D&D 5e feat changes

For a discussion of all feats, including the benefits they provide, see the Feats page.

Rule changes

Race changes

Class changes

Spell changes

Feat changes

This page describes any changes that have been made to the rules of certain feats in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3), from their original specifications in the 2014 Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5e). Other rule changes can be found on their related pages.

The rule changes described on this and related pages are written with the assumption the reader understands the relevant D&D 5e rule. As such, these pages will only explain what has changed from the original D&D 5e rules. These pages also include many BG3 features and abilities that are unchanged from D&D 5e, to help a D&D 5e player quickly see which options have changed and which have not, and make decisions without having to do additional research. If the BG3 rule aligns with a rule from the 2024 5e revision or other material from future playtests, that is considered a rule change from D&D 5e.

New feats

• Performer is a new feat which increases your Charisma by 1 and grants proficiency with all Musical Instruments.

Changed feats

• Actor grants double proficiency bonus on Deception and Performance checks rather than Advantage, and it applies to all checks with these skills, not only when attempting to pass yourself off another person. The ability to mimic another person's voice is not included.
• Alert does not prevent enemies from gaining Advantage on attacks against you while they are unseen.
  • The bonus to Initiative rolls provided by this feat is numerically the same as in 5e, but since in this game Initiative rolls are made with a d4 rather than a d20, the relative impact that a +5 bonus has on the results is much greater.
• Athlete does not include the climbing speed or running jump features. Instead, it increases jumping distance, which is not a component of the 5e feat.
• Charger's movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
• Crossbow Expert is revamped due to differences in BG3's ranged weapon mechanics:
  • It does not include ignoring the loading property of crossbows, as BG3 does not have a loading mechanic.
  • It does not include the ability to fire a hand crossbow as a bonus action after making a one-handed attack action, as BG3 allows freely switching between ranged and melee weapons at any time even when dual-wielding both.
  • The removal of Disadvantage when attacking at close range only applies to crossbow attacks, instead of all ranged attacks.
  • It doubles the duration of the  Gaping Wounds effect applied by  Piercing Shot, which does not exist in 5e.

• Defensive Duellist ignores the 13  Dexterity prerequisite.

• Dual Wielder does not include the drawing and stowing weapon features, as BG3's action economy already largely ignores the penalty for switching between your equipped weapon sets.
• Dungeon Delver does not include the removal of the penalty on passive Perception checks due to traveling quickly, as travel speed is not included as a game mechanic in BG3. It also does not provide advantage saving throws against traps, only resistance to the damage from traps.
• Durable heals all hit points on a short rest, rather than simply implementing a minimum heal based on your  Constitution modifier. This is due to the lack of a Hit Dice mechanic in BG3.
• Elemental Adept ignores the requirement to be a spellcaster. Non-spellcasters with this feat gain its benefits when casting a spell from a scroll or other item.
• Great Weapon Master's ability to take an attack penalty in exchange for a damage bonus applies to any melee weapon wielded with two hands (including versatile weapons when using both hands), and is not limited to only weapons with the "heavy" property.
• Heavy Armour Master's damage reduction applies to all non-magical damage, not just bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical attacks.
• Lucky's luck points give Advantage before an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, which has implications on mechanics such as the Rogue's Sneak Attack
  • In 5e, Lucky does not use Advantage before the roll; it allows you to choose to spend a luck point after the roll, but before the outcome is determined, to roll an additional  d20 and choose which roll to use.
• Mage Slayer allows using your reaction to make an attack of any kind against a creature casting a spell within melee range, not just a melee weapon attack. For instance, a character with both this and War Caster can cast Shocking Grasp as a reaction to someone else casting a spell nearby.
• Magic Initiate: Cleric has an unlisted feature that increases the maximum Dexterity bonus applied to AC when wearing medium armor from +2 to +3, as with the Medium Armour Master feat. It is not clear whether this is intentional, as it is not mentioned in the in-game description and is not part of the feat in 5e.
  • This does not remove Disadvantage on Stealth checks while wearing medium armour the way Medium Armour Master does.
  • The other class versions of Magic Initiate are unchanged.
• Medium Armour Master sets the cap on the Dexterity modifier added to medium armour AC to +3 as in 5e, but this overrides the properties of certain types of magical armour (e.g. Armour of Agility) that entirely remove the cap and allow the full Dexterity modifier to be added. As such, taking this feat actually decreases the AC of such armour if the wearer's Dexterity is at least 18. This is not generally considered the intent of the 5e feat when combined with similar 5e magic items such as Serpent Scale Armour.

