A Player's Guide to Feats - Dragon Fear
Dragons are scary. Dragonborn characters may not be as frightening, but they become a bit more like their dragon kin if they take the Dragon Fear feat. Does this make them more threatening to the average person? I guess that’s up to the individual, but one thing is sure. Now, there is no questioning that the Dragonborn come from dragon lineage, no matter how far removed they may be.
What is the Dragon Fear Feat?
The description for the Dragon Fear feat is as follows:
When angered, you can radiate menace. You gain the following benefits:
Increase your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Instead of exhaling destructive energy, you can expend a use of your Breath Weapon trait to roar, forcing each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). A target automatically succeeds on the save if it can’t hear or see you. On a failed save, a target becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. If the frightened target takes any damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
Dissecting the Feat
First, we must note that the prerequisite to the feat is that you must be dragonborn. That's too bad. The requirement for the Dragonborn character to use their breath weapon could easily be removed. Then, any character could use their Action to roar like a dragon (or some other creature) to create the same effect.
Speaking of using your Action, it's doubtful that anyone will give up the opportunity to do damage, especially at lower levels, since players like to hurt things. The save is easy to make, and you're still susceptible to all ranged attacks. Finally, while this is not a flaw so much in the feat as it is in the Breath Weapon ability in general, you can only use it once per short or long rest.
Enough of the negatives; let's move on to the positives. Brace yourself because there are more than you'd think. Being a half feat, you can raise your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma by 1. This will factor into, and possibly limit, some of the useability for specific classes, and we'll get to that below. Even though it may not be the first choice, every class/character can always use a bump in Constitution. As we always say, more hit points are always a good thing.
The meat of the feat is deciding to let loose a mighty roar instead of shooting acid, fire, or whatever breath weapon your dragon lineage grants you. Roaring allows you to pick and choose every creature within 30 feet to make a saving throw or be frightened. As stated above, the saving throw is relatively easy to make, but 30 feet is a good size area of effect. The disadvantage of attacks & ability checks neuters both melee fighters and spellcasters. Effected targets not being able to move toward you is good but could be better. The problem with the frightened condition is that it doesn't force the target to move away from you. This means that they don't have to move away when you get within striking distance of the target and can hit you back on their turn. It is, however, great if you have a weapon with reach.
You'll have a significant advantage in battlefield control when successful on multiple people. We've discussed the importance of the battlefield in numerous articles. If you plan your movement around the area you are fighting, you can force creatures to move where they don't want to be. Frightened plus certain class auras can give you authority over an entire battlefield if you move and position yourself correctly.
The Dragon Fear Feat Useability by Class
Artificer: Not worth taking.
Barbarian: A case can be made for taking the feat as a barbarian. Adding disadvantage to your enemies while you have advantage when you're raging can shorten the life expectancy of most creatures. Additionally, the +1 in Strength or Constitution makes the feat a viable option unless you are playing a Path of the Berserker barbarian, where you gain Intimidating Presence at the 10th level.
Bard: One of the better classes to take this feat. Adding the frightened condition to the various buffs you can cast allows you to take control of the landscape by moving your enemies around. Forcing the bad guys to move away from you while one of them thinks you're their best friend (charm effects) can let you and your party pick them off individually. The +1 to Charisma shouldn't be overlooked either.
Cleric: Not worth taking.
Druid: Not worth taking.
Fighter: Decent, but there are too many other feats available for the class to seriously consider the feat.
Monk: If you are a strong tactician and can see the landscape better than I ever could, then you can have much fun with this feat. A monk is typically moving around constantly, punching creatures in the throat. You can create absolute havoc on the battlefield. Your constant movement, which increases as you level up, can force creatures to move this way and that on every turn. That said, it really isn't worth taking.
Paladin: Combining the paladin's auras with the feat allows even better battlefield control than the bard. You can act as a shield of sorts, protecting your wizard from affected creatures. Aura of Alacrity can force the bad guys to move away sooner than they thought. Aura of Warding provides resistance against spells those pesky spellcasters cast from outside the feat's area of effect. Several options make this a great addition to the paladin's arsenal. The +1 to Charisma makes the DC a little harder for the bad guys to make.
Ranger: It can keep creatures away from you if your focus is on using ranged weapons, but it's really not worth taking.
Rogue: Not worth taking.
Sorcerer: It should be low on the list of options, but the feat, interestingly enough, can be helpful for a sorcerer. The Charisma modifier is good. You can keep your enemies away as you use your spells available from a distance. Thematically, it goes well with a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer.
Warlock: See above (except for the draconic bloodline part).
Wizard: It can keep creatures away from you while you stand in the back and cast fireball, but there are too many other feats you should be taking to ever consider this.
Conclusion
Despite its limitations, the Dragon Fear feat has useability. Dragonborn bards and paladins should give it a look. Unless you're really into intimidating creatures, the Dragon Fear feat shouldn't be in the running.
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