You all realise that the bladesinger didn't get an a buff right they lost their light armour proficiency.
Right, they just failed to fix a pre-existing problem. Bladesong should always have been an unarmored defense feature, working like any other unarmored defense feature.
Some folks had complained Unearthed Arcana was too boring lately. This is spicy. In a confusing way.
It's not that spicy though. Sure they are 'new' but the mechanics aren't really that novel, and the theming is more confusing than exciting. The Rogue, I do like, but it's OP, and the huge emphasis on evil for the flavour would make me hesitate to allow it at my table. What it really feels like to me would be to use it or aspects from it as a reward for character choices rather than as a subclass someone just chooses to take. Like the aura + cantrip I could totally see myself stealing as a bonus feat if the party/player sought out to preform a service to one of those gods or become a champion of one of those gods. Or as an NPC, e.g. if I put in an assassins guild I could totally see giving those subclass features to the boss of the guild.
Lore: While I know quite a bit about the Forgotten Realms, I admit I’m not familiar with the Moonshaes. If this archetype existed in previous editions, I guess it makes sense to bring it back, but the base archetype just isn’t doing anything for me. We already have a Fey Bard subclass in the Glamour Bard and a lore keeper bard in the Lore Bard. There’s also a bit of overlap with the Spirit bard. This doesn’t really feel deserving of its own niche. It’s also pretty setting specific and I prefer my subclasses to have a broad enough archetype that they could fit in pretty much any setting. Just thematically I don’t like this subclass.
Moonshae Folktales: An action to activate, choosing one of three options, and it lasts until you use an action to choose a different option. It might be better if this was reworded so you choose an option at the end of a long rest, but can change to a different option out of combat. Tale of Life - Seems pretty weak. Not only is it for some reason limited to once a turn, but it also consumes your bardic inspiration only to heal a small amount. Compare it to the early healing abilities of the Life Cleric or Stars Druid, and it definitely seems underwhelming. Tale of Gloam - Situationally useful, but also underwhelming. If it allowed for them to take the Dodge action it would be better and useful for Rogues and Monks. Tale of Mirth - I swear a different subclass gets something like this. Add this to the pile of overlap it has with other subclasses.
Primal Lorist: A cantrip and skill is nice, and Druidic is nigh useless.
Blessing of the Moonwells: Does Moonbeam count against your maximum amount of prepared spells? Casting it as a bonus action a limited amount of times is nice, and probably worth a 3rd level spell slot. The glowing is basically pointless, and healing is fine.
Bolstered Folktales: Boring. When will WotC learn that having a capstone ability that just slightly improved abilities you got earlier is not sufficient?
Overall, I’m not a fan. Lots of overlap with other subclasses both mechanically and thematically. I cannot imagine myself or any of my players being inspired to play this subclass. I would prefer for this to be scrapped and replaced with something else.
Knowledge Domain review Lore: Basically the same as before. However I wonder if the Arcana Domain is being absorbed into this subclass.
Blessings of Knowledge: Fine. Artisan’s tools proficiency makes less sense than languages, though. Maybe they could give a choice between the two if this subclass is meant to include crafter gods like Gond.
Knowledge Domain Spells: Wow! 3 spells per level! Mostly utility spells, but still. Knowledge clerics will certainly know more spells than basically anyone else. Detect Magic and Comprehend Languages are completely new and free additions, Augury and Suggestion was changed to Detect Thoughts and Mind Spike. Speak with Dead is replaced with Dispel Magic and Tongues. Banishment is new and Synaptic Static are new. It seems to me that this is definitely subsuming the Arcana Cleric’s niche, and probably filling the role of a psionic cleric subclass. Huge upgrade. Most of these spells aren’t useful in combat, so it’s probably not too much.
Mind Magic: Interesting. Both former channel divinities were removed and now they only get this option. It’s good. Definitely has an Arcana Cleric vibe even if the original subclass didn’t get anything like this.
Unfettered Mind: Cool. Telepathy is nice, definitely makes me think this is the Psionic Cleric subclass. It definitely fits for my current setting. And the “replace the roll with set number” abilities are always good, even if Int checks are less common and important than others.
Divine Foreknowledge: Yet another completely new good ability.
I actually want to play a Knowledge Cleric now. What was quite possibly the most boring Cleric subclass before is now pretty good. I like this subclass and it could be printed pretty much as is.
Purple Dragon Knight Review: Lore: I think linking a whole subclass to a single dragon type is too narrow of an idea. These should just be "Dragon Knights," with "Purple Dragon Knights" being a specific order of them. Or if they want to differentiate them from the Drakewarden Ranger, they could connect them to only Gemstone Dragons, making up some lore about the Gemstone Dragons forming psionic bonds with humanoid warriors differently from metallic and chromatic dragons.
I do think there is still room for a Banneret/Warlord Fighter subclass and was initially disappointed they didn't even try to fix the original PDK, but also think that a subclass with "Dragon Knight" in it should have something mechanically to do with dragons.
Knightly Envoy: This ability lets you learn Draconic or some other language and cast Comprehend Languages as a ritual. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability. IMO, Charisma or Constitution would fit better. This is mostly a flavor ability, so there's not much to say.
Purple Dragon Companion: This functions pretty much as the post-Eberron pet subclasses. A nice little buff that I believe came in the new PHB is the change from, "[Pet] acts at the end of your turn" to "[Pet] acts during your turn," so you can have your companion act during your action (especially good for mounted companions). Using Second Wind to resurrect the dragon is good, as Fighters have more than in the original PHB. Compared to the Steel Defender and Primal Companion which require spell slots to bring back, Artificers and Rangers can bring back their companions more if you have multiple fights between short rests that kill the companion, but in a very long and difficult adventuring day the PDK could theoretically resurrect their companion more than a Battle Smith or Beast Master.
The Armor Class scaling off of your Intelligence is interesting. Beast Master animal companions do the same thing but with Wisdom, while Steel Defender's have a base AC of 15 that increases to 17 at level 15. Assuming a Fighter that focuses on Strength or Dexterity (16 or 17) with Constitution as their secondary ability (14-16), a PDK will probably have a 13 or 14 for their Intelligence. So the dragon will probably have a lower AC than a Steel Defender and Beastmaster's companion. And it has the HP of the Beast of the Sky, but with a swim, walking, and flying speed of 30 feet.
It also has darkvision of 60 feet, which is standard. I think giving them blindsight would make sense. Amphibious is situationally useful. It's curious that Stalwart Bond is half as good as Primal Bond. Rend again scales off of Intelligence, so your Dragon will almost definitely be less likely to hit with its attacks than a Steel Defender/Beastmaster companion, and worse than you too. Hell, the bonus to hit doesn't even increase with your Proficiency Bonus, so good luck hitting anything with it at higher levels. Rend's damage also scales off of Intelligence and doesn't even get the base +2 damage that the Beast companions and UA Battle Smiths get.
