Feats: Beyond Great Weapon Mastery - 5e Dungeons & Dragons - Web DM

[@WebDM]

Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm

[@ro1smith]

Web DM I like the Monty python thumbnail

[@fr3akz77]

Where did you get your DM screen and what info do you keep on it?

[@WebDM]

That is actually the Helm's Deep mini from the Games Workshop LOTR wargame! Wish someone would make a dm screen like it though....I'd stash everything in there, tables, PC info, last 5 years of taxes, whatever.

[@firstwatch3285]

Can you do a video on the 9 hells? Why are there 9 of them? How do you make each level distinct? Thanks, you guys rock!

[@fr3akz77]

Web DM fat dragon games makes one similar. Check this out. Watch "My Ultimate GM Screen II by Fat Dragon Games" on KZbin kzbin.info/www/bejne/amjHfpWCZtx2nKs

[@FreaperFTW]

1. All disintegrates are always loaded 2. Never point a disintegrate at anything you're not willing to disintegrate 3. Keep your hands off the material components until your sights are on target 4. Be sure of your disintegrate target, and the collateral within

[@TodayLifeIsGoood]

Ah, I see you have been trained in the use of guns, I mean, disintegrate^^

[@jumanjicostco3248]

OMG I love this! We had a level 20 PvP session where my friend (sorcerer) and I (bard) did a cowboy stand off with disintegrate, since we were the only ones left on the field. It was a contest of who could pull out their components faster xD I lost, but hey~

[@XanderCottrell]

im a little late, but thats pretty fucking epic

[@relint12]

Purple worms are usually gargantuan, I'd rule because it only disintegrates a 10 ft. cube of a creature Huge or larger there would be a chance the spell doesn't effect the area of the worm the players are in. Then determine if they were affected by either randomly rolling to see if any of the players were in that cube or if the caster specified a target point that logically couldn't have contained them, a creature has to move 20 ft. to exit its stomach after the worm dies so the players aren't by it's head for example. If after all that one or more of them still ended up in the area of effect I'd give the players one last chance at a Dexterity save with disadvantage because they were grappled/restrained while in the worm. If they failed the save and were reduced to 0 hit points by the spell, they as well as all of their nonmagical equipment would be disintegrated. RIP Mikey the Unfortunate.

[@rpm297]

I suddenly wanna see a Charles Bronson movie where he learns to cast disintegrate to get revenge.

[@VanHoenheim]

To any DM worried about feats making your PCs overpowered... Just remember, you can give your monsters and NPCs feats too...

[@theDMLair]

Feats might make characters more powerful at low levels, but by the time PCs reach levels 10+ (at least in 5e) they are POWER HOUSES. Feats or no feats, they clean up. So, a DM disallowing feats based on being too OP is just delaying the inevitable.

[@baileymoyers1973]

Just started a campaign, one of my players has been playing for a long time. He got mad because I allowed every one to be "op" right off the bat. He refused to play because of it. First session almost killed every one and they had to run away from the starting dungeon because of me using dirty tricks and cultists with feats lol

[@theDMLair]

Bailey Moyers Did he refuse to play anymore because you allowed the players' PCs to be OP off the bat or because the cultist enemies were too OP due to feats?

[@Ladyrosieparks]

My dm took that to heart. My polrarm master variant human fighter was annoying him so the next dungeon we faced every wave of enemies was a polearm master, and the big bad got to dual wield glaives with polearm mastery. It kind of annoyed him when the whole party, myself included decided to stay pretty far back and unload with cantrips and bows instead of walking into the meat grinder.

[@baltsosser]

Your DM, could have led you on an adventure in super tight quarters where it would have been difficult if not impossible to effectively employ a polearm. That then forces a tactics change that he has to counter then with something different. It does keep things interesting.

[@RocksYourFace44]

Of all the D&D shows run with multiple people, I think you guys are the most professional, are the most entertaining, and perhaps most importantly, have the best dynamic of anyone I've seen. The last shot of you guys sipping the Dr. Peppers together just perfectly sums up your friendship lol

[@RocksYourFace44]

Highest rated comment ever! Thanks everybody!

[@corielldoghc]

Xp to level 3 is pretty good. Not web dm levels but good

[@agelatinouscube930]

Absolutely. Nerdarchy could work as a podcast, but the way they just ramble when talking about concepts WebDM cover, they'll also take 2ce as long. Matt Colville is good too :)

[@theDMLair]

Yes. They've got some camera and editing skills, too. Many content creators in this niche do the classic "sit in the box and talk to the camera from the same angle for the entire length of the video" thing. And then their post-prod is mostly limited to a rough cut. Web DM, on the other hand, has a few different cameras going at different angels, maybe a camera operator to do some dynamic zooming, and then they spend some time in post-prod making it come together. End result is very nice. :)

[@theDMLair]

Agreed. Matt Colville is one of my favorites as he talks about interesting things and his delivery (manner of speaking) is engaging. I usually listen to him at the gym or something as there's nothing really to watch on the screen.

[@Troommate]

8:13 "All Feats are equal but some feats are more equal than others" very accurate :D

[@TheDreamSyndicateArts]

Given the thumbnail, it's too bad they couldn't work in a Robinhood Men in Tights reference, "We need a great feat of strength.... wait, together we have great strength of feet!" :D

[@ohokaye817]

still to this day a good chill watch, missing Pruitt in newer episodes

[@JimFaindel]

"Think before you cast desintegrate" sounds like a motto you'd find framed in a magic school.

[@mydknightcloud]

Ruminations before disintegrations

[@VechsDavion]

29:00 Nah man, that's the wrong mentality. The Paladin hunkers down with the Spell Sniper and gets out a spyglass and spots for them (Help Action). 200 feet out! Left, 2 degrees! SEND IT!

[@dylang3177]

You obviously haven't read how the help action works

[@punishedwhispers1218]

@@dylang3177 You clearly don't know what rule 0 is

[@WolfHreda]

@@punishedwhispers1218 "Fuck you, you're not my mom"? 🤣

[@Troglodytarum]

@@dylang3177 You are banned from my campaign.

