Fell Handed: I’m Going to Axe You One Last Time
As a Barbarian, a player is always expected to be the tank or the high-hitting DPS player, always having a high amount of AC without wearing any armor, save for a Shield and some basic clothes, or being able to attack several times a turn without much of a cost, save for the enemy getting an advantage on their attacks against the player in question. Of course, a player with this class, Multiclassing or otherwise is going to want to be able to strike more often and hit harder as well, along with helping the party in combat if they can, so sometimes they will take feats to be able to help them, or even multiclass into a support class (Bard or Cleric for example), all with the aim of aiding the party in a fight. One of these feats, which I believe is definitely one that should be taken early is the feat Fell Handed, due to the multiple things that help both the Player with the feat and the party in a combat situation.
The description of Fell Handed describes how the player who takes this feat has mastered the Handaxe, Battleaxe, Warhammer, and Maul, giving them these abilities with said weapons. First, as long as they are attacking with the previously mentioned weapons, they get a +1 to their attack roll, giving them a slightly extra edge to their attack roll, especially if they are in the middle of Raging, which also adds extra modifiers to the player’s attack rolls. Next, Whenever the player has an advantage on a melee attack roll with the weapons for this feat and hit, the Player could also knock the enemy prone if the lower of the 2 rolls would also hit the enemy. Knocking the enemy prone allows the players, either the player who had knocked them down or another member of the party, to have an advantage on attack rolls against the enemy, while they will have a disadvantage and be unable to move any faster than a crawling speed unless they get up.
As a slightly equal opposite to the previous part of Fell Handed, whenever the player has a disadvantage on attack rolls with the described weapons, the enemy will take bludgeoning damage equal to their strength modifier, at a minimum of 0, if the attack misses, but the higher roll would have hit them. This gives Players with the feat a chance to deal damage to an enemy when they have a disadvantage on the attack roll, even if they manage to miss the attack. The final part of this feat is something that can be used to aid the other members of the party in their own attacks. If the player uses the Help action to aid a fellow party member’s attack roll while they are wielding the chosen weapons of the feat, you will knock the target’s shield aside. This will not only give the ally advantage on the attack roll but will also add +2 bonus to the attack roll if the enemy is using a shield.
This feat is very useful in the hands of a Barbarian, either going full Barbarian or going Multiclass, but other melee-based classes can take this feat. Personally, I believe that besides a Barbarian, a Fighter or Paladin can take this feat as well, allowing multiple people to aid the party in such a big way while also dealing extra damage to the enemy without having to multiclass or forsake the melee-based class they want to take. Its best to claim this feat as soon as possible, so then any barbarian that you or your fellow party members have as a character can mop the floor with the foes you all face just a little bit easier.
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