The best use of Gravity Breath is to pull creatures towards the dragon while it's flying over them. Then they'll take falling damage and fall prone if they fail the saving throw. Otherwise this is very situationally useful, only if there are environmental hazards (cliffs, lava, acid, etc).
Dragon Rider: Pretty similar to the Drake Warden's level 7 ability, in that your dragon grows and you can ride on it. Different in that it can fly with severe limitations while you ride it and you can mount/dismount it more easily. The breath weapon having a larger area and doing a bit of damage is good, making it actually useful to use most of the time. Shared Second Wind is also good.
Rallying Surge: A pretty good ability, a vestige of the "battle commander" theme of the original PDK. But I would prefer something more dragon themed.
Amethyst Pinnacle: Strangely not the pinnacle ability of the subclass. You can finally do the thing you took this subclass to do! Being able to ride on a dragon that can truly fly comes way too late at level 15, which most players will not get to, especially when there are species that grant fly at level 1 (Aarakocra, Fairies, Owlin, etc). I am one of the DMs that doesn't think innate fly speeds at low levels is OP. My Dragon Rider subclass got to do this at level 3 for small characters.
You also get to replace one of your attacks with one of your dragon's attacks. Which, like, why? Why would you ever do this? If your weapon attacks are somehow weaker than your dragon's Rend at this level, you did something wrong. You will have a higher bonus to hit and deal more damage, can apply weapon masteries, and be able to use magic weapon properties if you have them. This sucks. If Drakewarden Rangers got this ability they might consider using it, as level 15 Drakes deal 3d6+Wis damage, and have a better attack bonus. This version of a Dragon Knight will use this a single time before realizing it sucks and never doing it again. Being able to replace 2 attacks with Gravity Breath is also probably not worth it outside of rare situations.
Enduring Commander: Terrible name for a boring feature that just gives you and your dragon 2 damage resistances. Wow. Amazing capstone ability. Well done WotC. *eyeroll* Capstone abilities should be powerful and exciting. Giving 2 rare damage resistances is neither of those. Even if monsters deal force damage more now.
Overall I consider this a poorly designed subclass and would prefer for it to have a broader archetype. The dragon's attack doesn't scale well, it has poor AC and HP compared to most other subclass pets, Gravity Breath is only situationally useful, and there's a good chance you'll have better bonus action options than commanding your Dragon. The Dragon having "Jack of All Trades" that works on saving throws probably won't make much of a difference.
The dragon's attacks and damage should scale better. It should get damage resistance to an appropriate damage type at level 3. If you could ride on a truly flying dragon at level 7 that might make up for the poor AC, HP, saving throws, and damage. Commanding your dragon should share a bonus action with using Second Wind, at the very least. And when you use Action Surge it should be able to take two actions. I think its abilities should scale on your Constitution too, to make the subclass less MAD. Or Intelligence should be the main ability of this subclass.
Oath of the Noble Genie Review: Lore: Why are they sworn to all of the Genie types? I thought every genie even within the same type competed against every other genie for power, wealth, slaves, etc. It's a bit weird that they're implied to cooperate so much that they share champions with each other. Maybe this is referring to some FR Calimshan lore I'm not familiar with. This is a bit weird, but I'll go along with it.
Elemental Smite: So, you expend a use of Divine Smite and Channel Divinity at the same time to get one of four effects. I didn't like this sort of mechanic with the Heroism Paladin, and I don't like it here. An ability shouldn't require two separate resources to be expended to trigger. This should function when you hit a creature with a weapon attack and expend a use of Channel Divinity, useable with Divine Smite but not reliant on it. But I do like the idea of Paladin subclasses adding to/changing the effects of Divine Smite. Dao's Crush - Restraining is always good. This is probably the best option. Djinni's Escape - Even mistier step. Situationally great. Efreeti's Fury - Also decent. Maybe it should ignore damage resistance? Marid's Surge - Good, but situationally amazing.
Genie Spells: I can't really see a Paladin using Mirror Image or Phantasmal Force that much, but most of the other options are thematic and pretty useful depending on circumstance.
Genie's Splendor: Oh boy, now someone can compete with Bladesingers in AC. At higher levels with magical shields/armor, this can get insane. Especially with Bladelock multiclassing. I don't think it needs to be nerfed, but man this is an amazing ability. The skill is nice too. The only issue is you have to plan to be a Genie Paladin from level 1 so you make sure to get the right gear and choose the right stats.
Aura of Elemental Shielding: Simply great. Fighting a Dragon? Give everyone in your party that's in the aura a bonus to the saving throw against the breath weapon as well as resistance to the damage type! You can also use this feature to allow the whole party to ignore the Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold environmental effects.
Elemental Rebuke: This is good. I can't remember which, but there's a paladin subclass that gets a pretty similar feature.
Noble Scion: Now this is how you do a capstone! Minor Wish is great!
I love this subclass. It could use a few tweaks, but I think it's the most solid subclass so far. It also can easily be worked into other settings.
Winter Walker Review: Lore: I made an arctic ranger subclass pretty much thematically identical to this one over 4 years ago, and there's also a good amount of mechanical overlap between the UA subclass and my homebrewed one. Mine was even called the Frost Strider, which is pretty similar to Winter Walker. I'm not saying they stole my idea, just that I was able to predict a subclass idea WotC eventually published before they made it. It's happened a few times before.
Anyways, I clearly like the idea of an arctic ranger, because I made one already. This version is definitely better balanced and less reliant on the environment than mine was.
Frigid Explorer: Uncannily similar to a level 3 ability I gave my Frost Strider. Cold resistance and extra cold damage that ignores damage resistance. However where this cold damage is 1d4 once a turn that triggers on a hit with no action required and increases to 1d6 at level 11, mine was a bonus action to deal an extra 1d10 on the next melee attack made within the next 10 minutes that increases to 2d10 at level 11.
Hunter's Rime: Temporary hit points are always nice, especially when they trigger on an ability you were likely going to use anyways. The shutting down of disengaging is just the cherry on top of this good ability. I didn't have anything like this in my subclass.
Winter Walker Spells: I did have a feature like this, except it mostly gave homebrewed ice spells I made. My version did give Ice Knife at level 3, though. Pass without Trace, Ice Storm and Cone of Cold are good. Remove Curse should probably be replaced with a more thematic spell, though.
Fortifying Soul: Interesting. It's like a weird Song of Rest (which Bards don't even get anymore) that also gives temporary immunity to Frightened. I'm not sure I like this ability mechanically or thematically.
Chilling Retribution: Why the focus on the Frightened condition in this subclass? I'm not sure how useful this is. Rangers normally get a pretty significant damage boost at this level, and I don't think the increase in Polar Strikes die size and this ability is enough.
