal issue and managed to become a tier 3 Patreon member! Thanks for all the great stuff you do!

[@HappyFunNorm]

Concentration? My first thought is "Dual mind" - your constant attempts to do multiple things at a time has split your mind in twain! You can now concentrate on multiple things at the same time, but your second mind has a mind of its own! It may pick it's own target, change the spell being cast with the second concentration, or may compel some other behavior. It may even be an alien intelligence attracted to you by your casting. Perhaps it can teach you more about the mysterious alien things it knows. And treat it as an intelligent item.

[@rangersmash]

How often are you hand out these bonuses?

[@ChandlerWithaZ]

Pip boy looking like tony stark with the facial hair based off yours!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Hahaha easy to mix up the two of us I guess lol!

[@leandrochavez6480]

Hey, idk if you had it in mind but your channel logo is a copper dragon

[@derskalde4973]

"So now, instead of halving the damage and make it the DC, make it equal to the damage" Enemy: laughs in Ancient Red Dragons breath attack (91 or 26d6 points of damage)

[@warrendourond7236]

Hmmm... the thing is, so many DND KZbinrs are trying to turn 5e back into 4e because they want more options and customization. But there is a lot of reasons why 5e was simplified and stream lined. So one should be aware of those issues before home brewing a bunch of stuff. Personally I think a problem modern DM’s are having is that by ditching Experience tracking, the only rewards to give out are level up abilities and magical items. Back in the day, we’d play for months just gaining XP, ringing our hands just waiting for the day it would add up to something. Now no one wants to walk across the tavern to strangle that Orc bully, unless he has a magical weapon they can loot off his corpse. You used to be able to diplomatically deal with him for an equal or better amount of XP than killing him.

[@versatilebeatsdj]

Just bought this. It’s going to be perfect for me. A player who died was a GOO-lock. His body was taken by the current BBEG necromancer and is in magical stasis/prison. (Think wall of force with anti magic field inside of the If they players free him Ith’dar the Dreamer possessing the Goo-locks body as an Avatar curses/blesses certain items of each player. Thus becoming the groups patron and next BBEG. The items if sold, dropped etc will return the player within 1 hour. Remove curse cannot end it’s effect only some yet determined quest of items. But as the characters level up so do the weapons and I will be using your guide. Thanks

[@kellyweaver8422]

Sounds an awful lot like the Talents system by Dragonix on the DMs guild.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Never heard of it! I’ll have to check it out. I’ve been running these since before I started KZbin, and back then I was never on DMs guild

[@kellyweaver8422]

They have 3 seperate books with multiple Talents. As well as a 4th book with monster Talents for making your monsters a bit more surprising to experienced players.

[@TheUnhousedWanderer]

A feat that allows you to concentrate on two spells at a time should be called Dual Mind...

[@rasimir6124]

Portent is strong but its not really reliable. Sometimes you get a 9 or a 12, you do not know where to put it.

[@invaderzam]

Love your enthusiasm coach but this is reaching pathfinder levels of mechanical crunchiness. You did most of the work but that still puts even more stuff on the DM's plate in balancing encounters and making encounters where these bonus feats can be useful. Sure, this might excite players for their level up and asking them to role play abilities sounds awesome but it could lead to them expecting cooler and cooler stuff leading to crazy power creep. As you said, you can dial that back down but here is hoping the players dont feel unsatisfied if their shiny new toy isn't as cool as their previous one. While these do sound amazing, I dont think this is something the players should get every level up. Players already get a lot of stuff every level up. In addition, give your players some credit, they have their own ways of personalizing their character, even if they are rolling the same subclass. These should be reserved for major story beats or conclusion of personal character arcs.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I see what you mean and I definitky tend to lean towards more customization than “keep it simple” at my tables too, so I see that. I have never felt THIS be the thing that is crunchy for my tho, and I’ve never had greedy players that are not satisfied with what I gave them, it’s a bonus anyway and they know it’s not always going to be better each time. I set that tone with the 2nd one I ever give them being usually something simple after the first was usually bigger