Entangle Your 5E D&D Characters with New Beardomantic Feats

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted discuss how wizards can make meaningful choices for feats in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. in 5E D&D wizards for the most part rely on a single ability score — Intelligence — for their features and abilities, including their spellcasting. So when a wizard character reaches 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th levels and earns an Ability Score Improvement, once the character hits that sweet 20 Intelligence the option to choose a feat becomes tremendously appealing. And of course a human variant character can choose a feat right at 1st level. In the video Dave and Ted go over several groups of feats a wizard can take to increase effectiveness in combat, lean into their scholarly side or enhance their already impressive spellcasting potential. Over here on the website we thought it would be fun to create a new feat or two designed with wizards in mind. And since we’re giving away three free digital Adventures & Supplements we’ll tie them into Beardomancy, one of our most popular products that’s getting a follow up in just a few days from now.

New feats for 5E D&D wizards

Introduced in 5E D&D as a customization options feats are not part of the core game in this edition. Feats are defined as are special options you can choose instead of increasing your ability scores as you gain levels, presented in chapter 6 of the Player’s Handbook. Most Dungeon Masters I know and have played with include feats in their games. Nerdarchy Intern Jake did not include feats in his campaigns (miss that guy!) and if I’m not mistaken Matt Colville also does not use the feats option in his games.

“A 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 feats rule, you can forgo taking that feature to take a feat of your choice instead. You can take each feat only once, unless the feat’s description says otherwise. You must meet any prerequisite specified in a feat to take that feat. If you ever lose a feat’s prerequisite, you can’t use that feat until you regain the prerequisite.” — from the 5E D&D PHB

Since we’re creating a new feat with wizards in mind I think we’ll start with a theme for our creation and I’m choosing Beardomancy. The product we put together for our April Patreon rewards in 2019 began as an April Fools’ Day gag but quickly became one of our favorite projects and our most popular product of the year. People loved the concepts and features of the School of Beardomancy along with all the related spells, magic and mundane items, monsters and yes, feats. We were also ecstatic when one of the players in Nerdarchist Ted’s D&D In A Castle 2019 campaign played a beardomancer! Both barber and Beardic expand the beardomancy mythos and we designed these feats to be useful for any character, not just School of Beardomancy wizards.

This April 2020 we’re following up on Beardomancy with Hairable Ideas, further expanding the scope of beardomancy. Strange energies from the Beard Dimension are affected barbarians, clerics, monks, paladins, sorcerers and rogues with new subclasses. More spells, magic items and monsters emerge through beardomancy and every single creature in the D&D multiverse can potentially become an agent of the hairy entities dwelling in the darkest corners of the Beard Dimension. As always our Patreon supporters at the $2 level and above get early access to all our products, including Hairable Ideas when it becomes available April 5. New supporters also get instant access to past rewards, including the original Beardomancy. Check out our Patreon here.

For everyone else — you’re in luck! In response to COVID-19 preventative measures like social distancing one of the ways we’re responding is offering FREE game content to use for your online gaming experiences. Until April 30, 2020 in Nerdarchy the Store you can get any three Adventures & Supplements of your choice 100% free. When you use the one time coupon code STAYNERDY in your cart, a 100% discount will be applied on up to three digital Adventures & Supplements products. Beardomancy is one of those products, and we’ve got about 30 others to choose from with Fifth Edition content ready to drop right into your games. Get started with your selections by checking out Beardomancy here.

Barbhairians, beardomancers and hirsute horrors are but a handful of the results of strange energies emanating from the Beard Dimension.

Mane Artist

You’ve discovered secret knowledge of the mysteries of beardomancy. You learn one beardomancy cantrip of your choice. You also learn one 1st level and one 2nd level beardomancy spell of your choice, each of which you can cast once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast these two spells in this way when you finish a long rest. Intelligence in your spellcasting ability for all three spells.

Stylist

You can work a different kind of magic with a pair of shears and some product. You gain proficiency with barber’s tools. In addition, you can spend 15 minutes cutting and styling the hair of a willing creature within 5 feet, using your barber’s tools to create a new look and style or enhancing an existing one. The creature gains the following benefit based on the hair style you create, chosen by you from these options. The effect lasts until the creature finishes a long rest.

• Pompadour. Advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks
• Dreadlocks. Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks
• Mohawk. Advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks
• Fauxhawk. Advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks
• Ringlet Curls. Advantage on Wisdom (Medicine) checks
• Shaved Head. Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks
• Topknot. Advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks
• Mullet. Advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks
• Pigtails. Advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks

There you have it, two new 5E D&D feats inspired by the School of Beardomancy for wizards. Beardomancers can lean into the theme, bolstering and supplementing their spellcasting with either or both of these feats. But any character can find use for a handful of beardomancy spells or a temporary buff for a variety of skills.

It’s worth nothing at the time of this writing there is only one beardomancy cantrip — beard whip — found inside Beardomancy. The upcoming Hairable Ideas has more beardomancy spells to choose from. Also, barber’s tools are a new tool set and proficiency introduced in Union Salon, one of our previous Patreon rewards. All the material from that book is incorporated into Taking Chances, which you can find in the store and use that coupon code to get free!

While we continue to adapt and adjust how Nerdarchy operates to maintain the health and wellbeing of our staff and the gaming community we’ll be creating more web enhanced content like this and our Hooked on Adventure series to expand ideas and options from our digital products and give you some free material to use in your games. We hope that you have as much fun incorporating this content into your games as we did creating and playing with it in our own. What are some of your favorite feats to choose for your 5E D&D wizard characters? Have you played a beardomancer yet? Are you looking forward to more strange ideas from the Beard Dimension to add to your game with Hairable Ideas? Stay safe, stay healthy and of course stay nerdy!