Frozen Haunt: Interesting, but again I don't like abilities that require you to expend two different resources to trigger. This should be worded more like "As a bonus action, which can be part of the same bonus action used to cast Hunter's Mark, you can adopt a snowy ghostly form." Becoming a wintery ghost is cool, I guess, but not the kind of thematic ability I'd give to a Ranger as a capstone. This would fit better for a Winter Druid subclass than for a Ranger, IMO. Frozen Soul - Immunity to cold damage is situationally good, but a 15 foot emanation that deals 2d4 cold damage (which doesn't ignore damage resistance) is not good enough for a level 15 ability. This is the same area as and less damage than the Sea Druid's Wrath of the Sea. Partially Incorporeal - This really feels like a Druid ability. Basically turning yourself into a blizzard. Not a fan. This doesn't even give you a fly speed, either.
Good idea, needs work and more thematic/mechanical cohesion. It's easily weaker than any of the Ranger subclasses in the PHB, IMO.
Scion of the Three Review: Lore: Too setting specific for my liking. Especially when they mostly exist in a single city. And it feels like Rogues of the Dead Three should probably be Arcane Tricksters or Assassins, maybe Phantoms and Soul Knifes. Also, don't people normally dedicate themselves to only a single member of the Dead Three? It's weird that this implies that you're dedicated to all of them and switch which one you focus on on a whim. Especially when this subclass barely has anything for Myrkulites and seems to have Banites and Bhaalites more.
Bloodthirst: I actually really like this ability. The extra damage is nice, it's always good to get abilities that trigger on Bloodied. And the reaction is amazing, and limited pretty well. A Rogue with Intelligence based True Strike that focuses mostly on Intelligence to get the most out of this ability could be an interesting build.
Dread Allegiance: A pretty good ability. It won't come up often, but this is nice.
Strike Fear: Definitely worth using against powerful enemies that don't have immunity to Frightened. Pretty thematic too.
Aura of Malevolence: Hmm. Imagine 7 levels of Conquest Paladin combined with this Rogue subclass. Wouldn't be very mechanically effective (maybe if you had a Headband of Intellect), but unbelievably cool to be able to scare people to death by combining this with Aura of Conquest. Not a super strong ability, but cool.
Dread Incarnate: Both features are amazing.
I really like most of the mechanics, but think it could use some tweaks and have a bit of lore for how it could be used in other settings.
Spellfire Review: Lore: I barely know about Spellfire (Laeral Silverhand has it, right?), and I don't really care. This subclass is at least easier to reflavor to other settings. I could see this being used for a Silver Flame Sorcerer in Eberron or a maybe a pyromancer subclass connected with Phoenixes. The premise for this subclass is more interesting than the Moon Bard, but less interesting to me than the Genie Paladin or Winter Ranger.
Spellfire Burst: This weirdly incentivizes you to use sorcery points less often, as it's a free ability that triggers once a turn when you use sorcery points as part of your action or bonus action. So if you want to get the full potential of this ability, you need to limit your sorcery point usage to once on your turn. If you cast Heightened or Distant Counterspell you don't get the benefit of this ability. If you Quicken a leveled spell and then casting a Seeking cantrip, you only benefit from Spellfire Burst a single time. I don't really understand this. Is it really OP to give 1d4+CHA temporary hit points or deal 1d6 damage to two people in a turn. And triggering it on a reaction spell would be really cool and probably not too powerful. Imagine a spellcaster with low hit points casts a spell, so then you counterspell it preventing their action, and then deal enough damage to them to kill them. That could make for an amazing moment in a campaign, especially when combined with the later Absorb Spells.
Spellfire Spells: I'm still disappointed the new Sorcerer expanded spell lists dropped the ability from Tasha's to switch them out for spells of a certain school. That was really cool.
Anyways, all of the level 1 and 2 spells are good. Aura of Vitality is better than in 2014 and maybe it will be used more if you Quicken it, but it's not great. All of the other spells seem good.
Absorb Spells: Neat. Kind of sucks that this is your only level 6 ability.
Honed Spellfire: These buffs are pretty significant. Very nice.
Crown of Spellfire: Another demonstration that WotC does know how to design cool and interesting capstone abilities at least some of the time. Reducing damage by 5d6+18 without requiring a reaction is very nice. Flight is good, especially with hover. Magic Evasion is also very good.
A pretty solid subclass. It's kind of a replacement of my beloved Divine Soul Sorcerer, but it's pretty good. It could use some tweaks and maybe a short mention of how it could be used in other settings,
Bladesinger Review: Lore: Mentions how it was started by elves, but how some non elves are also Bladesingers. Also everyone loves them. Cool.
Bladesong: No longer works with armor, but you use Intelligence for attack and damage rolls with weapons, and also you can use it an amount of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier. Funny how they keep changing that last part. Bladework should probably just be a feature of the subclass instead of only active when you use this ability.
Training in War and Song: You get more weapon proficiencies and a few options for the skill proficiency. And you can use your weapon as a spellcasting focus. Pretty good, opening up the types of weapons you can use is good and broadens the archetype. Not every bladesinger needs to be the same and use a longsword.
Extra Attack: Mostly the same as before. My only complaint isn't about this subclass, it's the fact that they keep not giving this to other Gish subclasses! Why can't Armorers and Battle Smith Artificers use this!?!
Song of Defense: It is almost always better to just cast Shield or Absorb Elements instead of using this ability. Only situationally worth using. I've never liked this ability and would prefer for it to be replaced with something else.
Song of Victory: Pretty good, I guess. Definitely not going to be significant damage. Probably weaker than the original version, especially on dual wielding Bladesingers.
None of these changes excite me. I've always liked the idea of an arcane gish, but don't really like any implementation of it. Bladelock is the best execution, but doesn't have the flavor or abilities I'd prefer.
Overall this UA is filled with some pretty good hits (Knowledge Cleric, Genie Paladin, Dead Three Rogue) as well as some pretty big misses (PDK, Moon Bard). I like most of the ideas and mechanics, but some things need to be rethought. Pretty interesting getting 8 subclasses at once, this took a while to review. Hopefully we can get another UA version of some of these before the deadline for the book comes.
The Purple Dragon Companion's STR should scale with Fighter Level. 16 STR is probably not enough to carry a rider, the rider's armor and gear, and barding. It can only carry 240 pounds. Or there should be a rule about how much they can carry and walk/fly/swim.
There should be rules about the PDC using magic items. It's more than a fungible warhorse. Can it attune to items, and how many?
Consider using CHA or WIS instead of INT for the PDC scaling. Maybe let the player choose, or let it default to the highest of the 3.
Does the PDC have to be nearby if it is resurrected via the ritual? Does the body decay? Can it be turned into undead or other wise denied to the PC? Can the PC get another PDC?
Can PDC just share HP with the Fighter? Or can the Fighter get Warding Bond?
Maybe the state of 2024 5e is directly the result of letting people like Treantmonk dictate what the designers should do, caring only about power-gaming and damage output.
We now have a "Winter" Ranger that has literally no features that help it traverse wintry terrain. Instead it gets a feature similar to another Ranger subclass, but theirs gets to ignore damage resistance in a glaring display of power creep. (Also, if the class is meant to represent survival in cold terrain, why isn't it fire-themed since such creatures are more likely to be weak to fire.)
