Scion of the Outer Planes 5e
Prerequisites: Planescape Campaign
Your connection to an Outer Plane infuses you with the energy there. Choose a type of plane listed in the Planar Infusion table. Your choice gives you resistance to a damage type and the ability to cast a cantrip, as specified in the table. You can cast this cantrip without material components, and your spellcasting ability for it is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (choose when you select this feat).
Planar Infusion Table
| Plane | Damage Resistance | Cantrip |
|---|---|---|
| Chaotic Outer Plane | Poison | Minor Illusion |
| Evil Outer Plane | Necrotic | Chill Touch |
| Good Outer Plane | Radiant | Sacred Flame |
| Lawful Outer Plane | Force | Guidance |
| The Outlands | Psychic | Mage Hand |
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Scion of the Outer Planes, from Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse paints to me a clear problem we’re seeing with many new feats- they’re not designed to be feats, but background expansions. Scion of the Outer Plans fits this descriptor perfectly.
If you choose either the Planar Philosopher or Gate Warden background, you get this feat for free, and end up with more features than an average adventurer built from the Player’s Handbook. The designers recognize that backgrounds are a place to add a bit more juice to a character- Scion of the Outer Planes is definitely better than something like Shelter of the Faithful, the Acolyte feature, but is pretty bad when stacked against the majority of other feats in the game.
Resistance to one damage type is usually a species feature. It's something you get to give you a little boost in one in twenty encounters where it comes up. You don’t generally want to spend feats on something that occurs so infrequently.
The cantrip bonus on top of the resistance helps this from being unusable, but isn’t something that replaces the already excellent spellcasting expansion available like Fey Touched or Strixhaven Initiate. Magic Initiate from the PHB offers you two cantrips and a 1st level spell of your choice- that can be an entire second character in the form of Find Familiar.
Of the five options, the Outlands probably is the best choice in a vacuum, as Mage Hand I rate highest out of the presented cantrips. Guidance and Minor Illusion both are pretty solid, too, though. Damage-wise, Poison resistance likely will matter most, so if you want the extra boost to defense, you’re probably best suited to take Chaotic Outer Plane for that and Minor Illusion, but I wouldn’t expect it to come up in the vast majority of your encounters still.
To me, these kinds of backgrounds signal an overhaul of the Feat/Background system they’re looking to implement, but I’m not loving the direction so far. For creatures literally from other worlds, you can’t get much more boring than a single cantrip and damage resistance. No unique abilities are on display here; a 1st level Cleric or Wizard has the same kinds of ability options as creatures touched by the Aybss or the Nine Hells. If you’re in the market to make your character a bit more otherwordly, Fey Touched or Shadow Touched will be way better options for you.
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