• Ritual Caster has several changes:
  • It does not require 13 Intelligence or Wisdom.
  • It does not include the requirement to carry a ritual book.
  • It does not allow you to learn ritual spells from spell scrolls (though Wizards can do this already).
  • While the 5e version of this feat only allows choosing first-level spells at the time of feat selection, BG3 allows learning any of the six ritual spells available in the game, including the third-level Speak with Dead spell.
• Savage Attacker is not limited to one roll per turn. It also applies to extra damage dice added by features such as Divine Smite, which was not the intended behaviour in 5e, as clarified in the Sage Advice Compendium.
• Sentinel does not allow an  Opportunity Attack against enemies who use Disengage before moving out of melee range, as in 5e. Instead, it grants Advantage on all Attacks of Opportunity.
• Sharpshooter ignores penalties due to High Ground Rules (a mechanic unique to BG3), rather than ignoring penalties due to attacking at long range (despite this mechanic also being present in BG3). The ability to ignore half and three-quarters cover is also not included, as BG3 does not include a cover system.

• Shield Master has a few changes:
  • It does not give the option to shove as a bonus action, as all characters already have this option.
  • The bonus to  Dexterity Saving Throws is fixed at +2, even if using a magic shield that provides a higher AC bonus.
  • The saving throw bonus applies to all such saves (e.g. to mitigate the area of effect damage from Fireball), rather than applying only to spells and harmful effects which target you specifically.
  • Although the description claims that the reaction granted by this feat causes a failed Dexterity save to only result in half damage, this doesn't actually work as of hotfix 25, meaning its behavior is actually the same as 5e's in this regard: full damage on a failed save and no damage on a success.
• Skilled does not allow you to select Proficiency with tools, as this mechanic is not present in BG3.
• Spell Sniper is revamped due to general changes in ranged attack mechanics:
  • It does not require being a spellcaster. Since you do not select a class spell list, non-casting classes use their highest mental ability ( Intelligence,  Wisdom, or  Charisma) for the selected Cantrip.
  • It does not include the enhancement to spell range.
  • It does not include the ability for spell attacks to ignore cover (as BG3 does not include a cover system).
  • It decreases the critical hit threshold of all spell attacks by 1, which can stack with other similar effects.
• Tavern Brawler has several changes:
  • It does not include proficiency with  Improvised Melee Weapons, as all characters already gain their proficiency bonus on attack rolls with such weapons in BG3.
  • The ability to grapple your target as a bonus action upon a successful unarmed hit is not included, due to the lack of a grappling mechanic in BG3.
  • It doubles the  Strength modifier added to unarmed attacks, instead of converting the base damage from a flat 1 to 1d4. This is an increase in average damage output for characters with a Strength score of 14 or higher.

• War Caster has several changes:
  • It ignores the requirement to be a spellcaster. Non-spellcasters with this feat gain its benefits when casting a spell from a scroll or other item.
  • Taking this feat does not enhance your ability to cast spells without a free hand, as spell components (i.e. verbal, somatic, material) are not included as a game mechanic.
  • While the 5e version of this feat allows you to cast any available single-target spell as an  Opportunity Attack, the BG3 version of this feat explicitly only allows you to cast  Shocking Grasp, even if you did not previously know this cantrip or it is not normally available to your class.

Unchanged feats

• Heavily Armoured
• Lightly Armoured
• Magic Initiate class versions other than Cleric
• Martial Adept
  • The list of selectable Manoeuvres is limited to those available in BG3.
• Mobile
• Moderately Armoured
• Polearm Master
  • Enchantments on the wielded polearm and buff spells affecting the wielder or weapon such as Shillelagh or Hunter's Mark don't properly apply to the bonus action attack added by the feat. This appears to be a bug rather than an intentional change from 5e rules.
• Resilient
• Tough
• Weapon Master

See also

• D&D 5e rule changes
• D&D 5e race changes
• D&D 5e class changes
• D&D 5e spell changes