Maybe the state of 2024 5e is directly the result of letting people like Treantmonk dictate what the designers should do, caring only about power-gaming and damage output.
I feel this is unfair and rude towards Treantmonk. I don’t often watch his videos, but this kind of insult is nasty and uncalled for.
Damage output is an important part of balancing new subclasses.
We now have a "Winter" Ranger that has literally no features that help it traverse wintry terrain.
Cold resistance let’s you ignore the effects of extreme cold.
Instead it gets a feature similar to another Ranger subclass, but theirs gets to ignore damage resistance in a glaring display of power creep.
Getting the ability to ignore cold resistance on their puny once per turn 1d4 extra cold damage is not power creep. Most other Ranger subclasses can do more damage than the Winter Walker.
(Also, if the class is meant to represent survival in cold terrain, why isn't it fire-themed since such creatures are more likely to be weak to fire.)
Because it’s an arctic explorer subclass. Of course it will have cold theming. Like how a Volcanic explorer subclass would get fire theming.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Maybe the state of 2024 5e is directly the result of letting people like Treantmonk dictate what the designers should do, caring only about power-gaming and damage output.
Hah. No. The state of 2024 5e is largely a result of being bad at the kind of thing Treantmonk likes to focus on, because they go "this looks like a Kewl Idea" without doing the math on what it actually means, so it might wind up being overpowered or garbage.
Maybe the state of 2024 5e is directly the result of letting people like Treantmonk dictate what the designers should do, caring only about power-gaming and damage output.
We now have a "Winter" Ranger that has literally no features that help it traverse wintry terrain. Instead it gets a feature similar to another Ranger subclass, but theirs gets to ignore damage resistance in a glaring display of power creep. (Also, if the class is meant to represent survival in cold terrain, why isn't it fire-themed since such creatures are more likely to be weak to fire.)
the state of 2024 is that many people find it to be better than 2014.
there is nothing wrong with treantmonk, or his analysis. You can disagree with him, or his priorities, that doesnt mean his perspective is a problem or bad
Is it just me, or do most of these subclasses seem really odd thematically/flavor-wise?
A Bard subclass that sounds a lot like a Lore Bard but with a nature theme instead of an art-theme.
A Fighter subclass that sounds so confused between upholding Paladin-esque ideals like it's Good aligned while having a Ranger-esque companionship with an Amethyst Dragon that's known to be Neutral aligned.
The Paladin is pretending to be a Genie Warlock when the flavoring could be on the actual elements itself instead of the type of creature with no issue.
The Rogue seems to be an Assassin with a heavier enthesis on wanton murder with a semi-deity focus while using Intelligence instead of Wisdom.
The Sorcerer is tied to the Weave like literally all Arcane Casters are while somehow having a Spell List that practically the Celestial Warlock, I:E Divine magic turned Arcane.
Seriously, what is this? I could barely look into the actual mechanics of these in the document because the theme and flavoring was so odd.
They've gone back to the original sources.
Historically, there were three 'Fae' orders: Druids, Vates, and Bards, in old Celtic religions. Sorta. Kinda. So they're bringing back Bards as bards, not what they evolved through various iterations of the game.
The Purple Dragon Knight is a dragon-mounted Cavalier.
The original paladins were out of the Charlemagne mythos (NSFW, btw), and they had counterparts from the 'Holy Land' of genies and such. So a balancing lightly-armored counterpart of the heavy armored version, with the ability to go toe-to-toe (and then some! Chromatic Orb + CME?! Awesome!)
Rangers look like a tribute to GOT's Night's Watch, in particular Benjin Stark.
Original first edition Rogues were all about the assassin action, and this return to rogues being Evil isn't a surprise, though it's a surprise.
And the Sorcerer is more reminiscent of Mystra's theme, also I can't fault them for going back to the sources there.
Elemental Smite is a quite good bonus... to a spell that isn't great to start with. It should probably actually change the damage type of the smite, though.
Genie spells gives an annoyingly large number of extra spells prepared.
Genie's Splendor means you can have your dex/cha paladin setup with ac 21 (16 dex, 16 cha, studded leather, shield, defense fighting style) at level 3, and it just goes up from there. It should be an unarmored defense ability (like barbarians and monks) giving you an AC of 10 + Dex Modifier + Cha modifier.
Aura of Elemental Protection is completely nuts.
Elemental Rebuke is also nuts.
Noble Scion gives 'succeed at any roll as a reaction' with unlimited uses? (well, not more than 100...).
Just a quick note. Noble Scion allows you to refresh the Bonus Action by expending a level 5 spell slot. That becomes 10 minutes of auto successes (up to one per round) up to 3 times per day. Anything that can give you more 5th level slots without multiclassing will give you more uses. A Pearl of Power is too low and a Rod of Absorption doesn't actual give you slots. Those was all I could think of.
Bladesong: I remember the first Bladesinger from 2e and if I remember correctly the only armor that could work with it was elven chain mail, so I like the unarmored requirement. I like the option of using Intelligence as the attack and damage modifier, but I think at level 14 the Intelligence modifier should stack with the Dexterity or Strength modifier.
Training in War and Song: Again going back to the original Bladesinger, in that version you could only use the Bladesong with one type of weapon and all other weapons had a penalty. I would like to see it be you pick your weapon of choice and that is the only type of weapon
Extra Attack: Nothing new to see here adds to the Gishiness of things. The one thing I think needs to be added is that spells cast in melee that require an attack roll do not suffer disadvantage.
Song of Defense: This is nice as a last resort if you happen to get caught in a failed save attack. Only thing I could think that might be worth changing is have the damage get redirected back at the attacker at least in the amount this blocks.
Song of Victory: Nice way to incorporate more spell-casting into the melee attacking. Could work really nice with Thunder Step.
Original first edition Rogues were all about the assassin action, and this return to rogues being Evil isn't a surprise, though it's a surprise.
That was the assassin, which was its own distinct class in 1e. At that point, technically, rogues did not even exist as they were called thieves back then. And while there were alignment restrictions, no one was ever required to be evil; neutral was always an option.
And generally, each of the five new subclasses seems more designed to pair with one of the five new areas they will be detailing in the book. D&D has long abandoned trying to create classes from real-world cultural/historical analogies. Certainly, they borrow ideas from history and fiction, but they do it to serve their worlds, not the other way around.
I'd say their influences in these cases have much more to do with, say, wanting a cold-themed subclass to put in the part about 10-towns than it does anything to do with GoT. And the PDK (which, btw, is much closer to a fighter version of a drakewarden than it is to a cavalier) is for the Dalelands and Cormyr. While the genie paladin is because they're doing a bit about Calimshan, so they want a subclass to fit there, etc.
It appears that what they are doing is going back to the old 2e approach to classes: they are being structured to match the setting.
