The fact all monk stuff costs Ki is ridiculous and should have been fixed eons ago. No other official martial class gets a secondary resource pool without subclassing besides monks (unless you count ranger/paladin spell slots) its silly.
ftfy
The reason monk subclasses all use ki points is because 5e is designed to avoid unnecessary complexity. Most martial classes have no resource pool unless they pick one up via subclass - Battlemaster for example - and even among casters, the only class that has more than one resource pool is Sorcerers, who use both spell slots and metamagic points. Even then, it's questionable whether that distinction is necessary, given that you can convert one into the other pretty much freely. (Actually now I'm thinking about a Sorcerer redesign built around using metamagic points INSTEAD of spell slots - replacing Vancian casting with MP to make the class identity more unique.)
When a Bard subclass has a feature that needs resources, it uses Bardic Inspiration. When a caster subclass has a feature that needs resources, it uses spell slots (except for certain Druid subclasses that actually use Wild Shape as a resource). When a Monk subclass has a feature that needs resources, it uses ki points. Why? Because there is already a system there to force resource management, so why bother making a player use two?
Multiclassing is obviously an exception, but it's strictly opt-in, and in a way it self-balances anyway; you might have two or more resource pools by going Battlemaster+Swords Bard+Warlock or something, but the things you can do with each resource pool is diminished compared to a single-class build.
This is untrue.
Fighter alone has several subclasses that use a resource pool:
Battlemaster= Die
Echo Knight= Con modifier number of uses
Eldritch Knight= Spell Slots
Several subclasses have resources outside of the base class and do not force you to use your main class attributes for them.
Paladin is another great example:
They have SEVERAL pools of resources- Spell Slots, Lay on Hands, Channel Divinity, etc...
Monk looks fairly well balanced and offers customizable damage types, ranged options, extra mobility from flight, and even a little nod to social interactions with the persuasion re-roll; good stuff overall.
The ranger's 1d6 extra damage every round using the dragon's reaction plus a 1d6+proficiency (that scales to 3d6+prof over time) bonus action attack seems very strong. The 1d6 is less than the 1d8 bonus damage available to other ranger subclasses but this should be balanced out by the fact that the 1d8 bonuses require the ranger to hit while the 1d6 for dragon ranger is applied so long as any ally within 30 ft that the dragon can see hits. Being able to choose what damage type you have resistance to and change that on the fly at level 7 using only a 1st level spell slot is also very good. Given the lack of love rangers have received this is a welcome change of pace but I'll be interested to see how it works in practice.
Dragonlance, is that you? I doubted we would see the day in 5e due to that lawsuit, but this certainly fits the theme.
I am not so sure, but maybe. I think a Dragon themed paladin or cleric would have been a bit more in line with Dragonlance than Monk or Ranger
I will admit that this gave me Eberron vibes more then anything funny enough.
Eberron? I mean, there are dragons in Eberron, but they're not really teaching monks how to pretend to be them, or selling their deformed children to be ranger companions. What makes you think this fits with Eberron?
To be fair, it fits more with the 3.5 version of Eberron where they expanded more on the Continent of Argonnessen, home of the dragons.
The Dragons of Eberron have mastered so much magic and knowledge over the millennium ever since the Dragon-Fiend Wars. They taught the giants arcane magic which led to them becoming a powerful nation on Xen'drik (before they nearly caused a calamity and the dragons razed the whole continent scorched earth style and left powerful curses across the whole land), and it was believed that druidic magic was first taught to the Orcs from a Black Dragon. It was said that the Dragon's of Eberron created and forgotten more knowledge and magic then any of the other races have access to combined. They often follow the goings on of all the other races, especially those in Khorvaire and the Dragonmarked houses for their potential connection to the Draconic Prophecy, of which the information they have gathered from it they guard as jealously as their own hoards.
The dragons having mastery over all manner of disciplines and training their lesser race agents in said disciplines is actually not that farfetched. It would only make more sense if they had added a Dragon Barbarian (as the shores of Argonnessen are protected by the Seren Barbarians that worship dragons) and a Dragonslayer Subclass (Both for the elves of Aerenal that train to fight and hunt dragons due to the Dragon-Elf wars and for Dragon slayers trained by dragons to hunt and kill potential rivals or deviant dragons that are enemies of Argonnessen like the Talons of Tiamat)
Once again through, this is following the lore of 3.5's Eberron.
