Old school RPer coming back after long gaming hiatus and new to D&D 5e. Liking what I see, and happy to be rid of THAC0, lol.
As I'm reading, it seems feats are a little different now and fewer and further between when leveling, so I'm guessing they're more valuable than they used to be. Going through the feats list, I noticed that a lot of the feats also give an ability score increase; I have a question about those increases.
(Example: the Moderately Armored feat gives proficiency in medium armor, and also increases Str or Dex score by 1.)
If I recall correctly, in the old system, if you were proficient in an armor type, you effectively had the armor feat for it.
Does a class in D&D 5e that starts with proficiency in medium armor have the Moderately Armored feat and get the corresponding ability score increase (+1 Str or Dex)? Or is the feat totally separate, and they can just wear the armor but don't get the ability score increase unless they take the feat?
Best Answer
No, it doesn't
When you start with an armor proficiency, you do not automatically have the feat that would otherwise grant that proficiency.
In D&D 5e, feats are an optional rule, used if the DM allows them. Variant Humans are the only characters to get a feat at level 1 based on the rules; otherwise, any character can take a feat instead when they gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature (if feats are allowed).