I am in favor of this -- Classes should be specific to the setting, in my opinion. One of the most common criticisms of FR is that it is a "world for everything in the game" -- it has no unique character of its own. The classes will give that feel, as well as guide some of the ways of thinking about FR,
Worst take ever. No wonder this game is doomed if people support this and consider it game design decent level. This is a rabbit hole, it will always shrink and shrink more.
It appears that what they are doing is going back to the old 2e approach to classes: they are being structured to match the setting.
I am in favor of this -- Classes should be specific to the setting, in my opinion. One of the most common criticisms of FR is that it is a "world for everything in the game" -- it has no unique character of its own. The classes will give that feel, as well as guide some of the ways of thinking about FR,
Worst take ever. No wonder this game is doomed if people support this and consider it game design decent level. This is a rabbit hole, it will always shrink and shrink more.
Oh yes, how dare a role playing game provide specialized roles for the players that have a close tie with a given setting! One can only wonder at what kind of convoluted logic could make someone associate those concepts.
It appears that what they are doing is going back to the old 2e approach to classes: they are being structured to match the setting.
I am in favor of this -- Classes should be specific to the setting, in my opinion. One of the most common criticisms of FR is that it is a "world for everything in the game" -- it has no unique character of its own. The classes will give that feel, as well as guide some of the ways of thinking about FR,
Worst take ever. No wonder this game is doomed if people support this and consider it game design decent level. This is a rabbit hole, it will always shrink and shrink more.
you can use subclasses without using their setting specific flavor. This not really a big deal. This is game where you can use all, some or none of what you find in the source material
So, are they going to be giving the other classes new subclasses too? kinda like to see a good version of the battle rager barbarian if they’re going the forgotten realms route. If not what does everyone think on other possibilities
So, are they going to be giving the other classes new subclasses too? kinda like to see a good version of the battle rager barbarian if they’re going the forgotten realms route. If not what does everyone think on other possibilities
In this book, I’d say we’re going to get what they announced, and nothing more. I guess there’s the possibility that one of these does poorly in the UA and they drop it, Or do a major revision. But I don’t think they’ll add anything. Unless one of them is really hated and they swap it out for a different one?🤷♂️ Over time, we will, of course, be getting new subclasses.
It appears that what they are doing is going back to the old 2e approach to classes: they are being structured to match the setting.
I am in favor of this -- Classes should be specific to the setting, in my opinion. One of the most common criticisms of FR is that it is a "world for everything in the game" -- it has no unique character of its own. The classes will give that feel, as well as guide some of the ways of thinking about FR,
Worst take ever. No wonder this game is doomed if people support this and consider it game design decent level. This is a rabbit hole, it will always shrink and shrink more.
This isn’t even new to this edition. Glory paladins were in a setting book. Also spore Druids, echo knights, and more. How do you get from a strategy that’s been working well for 10 years to doomed?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Right, they just failed to fix a pre-existing problem. Bladesong should always have been an unarmored defense feature, working like any other unarmored defense feature.
It's not that spicy though. Sure they are 'new' but the mechanics aren't really that novel, and the theming is more confusing than exciting. The Rogue, I do like, but it's OP, and the huge emphasis on evil for the flavour would make me hesitate to allow it at my table. What it really feels like to me would be to use it or aspects from it as a reward for character choices rather than as a subclass someone just chooses to take. Like the aura + cantrip I could totally see myself stealing as a bonus feat if the party/player sought out to preform a service to one of those gods or become a champion of one of those gods. Or as an NPC, e.g. if I put in an assassins guild I could totally see giving those subclass features to the boss of the guild.
Moonshae Folktales: An action to activate, choosing one of three options, and it lasts until you use an action to choose a different option. It might be better if this was reworded so you choose an option at the end of a long rest, but can change to a different option out of combat.
Tale of Life - Seems pretty weak. Not only is it for some reason limited to once a turn, but it also consumes your bardic inspiration only to heal a small amount. Compare it to the early healing abilities of the Life Cleric or Stars Druid, and it definitely seems underwhelming.
Tale of Gloam - Situationally useful, but also underwhelming. If it allowed for them to take the Dodge action it would be better and useful for Rogues and Monks.
Tale of Mirth - I swear a different subclass gets something like this. Add this to the pile of overlap it has with other subclasses.
Primal Lorist: A cantrip and skill is nice, and Druidic is nigh useless.
Blessing of the Moonwells: Does Moonbeam count against your maximum amount of prepared spells? Casting it as a bonus action a limited amount of times is nice, and probably worth a 3rd level spell slot. The glowing is basically pointless, and healing is fine.
Bolstered Folktales: Boring. When will WotC learn that having a capstone ability that just slightly improved abilities you got earlier is not sufficient?
Overall, I’m not a fan. Lots of overlap with other subclasses both mechanically and thematically. I cannot imagine myself or any of my players being inspired to play this subclass. I would prefer for this to be scrapped and replaced with something else.
Knowledge Domain review
Lore: Basically the same as before. However I wonder if the Arcana Domain is being absorbed into this subclass.
Blessings of Knowledge: Fine. Artisan’s tools proficiency makes less sense than languages, though. Maybe they could give a choice between the two if this subclass is meant to include crafter gods like Gond.
Knowledge Domain Spells: Wow! 3 spells per level! Mostly utility spells, but still. Knowledge clerics will certainly know more spells than basically anyone else. Detect Magic and Comprehend Languages are completely new and free additions, Augury and Suggestion was changed to Detect Thoughts and Mind Spike. Speak with Dead is replaced with Dispel Magic and Tongues. Banishment is new and Synaptic Static are new. It seems to me that this is definitely subsuming the Arcana Cleric’s niche, and probably filling the role of a psionic cleric subclass. Huge upgrade. Most of these spells aren’t useful in combat, so it’s probably not too much.
Mind Magic: Interesting. Both former channel divinities were removed and now they only get this option. It’s good. Definitely has an Arcana Cleric vibe even if the original subclass didn’t get anything like this.
Unfettered Mind: Cool. Telepathy is nice, definitely makes me think this is the Psionic Cleric subclass. It definitely fits for my current setting. And the “replace the roll with set number” abilities are always good, even if Int checks are less common and important than others.
Divine Foreknowledge: Yet another completely new good ability.
Lore: I think linking a whole subclass to a single dragon type is too narrow of an idea. These should just be "Dragon Knights," with "Purple Dragon Knights" being a specific order of them. Or if they want to differentiate them from the Drakewarden Ranger, they could connect them to only Gemstone Dragons, making up some lore about the Gemstone Dragons forming psionic bonds with humanoid warriors differently from metallic and chromatic dragons.
I do think there is still room for a Banneret/Warlord Fighter subclass and was initially disappointed they didn't even try to fix the original PDK, but also think that a subclass with "Dragon Knight" in it should have something mechanically to do with dragons.
Knightly Envoy: This ability lets you learn Draconic or some other language and cast Comprehend Languages as a ritual. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability. IMO, Charisma or Constitution would fit better. This is mostly a flavor ability, so there's not much to say.
