Mike Mearls Games
patreon
Talents and Subclasses
🕑 Added 2025-06-19 14:43:34 +0000 UTCI always liked the concept of feats.
Way back in early 2000, I had the chance to playtest 3e. When the rules packet showed up at my apartment (this is the Olde Days, when stuff was printed and mailed to you), I couldn't wait to tear into it.
Feats leaped out as one the most interesting changes to the game. Characters could now pick up mini class features, giving you a new way to customize your PC.
Over time, I think feats have become lost in the shuffle. They ranged from pointless to game breaking in power. 5e de-emphasized them, making them completely optional and taken in place of ability score boosts.
I want talents, my version of feats, to fulfill that potential I saw 25 years ago (allow me a moment to die of old age). To do that, I am also putting the weight of subclasses on them. As you have seen from the design I've posted, classes have baked in options and choice points, such as the thief's schemes.
Talents go beyond that. Where each class can customize within its domain, talents allow you to add wildly different aspects to your character. While talents have prereqs based on abilities, they are never tied to specific classes.
Big picture, talents combine subclasses, feats, and prestige classes into one category, then makes them optional. Like backgrounds, you can ignore them if you wish for a streamlined game, one that feels more old school, or if you want to keep things easy for a one shot.
Structurally, talents give you static benefits that are effectively power neutral. They don't provide a direct boost to damage, but they do give you more strategic tools you can use on adventures.
Talents also provide more resolve outlets, typically giving you a one, two, and three point option. Since these cost resolve, they can deliver attacks and damage boosts. Giving all characters access to spell-like levels of power opens up a ton of options. A set of necromancer talents can let you create skeletons and zombies simply by charging the appropriate resolve cost. A firespeaker talent set can conjure elementals and ignite things. The sharpshooter set can boost damage and accuracy with ranged weapons, or provide access to trick shots.
Talents
Talents are special features that you can use to customize your character. Talents are restricted by your abilities, race, class, or other elements.
Optional Rule. Talents are an optional rule. You can ignore the in a game where you prefer streamlined, simpler characters. The DM might also customize the list of available talents to reflect the campaign setting and tone.
Gaining Talents. All characters gain talents at 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 9th level. As a default, you pick a talent category and gain its listed talents at the appropriate level. As an optional rule, you can mix and match talents from different categories.
Leadership Talents
Each of the following talents requires an untrained Charisma of +1 or higher.
2nd Level: Bold Leadership
You use your trained Charisma bonus when making initiative checks.
4th Level: Coordinated Action
You’ve been in plenty of tight spots and have learned over the years that the best path forward is the one you take together. When making a group check, you grant a +2 bonus to everyone making that check with you.
6th Level: Lead the Way
On your turn, you can use your action and spend 1 resolve to grant an action to an ally. That ally immediately uses an action.
9th Level: Rally the Troops
During the intentions phase of a round, you can deliver a stirring monologue to your allies and spend 2 resolve. Creatures of your choice heal 10 hit points and have advantage on all checks and attacks this round.
Shadow Walker Talents
Each of the following talents requires an untrained Dexterity of +2 or higher, allegiance, to a powerful entity chosen by the DM, or membership in an organization of the DM's creation. The DM may opt to allow you to create this entity or group.
2nd Level: Shadow Cloak
You can attempt to hide in bright light that is within 10 feet of dim light.
4th Level: Shadow Jaunt
In place of moving, if you are in an area of dim light you can spend 1 resolve teleport up to 20 feet to another area of dim light you can see. You can break this up into two separate teleports totaling up to 20 feet.
6th Level: One with Shadow
You can spend 2 resolve to gain the benefits of the invisibility spell.
9th Level: Spectral Step
In place of moving and using your action, you can spend 3 resolve and phase through an object that is up to 10 feet thick. You materialize on the opposite side of the object from where you stand.
Toughness Talents
Each of the following talents requires an untrained Constitution of +1 or higher.
2nd Level: Tough Bulwark
You gain a bonus to your maximum hit points equal to your level. As you gain levels, this bonus increases.
4th Level: Pack Mule
You gain 4 additional encumbrance slots.
6th Level: Too Tough to Die
When you would gain a failed death save, you can spend 2 resolve to not gain it.
9th Level: Tireless
You can spend 3 resolve to heal hit points equal to double your level.
Comments
Ghislain Junior Dancause
<p style="">It seems everyone forgot about it but AD&D 2nd had my favorite way of doing subclasses. The big difference with 5e is that you choose it at character creation. Why? Because thematically it makes more sense and it offer and bigger space for the creation for the mechanics of the subclass. Plus, it is new player friendly since the basic class is fully playable as is, subclass are only a variation of the main class. My favorite example of this is the Paladin Inquisitor. This subclass was specializing in hunting evil magic user and bringing them to justice or death. A Inquisitor could not cast spell like normal Paladin but instead they could dispel them. This is not only flavorful but it is almost more interesting in term of gameplay. In a system where you gain your subclass at later level, this is not possible to exchange a core class for something else because it would not make sense.</p><p></p><p style="">In term of feat, I liked how scarce it is in 5e unlike 3.5e. I like that some of those are there to enhance the flavor of a character. My favorite is Observer since it had sometime very useless to the party and add to the fantasy of the scout character archetype. What I dislike is that many of the feats are combat centric. Flavor can't compete with the critical part of the game where your character can die. Feats should have only been about flavor and out of combat effects.</p><p></p>
d20fanclub
love the TOB Shadow Hand nod the one thing I don't like about this is it means all character build decisions are made at 1st level. devil's advocate would be maybe people pre-plan their builds anyway. but there is a strong rationale for adding multiple choices to keep some build development. the mix and match variant rule is cool, but it seems like too wild of a swing between "prefab feat packages" and "totally freeform". Also in practice everyone will use freeform because getting told you can only take a prefab package sucks. A system of feat prereqs adds complexity, but it existed in previous editions for a reason. Is there some middle ground you can find? Limiting you to your talent but adding multiple choice options would be one example; alternatively, maybe a simple rule such as you must have taken at least one option from a talent previously in order to take its 9th option? or just scale the base requirement up by 1 per option tier (so that leadership's 9th requires +4 cha). then maybe you can ignore prereqs by locking yourself to a talent.