My one issue with the Drakerider is that I don't like the limited amount of time the drake sticks around.
I don't like the ability to summon a different Drake each time either. Should choose a drake and raise it as an actual companion instead of a summoning spell. If if falls in battle, expend a slot to "heal" it is a good mechanic though.
I will admit the jump from small to large seems a bit odd. Why not have it grow to medium at lv 7 for a bit of a more natural progression? It's not an actually complaint just a curious observation.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
I will admit the jump from small to large seems a bit odd. Why not have it grow to medium at lv 7 for a bit of a more natural progression? It's not an actually complaint just a curious observation.
I honestly think this might be an oversight....
Or it was intended as small PCs could have a flying mount at 7th which might be early. Either way I could see it honestly.
I will admit the jump from small to large seems a bit odd. Why not have it grow to medium at lv 7 for a bit of a more natural progression? It's not an actually complaint just a curious observation.
I honestly think this might be an oversight....
Or it was intended as small PCs could have a flying mount at 7th which might be early. Either way I could see it honestly.
That's a good point, I forgot about them potentially getting a fly speed at 7 lv.
I will admit the jump from small to large seems a bit odd. Why not have it grow to medium at lv 7 for a bit of a more natural progression? It's not an actually complaint just a curious observation.
I honestly think this might be an oversight....
Or it was intended as small PCs could have a flying mount at 7th which might be early. Either way I could see it honestly.
That's a good point, I forgot about them potentially getting a fly speed at 7 lv.
Yeah small PCs with a flying mount could be a tough call at level 7 but I guess fly spell is on the table at that point so IDK....
Overall I wouldn't care too much if they added it. Might be fun to play a goblin riding a dragon!
First, I like the feel, but it is kind of strange. However, given the fact that most monk subclasses are strange (I'm looking at you, Sun Soul, Astral Self, Long Death, and Mercy Monks), I guess it fits into the crowd. Second, it definitely feels more Tiamat connected than just any other dragon type, given that you are never specifically linked to a type of damage, but that just makes this subclass better, as they can choose to focus on lightning damage, but do fire damage when fighting trolls. Third, I am not one to criticize something without offering suggestions or help to fix the issue, so all of my posts below where I harp on something will include a suggestion to fix it.
Draconic Discipline: This ability is not great. I understand that it is meant to be the minor ability of 3rd level, but it still feels lacking to me.
The damage type changing is mostly useless beyond 6th level, due to the fact that damage vulnerabilities to these types are extremely rare, and that magical damage is typically better than just elemental/poison damage. I would change this to be for any attack you make with an unarmed strike or monk weapon, just so its a bit more useful for later levels in some circumstances.
The draconic language is fine, but kind of strange as other monks don't get languages. It's a language, its usefulness is extremely campaign dependent.
The rerolling failed intimidation and persuasion checks is not very good for monks, as they are already very MAD, and don't need to focus on Charisma. This last part would work better as a Dragon Patron Warlock feature, IMO.
Breath of the Dragon: Okay, strange ability. Well, it's not strange in theme, but is strange in mechanics. It's a breath weapon, but you can pick and choose what damage types and breath weapon shapes you want to use whenever you use this ability. That's kind of weird, but can be extremely useful in certain battle positions. The damage starts out worse than just punching or hitting with a spear, but it eventually gets to decent amounts of damage. I know that it is meant to be weak at lower levels, but 5 damage doesn't feel like a FIRE BREATH ability to me. Would it be too broken to allow it to be 3d(Martial Arts Dice) at lower levels? At the end of the feature, I thought we finally got a monk that does not use ki points for everything in the game, until I saw that it in fact can recharge from Ki points, even if you get some free uses. Still, another way to fuel your abilities except for KI at least makes this not be awful (stares deadpan at Way of the Four Elements). I would prefer for this to be once a short rest, maybe getting more uses at later levels, instead of the weird long rest recharge. Wings Unfurled: Also kind of weird. I mean, I like its theme a ton, but again, the mechanics are weird. Wizards of the Coast is really going all in on the Proficiency Bonus scaling, to the point that its getting annoying. I would change this to have no limits whatsoever. If a level 20 dragon monk wants to spend all of their 20 ki points to fly through the air for 2 minutes straight, I would let them do it without this stupid ki point tax. Scrap the proficiency bonus per long rest thing, as well as the extra Ki points tax, and this is gold. Or, you could move this feature to level 11 and have them expend 3-4 ki for flight for 1 minute (maybe with concentration).