Purple Dragon Companion: This functions pretty much as the post-Eberron pet subclasses. A nice little buff that I believe came in the new PHB is the change from, "[Pet] acts at the end of your turn" to "[Pet] acts during your turn," so you can have your companion act during your action (especially good for mounted companions). Using Second Wind to resurrect the dragon is good, as Fighters have more than in the original PHB. Compared to the Steel Defender and Primal Companion which require spell slots to bring back, Artificers and Rangers can bring back their companions more if you have multiple fights between short rests that kill the companion, but in a very long and difficult adventuring day the PDK could theoretically resurrect their companion more than a Battle Smith or Beast Master.
The Armor Class scaling off of your Intelligence is interesting. Beast Master animal companions do the same thing but with Wisdom, while Steel Defender's have a base AC of 15 that increases to 17 at level 15. Assuming a Fighter that focuses on Strength or Dexterity (16 or 17) with Constitution as their secondary ability (14-16), a PDK will probably have a 13 or 14 for their Intelligence. So the dragon will probably have a lower AC than a Steel Defender and Beastmaster's companion. And it has the HP of the Beast of the Sky, but with a swim, walking, and flying speed of 30 feet.
It also has darkvision of 60 feet, which is standard. I think giving them blindsight would make sense. Amphibious is situationally useful. It's curious that Stalwart Bond is half as good as Primal Bond. Rend again scales off of Intelligence, so your Dragon will almost definitely be less likely to hit with its attacks than a Steel Defender/Beastmaster companion, and worse than you too. Hell, the bonus to hit doesn't even increase with your Proficiency Bonus, so good luck hitting anything with it at higher levels. Rend's damage also scales off of Intelligence and doesn't even get the base +2 damage that the Beast companions and UA Battle Smiths get.
The best use of Gravity Breath is to pull creatures towards the dragon while it's flying over them. Then they'll take falling damage and fall prone if they fail the saving throw. Otherwise this is very situationally useful, only if there are environmental hazards (cliffs, lava, acid, etc).
Dragon Rider: Pretty similar to the Drake Warden's level 7 ability, in that your dragon grows and you can ride on it. Different in that it can fly with severe limitations while you ride it and you can mount/dismount it more easily. The breath weapon having a larger area and doing a bit of damage is good, making it actually useful to use most of the time. Shared Second Wind is also good.
Rallying Surge: A pretty good ability, a vestige of the "battle commander" theme of the original PDK. But I would prefer something more dragon themed.
Amethyst Pinnacle: Strangely not the pinnacle ability of the subclass. You can finally do the thing you took this subclass to do! Being able to ride on a dragon that can truly fly comes way too late at level 15, which most players will not get to, especially when there are species that grant fly at level 1 (Aarakocra, Fairies, Owlin, etc). I am one of the DMs that doesn't think innate fly speeds at low levels is OP. My Dragon Rider subclass got to do this at level 3 for small characters.
You also get to replace one of your attacks with one of your dragon's attacks. Which, like, why? Why would you ever do this? If your weapon attacks are somehow weaker than your dragon's Rend at this level, you did something wrong. You will have a higher bonus to hit and deal more damage, can apply weapon masteries, and be able to use magic weapon properties if you have them. This sucks. If Drakewarden Rangers got this ability they might consider using it, as level 15 Drakes deal 3d6+Wis damage, and have a better attack bonus. This version of a Dragon Knight will use this a single time before realizing it sucks and never doing it again. Being able to replace 2 attacks with Gravity Breath is also probably not worth it outside of rare situations.
Enduring Commander: Terrible name for a boring feature that just gives you and your dragon 2 damage resistances. Wow. Amazing capstone ability. Well done WotC. *eyeroll* Capstone abilities should be powerful and exciting. Giving 2 rare damage resistances is neither of those. Even if monsters deal force damage more now.
Overall I consider this a poorly designed subclass and would prefer for it to have a broader archetype. The dragon's attack doesn't scale well, it has poor AC and HP compared to most other subclass pets, Gravity Breath is only situationally useful, and there's a good chance you'll have better bonus action options than commanding your Dragon. The Dragon having "Jack of All Trades" that works on saving throws probably won't make much of a difference.
The dragon's attacks and damage should scale better. It should get damage resistance to an appropriate damage type at level 3. If you could ride on a truly flying dragon at level 7 that might make up for the poor AC, HP, saving throws, and damage. Commanding your dragon should share a bonus action with using Second Wind, at the very least. And when you use Action Surge it should be able to take two actions. I think its abilities should scale on your Constitution too, to make the subclass less MAD. Or Intelligence should be the main ability of this subclass.
Oath of the Noble Genie Review:
Lore: Why are they sworn to all of the Genie types? I thought every genie even within the same type competed against every other genie for power, wealth, slaves, etc. It's a bit weird that they're implied to cooperate so much that they share champions with each other. Maybe this is referring to some FR Calimshan lore I'm not familiar with. This is a bit weird, but I'll go along with it.
Elemental Smite: So, you expend a use of Divine Smite and Channel Divinity at the same time to get one of four effects. I didn't like this sort of mechanic with the Heroism Paladin, and I don't like it here. An ability shouldn't require two separate resources to be expended to trigger. This should function when you hit a creature with a weapon attack and expend a use of Channel Divinity, useable with Divine Smite but not reliant on it. But I do like the idea of Paladin subclasses adding to/changing the effects of Divine Smite.
Dao's Crush - Restraining is always good. This is probably the best option.
Djinni's Escape - Even mistier step. Situationally great.
Efreeti's Fury - Also decent. Maybe it should ignore damage resistance?
Marid's Surge - Good, but situationally amazing.
Genie Spells: I can't really see a Paladin using Mirror Image or Phantasmal Force that much, but most of the other options are thematic and pretty useful depending on circumstance.
Genie's Splendor: Oh boy, now someone can compete with Bladesingers in AC. At higher levels with magical shields/armor, this can get insane. Especially with Bladelock multiclassing. I don't think it needs to be nerfed, but man this is an amazing ability. The skill is nice too. The only issue is you have to plan to be a Genie Paladin from level 1 so you make sure to get the right gear and choose the right stats.
Aura of Elemental Shielding: Simply great. Fighting a Dragon? Give everyone in your party that's in the aura a bonus to the saving throw against the breath weapon as well as resistance to the damage type! You can also use this feature to allow the whole party to ignore the Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold environmental effects.
Elemental Rebuke: This is good. I can't remember which, but there's a paladin subclass that gets a pretty similar feature.
Noble Scion: Now this is how you do a capstone! Minor Wish is great!
I love this subclass. It could use a few tweaks, but I think it's the most solid subclass so far. It also can easily be worked into other settings.
Winter Walker Review:
Lore: I made an arctic ranger subclass pretty much thematically identical to this one over 4 years ago, and there's also a good amount of mechanical overlap between the UA subclass and my homebrewed one. Mine was even called the Frost Strider, which is pretty similar to Winter Walker. I'm not saying they stole my idea, just that I was able to predict a subclass idea WotC eventually published before they made it. It's happened a few times before.
