Master New 5E D&D Feats from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Some of the earliest marketing for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons back when it was still the D&D Next playtest phase touted the modular nature of the upcoming new (and still current) iteration of the game. I’ve always felt this was a fantastic way to frame 5E D&D. As the edition matured over the last few years it’s been terrific to watch this approach blossom through each new book release. Now with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything one of the Ur modules of 5E D&D gets a major boost with the addition of 15 new feats taking character customization to a whole new dimension. So let’s get into it.
A 5E D&D feat for every occasion
Presented in chapter 6 of the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook feats represent the earliest customization options available in the game. Whenever a character’s class grants them an Ability Score Improvement the optional feats rule allows players to choose one of these special aptitudes. Most people I know and game with allow these optional feats in their games but they’re not to everyone’s taste, something to keep in mind whenever you participate in a game with new friends. Former Intern Jake typically doesn’t include feats in his games and Matt Colville’s expressed this sentiment in videos as well.
“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.”
Adding additional feats to the game beyond what’s in the PHB is nothing new. A smattering of other books introduce a few feats here and there, most notably the selection of racial feats found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Incidentally I’m a big fan of racial feats and we’ve created quite a few here on the website like my personal favorite Fake It Till You Make It for humans.
Like XGtE in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything you’ll find 15 new feats for 5E D&D except these are open for just about any sort of character barring a few easy to fulfill prerequisites in some cases. Like many of the new subclass options in the book these new feats evolved from Unearthed Arcana offerings. If there’s any single theme running through Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything it’s providing players with tools for creating exactly the kinds of characters they imagine and the new feats carry a lot of water towards this goal.
Opportunities abound for mundane characters to add a bit of magic, magical characters to add a dash of more mundane pursuits and everyone to dabble in psionics through these new feats. In lieu of an Ability Score Improvement these new customization options can help characters lean even more into their existing capabilities too.
I’ve kept my head buried in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything since it released and I still can’t even process how many amazing new possibilities arise through combinations of various modular customization options in the book. New and more flexible fighting styles and maneuvers along with feats create so many pathways to fun and effective character concepts. What’s more the growing pool of resources like these give Dungeon Masters new ways to curate and individualize campaigns and settings too, something Nerdarchist Dave prognosticated over four years ago!
And now here’s all 15 new feats for 5E D&D characters found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything:
- Artificer Initiate. One cantrip, one 1st level spell and one artisan’s tools proficiency, which you can use as a spellcasting focus.
- Chef. Constitution bump, cook’s utensils proficiency and you can whip up health restoring treats.
- Crusher. Bump your Strength or Constitution and your buff your bludgeoning damage attacks.
- Eldritch Adept. Learn an Eldritch Invocation. Squee!
- Fey Touched. Bump your Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma plus add misty step and another 1st level divination or enchantment spell to your repertoire.
- Fighting Initiate. Learn a Fighting Style! (New ones in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything makes 13 possibilities.)
- Gunner. Bump your Dexterity and become a rootin’ tootin’ adventurer.
- Metamagic Adept. Manipulate your magic along with a couple of sorcery points.
- Piercer. Bump your Strength or Dexterity and buff your piercing damage attacks.
- Poisoner. Overcome poison resistance and concoct poisons to coat everyone’s weapons.
- Shadow Touched. Bump your Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma plus add invisibility and another 1st level illusion or necromancy spell to your repertoire.
- Skill Expert. Bump an ability score and learn a new skill — with Expertise!
- Slasher. Bump your Strength or Dexterity and buff your slashing damage attacks.
- Telekinetic. Bump your Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma plus add an invisible mage hand to your repertoire along with pushing and pulling creatures around with your mind.
- Telepathic. Bump your Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma plus add detect thoughts to your repertoire and establish mind to mind communications.
So many possibilities brewing in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
As I work my way through Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything modular chunk by modular chunk each new section makes me more excited than ever about 5E D&D. Starting with chapter 4’s Dungeon Master’s Tools the material in this book gets me so stoked to participate in games playing fun characters or helping the story of a group of adventurers emerge. I’d be lying if I said the Chef feat doesn’t awaken my appetite for more culinary adventures. A possible return to the Ingest Quest campaign on the horizon for our Tuesday night Nerdarchy games and fantastic content like Dragon Stew along with this feat give me a lot to sink my teeth into.
What’s your favorite of the new feats from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything? Are you imagining a warrior with some magical tricks, a squishy spellcaster with a useful fighting style or maybe doubling down on a character concept with feat support? I want to know what you dig about these new feats the most and especially any new character ideas these make more possible for you to realize. Drop your thoughts, ideas and stories in the comments and stay nerdy!
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March 20, 2021 at 10:52 pm