UESGEXGE Part 7: Feats
Xanathar's Guide presents 15 new feats to help customize your character as they level up. These new feats look specifically at your character's race, allowing you to explore your rich ancestry.
This review will broadly look at the new feats with some suggestions on how to bring them into your game. Racial Feats are being considered to be included in the next release of the UESTRPG Basic Rules and will likely be inspired from those listed below.
The feats introduced in Xanathar's Guide to Everything are listed below in the Racial Feats table, along with the associated Elder Scrolls race that would be a likely candidate to benefit from the feat.
RACIAL FEATS
Feat Race
Bountiful Luck Imperial
Dragon Fear Argonian, Orsimer, Nord
Dragon Hide Argonian
Drow High Magic Altmer
Dwarven Fortitude Nord, Redguard
Elven Accuracy Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer
Fade Away Altmer, Argonian, Breton, Khajiit
Fey Teleportation Bosmer
Flames of Phlegethos Dunmer
Infernal Constitution Orsimer
Orcish Fury Nord
Prodigy Breton, Imperial
Second Chance Khajiit
Squat Nimbleness Altmer, Breton, Orsimer
Wood Elf Magic Bosmer
BOUNTIFUL LUCK
Adding to the Lucky halfling trait, the bountiful luck trait allows you to gift your luck to your friends.
Imperials are the luckiest race in Tamriel, and this trait fits best with that race. You can use this as written, or consider making it work in hand with the Imperial Luck trait from the Basic Rules. If you choose the latter, allow the Imperial to use one of their Luck Points granted from the Imperial Luck trait on an ally within 30 feet.
Include the restriction that limits the ability to use the Imperial Luck racial trait again before the end of your next turn.
Why are Imperial's considered lucky? Prior to Skyrim, your player character would start with eight attributes, which were similar to ability scores in D&D. Your race selection would affect at least 3 of those attributes, but in Morrowind and Oblivion, Luck was never one of the affected attributes. Luck was affected in Daggerfall, but Imperials were not a playable race at that time. In Daggerfall, Khajiit, Nords, and Redguards received a bonus to their luck, while Bosmer were notably unlucky.
So really, the only reason to consider Imperials as an exceptionally lucky race is because of the racial trait they received in Skyrim, which shares the same name as their racial trait in the Basic Rules: Imperial Luck. The video game version of the racial trait allowed them to find more gold pieces, which doesn't translate well in a multiplayer table top game.
DRAGON FEAR
The Dragon Fear racial feat adds a new option to the Dragonborn's Breath Weapon ability to frighten creatures instead of deal damage.
While no races in Tamriel have the Breath Weapon ability, there are many that can strike fear into the hearts of others. Argonians, with their alien form, frills, and horns, can be especially fearsome to those that are less familiar with the race. Orsimer are known to be aggressive and brutal, making intimidating and scaring others rather easy, even for the most pleasant orcs. Finally, Nords, with their booming, powerful voices, can strike fear into others with ease. With some tweaks to the mechanics, any of these races are decent candidates for this feat.
Nord's from the Skyrim video game had a racial trait that allowed them to fear creatures within 60 feet of them, which has been translated in to the Battlecry trait in the Basic Rules. The Battlecry trait, as currently written, is considerably powerful. It is effectively a free 3rd level spell that can be used as an action at any time, starting at 1st level. The rules are accidentally missing the standard 'you must complete a long rest before you can use this trait again.' which makes this incredibly powerful. I would look at revising the Battlecry trait to be one target only, usable once every long rest, and would be mechanically very similar to the cause fear spell, found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. This could be upgraded through this feat to increase it to be a 15 foot cone, and usable every short rest.
DRAGON HIDE
Boosting the effectiveness of a dragonborn's natural physiology, the Dragon Hide feat increases your unarmored defenses and unarmed strikes.
The obvious choice for this feat is the argonian, as the flavor of this feat fits right in. The argonian scales and claws harden, making them more effective at using their natural gifts. The downside to this is that part of these traits are already included in the argonians base traits, making this much less appealing than for a dragonborn.
The argonian already gets the Bite trait, which allows them to deal more damage from unarmed strikes than this feat gives to their claws. Additionally, they also have the Protective Scales trait, giving them an AC of 12 + their Agility modifier. Increasing this to 13, although still powerful, feels less impactful. So this feat, which gives a +1 Ability Score Improvement and two minor traits, would, in it's current form, only give one minor trait that is a slight improvement of an existing trait.
My thoughts on this are to change the feat to keep the increase of AC to 13, remove the clawed unarmed strike, and add a new benefit that makes them immune to poison and disease.
DROW HIGH MAGIC
The drow have a special connection to magic and a deep understanding of its effects. You are now able to cast spells to help discern or dispel magic, or keep yourself afloat, without using a spell slot.