Anyways, I clearly like the idea of an arctic ranger, because I made one already. This version is definitely better balanced and less reliant on the environment than mine was.
Frigid Explorer: Uncannily similar to a level 3 ability I gave my Frost Strider. Cold resistance and extra cold damage that ignores damage resistance. However where this cold damage is 1d4 once a turn that triggers on a hit with no action required and increases to 1d6 at level 11, mine was a bonus action to deal an extra 1d10 on the next melee attack made within the next 10 minutes that increases to 2d10 at level 11.
Hunter's Rime: Temporary hit points are always nice, especially when they trigger on an ability you were likely going to use anyways. The shutting down of disengaging is just the cherry on top of this good ability. I didn't have anything like this in my subclass.
Winter Walker Spells: I did have a feature like this, except it mostly gave homebrewed ice spells I made. My version did give Ice Knife at level 3, though. Pass without Trace, Ice Storm and Cone of Cold are good. Remove Curse should probably be replaced with a more thematic spell, though.
Fortifying Soul: Interesting. It's like a weird Song of Rest (which Bards don't even get anymore) that also gives temporary immunity to Frightened. I'm not sure I like this ability mechanically or thematically.
Chilling Retribution: Why the focus on the Frightened condition in this subclass? I'm not sure how useful this is. Rangers normally get a pretty significant damage boost at this level, and I don't think the increase in Polar Strikes die size and this ability is enough.
Frozen Haunt: Interesting, but again I don't like abilities that require you to expend two different resources to trigger. This should be worded more like "As a bonus action, which can be part of the same bonus action used to cast Hunter's Mark, you can adopt a snowy ghostly form." Becoming a wintery ghost is cool, I guess, but not the kind of thematic ability I'd give to a Ranger as a capstone. This would fit better for a Winter Druid subclass than for a Ranger, IMO.
Frozen Soul - Immunity to cold damage is situationally good, but a 15 foot emanation that deals 2d4 cold damage (which doesn't ignore damage resistance) is not good enough for a level 15 ability. This is the same area as and less damage than the Sea Druid's Wrath of the Sea.
Partially Incorporeal - This really feels like a Druid ability. Basically turning yourself into a blizzard. Not a fan. This doesn't even give you a fly speed, either.
Good idea, needs work and more thematic/mechanical cohesion. It's easily weaker than any of the Ranger subclasses in the PHB, IMO.
Scion of the Three Review:
Lore: Too setting specific for my liking. Especially when they mostly exist in a single city. And it feels like Rogues of the Dead Three should probably be Arcane Tricksters or Assassins, maybe Phantoms and Soul Knifes. Also, don't people normally dedicate themselves to only a single member of the Dead Three? It's weird that this implies that you're dedicated to all of them and switch which one you focus on on a whim. Especially when this subclass barely has anything for Myrkulites and seems to have Banites and Bhaalites more.
Bloodthirst: I actually really like this ability. The extra damage is nice, it's always good to get abilities that trigger on Bloodied. And the reaction is amazing, and limited pretty well. A Rogue with Intelligence based True Strike that focuses mostly on Intelligence to get the most out of this ability could be an interesting build.
Dread Allegiance: A pretty good ability. It won't come up often, but this is nice.
Strike Fear: Definitely worth using against powerful enemies that don't have immunity to Frightened. Pretty thematic too.
Aura of Malevolence: Hmm. Imagine 7 levels of Conquest Paladin combined with this Rogue subclass. Wouldn't be very mechanically effective (maybe if you had a Headband of Intellect), but unbelievably cool to be able to scare people to death by combining this with Aura of Conquest. Not a super strong ability, but cool.
Dread Incarnate: Both features are amazing.
I really like most of the mechanics, but think it could use some tweaks and have a bit of lore for how it could be used in other settings.
Spellfire Review:
Lore: I barely know about Spellfire (Laeral Silverhand has it, right?), and I don't really care. This subclass is at least easier to reflavor to other settings. I could see this being used for a Silver Flame Sorcerer in Eberron or a maybe a pyromancer subclass connected with Phoenixes. The premise for this subclass is more interesting than the Moon Bard, but less interesting to me than the Genie Paladin or Winter Ranger.
Spellfire Burst: This weirdly incentivizes you to use sorcery points less often, as it's a free ability that triggers once a turn when you use sorcery points as part of your action or bonus action. So if you want to get the full potential of this ability, you need to limit your sorcery point usage to once on your turn. If you cast Heightened or Distant Counterspell you don't get the benefit of this ability. If you Quicken a leveled spell and then casting a Seeking cantrip, you only benefit from Spellfire Burst a single time. I don't really understand this. Is it really OP to give 1d4+CHA temporary hit points or deal 1d6 damage to two people in a turn. And triggering it on a reaction spell would be really cool and probably not too powerful. Imagine a spellcaster with low hit points casts a spell, so then you counterspell it preventing their action, and then deal enough damage to them to kill them. That could make for an amazing moment in a campaign, especially when combined with the later Absorb Spells.
Spellfire Spells: I'm still disappointed the new Sorcerer expanded spell lists dropped the ability from Tasha's to switch them out for spells of a certain school. That was really cool.
Anyways, all of the level 1 and 2 spells are good. Aura of Vitality is better than in 2014 and maybe it will be used more if you Quicken it, but it's not great. All of the other spells seem good.
Absorb Spells: Neat. Kind of sucks that this is your only level 6 ability.
Honed Spellfire: These buffs are pretty significant. Very nice.
Crown of Spellfire: Another demonstration that WotC does know how to design cool and interesting capstone abilities at least some of the time. Reducing damage by 5d6+18 without requiring a reaction is very nice. Flight is good, especially with hover. Magic Evasion is also very good.
A pretty solid subclass. It's kind of a replacement of my beloved Divine Soul Sorcerer, but it's pretty good. It could use some tweaks and maybe a short mention of how it could be used in other settings,
Bladesinger Review:
Lore: Mentions how it was started by elves, but how some non elves are also Bladesingers. Also everyone loves them. Cool.
Bladesong: No longer works with armor, but you use Intelligence for attack and damage rolls with weapons, and also you can use it an amount of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier. Funny how they keep changing that last part. Bladework should probably just be a feature of the subclass instead of only active when you use this ability.
Training in War and Song: You get more weapon proficiencies and a few options for the skill proficiency. And you can use your weapon as a spellcasting focus. Pretty good, opening up the types of weapons you can use is good and broadens the archetype. Not every bladesinger needs to be the same and use a longsword.
Extra Attack: Mostly the same as before. My only complaint isn't about this subclass, it's the fact that they keep not giving this to other Gish subclasses! Why can't Armorers and Battle Smith Artificers use this!?!
Song of Defense: It is almost always better to just cast Shield or Absorb Elements instead of using this ability. Only situationally worth using. I've never liked this ability and would prefer for it to be replaced with something else.