Aspect of the Wyrm: So, this is basically a paladin aura spell, mixed in with a duration effect that basically gives you a weaker, no-save, extended range Hellish Rebuke. Kind of weird, especially for monks, who typically don't get support abilities, and its even weirder for a dragon-themed monk. Dragons aren't support themed, and they're certainly not retribution-themed. Also, by this point, most people have a lot of reaction options, so another to do 1d8 damage that is very commonly resisted is not very good, IMO.
Ascendant Aspect: By this point, WotC ran out of ideas for naming features, and just decided to combine the name of the subclass with the name of the previous ability. Besides the kind of lazy name, this ability is also kind of weird.
The blindsight is fine, fits the theme, and is a normally good feature. My only gripe is that they thought they had to reprint what blindsight is, and that the blindsight is too small in range. At this point, ancient dragons get a 60 foot blindsight. I see no issue with giving a monk subclass 60 feet of blindsight as their capstone.
The lighting someone on fire/acid/poison/lightning/cold with your breath weapon is a nice feature, though the damage is kind of small. At least it works on any creature inside the AoE of your breath weapon, not just those that fail. It really helps if you're fighting hobgoblins at level 17, I guess.
The buff to Aspect of the Wyrm is a nice boost in damage, basically now turning the feature into a paladin aura merged with hellish rebuke and destructive wave. I still think that feature doesn't really fit, and so I would replace this with an extended ranged breath weapon, just to make it so you don't have a puny 20-foot-cone at 17th level.
Overall, I like the theme of the subclass, but I think it was poorly executed. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want this published, and I appreciate that Ki points aren't automatically taken to use all of your features, but it definitely needs quite a bit of work before being published, IMO. I would love to play a Kobold Monk who was taught the art of being a Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk, using Wings Unfurled to temporarily become an Urd. There are a lot of character concepts that thrive with this subclass. However, I think it is mechanically lacking. I'm not saying it's underpowered, but it's just unnecessarily weird.
Drakewarden Ranger
First, I literally just created a homebrew fighter subclass kind of similar to this about a week and a half ago (Dragon Rider), but mine is different in many ways. Second, I love the idea of this, but some parts of it are like the Ascendant Dragon Monk, not bad, just kind of weird. Third, like above, I never criticize something just to complain, I want to alert people of the issues and offer advice for fixing them.
Draconic Gift: There are some issues with this. The draconic language is decent, but not great if you want to play a Dragon Hunter that rides a Drake, as Favored Enemy will give you draconic if you choose dragons as your favored enemy. This probably won't end up being a problem if Tasha's comes out with Favored Foe, as most people will probably end up taking that instead of Favored Enemy, but for people who won't use that book, this will occasionally be an issue. Thaumaturgy is a good cantrip that fits the draconic theme (for the most part), but I don't think it fits this subclass. IMO, it would fit better with the Monk or a Dragon Warlock Patron than for this ranger subclass. I would replace this cantrip with making the drake a bit better.
Drake Companion: Cool dragon companion. It's better than Beast Masters, as you can command it as a bonus action, and actually better than the Steel Defender in some ways, with the AC, its being able to speak, its reaction, and by allowing it to act even if you're incapacitated. That is a great feature that makes your character still feel useful even if the enemy mage has cast hold person on you. I would change some things about this, though. I would make it start out Large, just to let you mount it right off the bat. I'd also change it to allowing you to summon it during a long rest and lasting all day, but can expend a spell slot to summon it back if it dies. I would also allow the drake to add its strength modifier to its damage, like 99.9% of the monsters in the game.