The Altmer of Tamriel have a similar aptitude for magic as the drow. Bringing this into your Elder Scrolls game would be simple and straightforward, increasing the amount of spells available to your high elf character, without the need for spending magicka. I like this feat for the Altmer specifically because it allows a race that is famously known for their magical abilities to have up to 5 spells in their arsenal, even if they aren't a spellcasting class.
DWARVEN FORTITUDE
Your heroic dwarven lineage allows you to recover quickly in the heat of battle.
I'm a big fan of this one. It's mechanically simple, and the value is easy to see. Although D&D was written with the expectation of an adventuring day consisting of a half dozen or so decent battles, the reality doesn't seem to match that. What I've seen from a few discussions is that most games have one or two main battles each day and that's it. So most people rarely see the need for a short rest, effectively making Hit Dice meaningless. Of course, this isn't always true, but if it is in your game, this feat has a lot of value in it. You can actually use one of the resources you're expected to use.
As a side note, while I was reading through Xanathar's Lost Notes on Everything Else (available on the DM's Guild), I noticed that a lot of the subclasses had abilities that made use of the Hit Dice resource.
In Tamriel, both the Nords and the Redguard have a certain level of toughness and resolve that make them appropriate for recovering lost stamina while in battle.
I think it's important to remember that Hit Points isn't synonymous to health. In a battle, parrying heavy blows or taking a strong hit against your armor might wear you down, making it easier for your enemy to critically wound you. When you lose Hit Points, it might mean you exerted a lot of energy to dodge a blow, or were winded from a direct hit. It doesn't have to mean each strike draws blood.
ELVEN ACCURACY
Archery and spellcasting are well known skills of the elven races. Whenever you rely on precision, your aim is truly unmatched.
Another feat that is simple, yet elegant, and can easily be brought into any game, almost regardless of which setting you are you using. Within Tamriel, the Altmer, Bosmer, and Dunmer each have their own uniquely distinguished skill in precision.
FADE AWAY
Your people are known for their clever use of illusion magic and their ability to disappear when under duress.
There are two feats in Xanathar's Guide to Everything that seem a little difficult to bring in as a racial trait: Fade Away and Fey Teleportation. Of the two, Fade Away feels a bit easier to justify.
There are three races that are classically gifted at illusion magic: altmer, argonians, and bretons.
While it makes sense for the altmer to receive this feat, they get access to so many racial feats already. If I were officially including this a racial feat, I would likely not include the altmer for that reason. However, many people can be skilled at illusion magic, and I would be more likely to include this as a general feat available to any character, regardless of race or class. The only restriction I could see adding to it is to have it reserved for characters who can cast spells.
If you want to look at this feat in a non-magical way, I would also include the wiley Khajiit. Their speed, cunning, and history of getting in and out of trouble makes them ideal for having an opportunity to hide.
FEY TELEPORTATION
Drawing on your fey ancestry, you gain the ability to travel through the Feywild, shortening your path from one place to another.
This racial feat is by far the hardest for me to justify bringing into an Elder Scrolls game, at least without some heavy re-skinning. While the misty step spell is still available, I don't easily see a common race that would be specifically connected to it.
The next benefit that is difficult to place is the learning of the Sylvan language. This could be replaced with Aldmeris, the original Elven Language, but that doesn't seem very useful. Another idea would be to make it as similar to Sylvan as possible. Spriggans speak a language, and they are the closest example of a fey creature. This language could be shared between imps, nymphs, harpies, and other fey creatures. There isn't currently a name for this language established in the lore of Elder Scrolls that I'm aware of.
With the bare minimum re-skinning, and keeping with the idea of the Feywild, I would consider this feat for the bosmer. Empowered by Y'ffre, your bosmer character learns lost secrets of the Green, allowing you to pass through the natural world with ease, momentarily phasing out of the material plane. You gain knowledge of an ancient language shared by the forest spirits.
FLAMES OF PHLEGETHOS
Calling forth the hellfire that resides within. You gain the ability to sculpt magical flame to maximize its damage and protection.
The first of two tiefling racial feats, which could be re-skinned to be used for a dremora race in your Elder Scrolls game. More can be read about bringing a dremora into your game in the next trait, Infernal Constitution.
When it comes to the more common races already included in the Basic Rules, this racial feat fits very closely with the dunmer. Currently in the rules, the dunmer receive a similar trait called Ancestor's Wrath, which surrounds your character in a cloak of flames. However, the feat and trait work in exclusive ways. The racial feat works whenever you cast a spell that deals fire damage, and the dunmer racial trait requires an action to use.
Now, if you noticed, I used the word “currently” when discussing the dunmer racial trait Ancestor's Wrath. Nothing is final yet, but it is likely in the next revision of the rules, Ancestor's Wrath will become a racial feat, as the current list of racial traits are already quite powerful.