Song of Victory: Pretty good, I guess. Definitely not going to be significant damage. Probably weaker than the original version, especially on dual wielding Bladesingers.
None of these changes excite me. I've always liked the idea of an arcane gish, but don't really like any implementation of it. Bladelock is the best execution, but doesn't have the flavor or abilities I'd prefer.
Overall this UA is filled with some pretty good hits (Knowledge Cleric, Genie Paladin, Dead Three Rogue) as well as some pretty big misses (PDK, Moon Bard). I like most of the ideas and mechanics, but some things need to be rethought. Pretty interesting getting 8 subclasses at once, this took a while to review. Hopefully we can get another UA version of some of these before the deadline for the book comes.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
The Purple Dragon Companion's STR should scale with Fighter Level. 16 STR is probably not enough to carry a rider, the rider's armor and gear, and barding. It can only carry 240 pounds. Or there should be a rule about how much they can carry and walk/fly/swim.
There should be rules about the PDC using magic items. It's more than a fungible warhorse. Can it attune to items, and how many?
Consider using CHA or WIS instead of INT for the PDC scaling. Maybe let the player choose, or let it default to the highest of the 3.
Does the PDC have to be nearby if it is resurrected via the ritual? Does the body decay? Can it be turned into undead or other wise denied to the PC? Can the PC get another PDC?
Can PDC just share HP with the Fighter? Or can the Fighter get Warding Bond?
This sums up my thoughts on the Moon Bard better than I ever could.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Maybe the state of 2024 5e is directly the result of letting people like Treantmonk dictate what the designers should do, caring only about power-gaming and damage output.
We now have a "Winter" Ranger that has literally no features that help it traverse wintry terrain. Instead it gets a feature similar to another Ranger subclass, but theirs gets to ignore damage resistance in a glaring display of power creep. (Also, if the class is meant to represent survival in cold terrain, why isn't it fire-themed since such creatures are more likely to be weak to fire.)
I feel this is unfair and rude towards Treantmonk. I don’t often watch his videos, but this kind of insult is nasty and uncalled for.
Damage output is an important part of balancing new subclasses.
Cold resistance let’s you ignore the effects of extreme cold.
Getting the ability to ignore cold resistance on their puny once per turn 1d4 extra cold damage is not power creep. Most other Ranger subclasses can do more damage than the Winter Walker.
Because it’s an arctic explorer subclass. Of course it will have cold theming. Like how a Volcanic explorer subclass would get fire theming.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Hah. No. The state of 2024 5e is largely a result of being bad at the kind of thing Treantmonk likes to focus on, because they go "this looks like a Kewl Idea" without doing the math on what it actually means, so it might wind up being overpowered or garbage.
the state of 2024 is that many people find it to be better than 2014.
there is nothing wrong with treantmonk, or his analysis. You can disagree with him, or his priorities, that doesnt mean his perspective is a problem or bad
They've gone back to the original sources.
Historically, there were three 'Fae' orders: Druids, Vates, and Bards, in old Celtic religions. Sorta. Kinda. So they're bringing back Bards as bards, not what they evolved through various iterations of the game.
The Purple Dragon Knight is a dragon-mounted Cavalier.
The original paladins were out of the Charlemagne mythos (NSFW, btw), and they had counterparts from the 'Holy Land' of genies and such. So a balancing lightly-armored counterpart of the heavy armored version, with the ability to go toe-to-toe (and then some! Chromatic Orb + CME?! Awesome!)
Rangers look like a tribute to GOT's Night's Watch, in particular Benjin Stark.
Original first edition Rogues were all about the assassin action, and this return to rogues being Evil isn't a surprise, though it's a surprise.
And the Sorcerer is more reminiscent of Mystra's theme, also I can't fault them for going back to the sources there.
Just a quick note. Noble Scion allows you to refresh the Bonus Action by expending a level 5 spell slot. That becomes 10 minutes of auto successes (up to one per round) up to 3 times per day. Anything that can give you more 5th level slots without multiclassing will give you more uses. A Pearl of Power is too low and a Rod of Absorption doesn't actual give you slots. Those was all I could think of.
How to add Tooltips.
Bladesinger
Bladesong: I remember the first Bladesinger from 2e and if I remember correctly the only armor that could work with it was elven chain mail, so I like the unarmored requirement. I like the option of using Intelligence as the attack and damage modifier, but I think at level 14 the Intelligence modifier should stack with the Dexterity or Strength modifier.
Training in War and Song: Again going back to the original Bladesinger, in that version you could only use the Bladesong with one type of weapon and all other weapons had a penalty. I would like to see it be you pick your weapon of choice and that is the only type of weapon
Extra Attack: Nothing new to see here adds to the Gishiness of things. The one thing I think needs to be added is that spells cast in melee that require an attack roll do not suffer disadvantage.
Song of Defense: This is nice as a last resort if you happen to get caught in a failed save attack. Only thing I could think that might be worth changing is have the damage get redirected back at the attacker at least in the amount this blocks.
Song of Victory: Nice way to incorporate more spell-casting into the melee attacking. Could work really nice with Thunder Step.
That was the assassin, which was its own distinct class in 1e. At that point, technically, rogues did not even exist as they were called thieves back then. And while there were alignment restrictions, no one was ever required to be evil; neutral was always an option.
And generally, each of the five new subclasses seems more designed to pair with one of the five new areas they will be detailing in the book. D&D has long abandoned trying to create classes from real-world cultural/historical analogies. Certainly, they borrow ideas from history and fiction, but they do it to serve their worlds, not the other way around.
I'd say their influences in these cases have much more to do with, say, wanting a cold-themed subclass to put in the part about 10-towns than it does anything to do with GoT. And the PDK (which, btw, is much closer to a fighter version of a drakewarden than it is to a cavalier) is for the Dalelands and Cormyr. While the genie paladin is because they're doing a bit about Calimshan, so they want a subclass to fit there, etc.
I do not disagree on any point.
You have mapped out the situation clearly and well.
Worst take ever. No wonder this game is doomed if people support this and consider it game design decent level.
This is a rabbit hole, it will always shrink and shrink more.
Oh yes, how dare a role playing game provide specialized roles for the players that have a close tie with a given setting! One can only wonder at what kind of convoluted logic could make someone associate those concepts.
you can use subclasses without using their setting specific flavor. This not really a big deal. This is game where you can use all, some or none of what you find in the source material
So, are they going to be giving the other classes new subclasses too?
kinda like to see a good version of the battle rager barbarian if they’re going the forgotten realms route. If not what does everyone think on other possibilities
In this book, I’d say we’re going to get what they announced, and nothing more. I guess there’s the possibility that one of these does poorly in the UA and they drop it, Or do a major revision. But I don’t think they’ll add anything. Unless one of them is really hated and they swap it out for a different one?🤷♂️
Over time, we will, of course, be getting new subclasses.
This isn’t even new to this edition. Glory paladins were in a setting book. Also spore Druids, echo knights, and more. How do you get from a strategy that’s been working well for 10 years to doomed?