[@terryfan15]

One of my characters in the last campain (who usually likes high-power-play) took as his first level feat, much to my suprise btw, the Linguist feat. And this not only informed a lot of what his character was like (he exploded everytime someone said, they could´t read^^) but it also spawned basicly the next campain when he looked at the map and was like "Hey... that dead kingdom over there... it had a language, right?" Me: "Sure did." He: "Does anyone still know it?" Me: "Not a single person you ever heard of." He: "Well, I´m gonna go and learn it!" That pretty much cured me from my fear of feats.

[@mikegould6590]

To be honest, I have no issue with players rolling stats and choosing feats. There’s a good reason for this. My monsters are rarely “by the book” either. I’ll use Medusa Rogue Bounty Hunters and Cyclops Warlocks and Kobold Inventors with all manners of wild contraptions. Two of my players have 20s in their prime stats. That didn’t save them from a warren of dastardly Kobolds and multiple traps and ambushes. I know my Bard player will min max allllll day long. But he’ll RP too. I know he’ll take feats. He’ll multiclass if he can. Every time he cranks up the power level, I shrug and do it too. I think the solution is something like this: DMs need to give themselves permission to adjust on the fly. Players can and will do wild and crazy stuff and will make wild claims about what they think they can do. No plan is perfect. No attack is flawless. No defence is impenetrable. There’s always a way. So take your Feats and whatnot. Create heroic moments. Have great tales told of your deeds. But never, ever take things for granted. Because the DM has his hand on the Bullshit switch, and he’ll crank that puppy up to 11 if needs be.

[@bibbobella]

Agreed. The PC's are kicking your carefully crafted NPC that were supposted to at least hinder them a bit? Well..Is it an epic moment that they will probably remember because it is hillarious/just fucking badass then..well..good for them..they outsmarted the villian or were seriously fucking lucky on their diceroles and that is okay. Is it however becoming a really anticlimatic and boring fight? Well..Time to have the ring that you describted earlier suddenly give the big bad guy a boost in health and firepower for a limited time so that the PCs are suddenly forced into going into the defensive untill this power goes away again or pull some other asspull that seems at least somewhat believeable. As long as it doesn't down right flatten the PCs because it came out of knowhere then I find it to be fine..

[@NickTBrick]

Necro post, but... You can always staple a few Legendary Actions/Resistances on to your big bad. You could even add some lair effects if the party decides to rush into the baddies home turf. It's extra work, and a tough line to walk, but if you should make the PCs feel like they underestimated the NPC, not that the DM is making stuff up to win.

[@KappaKiller108]

The issue I see with "just buff the monsters" if you have a min/maxer is that effectively forces EVERYONE to min max so they aren't suddenly stomped. It creates an arms race of sorts

[@zaclittlejohn2701]

Four words: tarqueske bear totem Barbarian.

[@fodinski1]

thats just a toxic game

[@lilfox378]

For Dark Sun setting you would have to take Tavern brawler and then great weapon master and then just carry around a dead Goblin

[@mme.veronica735]

This Lil Fox knows what's going on.

[@lordnichard]

I wouldn't call a dead goblin a "great weapon". Functional? Maybe. Hilarious? Absolutely. Messy? Beyond doubt.

[@getthegoons]

lordnichard anything can be a great weapon if you magic the shit out of it

[@blakebrockhaus347]

Harambe shot First I love the idea of a goblin of sharpness

[@samwilliams6820]

lordnichard Technically it just has to have the "heavy" property, which in reality "unwieldily" is more accurate in 5e.

[@Jader7777]

30:12 Great Weapon Fighter / Sharpshooter When you roll an attack using these feats, you lose your Proficiency Bonus to your attack roll but you add twice your Proficiency Bonus to your damage amount. Your 'broken' feat now scales with level. You're welcome.

[@paulcoy9060]

Gonna write that down on the inside cover of my PHB.

[@Jader7777]

I found it from this guy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/joayiIKubpqdq6s

[@jermox]

My friend suggested something like that. Power Attack scaled in 3e and therefore was a nice bonus. The lack of scale of these feats makes them feel overpowered.

[@megavore97]

My DM does exactly this, works great!

[@sk8rdman]

I had the same idea while watching this episode.

[@OminousPinapple]

I'm considering an option for "earning" feats over the course of a campaign, say for example; there are certain side quests / actions they can take over a few session that allow them to gain a feat.. Like, to earn the Grappler feat, you either have to grapple lots of enemies over the course of a few sessions, do some cool shit, or, maybe there is a sumo master/ ufc fighting ring side quest, where if they win, they get the feat. It would be similar to earning a cool magical weapon as a side quest, and it would probably make more sense for character story arc.

[@patheronaetherson2860]

Play a fighter in heavy armor who uses the tactic of attempting to knock their opponents off their feet and then grappling them to pin them to the ground, or just sitting/standing on top of their opponent before drawing their dagger and going to town with it. Use shield master or something like it to shove enemies as a bonus action, then go for the kill. Historically accurate and effective fighting technique, especially against opponents in heavy armor since they (the prone combatant) has the weight of their own armor, the combatant on top of them, and that combatant's armor, combined with the fact that that combatant is actively trying to kill the other one with a dagger by stabbing through whatever gaps or crevasses in their prone enemy's armor, and they have fairly low chances of getting back up.

[@noneofyourbusiness3288]

21:40 well a pointy stick beats a sword in most any fight. There is a reason why on the battlefield pole-arms were king.

[@InquisitorThomas]

If Quentin Tarantino saw this thumbnail he’d go into diabetic shock.

[@gwegowee8162]

You Sir, made my day.

[@inkblotCrisis]

He'd smell and lick the screen

[@JoseRS1186]

"Wiggle your big toe, Jimmy."

[@Derploop]

Inquisitor Thomas what's that?

