Custom Origin
by Prince Phantom
Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything as a way to create your own race, the Custom Origin is also one of the most busted options in the game. It all comes down to it providing a feat at level 1, and the right feat will frequently be stronger than any combination of racial abilities. There is actually more to this than just the feat though, so let’s get into it.
Custom Origin Features
Ability Score Improvement: +2 to one of your choice.: Note, you only get a +2, not an additional +1, and the Tasha’s rule does not change this. Compare this to the Variant Human, which gets two +1s, and determine which ability score improvement would be better for your character. If you are using the point buy method of determining stats, this is actually the only way to start with an 18 in a stat. Simply take a feat that increases the same stat you boosted with this. Put your 15 from point buy into that stat, and you’ve got a total of 18.
Variable Trait: You either get the standard Darkvision or one skill proficiency of our choice. I think Darkvision is typically stronger than a single proficiency, but if there is a certain skill that is needed for your build, you can pick it up here and be happy.
Feat: This is the reason we select this race so often in the optimization community. As stated previously, you can use this to start with an 18 in a stat, but the real power comes from the feat itself. Martial characters especially need this, as the majority of their damage output is tied to feats. Spellcasters also often would love to take something like War Caster or Fey Touched early. Basically any build can benefit from getting a feat at level one, so much so that it’s almost hard to justify playing literally anything else.
What can I say? Feats are busted, getting a feat at level 1 is busted, and therefore this race is busted. Getting a free feat at level one is becoming a more common house rule, so much so that WOTC is making it an official rule in the next edition, and obviously that makes this and the variant human pointless and redundant, unless you then say that these races get two feats at level 1, which no, you shouldn’t say that. For all of you still playing RAW though, this and variant human make it really difficult to play anything else. It’s for that reason that I also allow a free feat at level 1 at my tables.
Final Rating: 5/5
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