Bond of Fang and Scale: This is all good. Damage resistance is good, the movement increase is good (95% of Drakewarderns will choose flight), and the extra damage is good. Whether or not its balanced, I'm not sure. Most rangers will be able to attack as a bonus action somehow, and the Drake Companion can't benefit from hunter's mark, so I feel like their damage is balanced. I also would increase the Infused Strikes by 1d6, but that could push this feature over the edge.
Drake's Breath: So, you basically can make a cone-shaped-fireball of any draconic damage type, but it only deals as much damage as fireball once you get to level 15. I would change this to be the damage type your drake has as their Draconic Essence, but that's just for it to make sense. I'd also change this to a bonus action you can only cause your Drake to make, but that's not a huge deal.
Perfected Bond: You finally get to ride your dragon! At level 15. It's too bad your campaign ended 5 levels ago. This is how I would change this:
I would make the dragon either start out large, or it becomes large at level 7. Then, you could move the flight to this capstone feature. This would allow you to ride your dragon soon after becoming a Drakewarden, but you can't fly on it until it matures at your capstone feature. I would also allow all dragons to breathe underwater and swim, as well as fly.
Even more damage! Nice! I still would like for Infused Strikes to not be 1d6 damage at level 20, because the feature doesn't scale for some reason.
So, you and your dragon both get uncanny dodge while within 30 feet of each other, but you have to take the reaction. No real complaints, other than the fact that it steals from the rogue because rangers didn't do enough of that already ;).
Overall, I like the theme of the ranger. I personally think its mechanics are a bit better thought out than the Ascendant Dragon Monk's features, but both have their quirks. Maybe before D&D 5e gives us a subclass devoted to Drakes, they should actually define what the hell drakes are, as there are only the guard drakes and ambush drakes in 5e, and they don't really give us a good description of what drakes are, other than "medium dragons, but no wings, and not intelligent." All of those rules are broken by this subclass. Furthermore, this subclass's only definition of a drake is a "minor dragon," whatever that means (aren't wyrmlings already a thing?). This makes me wonder if WotC wanted to make a Dragon Rider subclass without actually making a Dragon Rider.
Anyway, my main critique of this subclass is that point. Its a dragon rider more than a drake warden. Nothing about their flavor text suggests that they "ward" anything, their drake isn't actually a drake by 5e standards, and this subclass kind of bashes on Beast Masters, even with the CFV UA's Beast Companions. Instead of making a subclass that's main objective is to crap on the already crappy subclass of the already crappy class, maybe Wizards should have taken this theme and moved it elsewhere, or at least solidified what the heck this subclass is meant to be except for "Magic-Dragon Beast Master, but BETTER!" I don't know. Maybe I'm just being whiny.
Conclusive Thoughts
I like the themes of these subclasses. I really do. I would love for a game named after this creature type (dragons) to have more options to play dragon-themed characters. Currently, there's basically just Kobolds, Dragonborn and Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers. These would add a lot of more options and combinations to play draconic PCs, which I absolutely love. With this UA, if you want to play a completely draconic character, there are now 6 options for race-subclass combinations, instead of the previous 2 (there's more with dragonborn subraces, heritages, and bloodlines).
Despite my love for more draconic characters, I have some fairly large issues with this UA, particularly in design and mechanics. The mechanical issues are larger for the Ascendant Dragon Monk than the Drakewarden Ranger, but the design/theme issues are a much larger problem for the Drakewarden Ranger than the Ascendant Dragon Monk. I want to play a draconic monk whose features actually match the flavor, possibly giving them some frightening features (as that is draconic in theme), instead of the strange aura-damaging-support-punishment feature that it currently gets for "reasons." The designers at WotC need to decide whether or not they want a Dragon Rider subclass or Drake-Warden subclass for the ranger. If they choose the former, the dragon needs to actually be a dragon, instead of the current mutt of a dragon wyrmling and a guard drake. If they choose the Drake-Warden, the subclass needs to actually be a warden in a real way, not just in its name. The Drake also really needs to be a drake, or the designers at WotC need to change/expand the definition of drakes in 5e. Currently, it's basically just "dragons, but not really."