[@harryknackers5383]

I was thinking of Dan "Hold Her Tighter, She's A Fighter" Schneider.

[@ukholdaway]

In most instances, a spear is the single best weapon one can bear (excluding gunpowder-based armaments). Spears are relatively easy to make, relatively easy to learn and to do so quickly, and provides reach to the wielder. Spears with shields are a tremendously powerful combination.

[@ThisOldHat]

re: spear stuff, historically, spears were more powerful weapons than most swords. They were the default infantry melee weapon for thousands of years for a reason. They are effective and easy to use relative to other weapons such as axes and swords. The fact that they almost always suck in fantasy rpg's, including D&D always, annoyed me.

[@ArronLupus1997]

Thisold Hatte glad I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by how much spears get nerfed, like seriously most of the most formidable historical armies had shield and spears as their go to for war

[@Msoulwing]

Spears being the default for infantry strikes me as a cost thing. It's extremely cost efficient to hand spears to a bunch of peasants.

[@kenansabic2901]

Msoulwing It's cheap, has range, is easy to carry and store, works wonders in large numbers and formations and is one of the easiest weapons to get decent at using in short time.

[@shadowgear7032]

Spears are great in mass not alone. Most weapons beat spears one v one. That's why games "nerf" spears. I would give spears some bonus when fighting in a group together. Also spear v horse spear should win.

[@kenansabic2901]

Shadowgear Most weapons beat spears 1v1? What the hell have you been smoking my man. In full plate armor maybe daggers and swords are better but in almost all fiction even plate armor doesn't do shit most of the time and spears still beat axes, halberds, maces, curved swords and bows when it comes to stabbing a dude through a hole in armor. Spears are seriously underrated as there's more situations where it's better than say a sword or an axe in fight than those where it's not advantageous.

[@zammorac]

If you like buffs to the sling, you should love the Magic Stone cantrip from Xanathar's Guide. Because the Archery fighting style and the 3rd point of Sharpshooter say attacks you make with ranged weapons and not ranged weapon attacks, you can apply both of those to a Magic Stone attack using a sling. Also it's a spell attack so it's magical, fun times.

[@dragoninthewest1]

23:24 the Druid who has Proficiency in cooking and Mold Earth: alright crew time to barbecue

[@vadaritis]

Warlock Invocations are kinda like feats in a way, so if you need to rebalance feats that are causing troubles at your table, maybe adding a restriction to getting the feat. eg Great Weapon Master, requires lvl8 before you can take it. Personally, i like having high powered pcs, and then putting them in situations where only people as powerful as the heroes could possibly succeed. Makes them feel like badasses.

[@OMlN0US]

that's not a bad idea. I still think Lucky is broken. 3 rerolls at any time almost sort of takes away from the drama of rolling that d20. So i think i would continue banning Lucky, but the other feats i think you are correct

[@SinerAthin]

That sounds like it's mostly a balance issue; where feats as a general thing aren't bad, but the feats between themselves aren't properly balanced.

[@tylerdurham6091]

@@OMlN0US I'm not sure why people hate lucky so much. It's basically just giving a person advantage or disadvantage three times. There are plenty of other ways to accomplish that, and it's a limited resource.

[@Reluxthelegend]

@@OMlN0US lucky is only broken i you're running too few encounter per day

[@obsolete18]

Tyler Durham by raw it turns disadvantage into super advantage or an enemies attack with advantage into super disadvantage. That’s the issue

[@tannerharmon2325]

My favorite part of this whole channel is when Pruitt makes a joke and Jim quotes him directly afterwards with an understanding tone of voice.

[@jarodhamel6357]

This is the best thumbnail yet

[@moonfolkrapid]

Full of thumbs and nails.

[@ColinKillick]

My favorite feat is Inspiring Leader, mostly for the RP potential; the idea of making a "locker room at halftime" style speech and having everyone gain temp HP is just wonderful.

[@iiiiiiiiiicecream]

"Part of a balanced gaming breakfast"! I love you guys.

[@Malkor13]

23:15 If eating monsters in dungeons is your thing check out DUNGEON MESHI. It is a manga, but give it chance as it's a well-drawn piece holding many tones from D&D and an excellent humorous and tense adventure.

[@jimdavis141]

Malcolm Grant ive had it recommended to me before. I liked Toriko so I plan on checking it out.

[@Malkor13]

Glad to hear it! Would be interested to listen to an episode or podcast about stuff like Dungeon Meshi and other DND inspired media that holds close to the tabletop game.

[@TheWonkster]

It makes me so happy that you like Toriko

[@Heggethorn.warrior]

You guys are the cleanest fun. I swear, I don't laugh at such clean comedy often, but you guys bring me to tears with your intros. My mind is just so blown hahahahahahaa

[@seymourfields3613]

"The Achilles' Heel of Feats" I'm dying over here.

[@williamaitken7533]

After DMing for several years and playing as a player for several years, I think I now have a slightly more nuanced opinion on feats. The real, REAL issue with hyper-efficient feats like GWM and Sharpshooter is that if you are a pure melee character you basically NEED those kinds of feats to keep pace with the spellcasters in combat. Once you get past 5th level, the gap between melee classes and spellcasting classes widens. The spellcasters just get more and more spells, with increasing power, and increasing versatility, while melee classes are stuck doing the same 1d8/1d10/1d12 basically forever. Yes you get more attacks eventually, but at the same time cantrips become more powerful as well. I'm playing as an Arcane Archer in a campaign and we're at 8th level. I can reliably do 1d8+7 damage twice a round (thanks to a +1 bow and bracers of archery). That's PITIFUL damage. And that's ALL I do. I'm not given any additional tools for out of combat abilities or proficiencies. Every single field of text in my character class is about combat. Meanwhile my sorcerer companion can cast a single Fireball and easily do more damage in one round than I could in a dozen rounds, plus have Fly and Dimension Door and Counterspell and Charm Person and Detect Thoughts. If I DON'T take Sharpshooter and abuse the hell out of it, there's almost no reason for me to show up to these fights.

