What are the First Level Feats in D&D?
First-level feats in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) 5th Edition are a powerful character customization option available primarily to Variant Humans and those using the Custom Lineage option. Unlike standard races, these options allow you to start your adventuring career with a feat at level one, in addition to your other racial traits. Feats offer a diverse range of abilities that can significantly impact your character’s effectiveness and play style right from the start. The standard Player’s Handbook (PHB) provides a core selection, and additional feats are available in other sourcebooks. Let’s delve into what these feats offer and how they can shape your early gameplay experience.
Core First Level Feats from the Player’s Handbook
The Player’s Handbook provides several baseline feats that can be taken at level one, though they are also available at any level where an Ability Score Increase is granted instead. These feats offer a wide range of enhancements that can be beneficial for any class.
Alert
The Alert feat is designed for characters who value initiative and awareness. This feat grants a +5 bonus to initiative rolls, preventing the character from being surprised, and also means creatures cannot gain advantage on attack rolls against them as a result of being hidden. This feat can be crucial for any character hoping to act quickly in combat, ensuring that you’re first in the turn order.
Healer
The Healer feat provides valuable support capabilities. This feat grants you proficiency with the healer’s kit and allows you to use it as an action to restore hit points to a creature. This can be an invaluable resource, particularly at early levels when healing options are limited. It allows for a burst of out-of-combat healing, ensuring your team is always ready for the next encounter.
Lightly Armored
The Lightly Armored feat allows a character that normally doesn’t get access to armor proficiency to gain proficiency with light armor. This can be useful for classes like sorcerers or wizards who lack armor training and want to increase their armor class to help them take more hits.
Lucky
The Lucky feat allows a character to manipulate luck itself. A player with this feat gains three luck points that can be spent to gain advantage on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw; or to cause a creature’s attack roll to have disadvantage. You can also expend a luck point after a failed attack roll, ability check, or saving throw to reroll the die. This makes you a more versatile and reliable character in various situations.
Magic Initiate
The Magic Initiate feat offers the ability to pick one class’s spell list and learn two cantrips and one 1st-level spell from that class. This allows non-magic classes access to some magic, while it gives magic users additional cantrips that might not have been on their class list. For instance, a fighter could learn fire bolt and minor illusion as cantrips from the wizard list and magic missile as their 1st-level spell.
Savage Attacker
The Savage Attacker feat grants the ability to reroll a damage die when making a weapon attack. You must keep the new result. This feat is best suited for characters that rely heavily on dealing damage with weapons.
Skilled
The Skilled feat provides proficiency in any three skills of your choice. A character with this feat will be able to be more proficient at tasks related to skills. They may know how to persuade and deceive better, they may be better at sneaking, they may be better at athletics.
Tavern Brawler
The Tavern Brawler feat is great for characters who rely on improvised weapons or unarmed combat. It grants proficiency with improvised weapons and unarmed strikes, along with a +1 increase to strength or constitution. This feat makes characters more effective in close-quarters combat with anything at hand.
Tough
The Tough feat grants a character a +2 increase to their maximum hit points at each level. This results in more survivability for your character. This can help characters that are naturally less durable, such as wizards or sorcerers, stay in the fight for longer periods of time.
New First Level Feats
In addition to those listed above, some playtests have included new feats that are excellent options at first level. These feats provide further character customization options.
Crafter
The Crafter feat gives characters the ability to be more involved with crafting. Characters with this feat gain proficiency with two crafting tools, and when they use crafting tools, their proficiency bonus is doubled.
Musician
The Musician feat grants characters access to proficiency with a musical instrument, allowing them to be more effective in scenarios that call for music. In addition, whenever they make a performance check, they can roll it with advantage.
FAQs on First Level Feats in D&D
1. Do all characters get a feat at level 1?
No, only Variant Humans and characters using the Custom Lineage option from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything get a free feat at level 1. Other races do not automatically start with a feat. However, DMs may choose to award feats at their discretion.
2. What are Tier 1 levels in D&D?
Tier 1 levels in D&D 5e are levels 1 through 4. Characters at this stage are considered “local heroes,” beginning their journey and establishing themselves within their local region.
3. Can you choose a feat instead of an Ability Score Improvement?
Yes, whenever you gain an Ability Score Improvement (ASI) – typically at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19 – you can choose to take a feat instead of increasing your ability scores.
4. How many feats are there in total?
The number of feats available in D&D 5e varies with additional content from different sourcebooks. The core rulebooks include a substantial number, with more added through supplements and adventure modules, ensuring a plethora of options for players.
5. Do you have to start at level 1 in D&D?
While it’s common for campaigns to start at level 1, it’s not a strict requirement. DMs can choose to begin campaigns at higher levels if they want to start in the thick of more complex scenarios.
6. What is the best class at level 1?
The “best” class depends on your preference and play style. Many consider Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, and Warlock to be strong contenders at level 1 due to their subclass features and proficiencies.
7. What are optional feats in D&D?
Optional feats are an alternative to the Ability Score Improvement. These optional feats let you forgo the ASI and instead choose a feat that enhances character abilities, as long as you meet the requirements, and you can take each feat only once.
8. How many feats do you start with in D&D?
Normally, you start with zero feats unless you are playing a Variant Human or use the Custom Lineage option, where you start with one feat.
9. Are Cantrips unlimited?
Yes, any cantrips known to your character can be used at will and an unlimited number of times, unless the feature that grants them specifies otherwise.
10. Can you learn a feat through training in D&D?
There are no official rules that allow characters to acquire feats through training. DMs can make exceptions but usually, feats are gained through Ability Score Improvements or when they are selected at the beginning of your character.
11. What is a “level 0” character in D&D?
A “level 0” character is typically a commoner, henchman, or someone who hasn’t yet taken up the call to adventure. They do not possess any class levels and therefore lack class-related features.
12. What does a roll of 1 mean in D&D?
A roll of 1 on a d20 means an automatic miss on an attack roll. For other ability checks and saving throws, the result of the roll is still counted, it is not automatically a failure.
13. How do feats work when multiclassing?
There are two restrictions on class-specific feats when multiclassing. You can’t take a multiclass feat for your own class, and you can’t take a class-specific feat for a different class once you’ve taken one.
14. Can a DM give out feats?
Yes, a DM can award feats outside of the normal levelling structure to reward characters or when they feel it would enhance the campaign narrative. This is usually done to create balanced and equal abilities for the players.
15. Can any class benefit from these feats?
Yes, the feats listed above can benefit any class, even though some will naturally work better with some classes than others. For example, the Tough feat works great for classes that are naturally squishier, while the Savage Attacker feat works best with damage-dealing classes.
In conclusion, first-level feats are a crucial way to personalize your character right from the start of a D&D campaign. Understanding these early game feats can help you create a more effective and engaging character, and the additional customizability offered at this level allows you to truly create the character that you want.