New Origin Feats in the 2024 Player’s Handbook

How Origin Feats Work

The 2024 Player’s Handbook has changed the way feats work in several ways. One of the main changes is that they are now categorized into four subsections: Origin, General, Fighting Style, and Epic Boons.

Origin feats are feats that are slightly lower powered, and they’re granted when a player chooses their background during character creation. You can also take an Origin feat any time you’re able to choose a General or Epic Boon feat.

You’ll find most of these feats to be familiar, with the exception of Musician and Crafter, which are entirely new in this book.

So, what do these new feats mean for your character builds? Let’s investigate each of the Origin feats in the 2024 Player’s Handbook and how they’ve changed from the previous edition!

Alert

Alert is a solid feat for any class that can make big swings in combat. Rogues, for example, can potentially down a dangerous enemy with a well-placed Sneak Attack. The ability to swap initiative with an ally is perfect for parties that rely on careful positioning, such as Wizards or Clerics needing to stay back but still cast crucial early spells. This feat is also a good option for anyone who wants to control the flow of combat from the first roll of Initiative, making it an ideal choice for classes like Fighter or Barbarian that can position themselves between their enemies and less-tanky teammates.

Crafter

While crafting gets more of a nod in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, it’s still pretty rudimentary. This feat enables crafting mundane items more effectively, but its ceiling isn’t incredibly high.

The items in the Fast Crafting table won’t be particularly impactful unless you really need something like a Ladder or Grappling Hook on your next adventuring day.

Healer

Healer is the quintessential support feat, perfect for characters who don’t want to dedicate themselves entirely to spellcasting but still want to keep their party alive. Tankier characters who prefer to be in the frontlines, like Barbarians, Fighters, and Rangers, might also enjoy being able to heal as an action without needing a caster. These brawny types usually have a d10 or higher Hit Dice as well, meaning they can potentially heal for a lot more when they use it on themselves.

Rogues do surprisingly well with this feat because of Cunning Action, so they can Disengage with their Bonus Action, move out of reach of an enemy, and heal all in the same turn. This is especially true for Thiefs, who can use the Utilize action as a Bonus Action, allowing them to heal and attack in the same turn.

Clerics or Druids who cast a lot of healing spells will also see a decent boost to their healing capabilities, thanks to being able to reroll 1s on healing dice.

Lucky

This feat has changed very little from the 2014 Player’s Handbook and has gotten even stronger for mid to high-level characters. Luck Points now scale with Proficiency Bonus, so once you hit level 5, you’ll have 3 (the same number as the previous version), and as you level up and increase your PB, you’ll get even more Luck Points.

Every class can find value in this feat, but it’s particularly useful for classes that rely on attack rolls in combat. Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, Paladins, Rangers, and Rogues will benefit immensely from the ability to reroll their attacks or potentially cause an enemy to miss. 

Since Luck Points refresh with a long rest, it’s a reliable way to keep the dice on your side.

Magic Initiate

If you’re looking to mix some magic into your build, Magic Initiate opens up a world of possibilities. This feat is a great choice for just about any class (except Barbarians, who can’t cast spells while using Rage). It shines especially bright on classes with their own spell slots, so they aren’t limited to casting their shiny new level 1 spell once per Long Rest.

Cantrips to look for are:

• Guidance – Cleric
• Toll the Dead – Cleric
• Starry Wisps – Druid
• Shillelagh – Druid
• Minor Illusion – Wizard
• Firebolt – Wizard
• Booming Blade – Wizard
• Green-Flame Blade – Wizards

Great level 1 spell choices are:

• Cure Wounds – Cleric
• Healing Word – Cleric
• Bless – Cleric
• Entangle – Druid
• Find Familiar – Wizard
• Chromatic Orb – Wizard
• Shield – Wizard

Musician

Bards, of course, are the natural fit for this feat, but it benefits just about every class equally. After a Short or Long Rest, you can provide a number of party members with Heroic Inspiration. This is a solid boost, especially if you can dole it out more than once per day. Also, especially if you don’t have a lot of Human party members who start the day with Heroic Inspiration already.

Savage Attacker

Those who wield Heavy weapons, such as Barbarians and Fighters, will appreciate this feat, as it allows you to reroll your weapon’s damage dice once per turn. This helps make sure you roll fewer 1s on your d10 or d12 damage die from your Greatsword or Greataxe.

Skilled

Skilled is one of the most versatile feats, providing proficiency in three skills or tools of your choice. If your goal is to create a jack-of-all-trades character, this feat is invaluable. Rogues and Bards, who already excel in skill versatility, will find this particularly appealing as it allows them to broaden their expertise even further.

This is also helpful for characters who want to excel outside of their normal skillset, such as giving your Sorcerer proficiency in Persuasion or adding a Stealth proficiency to your Dexterity-based Fighter’s kit.

Tavern Brawler

This feat changes your Unarmed Strikes damage into a d4 + Strength and gives you proficiency with improvised weapons, just like the 2014 iteration. But, unlike this previous version, you get a slight boost because you can reroll 1s on your Unarmed Strikes damage dice.

It also allows you to use the Push option as well as deal damage when you hit with an Unarmed Strike once per turn. This replaces your ability to Grapple as a Bonus Action after you hit with an Unarmed Strike. Sad news for Grapple builds, but it can be more effective when controlling the battlefield.

This is less appealing for Monks, and other martial classes can gain access to the Push mastery property, so it’s not a particularly impressive feat.

Tough

Gaining two extra Hit Points per level is worthwhile for just about any class, so you may see a lot of farm-raised adventurers in the near future.

Choose Your Origin

Origin feats in the 2024 Player’s Handbook offer powerful ways to shape your character right from the start. Now, you no longer have to pick up a variant human if you want a feat at level 1. Any adventurer can boost their combat prowess, dabble in magic, or support their party in unique ways right off the bat.

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Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.