Everything you need to know about feats in D&D 2024.
In D&D 5e 2014, feats tended to take a back seat. The instruction has always been if your DM allows them, then they can be used. It’s been kind of like trying to see a Marvel movie at the cinema when you’re 10; it’s allowed, if you parents say it’s OK!
Unfortunately, feats, like Marvel movies, are fun and cool. They also bring some variety and customisation to character builds. Thankfully, many tables allow them, but even then, they come at the expense of an ability score improvement (unless your group’s really cool and has a homebrew rule that let’s you have one at level 1).
With D&D 2024, this is all changing with feats taking a front seat in character creation. And I’ve explained exactly how in the article below as well as how each type of feat works.
What changes are coming to feats?
- Tiered feats – Feats are separated into tiers with different feats made available at different levels (or even by different class features).
- Origin feats – Everyone gets an origin feat at level 1 which is tied to their background.
- General feats – These become available at level 4 and are taken in the same way as before, replacing your ability score improvement. Each of these is a half feat though so you get a +1 to one of your ability scores.
- Epic boon feats – These become available at level 19 and not only provide more powerful abilities, but also allow ability scores to increase beyond 20 to a maximum of 30. If you want to progress beyond level 20, you can take another epic boon each time you level up after level 20.
- Fighting style – These class features are now considered feats but are only available to certain martial classes.
- Quality of life – Many general quality of life improvements to specific feats have been baked into the 2024 Player’s Handbook.
That’s quite a substantial bunch of changes. To simplify things, I’ve explained exactly how each feat type works below:
Origin feats
These are based on existing feats, but have had tweaks to balance them into appropriate level 1 abilities. These are attached to your background so you don’t choose them independently from your background.
| Origin feat | Backgrounds granted from | Source book |
|---|---|---|
| Alert | Criminal, guard, ice fisher | Player’s Handbook |
| Crafter | Artisan, mythalkeeper | Player’s Handbook |
| Healer | Hermit, dead magic dweller | Player’s Handbook |
| Lucky | Merchant, wayfarer, Mulhorandi tomb raider | Player’s Handbook |
| Magic initiate | Acolyte, guide, sage, genie touched, Moonwell pilgrim | Player’s Handbook |
| Musician | Entertainer | Player’s Handbook |
| Savage attacker | Soldier, shadowmasters exile | Player’s Handbook |
| Skilled | Charlatan, noble, scribe, Chondathan freebooter | Player’s Handbook |
| Tavern brawler | Sailor | Player’s Handbook |
| Tough | Farmer, flaming fist mercenary, Rashemi wanderer | Player’s Handbook |
| Cult of the dragon initiate | Dragon cultist | Heroes of Faerun |
| Emerald enclave fledgling | Emerald enclave caretaker | Heroes of Faerun |
| Harper agent | Harper | Heroes of Faerun |
| Lords’ alliance agent | Lords’ alliance vassal | Heroes of Faerun |
| Purple dragon rook | Purple dragon squire | Heroes of Faerun |
| Spellfire spark | Spellfire initiate | Heroes of Faerun |
| Tyro of the gauntlet | Knight of the gauntlet | Heroes of Faerun |
| Zhentarim ruffian | Zhentarim mercenary | Heroes of Faerun |
| Tireless reveler | Carouser | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Vampire hunter | Vampire survivor | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Vampire’s plaything | Vampire devotee | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Child of the sun | Lorwyn expert | Lorwyn – First Light |
| Shadowmoor hexer | Shadowmoor expert | Lorwyn – First Light |
| Sharp eye | Investigator | Ravenloft: The Horrors Within |
| Survivor | Haunted one | Ravenloft: The Horrors Within |
General feats
General feats are the typical feats we’ve come to know in D&D 5e. They become available at level 4 and can be taken in place of your ability score improvements.
Each general feat gives you +1 in an ability score as well as a special ability. The feat will define which ability scores can be increased with them being linked to the type of ability your feat is.
