We already knew that DnD 2024 was making characters’ backgrounds just as mechanically important as their choice of Species (a.k.a. race). But, thanks to a new design explainer published by Wizards on Thursday, we now have a lot more details, including all ten ‘Origin Feats’ you can get from your background when rolling a new character.
Published in an official DnD Beyond blog post by content creator Riley Silverman on Thursday, the new guidance lists all 16 DnD backgrounds appearing in the new Players Handbook on September 17 – but also the complete rules for the ten feats that are tied into those backgrounds, unlocked for free at level one. That includes two brand new feats (Crafter and Musician) that were never DnD 5e feats, and make their debut in the new game.
According to Silverman’s rundown, Origin Feats are one of four distinct categories of feat in the new ruleset, with the Origin ones aimed at giving your character a targeted, narratively appropriate boost at the outset of any DnD campaign.
“Origin feats are similar to the features each background got in the 2014 Player’s Handbook,” they explain, “but with mechanics that give them more utility in your adventurer’s day-to-day life.”
“They represent the talents your character’s background will likely have led them to develop, but don’t offer boosts to ability scores like some General feats do.”
The other categories are General feats – picked up throughout your character’s journey, usually during DnD level ups; Fighting Styles – combat abilities which are unlocked via your class features; and Epic Boons – new, high-powered, endgame feats you’ll choose at level 19.
Here are the ten Origin Feats, and their in-game benefits – direct from DnD Beyond:
| Origin Feat | Benefits |
| Alert | Add your Proficiency Bonus when you roll Initiative. Can also swap your Initiative with a willing ally in the same combat. |
| Crafter | Gain proficiency with three different sets of Artisan’s Tools. Gain a 20 percent discount on nonmagical items. Can craft an item from a Fast Crafting table, which lasts until you finish another Long Rest. |
| Healer | When you Utilize a Healer’s Kit as an action, a creature can expend one Hit Dice to heal. Your Proficiency Bonus is added to the roll. When you roll to determine Hit Points when healing with this feature or a spell, you can reroll the dice if it rolls a 1. You must use the new roll. |
| Lucky | After finishing a Long Rest, you have a number of Luck Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus. You can expend one when you make a D20 Test to give yourself Advantage. You can also expend one to impose Disadvantage when a creature rolls a d20 to make an attack roll against you. |
| Magic Initiate |
You gain two cantrips and one level 1 spell from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list, and can replace them with another spell of the same level from the same list when you gain a level. You choose Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma as your spellcasting modifier for these spells when you take this feat. You can cast these spells once per Long Rest without expending a spell slot, and can cast them again using spell slots. This feat can be taken more than once, but you must choose a different spell list each time. |
| Musician | You gain proficiency with three musical instruments of your choice. At the end of a Short or Long Rest, you may play the instrument and grant Heroic Inspiration to a number of allies equal to your Proficiency Bonus. |
| Savage Attacker | Once per turn, when you hit a target with an attack, you can reroll the damage dice and use either roll against the target. |
| Skilled | You gain proficiency in any combination of three skills or tools of your choice. You can take this feat more than once. |
| Tavern Brawler | When you hit with an Unarmed Strike you can deal 1d4 + your Strength modifier. If the damage dice for your Unarmed Strikes roll is a 1, you can reroll it and must use the new roll. You have proficiency with improvised weapons. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action, in addition to dealing damage, you can push the target 5 feet away from you. |
| Tough | When you first gain this Origin feat, your Hit Point maximum increases by twice your character level. Thereafter, your Hit Point maximum increases by 2 each time you level up. |
Seasoned Bard 5e characters are already making a song and dance about the new Musician feat letting them give allies Heroic Inspiration with a ditty on their lute, flute, or – in the case of our own Tim Linward’s new College of Dance Bard Jacques – their accordion.
But, for us (and ravenous DnD fans online) the really tempting puzzle is the Crafter feat, which leans into DnD 2024’s brand new crafting system – a feature Wizards has trumpeted a fair bit, but about which we’ve heard almost no meaningful details so far.
Characters with this feat get three extra tool proficiencies, a handy 20% discount on buying items (excluding DnD magic items) and they “can craft an item from a Fast Crafting Table” – although Wizards hasn’t yet revealed what that means, or what’s included in that list of craftables.
Meanwhile, Silverman confirms your character can also choose to take on Origin Feats (instead of other Feat options) when you’re offered a new feat at later levels – they’re not locked to the initial DnD character creator process. Human characters also get an extra Origin Feat of their choice right off the bat, representing the species’ traditional virtue of flexibility.
And, in a welcome point for long-time 5e players, Thursday’s DnD Beyond article also explains how players can still use old 5e backgrounds when rolling a DnD 2024 character – they’ll just affect your character’s starting DnD stats a bit differently from the new ones.
“When using an older background,” Silverman says, “simply select the ability scores you want to add your 3 total points to, so adjusting one score by 2 and another by 1, or three scores by 1.”
“This comes in place of your species’ Ability Score Improvements,” they explain – “So, if you also choose an older species that has an Ability Score Improvement, ignore it.”
“If the background you select does not already provide a feat, you gain the Origin feat of your choice.”
With just over a month to go until the long awaited One DnD release date – when the 2024 Player’s Handbook goes live and fans can start playing with the new rules – we’ll be keeping you posted with all the latest news and analysis on how Dungeons and Dragons is about to change.
To keep up to date, bookmark our DnD news page and follow Wargamer on Google News – or, to get caught up on the basics, read our complete guides to all the DnD classes and DnD races in the game.
Source: Wargamer