INFERNAL CONSTITUTION
The fiendish blood that runs through your veins grants you exceptional resilience akin to other fiends.
The closet race to a tiefling in the Mundas would likely be a dremora. The two races are relatively similar and the tiefling could be re-skinned as a dremora without feeling out of place. Their Hellish Resistance trait could change the damage type based on which realm of Oblivion they call home. For example, resistance to fire for a dremora who calls the Deadlands home, or poison for Peryite's realm of The Pits. The Infernal Legacy trait just makes sense, as these creatures are otherworldly and likely have access to innate magic, calling on the powers of Oblivion.
As for races that currently exist in the Basic Rules, the Orsimer works nicely with the Infernal Constitution feat, with a little reworking of the flavor text. Orcs don't have some sort of demonic bloodline, although they were shaped by Boethia and Trinimac, at least as the legend tells. They do, however, often live a life of conflict in harsh environments. The struggles they face leave them exposed to some of nature's deadliest elements.
ORCISH FURY
The fury inside of you is always burning. You can unleash your fury to intensify your blows.
There are two Tamrielic races that come to mind for this trait: the Nords and the Orsimer. Both of these races are known for their brute strength and ability to beat a foe down through sheer force rather than finesse.
The downside of using this feat as is, is that it works in combination with the Half-Orc trait Relentless Endurance. What I like about this synergy, is that the event that triggers this second attack is not something necessarily controlled by the player. I can't imagine most players purposefully reducing their hit points to zero for the sake an extra weapon attack, however, when it happens in play, it can be very dramatic. Neither the Orsimer or the Nord have a trait with a similar trigger.
For the Nords, the only other trait this could work with is their Battlecry trait. This is a strange trait to give this additional benefit to (especially if it is revised), as once the frightened creature is attacked, it ends the effect.
As for the Orsimer, this works a bit better with the Berserk feat, allowing you to make a single weapon attack at the same time as gaining advantage on that attack and gaining a bunch of temporary hit points.
PRODIGY
You are quick to learn new things. You learn a new skill, language, and tool proficiency, and gain expertise in a skill of your choice.
While everyone is capable of learning new things, there are some that come from cultures that have a disciplined focus when it comes to study. The Bretons have a genuine scholarly interest, especially when it comes to learning new cultures. Their half elven lineage makes them especially interested in the study of the other human and elven races.
Cyrodiil, the home of the Imperials, has ample access to universities and other schools. The diplomatic endeavors and militaristic training of the Imperials greatly enhance their ability to quickly pick up new proficiencies.
SECOND CHANCE
Halflings are known for their almost supernatural luck, and that continues to stay with you, even when you are under direct attack. You can rely on your luck to prevent coming to harm.
Although this feat is written with the depiction of luck being the factor that causes the creature to miss their attack, I like to look at this with a different skin. Instead of blind luck, you use your swift cunning to attempt to read your opponents movements and avoid the blow.
As a khajiit, you've likely grown up needing to read the subtle cues of others to understand when a situation becomes dangerous. Whether pick pocketing an easy mark on the busy streets of Anvil, or playing a harmless prank on a friend, you know when you need to dodge out of trouble.
SQUAT NIMBLENESS
Although your race is usually a bit slower than the rest, you are remarkably agile. Your speed increases and you become uncommonly nimble.
Just like the feat is described, this works best on the races that are a bit slower than the rest. Those slower races races are altmer, breton, and orsimer.
In D&D, races with a speed of only 25 is usually reserved for the races with a size of small, with dwarves as the exception. The races with the short, stout legs are the ones that have a slower walking speed.
The races of Tamriel don't have the same diversity in size, as all of the races are generally the same height. At least, they would be considered to be the same creature size. In the UESTRPG Basic Rules, the speed of each races was determined by which races consistently had reduced speed in the video games that included the standard array of attributes.
WOOD ELF MAGIC
Your deep connection with the forest grants you magical powers of primeval nature.
The Bosmer, the wood elves of Tamriel, fit nicely with this feat, as they are champions of the Green and protectors of the natural world. It makes sense for some bosmer, those who have a strong bond with nature, to gain access to this magic.
What I really love about this feat is that it's an opportunity to bring some of the druid cantrips into the game. As I discussed in Part 2, the high fantasy style druid of D&D or World of Warcraft doesn't really exist in the Mundus. So because of that, none of the fantastic druid specific spells make their way into the basic rules. This only brings in druid cantrips, but at least its a start.
That being said, there's no reason why you couldn't find a way to bring in druid specific spells into your game in some other way. If there's something you really like, as a DM, you could always bring it into the game as a boon. As a player, you might be able to work with your DM to find a way for it to make sense.
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