[@Jah_Coby]

Try saying you're useless after 3-5 fights where the sorcerer has no more spell slots and can do one thing a round that doesn't matter much. Martial classes are meant to have sustain, they are the highest CONSISTENT damage dealers, not highest burst. It's not broken, it's because of the game you are playing, "normal" 5E those casters have to account for running out of spells and they hope to God they have a fighter with them. If it's a problem in your own game because of changes to how the base game plays, then those changes must be accounted for.

[@williamaitken7533]

@@Jah_Coby Most adventuring days in 5e do not have 3-5 fights. I know that having 6-8 fights per day is recommended according to the DMG. But survey data shows that most DMs do not run the game that way. Most games run with 2-3 fights per day, tops. In my experience, once spellcasters start to run out of spells, they'll ask for a long rest. And unless you're doing a dungeon crawl or chase sequence, usually they'll get that long rest. And if spellcasters know they're going to be in for the long haul, they will be more conservative with their spell usage. But even if you ignore that, even if we agree that after 3-5 fights spellcasters are running on fumes, then we still have my main problem. During those 3-5 fights, the spellcasters are running circles around the martial classes. Damage, crowd control, utility, healing, debuffs, you name it, they're doing it. As previously stated, the damage dealt by martial classes does not scale well past roughly level 7. Because spellcasters can have such high versatility and burst damage, it can leave martial classes feeling unnecessary. And also it does not address my other complaint, which is that out of combat, a fighter offers no real ability to the group. Yes they can roleplay, but they have no abilities or spells that give them out of combat advantages. Magic-casting classes do not have that problem. I felt bad as a player in that game I talked about. I felt like in combat, I wasn't contributing much. And I felt like out of combat I couldn't contribute much either. Roleplaying only gets you so far when your group has abilities and you don't.

[@Jah_Coby]

@@williamaitken7533 hence why I said if you are not playing to the "standard" don't complain about standard rules. Change them. Either play towards the intent and change spellcasting or rests. Or, simply account for the difference. Give martial classes an additional feat to use for combat or roleplay. Offer more problems with different solutions, there are still plenty of things a martial only class can provide. I have never had a case where a martial only class felt like less of a contribution in my games, nor have I felt that myself when playing.

[@hannabelphaege3774]

The Achilles heel of feets. I see what you did there.

[@ChrissieBear]

I've modified GW Master and Sharpshooter like this: Before you make an attack with an ATTACK TYPE HERE, you can choose to take a -1 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +2 to the attack’s damage. Every time your proficiency bonus improves (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level), the penalty on the attack roll worsens by -1 and the bonus on the damage roll increases by +2. Basically turned them into Power Attack and Deadly Aim.

[@josephserio7093]

Yall should do short "ruling of the week" clips more. Call it Judge Jim, and just talk about different interesting rulings youve had to make or go through hypothetical scenarios. Pruitt could be the plaintiff!

[@johnskaar5447]

Gentlemen, I truly appreciate your team work and content. Please continue the great work.

[@btCharlie_]

I take feats even before hitting max stats. They are the most interesting part of character building after subclasses, imho.

[@lukevorwald7727]

Jim Davis, hell yes. His opinion on both fluff and crunch came directly from my heart.

[@dravencallisto]

Our Table bases the damage bonus and penalty for Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master off of proficiency instead of the flat -5 and +10. We just subtract the proficiency bonus and add double the proficiency bonus. Sure it makes it better at 17+, but that extra 2 damage doesn't really seem to make that much of a difference by then.

[@huttj509]

As an addendum to the outro, another reason to ask "are you sure" is it can give the consumed characters a chance for a memorable moment. 20 years ago, playing DnD in middle/high school. My character was being eaten by a cloaker. Cloaker low, character low, paladin was worried about downing me. I was telling him to take the shot. I was being chewed anyway, just take the swing! He crit. Well, we had a convenient makeshift sack to carry my pieces in.

[@tideoftime]

Feats were one of _the_ *best* additions made to enhance/improve the game. Those who don't allow them are really missing out on literally an entire dimension of character development -- not simply from a combat POV, which is the most simplistic perspective, but in terms of character well-roundedness also. 5E has done a good job of re-balancing Feats so that they're useful for virtually every level without losing value later on or being too powerful early on.

[@Draugo]

Agreed. Not having played 5ed I don't have clear picture of how classes develop so if there are other choices in the character progression then that gives some diversity, but without feats what keeps all characters of a class from being literally the same character?

[@K1LL14N]

Much of the things that would be called feats in earlier editions are embedded in the class and subclasses. So that obviously creates different characters. But the addition of the background (where you get extra proficiencies and character traits) it really gives a unique twist to your character and to the class you're playing imo. Because a background can interact with each class in a different way which result in different character personalities. Plus, my personal experience in 5e is that if a player comes with a cool suggestion for a character I am more likely to say "sure" even though that would make their character a little stronger to begin with. Because I have the feeling 5e is very flexible when it comes to adjusting things that are in the PHB (in the background they explicitly tell you that you can deviate from what's in the book). Where when I played at a friend who played 3.5e if there was a cool idea, my friend would have to go through multiple books if there was a rule or feat for it to work. To be fair, I've played mostly 5e and just a handful of 3.5e so I'm probably pretty biased towards 5e :p

[@Draugo]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but to me backgrounds are something that make deviation only to the starting point where as feats (and the choices in them) are something that differentiate characters based on how they grow. I'm not saying that you can't play characters differently without those choices but it comes to mechanical support for me like stated in the video. The example of a fighter that wants to "Captain America it up" is really good in pointing it this out. Without feats or some other decision based progression you're limited to describing how your character is a badass with a shield. With feats or some other way to differentiate characters when they grow during a campaign your character can really be that shield wielding badass. Feats to me are a "build your own subclass" system where I get to decide how my character changes instead of being given a prebuild line of future changes that will happen to them. A nature vs nurture situation if you will.

