Jun 13

Jun 13 Feats Not Worth Taking

As we’ve explored the feats found in the 5th edition, I thought it might be worthwhile to get them that no one should bother taking out of the way. There are a lot of good universal feats, and some class/race-specific feats can be pretty beneficial.

These are not those feats.

Why the powers that be created such feats is beyond me. Was it just page filler? Could it be that they thought people would utilize them? I have no idea. Whatever the reason, I consider them an utter waste of time, and in my opinion, you should too. I’ll provide a quick synopsis of each, but you’ll probably agree with my assessment after reading the description.

Dungeon Delver

Alert to the hidden traps and secret doors found in many dungeons, you gain the following benefits:
You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to detect the presence of secret doors.
You have advantage on saving throws made to avoid or resist traps.
You have resistance to the damage dealt by traps.
Traveling at a fast pace doesn't impose the normal −5 penalty on your passive Wisdom (Perception) score.

This one feels like an homage to the days of old when dungeon crawls were all the rage. There are four distinct abilities gained with the Dungeon Deliver feat. Any time you get that many abilities/bonuses, you'd think it would be great, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case here.

Advantages on checks are typically a boon, but how many secret doors do you truly encounter? In my campaigns, the number rarely exceeds 3 or 4. And if the contents behind the door are significant, the GM has likely already made a passive Perception check for everyone, with someone usually succeeding.

Traps are criminally underutilized. Again, passive Perception checks will hopefully allow one party member to spot it. Rogues then employ their thieves' tools and gain an advantage when disarming them. Then there's removing the passive Perception penalty when jogging /running/speed walking. Do you really care? I know I don't.

Keen Mind

You have a mind that can track time, direction, and detail with uncanny precision. You gain the following benefits.
Increase your Intelligence score by 1 to a maximum of 20.
You always know which way is north.
You always know the number of hours left before the next sunrise or sunset.
You can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard within the past month.

The only thing here that is even worth talking about is the +1 to Intelligence. Why not take the ASI and get 2 points to slide into any ability score your heart desires? Intelligence is almost everyone’s dump stat, so most people could care less. The rest of the abilities you gain are less than useless.

Linguist

You have studied languages and codes, gaining the following benefits:
Increase your Intelligence score by 1 to a maximum of 20.
You learn three languages of your choice.
You can ably create written ciphers. Others can't decipher a code you create unless you teach them, they succeed on an Intelligence check (DC equal to your Intelligence score + your proficiency bonus), or they use magic to decipher it.

Oooo, another feat that gives you a +1 to Intelligence. Wizards everywhere rejoice. If the feat gave you a bump in any other ability score, you could justify taking the feat if you wanted to add flair. People may question your choice, but it's your character, so you do you.

Learning three additional languages is a ridiculous ability. First, you're rolling the dice that the three languages you're taking will be useful. Second, does it really make a difference? When one person understands the language, they tell the other party members unless they are complete jerks. Since you should have relevant languages covered among the party members, you'll likely take some exotic languages. I'm willing to bet and say learning loxodon or Quori probably won't help much.

You can write in code. Yippee. So can your rogue. The problem is there are a couple of ways to break your code. A bard (or wizard, sorcerer, or warlock) could cast comprehend languages. Anyone who reads the code can make an Intelligence check and decipher it. So maybe the ASI to Intelligence could come in handy…nah.

Prodigy

Prerequisite: Half-elf, Half-orc, or Human
You have a knack for learning new things. You gain the following benefits:
You gain one skill proficiency of your choice, one tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Choose one skill in which you have proficiency. You gain expertise with that skill, which means your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it. The skill you choose must be one that isn’t already benefiting from a feature, such as Expertise, that doubles your proficiency bonus.

Why is there a racial prerequisite? Honestly, I'm surprised no one has raised a stink. Could it be construed that this implies that all other races are lesser than three races with access to the feat? You sure can, but I'm not here to open that can of worms. Just don't be surprised when someone else does.

This is probably the one feat on the list that it could be argued is worth taking. Even more so if it was a universal feat (all races and classes had access to it) and if there was a +1 ability score in any stat. For the love of the Gods, just not Intelligence. Without these additions to the feat, it's tough to justify.

Now, the reason no one has said anything about the racial issues is that no one bothers to even look at this feat. An additional skill proficiency is not something to discount. I'm always annoyed when my character doesn't have proficiency in Perception. Would I take the feat if my character, as usual, didn't? Heck no. If you want a higher bonus to Wisdom checks, just take the ASI and drop both points into Wisdom.

Expertise is nice. In some cases, it's extremely helpful. Again, does gaining Expertise justify anyone taking the feat? I'm in the solid "no, it doesn't' camp.

If you disagree with me, please tell me why you think one of these abovementioned feats is worth taking. Likewise, if you think I missed a feat that is so horrible that you’d be a fool to consider it, let me know the reason why you think it’s a waste of page space.

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