Sometimes you just need an extra little movement. Whether a Ranger adjusting from long distance fighting to charging into the fray, a Monk defying even the already loose laws of speed and movement, or a Sorcerer tired of having enemies close in on her because they have more movement speed, there
The One DnD Speedster feat allows a player to increase their Dexterity or Constitution by +1, increase movement Speed by 10 feet when not wearing Heavy Armor, and taking the Dash Action over difficult terrain no longer costs extra movement.
Let’s dive in!
Let’s dive in to learn more!
Speedster Feat One DnD Review
The best way to break down a feat is to check out the exact wording.
From Unearthed Arcana:
Prerequisite: Dexterity or Constitution 13+
You possess exceptional speed and stamina, granting you the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Dexterity or Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Speed Increase. Your Speed increases by 10 feet while you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor.
Dash Over Difficult Terrain. When you take the Dash Action on your turn, Difficult Terrain doesn’t cost you extra movement for the rest of that turn.
Unearthed Arcana, Expert Classes 2022
Now let’s break down each benefit to see how this feat holds up!
Benefit #1: Increase your Dexterity or Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Good half feat trait. Any time you can get Constitution as an ability score improvement, that bumps up the overall value a little bit. This also makes sense as you expect faster players to be Dexterous, and Constitution brings in that health factor. Good for Monks who need so many stats and a great option for making an odd number even and getting the next level of core stat bonuses.
Benefit #2: Your speed increases by 10 feet as long as you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor.
This shuts the door on the fun but admittedly broken heavy armor mobile Monk from 5E, but it makes sense. This also makes sure that light armor and medium armor wearers still have the increased speed bonus in addition to unarmored characters.
Benefit #3: When you take the Dash Action on your turn, moving over Difficult Terrain doesn’t take extra movement.
Difficult Terrain can be a pain, it can be exciting, it can be a heck of a weapon for a DM. Having the ability to just run through it isn’t just a nice little benefit for a tough battlefield but it also helps to counter aggressive battlefield control spells like Plant Growth.
How Does Speedster Feat Measure Up?
Speedster is a bit of a niche feat at first glance, and there’s no denying that classes that want to be more mobile are going to see better use out of it. That said, I can tell you from experience that in our 5E game where a Sorcerer and Warlock each received +5 movement speed as a custom boon, it was AMAZING how often that actually came up during campaign to be useful during battle.
So it’s one of those that although not game changing, it affects characters and the DnD game far more than people tend to realize…DMs included.
That said, this is a feat that finds it’s solid status because it’s always somewhat useful. It might not be a game changer, but it is consistently useful whenever a battle or exploration scenario comes up and adding a potential +1 Constitution boost as opposed to the obvious +1 Dexterity is a nice bit of versatility that could make a difference.
This is a well-designed feat that stays on point when it comes to flavor and intent.
Speedster Feat: DnD One Vs 5E
Speedster is the 6E equivalent of the Mobile Feat from 5E, so the comparison is going to be that one. Different names, but obviously the same feat. There are some interesting changes and I’m torn on how to rate the power shift as a result.
The One DnD Speedster feat adds the +1 to DEX or CON, which was not present in the original. It also adds a requirement of a Constitution or Dexterity of 13+ which shouldn’t be a problem for any of the classes considering taking it and makes sense.
Related Article: 5E Mobile Feat Guide
The Speed increasing by 10 feet is changed to Speed increasing by 10 feet without heavy armor, which won’t affect most builds but does take care of that earlier mentioned cheeky build of a heavy armor Monk running amuck all over the place.
The new version removes an old part of the feat I loved (especially for Monks) which was when you moved in and out of combat you did not provoke an opportunity attack. I get why they removed this and how it could be abused, but it is undeniably a power drop from 5E.
Who Should Take the Speedster Feat in DnD One?
This is clearly a great Monk feat, as it was meant to be in 5E, as well. The other class that is most likely to get some potential benefit out of it is the Barbarian class and although I wouldn’t call it one of the best feats for Barbarians, it is a good fit. This is a feat that some other classes may find situationally helpful like the Ranger or possibly even a Bard who wants more ability to move around the battlefield to wield their spells, take cover, or even pop off a shot with a short bow or crossbow.
I wouldn’t blink at any class taking this feat as long as they weren’t wearing heavy armor. I’ve seen firsthand home much of a difference even a small amount of extra movement can make so adding that to an improved core stat and the ability to ignore difficult terrain – yeah that’s a winner!
DnD One Speedster Feat Final Grade
This is a feat that’s a bit hard to grade because it’s a very narrow focus. It’s mildly useful quite often for many classes (don’t underestimate what an extra 10 feet of movement speed can do) and a huge boost to the Monk or a Barbarian who also sometimes plays the part of Scout or Distraction.
I would give this a B/B+ grade. It received a B+ from me in 5E and while it’s taken a bit of a power hit it has re-gained some of that in new benefits. This is a very good feat no matter how you cut it and it should be a shortlist mandatory favorite for Monks in particular.
Other Articles of Interest
- One DnD Skulker Feat Guide
- One DnD Shield Master Feat Guide
- One DnD Observant Feat Guide
- All Damage Types in DnD
- DnD Core Stats Explained
- One DnD Savage Attacker Feat Guide
Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.