Feat Description
Half-Feats (Updated)
Thanks for reading these alternate rules by DM Rob and DM Matt of the Dungeon Master of None Podcast.
Half-feats rework the feat rules of D&D 5th edition with the goal of making feats more fun and more accessible for players. To take any of the half-feats below, players
need only give up half of their Ability Score Improvement feature. More formally, replace the rules for regular feats with the following:
A half-feat represents a talent or an area of expertise that gives a character special capabilities. It embodies training, experience, and abilities beyond what a class
provides.
At certain levels, your class gives you the Ability Score Improvement feature. Using the optional half-feats rule, you can forgo taking that feature to take two half-feats of
your choice instead, one after the other. You can take each half-feat only once, unless the hlaf-feat's description says otherwise. You may also forgo one-half of the
Ability Score Improvement feature (gaining only a single +1 increase to one ability score) to take a single half-feat of your choice.
You must meet any prerequisite specified in a half-feat to take that half-feat. If you ever lose a half-feat's prerequisite, you can't use that half-feat until you regain the
prerequisite. For example, the Grappler half-feat requires you to have a Strength of 13 or higher. If your Strength is reduced below 13 somehow--perhaps by a withering
curse--you can't benefit from the Grappler half-feat until your Strength is restored.
The Variant Human's and the Custom Lineage's (TCE) Ability Score Increase are revised to read as follows: An ability score of your choice increases by 2 and a different
ability score of your choice increases by 1. Alternatively, three different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
XGE = Xanathar's Guide to Everything
TCE = Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Actor
Skilled at mimicry and dramatics, you gain the following benefits:
• You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Performance) checks when trying to pass yourself off as a different person.
• You can mimic the speech of another person or the sounds made by other creatures. You must have heard the person speaking, or heard the creature make
the sound, for at least 1 minute. A successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check allows a listener to determine that the
effect is faked.
Alert Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:
• You gain a +1 bonus to initiative.
• You can't be surprised while you are conscious.
• Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being hidden from you
Improved Initiative Prerequisite: Alert
• You gain an additional +4 bonus to initiative.
Artificer Initiate (TCE) You've learned some of an artificer’s inventiveness:
• You learn one cantrip of your choice from the Artificer spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
• You gain proficiency with one type of artisan's tools of your choice, and you can use that type of tool as a spellcasting focus for any spell you cast that uses
Intelligence as its spellcasting ability.
Artificer Apprentice
(TCE)
Prerequisite: Artificer Initiate
You've learned more of an artificer’s inventiveness:
• You learn one 1st-level spell of your choice from the Artificer spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
• You can cast this feat's 1st-level spell without a spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it in this way again. You can also cast the spell
using any spell slots you have.
Athlete You have undergone extensive physical training to gain the following benefits:
• When you are prone, standing up uses only 5 feet of your movement.
• Climbing doesn't halve your speed.
• You can make a running long jump or a running high jump after moving only 5 feet on foot, rather than 10 feet.
Bountiful Luck
(XGE)
Prerequisite: Halfling
Your people have extraordinary luck, which you have learned to mystically lend to your companions when you see them falter. You're not sure how you do it;
you just wish it, and it happens. Surely a sign of fortune’s favor! When an ally you can see within 30 feet of you rolls a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, an ability
check, or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to let the ally reroll the die. The ally must use the new roll. You can't use this ability again until you complete
a short or a long rest.
Charger
When you use your action to Dash, you can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature.
If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if you chose to
make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you chose to shove and you succeed).
Chef (TCE)
Time and effort spent mastering the culinary arts has paid off. You gain the following benefits:
• You gain proficiency with cook’s utensils if you don't already have it.
• As part of a short rest, you can cook special food, provided you have ingredients and cook's utensils on hand. You can prepare enough of this food for a
number of creatures equal to 4 + your proficiency bonus. At the end of the short rest, any creature who eats the food and spends one or more Hit Dice to regain
hit points regains an extra 1d8 hit points.
• With one hour of work or when you finish a long rest, you can cook a number of treats equal to your proficiency bonus. These special treats last 8 hours after
being made. A creature can use a bonus action to eat one of those treats to gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.
Crossbow Expert
Thanks to extensive practice with crossbows, you gain the following benefits:
• You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient.
• Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
Crusher (TCE)
You are practiced in the art of crushing your enemies, granting you the following benefits:
• Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space, provided the target is no
more than one size larger than you.
• When you score a critical hit that deals bludgeoning damage to a creature, attack rolls against that creature are made with advantage until the start of your next
turn.
Defensive Duelist
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher
When you are wielding a melee weapon that lacks the Heavy or Two-Handed properties with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with a melee
attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.
Dragon Fear
(XGE)
Prerequisite: Dragonborn
When angered, you radiate menace. You gain the following benefits:
• 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 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.