| General Feat | Prerequisite | Ability score increase | Source Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actor | Level 4+, charisma 13+ | Charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Athlete | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Charger | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Chef | Level 4+ | Constitution or wisdom | Player’s Handbook |
| Crossbow expert | Level 4+, dexterity 13+ | Dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Crusher | Level 4+ | Strength or constitution | Player’s Handbook |
| Defensive duelist | Level 4+, dexterity 13+ | Dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Dual wielder | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Durable | Level 4+ | Constitution | Player’s Handbook |
| Elemental adept | Level 4+, spellcasting or pact magic feature | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Fey-touched | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Grappler | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Great weapon master | Level 4+, strength 13+ | Strength | Player’s Handbook |
| Heavily armored | Level 4+, medium armor training | Constitution or strength | Player’s Handbook |
| Heavy armor master | Level 4+, heavy armor training | Constitution or strength | Player’s Handbook |
| Inspiring leader | Level 4+, wisdom or charisma 13+ | Wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Keen mind | Level 4+, intelligence 13+ | Intelligence | Player’s Handbook |
| Lightly armored | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Mage slayer | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Martial weapon training | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Medium armor master | Level 4+, medium armor training | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Moderately armored | Level 4+, light armor training | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Mounted combatant | Level 4+ | Strength, dexterity or wisdom | Player’s Handbook |
| Observant | Level 4+, intelligence or wisdom 13+ | Intelligence or wisdom | Player’s Handbook |
| Piercer | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Poisoner | Level 4+ | Dexterity or intelligence | Player’s Handbook |
| Polearm master | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Resilient | Level 4+ | Any | Player’s Handbook |
| Ritual caster | Level 4+, intelligence, wisdom or charisma 13+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Sentinel | Level 4+, strength or dexterity 13+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Shadow-touched | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Sharpshooter | Level 4+, dexterity 13+ | Dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Shield master | Level 4+, shield training | Strength | Player’s Handbook |
| Skill expert | Level 4+ | Any | Player’s Handbook |
| Skulker | Level 4+, dexterity 13+ | Dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Slasher | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Speedy | Level 4+, dexterity or constitution 13+ | Dexterity or constitution | Player’s Handbook |
| Spellsniper | Level 4+, spellcasting or pact magic feature | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Telekinetic | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Telepathic | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| War caster | Level 4+, spellcasting or pact magic feature | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Player’s Handbook |
| Weapon master | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Player’s Handbook |
| Cold caster | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Dragonscarred | Level 4+, Cult of the Dragon initiate | Constitution or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Enclave magic | Level 4+, Emerald Enclave fledgling | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Fairy trickster | Level 4+ | Dexterity or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Genie magic | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Harper teamwork | Level 4+, Harper agent | Dexterity or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Lordly resolve | Level 4+, Lords’ Alliance agent | Strength or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Mythal touched | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Order’s resilience | Level 4+, Tyro of the gauntlet | Strength, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Purple dragon commandant | Level 4+, Purple dragon rook or martial weapon proficiency | Strength or dexterity | Heroes of Faerun |
| Spellfire adept | Level 4+, spellfire spark or spellcasting or pact magic feature | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Street justice | Level 4+ | Strength or dexterity | Heroes of Faerun |
| Zhentarim tactics | Level 4+, Zhentarim ruffian | Dexterity or charisma | Heroes of Faerun |
| Bloodlust | Level 4+ | Strength, dexterity or constitution | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Bomber | Level 4+ | Dexterity | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Cloying mists | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Delicious pain | Level 4+ | Any | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Light bringer | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Love bites | Level 4+ | Any | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Putrefy | Level 4+ | Any | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Rebuke | Level 4+ | Any | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Treacherous allure | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
| Vampire touched | Level 4+ | Intelligence, wisdom or charisma | Astarion’s Book of Hungers |
Fighting style feats
Some martial classes (fighters, paladins and rangers) have a feature called fighting style. This existed in D&D 2014 too, but wasn’t considered a feat back then. Instead, each available fighting style was printed in each class section.
Now all the fighting style options exist in the same place making navigating the book better and saving precious space.
All fighting styles are available to any character with the fighting style feature with just a couple of exceptions in blessed and druidic warrior. These fighting styles allow paladins and rangers to focus more on the spellcasting elements of their class and take on more spells, rather than become more proficient in combat but are exclusive to those classes.
All the fighting styles from D&D 2014 (including those from Tasha’s Guide) make it over to D&D 2024 other than superior technique, which wasn’t a particularly good fighting style anyway. You can find them all listed below:
- Archery
- Blessed warrior (exclusive to paladins)
- Blind fighting
- Druidic warrior (exclusive to rangers)
- Defense
- Dueling
- Great weapon fighting
- Interception
- Protection
- Thrown weapon fighting
- Two weapon fighting
- Unarmed fighting
Epic boon feats
Epic boon feats also become a standardised part of character progression. Previously, they were hidden away in the Dungeon Master’s Guide as an optional extra for level 20+ character progression. Now each class gets one at level 19 and you can continue getting a new one each time you level up after level 20.
These feats are appropriately powerful for features that come in at level 19 and rather than being forced down a class specific route for character progression, you can choose your epic boon from 12 available options.
I’ve already written in detail about how epic boons will work and the tactics you can use with them in my epic boons guide. Check that out for more detail, but below, I’ve summarised the epic boons you can choose in D&D 2024:
- Boon of the combat prowess
- Boon of energy resistance
- Boon of truesight
- Boon of the night spirit
- Boon of fate
- Boon of fortitude
- Boon of spell recall
- Boon of dimensional travel
- Boon of irresistible offense
- Boon of recovery
- Boon of skill
- Boon of speed
Heroes of Faerun epic boon feats
- Boon of bloodshed
- Boon of bountiful health
- Boon of communication
- Boon of desperate resilience
- Boon of exquisite radiance
- Boon of fluid forms
- Boon of fortune’s favour
- Boon of poison mastery
- Boon of revelry
- Boon of terror
- Boon of the bright sun
- Boon of the furious storm
- Boon of the soul drinker
Astarion’s Book of Hungers epic boon feats
- Boon of blazing dawn
- Boon of looming shadows
- Boon of misty escape
Class feat guides
If you’re looking for advice on what feat to take for your character, I’ve created feat guides for every class. In these, I evaluate and score every single feat and how well I think it works for that class.