[@K1LL14N]

You make a very good point.

[@tideoftime]

(Just jumping back in) -- To clarify (as I didn't comment on Backgrounds) : Backgrounds are also a good addition for 5E, as they do make for interesting "pre-variation", so to speak, for characters. And as Killian said, some aspects of Feats (and general subclasses) are built into the paths (or similar variations) that characters get/advance with when they hit 3rd+ level in a given class (Rogues, as a base, having "x" general advancement, but then being able to choose Thief, Assassin, Arcane Trickster, Swashbuckler, et al, at 3rd level+ with more variations coming down the pike all the time via playtesting). My comment, though, as indicated, had to do (and I probably should have time-indexed it to indicate it was more of a direct/specific comment vs. a general one, so my bad in that regard) with those DMs who don't allow Feats in general vs. a setting-specific prohibition for specific Feats that don't exist, as such, due to how a given world/setting is. Feats in-and-of-themselves can act both as an additional level of base "pre-variation" (especially for Variant Humans, who can start with a feat, such as Tavern Brawler or Magic Initiate which add a degree of (B)ackground by their nature, contextually) and of course allow for more personalized variation/distinction as you go along (a highly intelligent warrior, for example, who doesn't follow the Eldritch Knight path but who, by association with his mage compatriots over time, not only develops more variations on his warrior-based abilities (via getting the Tough Feat, or what-have-you), but also picks up a degree of understanding about magic but not so much that he actually multi-classes, per say, nor follows necessarily the narrower Evocation/Abjuration limits of Eldritch Knight -- he does so by taking the Magic Initiate Feat (for the couple cantrips, which aren't limited to any school, and the one-per-long-rest 1st level spell which again can be whatever) and then later the Ritual Caster Feat (which while not combat-related due to time requirements can really help out in a pinch when the casters are down and/or the warrior is alone and finds that certain ritual spells would really help out a lot). There are, of course, a wide variation on those possibilities; just using those couple examples above to show how Feats really are the "thing" that can truly differentiate a character (along with Backgrounds) from 1st level through 20th+, especially for FIghters and Rogues who get two and one (respectively) extra advancements as they go along (fighters at 6th and 14th, rogues at 10th).

[@theouterlimits7788]

I love the idea that cooking and extracting materials and making them on the go is very fantastic idea.

[@_Scipio]

My favorite notification a WEBDM video

[@merzor91]

Hey guys, enjoy the show. I'd just like to throw in the GWM variant I've seen around on reddit and that I've come to use myself. Instead of -5 +10 you can use - Proficiency +2xProficiency. This allows GWM to still be viable, but doesn't get the full +10 until at higher levels where the damage boost isn't as impactful.

[@Keldoor]

I never felt that optimized characters were problematic by themselves. The issue that arises is when several members of the party are and others are not. In those circumstances it makes it more difficult for all party members to play a heroic role. I've always been a fan of optimizing my characters, but I'm happy to avoid those broken mechanics if everyone isn't on the same page.

[@juliajade1918]

The thumbnail for this video is my all time favorite KZbin thumbnail. I think of it regularly all these years later.

[@IcyHaze02]

I have a fever! And the only cure, is more feats!

[@Fallkhar]

That one around 15:00 is a good point. My 8ft tall 20 STR goliath barbarian needs great weapon mastery because when than great axe lands, it needs to prove a point and not just deal damage.

[@ourkinginyellow]

Web DM at 1 am on a school night? Sleep is for the weak

[@thedarkgenious7967]

not everyone's classes start before noon :D

[@caseyhudson4929]

go to bed ya punk

[@woahitscorrina]

MAD LAD

[@grimtv37]

SOMEBODY STOP THIS MAN. ONE O'CLOCK !!

[@efraim3364]

you'll get enough sleep when you're dead

[@DaDunge]

26:30 It's more than that it's that it's the same regardless if you are level 1 and got them as a variant human or level 20. Also you can do great weapon expert on the pommelstrike from polearm master. I like how treantmonk solved it. He made it so it's that you lose your proficiency bonus to the to hit roll and get twice your proficiency bonus to your damage which is less OP early on but more viable later, going from a -2 and a +4 to a -6 and a +12.

[@kingdom99hearts]

Funny enough my favorite 5E feat is Alert. I love having high initiative lol.

[@mqb3gofjzkko7nzx38]

It combos really well with moon druid. Going first lets you drop plant growth before your enemies get into position and you won't get caught outside your wildshape. It's also the only way to increase your initiative if you're already in wildshape.

[@giantewok]

Also being literally immune to surprise nonsense, if you're rolling low wisdom or very squishy. If your DM loves ambushes boy do I have a feat for you

[@TheSneakyVikingJarl]

Ashton Ramjee you have just explained why the "power gamer" of my group wanted this feat

[@pyroparagon8945]

Ashton Ramjee The alert feat says you can't be surprised *while you are conscious* The DM could still surprise by surprising sleeping stealth characters, but someone on watch or a few elves trancing would prevent this most of the time

[@Aplesedjr]

And the fact that you can very rarely be surprised.

[@innerkaioken]

Absolutely love the length of the video please make more this long!

[@Wolfphototech]

*Just give a few monsters Feats to offset the pc's with feats.* *Also add more monsters and more variety of monsters.*

[@Pijetlo91]

I like the feats in 5e so much more than 3.5. Here you have to make a choice - do you get them ability score increases (for that +1 damage, armor, or more HP) or do you give something specific to your character. In 3.5 it's just a humongous list that you can easily get overwhelmed by and the more books are involved, the more powerful a character becomes, and I feel that this can easily make one PC so much more impactful than the others. Another thing worth mentioning is if you start at, say, level 9-10 and you can incorporate all the feats into your backstory. Your character has gone through some amazing adventures to become what he/she is now. But if you start on like level 1-3, and the feat of your desire is only achievable on level 10, you will most possibly put yourself at a severe disadvantage by filling in all the prerequisites than instead of just taking a feat which could really help your character right this instant but then screws up and delays that feat even further. Like unless you know how long the campaign is gonna last, you can end up taking all the wrong feats.

