[RPG] Is this homebrew feat for a combat medic balanced

balancednd-5efeatshomebrew-review

This is my first try at home-brewing feats and I wanted to get some advice from the community.

The idea is to make a feat that is flavored for a combat medic. Something that can improve potential damage and give the PC an alternative healing options, as well.

Combat Medic
Your study of medicine and biology on the battlefield allows you to better heal your allies, and know exactly where to hurt your enemies, gaining the following benefits:

Increase your Strength or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.

When you use a healer’s kit to stabilize a dying creature, that creature also regains 1 hit point, plus additional hit points equal to the creature’s maximum number of hit dice. The creature can’t regain hit points from this feat again until it finishes a short or long rest.

Due to your study of the body, your weapon attacks against beasts and humanoids score a critical hit on a 19 or 20, provided you have advantage on the attack.

Is this a balanced feat? If not, how can I make it so?

Best Answer

This feat is not balanced in its current state.

You're basically making a better version of the Healer feat, in every way. And also giving ability increase. There's literally no reason to take Healer with this feat available, which should be a tip-off that something isn't right.

No limit on the 1d4+proficiency (starts at 3-6 healing, ends at 7-10 healing) removes the need for healing potions (2d4+2 healing). Reminder: Healing kits are 5gp for ten uses; Healing Potions are 50gp for one use.

Most enemies are humanoids or beasts, so it's a huge boon to combat damage. (in that it applies to almost every situation)

And then, a bump to Strength or Wisdom.

Let's look at existing feats.

Blade Mastery
Unearthed Arcana 6 June 2016

You master the shortsword, longsword, scimitar, rapier, and greatsword. You gain the following benefits when using any of them:

  • You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls you make with the weapon.
  • On your turn, you can use your reaction to assume a parrying stance, provided you have the weapon in hand. Doing so grants a +1 bonus to your AC until the start of your next turn or until you're not holding the weapon.
  • When you make an opportunity attack with the weapon, you have advantage on the attack roll.

--

Healer
You are an able physician, allowing you to mend wounds quickly and get your allies back in the fight. You gain the following benefits:

  • When you use a healer’s kit to stabilize a dying creature, that creature also regains 1 hit point.
  • As an action, you can spend one use of a healer’s kit to tend to a creature and restore 1d6 + 4 hit points to it, plus additional hit points equal to the creature’s maximum number of Hit Dice. The creature can’t regain hit points from this feat again until it finishes a short or long rest.

(emphasis mine)

Blade Mastery hasn't been "okayed" yet as an official source, but we'll use it for the sake of comparison on how to value things.

+1 damage and +1 to hit are vaguely equivalent, with to-hit maybe being slightly more valuable, but we'll go with it. This is worth slightly less than half a feat. (+2 strength would give +1 damage AND to-hit, as well as saving throws, etc)

The extra, cheap, nonmagical healing option listed for healer is worth about half a feat (probably more). The only source is other feats. Magic initiate, for example, would allow you ONE use of cure wounds, compared to once per character.

And a single ASI is worth half of a feat, by virtue of the standard being two ASIs.

What should you do?

I'm not sure why you don't just take Healer and call it a day.

Barring that, I would pick two of the three options and put a limit on the healing, other than half hit points.

Perhaps:

Vivisectionist

flavor text

  • You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls you make against Humanoids and Beasts. (or damage, whichever)
  • As an action, you can spend one use of a healer’s kit to tend to a creature and restore 1d6 + 4 hit points to it, plus additional hit points equal to the creature’s maximum number of Hit Dice. The creature can’t regain hit points from this feat again until it finishes a short or long rest.
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