Prerequisite: Half-Elf, Half-Orc or Human
You have a knack for learning new things. You gain the following benefits:
You gain one skill proficiency of your choice, one tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Choose one skill in which you have proficiency. You gain expertise with that skill, which means your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it. The skill you choose must be one that isn't already benefiting from a feature, such as Expertise, that doubles your proficiency bonus
Prodigy: Maybe She’s Born With It
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Do you like the expertise feature, but aren’t playing a bard or rogue? Skill Expert has your back! Do you like the Skill Expert feat, and happen to be playing a Half-Elf, Half-Orc, or Human, and have only even ability scores? Then boy, do I have a deal for you!
Prodigy is just Skill Expert (proficiency in a skill and expertise in a skill) with a free language and tool proficiency tacked on. That’s it. It’s just expertise in a skill if you’re human related. Well, it would be, if you knocked off the ability score bump Skill Expert gives you. Ruh roh.
I do love expertise as a mechanic, and I do think it can be valuable to get it on characters whose identity is closely linked to a specific skill. Rangers taking Prodigy to upgrade their animal handling can make them definitively the beast whisperer. A wizard who is regularly identifying arcane symbols and using arcana to explore the world would want expertise in that skill to highlight their progression in becoming an exceptionally talented arcanist. Prodigy, while technically offering more, functionally will feel identical to Skill Expert in these cases. Where Skill Expert climbs over Prodigy is when you have any odd ability score. Any. Because with Skill Expert, you’re able to turn it into an even score and get a precious +1 to that ability modifier. That’s a massive deal. The trade off prodigy offers just doesn’t come anywhere near it: you’re getting a language and tool proficiency in place of a potential +1 in the stat you care about most. Wild.
Prodigy really doesn’t need to exist now that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has released a race agnostic upgrade. Unless you are truly dedicated to showcasing how your character has improved their glassblowing skills while also showing their growth into a master persuader, you should be taking Skill Expert over Prodigy when you want expertise. Even if you’re just upgrading an ability score you use infrequently, getting a +1 to saves and skill checks related to it is worth a whole lot more than speaking another language or showing off your woodworking skills.
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