[@roseytone9289]

Any chance on a video on trinkets & how to implement them? Or even material components for spells & how you keep that tedious component hunt interesting?

[@Licjr]

rosey The material component thing they go over in a couple other videos. Tyranny of Fun and Low Magic Settings

[@kyubii972]

rosey agreed with the other comments are they did a pretty good job of discussing material components in the tyranny of fun video and you can also check out their low magic campaign video where they go into further detail about magical material components and how you can make them special and not just a chore to attain them.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

19:55 looking back on this post Tasha's, the skill and tool feats have been paired down to skill expert, artificer initiate, chef and poisoner. You can get expertise in any skill or tool, sometimes get plus 1 to a stat, gain a little bit of magic and a tool or two, and for some of the tools that the DM may have no idea how to implement there's feats highlighting the bare minimum of things you can do with that tool.

[@SlothinAintEasy]

I made a noble paladin who took magic initiate. Wanted to be able to use Prestidigitation to keep my armor shiny and clothes clean and unseen servant named Reginald who would be my help. Reginald is such a dear, but its hard to only summon your servant once a day

[@Randomizer411]

Loved the bit at the end. You guys should do a monthly show just discussing rules questions on outlandish situations

[@williamozier918]

38:00. Each character gets to make a favorably adjusted saving throw.

[@TerminallyNerdy]

Love these vids. I dont mind Feats. I dont mind Rolling. I dont mind em together. Let it happen, its fun!

[@Jagenheie117]

oh my god didnt think it would happen. finally found a dm talking show i enjoy. think its cause its not someone lecturing to the viewer but two people talking to each other. its helps that youre both very personable as well

[@imperator_productions]

GWM reinforces a player's choice to go without a shield. They are now down 2 AC and the option to lose 25% chance to hit in order to basically double their weapon's damage. I don't think that's unbalanced. I think if you are worried about sharpshooter and crossbow expert rather than eliminate player choice, just say they are mutually exclusive. Another option is to limit that extra damage to once per round like a rogue's sneak attack. I am loath to do that though because the ability to put out single target damage is the only balancing martial types get against casters' AOE damage.

[@ayumikuro3768]

Sneak Attack is once per turn, not once per round (yes, a rouge could get an AOO with sneak attack, if the conditions are met)

[@buriichibakaimouto]

Our DM for a 1-20 campaign has a very limited number of magic items until we hit level 4 so he allowed us to take one feat at level 2 and one at level 3 with standard array at level 1. Playing an Ancients paladin and took Tough and Polearm Master for tankiness and more battlefield control. Loving them so far.

[@MastertheGamerpg]

I love the mentions of house rules in this video. Great stuff right there! That’d be a fun video to see.

[@kahlylroberson2067]

Probably one of the best features ever to step into dungeons and dragons.

[@XperimentorEES]

Having played more 3.5e & 5th, I've got mixed feelings for how 5th changed feats; I'm glad they made most feats significantly better to pick up and lock less behind chains of filler or pathetic/situational bonuses, and frustrated how most have multiple benefits that don't necessarily synergize towards the same use, but disappointed how few there are available. Regarding the feats that increase damage . . . why is it a flat amount? Why not add an extra die instead? The extra die may or may not be multiplied by critical hit bonuses, or could be dropped against enemies that resist the type of damage.

[@jacobmadden243]

YES. FINALLY. DISCUSSION OF NOT GREAT WEAPON MASTER. MY SORCEROUS HEART IS SO HAPPY.

[@eruditecaptain3117]

"Don't cast disintegrate at random" - And that's the te- er, Dr. Pepper.

[@brandoncreek5709]

Got a current Crossbow Expert fighter (Battle Master) that is more of a gunner and is extremely deadly with her crossbow and uses it most of the time, but she is still a trained soldier and was trained to use multiple types of weapons. So even if there is a situation in which range isn't an option, or she loses her weapons, she has military training to fall back on so she can use other weapons to decent effect if she has to thanks to her battle maneuvers and good STR and DEX stats

[@HalfOrcMage]

I don't have any power gamers at my table however our barbarian is very much a deadly with any weapon type of character he carries various kinds of weapons and its super evocative and cool

[@wavingatfat9650]

JohnnyBoy Do You happen to be the Barbarian?

[@HalfOrcMage]

Wavingatfat lol no im the DM

[@koelkast9]

My warforged greatweapon master carried a greatsword, but also two shortswords. But his greatest spree had him knock 9 people out..... with beermugs.....

Personally, I think having to make the choice between picking a feat or raising an ability score 2 points is one of the most brilliant things 5e has done. PS: 8:13 Dark Sun has just as many pole arms and heavy weapons/armor as any other setting. They're just made of bone, stone, chitin, etc...Not steel.

[@codey3352]

I get to play dnd tomorrow after a few weeks off! I'm so hyped!!

[@fishbonesinc]

enjoy

[@yanderenejoyer]

Codey Reumkens Have a nice game!

[@kyubii972]

Codey Reumkens hell yea

[@theDMLair]

Yeah! D&D is the best! :)

[@lukegood8802]

I really love it when i see a big number on the time stamp :P. Keep it up fellas!

[@bankasai3120]

To be fair, complaining about martial fighters in 5e is a bit odd when spellcasters are godly

[@sophieirisviel4100]

yeah a 20th level wizard can rewrite reality and summon meteors, i don’t see it too out of line for a fighter to be good at every weapon

[@benjaminholcomb9478]

My thoughts for balancing the likes of great weapon master would be to make it a limited use ability. Like equal to your strength modifier and/or proficiency bonus per Long rest. Of course you can change that to short rest and choose which ever of the two you deem more appropriate. What's important is that they scale and it isn't too restrictive.

