Telepathic 5e

Published on August 11, 2023

Embrace psionics with the Telepathic feat! Dig through other creatures’ thoughts, chat mind-to-mind, and boost your spellcasting all at once!

A telepathic D&D 5e character touching the minds of different creatures using detect thoughts

Peter Mohrbacher - Wizards of the Coast - Talent of the Telepath

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What Is Telepathic 5e?

Ever wonder what people are thinking about you? The Telepathic feat allows your character to establish a mental connection with other creatures, enabling silent communication. This feat not only boosts your spellcasting ability score, but it also grants you the ability to communicate telepathically and read the minds of any creature you can see within a certain range. Perfect for the paranoid adventurer!

How Does Telepathic Work?

This feat provides the following benefits:

You get an ASI to Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.
You can speak telepathically to any creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language.
You learn detect thoughts, can cast it for free once per long rest, and can cast it with any appropriate spell slots.

Let’s break these down:

The first feature kind of spells out that this feat is mainly meant for spellcasters, as it boosts the spellcasting ability modifier of your choice. This could also be beneficial for non-spellcasters who plan of being the face of their party, like Swashbuckler rogues.

The second feature offers silent mental communication method, which can be invaluable in various situations. During stealth missions, characters can relay information or adjust their plans without making any noise or using visible signals. In diplomatic encounters or situations where speaking aloud might be considered dangerous or inappropriate, telepathy offers a discreet way to converse. You can even use this if your character is gagged, silenced, or otherwise unable to speak, meaning they still have a means of communication. Keep in mind that those you’re telepathically linked to can’t respond back, they can only hear what you’re relaying to them.

Last, you get the detect thoughts spell. This is a neat little spell that can be useful in intrigue and stealth-based situations. Not only can you dig into the thoughts of creatures, but it can also be used to detect hidden creatures, making it a good option if you’re infiltrating somewhere you’re not supposed to be.

Is Telepathic Good?

In our 5e Feats Tier List, Telepathic was given a B Tier rating, making it a niche feat that can improve some builds in D&D 5e.

Telepathic is a versatile feat that can be invaluable in various situations. While it might not directly boost combat prowess, being able to communicate telepathically at up to 60ft offers a fair amount of utility and the detect thought spell is extremely strong in roleplaying and intrigue-heavy campaigns. Throw in a free ASI to INT, WIS, or CHA and you’ve got yourself a viable feat.

Telepathic 5e Interactions

You might be put off by the fact that you can’t receive any thoughts from creatures you’re telepathically linked to. One way to get around this would be to use your free casting of detect thoughts on the creature you’re trying to communicate with. This would allow you to read their surface thoughts in response to what you’re trying to relay to them.

Which 5e Classes Make the Most of Telepathic?

The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Telepathic 5e feat is for a specific class/subclass.

Red : Isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all
Orange : Situationally good, but a below-average option otherwise
Green : A good option
Blue : A great option, you should strongly consider this option for your character
Sky Blue: An amazing option. If you do not take this option your character would not be optimized

Because this feat doesn’t offer any combat abilities and only increases spellcasting abilities, this isn’t a particularly strong option for martial characters. On the other hand, casters that want to boost their versatility while also increasing their spellcasting’s potency can make good use of it.

Artificer: The +1 to Intelligence is welcome, but talking silently and detect thoughts aren't going to be particularly useful for artificers

Barbarian: Subtlety isn't a barbarian's strong suit. Skip this feat.

Bard: This feat is great for a party's face. Not only does it boost Charisma, but you can relate your thoughts back to your party while in social interactions and even use detect thoughts to subtly influence conversations.

Cleric: Nothing here particularly worthwhile for a cleric, better off going with Fey Touched or Shadow Touched.

Druid: Detect thoughts isn’t as good as either misty step from Fey Touched or invisibility from Shadow Touched.

Fighter: Nothing here for a fighter.

Monk: Nothing here for a monk.

Paladin: Nothing here for a paladin.

Ranger: This could be worthwhile for rangers that stealth ahead and scout for their parties.

Rogue: Pretty solid ability for a rogue, especially Arcane Tricksters or Swashbucklers who will benefit the most from the ASI.

Sorcerer: Detect thoughts isn’t as good as either misty step from Fey Touched or invisibility from Shadow Touched. If you want to harness the power of psionics with your sorcerer, go with the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer.

Warlock: Even though warlocks don't usually get detect thoughts, adding this spell to your repertoire isn’t as good as either misty step from Fey Touched or invisibility from Shadow Touched.

Wizard: While this isn't particularly strong, it does add versatility to your wizard. This feat is probably best with School of Enchantment or Illusion wizards, as it fits their MO the best.

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.