[@Helmic]

I don't disagree that these feats are problems. An optional feat that is clearly the best choice is no longer optional, and since you're only getting a couple feats that's a massive loss in meaningful choice. But mechanically, martial characters being really good at hitting things doesn't really make them overpowered, they don't get much else and they often get shafted in out of combat participation despite being roughly equally as viable in combat as everyone else. So while I agree that having damage be that extreme and swingy is bad, just removing those feats and giving martial characters nothing back in return sucks. I don't mean replacing it with another feat, because they have to have taken it for your offer to have mattered, it either doesn't solve the "must pick" problem or it net nerfs martials when they do not need a net nerf. When dealing with not so strong or even bad classes doing something too good, you need to take away the thing that is causing problems (dealing 30 damage in a round) and give them other good things. I would do something to make the base classes themselves better to make up for not being able to deal extreme damage. Maybe an extra feat, extra skill points, extra resources, a nerfed version of the feat that they get for free. Probably more, because if you're giving up a specialization that wasn't even that strong you need to get more than what you lost, specialization is inherently stronger then generalization in team based games.

[@vampdan]

I once used obtenebration to "take a rubbing" of a tablet. I formed the shadows in the carvings then lifted them off the table and put them inside my cloak for access later. GM made me roll a few things to do it, but it worked.

[@roronoa1243]

Honestly if a fighter doesn't have access to feats, why would you ever pick the fighter class? If a DM outright bans feats then that's just not fun. Restricting some feats is fine, but I would never outright ban them.

[@Eunostos]

An asinine assertion. Feats aren't more meaningful for fighter than other classes, and clearly plenty of people have fun without the rules bloat and balance arms race they represent.

[@tylerdurham6091]

@@Eunostos no, a fighter can clearly get more use out of feats than any other class you have 7 asi's as opposed to the 4 most other classes get. It's highly unlikely you will need to add 14 points to your character, 5e characters already start pretty well off stat wise. The only other thing to use those asi's on are feats. Fighters can still be used without them, but I wouldn't personally. It takes away from their versatility.

[@danielsjoseph5547]

@Remy B That's still banning feats.

[@danielsjoseph5547]

@Remy B But it is part of the game. It's an option, which makes it part of the game.

[@falconforgefantasy9496]

@Remy B You are correct, but many do not think with a forward thought, they think popularity = correct. Feats and MC are popular, but they are not part of the standard rules, they are optional, which means they shouldn't be expected, but welcomed if they are in effect!

[@Midironica]

Feats are good for balancing the martial/spellcaster divide in the mid to late game as spellcasters get spells which make them more and more god-like. Yes, a fighter/paladin can damage nova with action surge/smite but their usefulness would be limited to that only if they couldn't stunlock an entire army of bad guys with PAM/Sent., cleave through two kobolds with GWM or knock enemies prone with Shield Master's shield bash. Yes, some feats improve spellcasting but mostly in superficial ways for flavoring spellcasters with other classes spells but mostly these give martials a chance at using some low level spells. So yeah, feats, to me, are essential for helping keep late-game martials from doing nothing but "I take X number of attacks with my greatsword.. that's my turn"

[@ClassMRule]

Feat Bloat? Nah, never heard of it. Personally I love feats, and often pick the "bad ones" like sword and pistol, despite not being optimized. Because it was cool damnit!

[@zeterzero4356]

Coming from 3.5 I can gladly say 4 to 5 feats is enough. If 5e did nothing else right, what they did with feats is a God send! I live that they not only are an option for character development but a valid alternative to them exists! What more most feats do multiple things and still include a stat bonus. 5e creators you've done players a service! Thank you. That said some feats really need valid story reasons for your character to take them. Which is a good thing since it's a perfect excuse for character development and side stories. Just putting that out there. Love you guys! God bless!

[@ryanbell6672]

this comment is utter shit, precisely why 5th is a turd

[@haveswordwilltravel]

“If all you do is take Great weapon feats and you lose your great weapon, what do you do?” A: use a quarterstaff.

[@ultimor1183]

Sven Helgrim all I need are the two great weapons attached to my arms.

[@williamozier918]

A homebrew feat for you: Caligraphy and Prose: You can write so eloquently in both the words chosen, and how they are written that you cna produce scrolls that allow you to make CHA checks such as Persuasion, and Intimidate, to a named person who reads it.

[@wcfd312]

I find that feats are not problematic. If they get abused, I just introduce a villain or npc with that feat...I don't have to change the game to control players. There are no problem feats only DM's with a lack of ingenuity.

[@Suavek69]

My favourite character I came up with is my fighter human who has started with feat "ritual caster" on druid. Background is soldier support staff (cook). His backstory comes down to idea that he was mercenary and during one mission his entire team was slaughtered by sentient forest, he was the only survivor and this violent show of nature's power made him kneel and praise the nature, after that he decided to learn the ways of nature and seek knowledge (that's why he left army and decided to live as an adventurer). And very important - he introduces himself as "Viktor - soldier, cook, and cultist in my spare time" :D I love it, and I really like playing him. I make him to be rather nice man with really dark seanse of humor and tendency to get into trouble because something was interesting and nature - related. WHO'S TO SAY FEATS CAN'T MAKE FOR BETTER ROLE PLAY?!

[@PerditiousSooth]

I don't have a problem with Great Weapon Master because it is my perception that melee combat sort of gets the short end of the stick in this edition (although it's not egregious or gamebreaking) with ranged combat being such a great option now. Sharpshooter definitely gets a lot of rage from me, though; I find that it actually removes some of the tactical depth from combat on top of its sheer power. I do find merit in Jim's answer to the question of Sharpshooter. For some games, simply running the world with the assumptions laden in the mechanics in mind, can be a more elegant solution than trying to rebalance the rules. ie; if intelligent monsters know that skilled archers in Faerun are just *that* dangerous, they're going to take precautions and maybe go out of their way to make life difficult for said archers. Counterspell (I mention it because it's another 5e game-changer that people complain about) merely creates a similar situation: the spell doesn't have to break your combat encounters as long as enemies know the spell exists in the world and fight accordingly. Thank you both for the great video!

[@theDMLair]

Yes! Exactly. If something is crazy good for players, the enemies know it, too. For instance, Hypnotic Pattern is very powerful and often the mainstay of spellcasting players. Well, a spell that works that well is also likely to be the mainstay of enemy spellcasters. And, as a bonus, people in the world know how to deal with its effects: just shake your buddy out of it.

[@retwerd]

I have a Lizardfolk Ranger who has the Gourmand feat. It is extremely fun to role play the harvesting and cooking of monster parts.

[@frankrobinsjr.1719]

Actually use things that PC foes would use. A goblin would never fight a party to the death. Use a small scout force to draw the party into combat, then, fall back into tunnels where anyone smaller than them is going to be really uncomfortable and at disadvantage on their combat rolls.

[@DrMDHyde]

The Achilles heel of feats, I can’t believe it took me that long to get that.

[@Spacemansid98]

Lol I just realized why there were so many feet in the thumbnail

[@mathewsmith2281]

Feats... Feets

[@DahVoozel]

It was a hold over from 3rd edition?

[@Mythrandil]

Web DM every Wednesday?! What a time to be alive!

[@markdunlap9960]

When do we get to see web dm liveplay

[@WebDM]

HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm.........

[@jimdavis141]

Mark Dunlap every week on Save or Dice twitch channel

[@MrSlutzkin]

Save Or Dice

[@kyubii972]

At the moment you have the one game they posted a long time ago or save or dice every Wednesday which so far has been pretty good with Will dming and was quite fun to watch when Jim was dming

[@GlacialScion]

I love you guys, and this episode is great. The only thing I would add is that, when feats are removed from consideration, dexterity becomes an indisputably better stat than strength in virtually all cases. For melee combat, it's already pretty heavily weighted in favor of dex, but the feats at least give strength a damage edge in most cases. Without them, they do equivalent damage, but dex characters also get defensive bonuses and better saves. Just something to note, for melee characters at least.

[@panpiper]

Feats are one of the most fun elements in D&D. If I was invited to join a game in which feats were banned, I would decline.

[@strongarm852]

The grossest thing I did with Sharpshooter was the first character I made in 5e, Halran. Halran was a Wood Elf priest of Shevaresh, the Elf god of Vengence. His class spread is 5 levels of Ranger with Hunter specialization and 10 levels of War Domain Cleric. Basically I would use Sharp Shooter on every attack as long as I had my two channel divinities for the day. -5 from Sharpshooter is actually secretly +7 to hit with the War Cleric channel divinity and Archery Fighting Style. Halran was made for killing Dragons, and he was damn good at it.

[@TheDreamSyndicateArts]

You never go full Warf!

[@GixtheDragon]

Looking at Sharpshooter.... it only applies to ranged weapon attacks. Spell Sniper is what you would need to take to ignore half cover & 3/4 cover with a ranged spell attack. (though I fully understand why these could be a problem...)

[@elzipper716]

"Eating monsters" There's a manga about that. ((It's actually really good!))

[@Licjr]

Elzipper 7 A Toriko inspired campaign would be so dope

[@iaipao]

Elzipper7 is your picture Octavia melody?

[@brosephnoonan223]

This is true! Monmusu is a great anime about getting your hands on the most tender of monster flesh.

[@Andrew.A.]

Elzipper 7 Dungeon Meshi!

[@elzipper716]

That's the one!

[@JonHerzogArtist]

On Great Weapon Master, you could change the +10 to an extra damage dice. Offers something to those trying for the greataxe over the maul or greatsword (which benefit more from the GWF Fighting Style). Could probably use some playtesting.

[@williamwalton9154]

I have a hard time not choosing human to begin with, but Prodigy giving expertise and two extra proficiency (tool included) AND a bonus Language. Variant human for the win.

[@unwithering5313]

If I do change how certain feats work in my campaign I tell my players beforehand, most of the changes are basically just buffs. And yes, I also remove Variant Human (sort of); I have a homebrew rule where races also get level up bonuses so I merged Basic and Variant into one (the extra feat is gained at 5th or 10th level)

[@darkesch9502]

what was their opinion on War Caster?

[@oOPPHOo]

I recently wrote a long comment on this on another video so I've developed a lot of opinions on this. In short? It's a fine feat, but Resilience is quite frankly better since many useful spells already don't rely that heavily on a free hand. Your clerics and paladins can have their spell focus on emblemed on their shield and often you easily get away with freely stowing your weapon the turn you cast a spell and drawing it again on a turn when you need to use it (assuming you don't need to both stow and draw your weapon on the same turn). Granted, this does take away the use of the weapon for making opportunity attacks, but that's hardly ever that important. Ideally, you have room for both feats, but I see a lot of people too influenced by the name War Caster to realize that for the purposes of maintaining concentration (and halving damage from Con saves), Resilience is the better option.

[@kyubii972]

They didn't mention it but I personally believe it's one of the best Feats in the game. Spell casters can always use more ways to throw spells out

[@darkesch9502]

Resilience does not do much for a sorcerer as they are already proficient with con saves, although all the other caster class do like the benefit.

[@1anarquista.sensato]

boosting a primary save (Con, Dex, Wis) will always be useful to everyone

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

War Caster is just about mandatory for any "Gish" build that includes cantrips like shillelagh, primal savagery, blooming blade, green flame blade, or any other magical melee attack that you can spam all day long.

[@stevedonkers9087]

I recently created a half-elf warlock. Rolled 3d6 in order, lowest score was 9 in strength, highest was 18 in charisma (which half-elf adds +2 to).. level 1 and a 20 in my charisma. Works for me. Warlock GoO Pact with Sithis.

[@christopherpatterson4084]

No disintegrations!