I am very excited that they're actually doing more UA after a few months of them having a break. I can't wait to see what book this is meant to go in. The theme shouts Dragonlance or just general Dungeons and Dragons, but with TCoE coming out in less than a month, and the lawsuit against WotC by the creators of Dragonlance, I really don't see them making a campaign setting book for that world anytime soon. This UA is very peculiarly released. Typically, the only books that have subclasses in them are XGtE/TCoE type books or setting books. We're literally just about to get a XGtE-type book, so this is highly unlikely to be planned for a Xanathar's 3.0, and with the high improbability of getting Dragonlance, this UA raises a lot of questions about what Wizards of the Coast has planned for the future. Could it be Council of Wyrms? A Draconomicon? Will Volo's 3.0 have subclasses in it? There are so many questions produced by this UA.
That's it for now. I'll pop back in from time to time to see how the discussion is going.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
In combat, the drake shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the drake can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.
There we go! A companion that requires bonus action commands that doesn't have arbitrary restrictions on its actions (that make things like whether or not it can escape the grappled condition unclear) and doesn't become immediately helpless should it's master get incapacitated.
I also love the straightforward scaling of just adding your proficiency bonus to it's AC and saving throws.
Would that the Homunculus Servant could get some of that forethought in it's design.
Draconomicon 5e confirmed? With Tasha's basically becoming Xanathar's 2, I'd expect we'd see a Volo's 2 sometime soon and theorized about this, but this seems to cement my theory.
Draconomicon 5e confirmed? With Tasha's basically becoming Xanathar's 2, I'd expect we'd see a Volo's 2 sometime soon and theorized about this, but this seems to cement my theory.
I would freak out with excitement if a Draconomicon was might possibly coming out!
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
My one issue with the Drakerider is that I don't like the limited amount of time the drake sticks around.
I don't like the ability to summon a different Drake each time either. Should choose a drake and raise it as an actual companion instead of a summoning spell. If if falls in battle, expend a slot to "heal" it is a good mechanic though.
I prefer to think of that this magical Drake can change his damage type. If a monk can do it why not a magical Drake?
For the monk when it says choose a damage type do you choose every time you use the power or is your character aspected to a certain type, based on dragon color, that you’re limited to and choose at character creation?
For the monk when it says choose a damage type do you choose every time you use the power or is your character aspected to a certain type, based on dragon color, that you’re limited to and choose at character creation?
It doesn't say "chosen when you receive this ability" it says "you can change the damage type to acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. " I think it means at any time
If Tasha's is Xanathar's 2, and the possible Draconomicon will probably end up closer to Volo's 2, what do y'all think will be Mordenkainen's 2? Maybe the Manual of the Planes would work.
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For the monk? Why? Its good, but certainly not OP, IMO.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
This is untrue.
Fighter alone has several subclasses that use a resource pool:
Battlemaster= Die
Echo Knight= Con modifier number of uses
Eldritch Knight= Spell Slots
Several subclasses have resources outside of the base class and do not force you to use your main class attributes for them.
Paladin is another great example:
They have SEVERAL pools of resources- Spell Slots, Lay on Hands, Channel Divinity, etc...
Monk looks fairly well balanced and offers customizable damage types, ranged options, extra mobility from flight, and even a little nod to social interactions with the persuasion re-roll; good stuff overall.
The ranger's 1d6 extra damage every round using the dragon's reaction plus a 1d6+proficiency (that scales to 3d6+prof over time) bonus action attack seems very strong. The 1d6 is less than the 1d8 bonus damage available to other ranger subclasses but this should be balanced out by the fact that the 1d8 bonuses require the ranger to hit while the 1d6 for dragon ranger is applied so long as any ally within 30 ft that the dragon can see hits. Being able to choose what damage type you have resistance to and change that on the fly at level 7 using only a 1st level spell slot is also very good. Given the lack of love rangers have received this is a welcome change of pace but I'll be interested to see how it works in practice.
To be fair, it fits more with the 3.5 version of Eberron where they expanded more on the Continent of Argonnessen, home of the dragons.
The Dragons of Eberron have mastered so much magic and knowledge over the millennium ever since the Dragon-Fiend Wars. They taught the giants arcane magic which led to them becoming a powerful nation on Xen'drik (before they nearly caused a calamity and the dragons razed the whole continent scorched earth style and left powerful curses across the whole land), and it was believed that druidic magic was first taught to the Orcs from a Black Dragon. It was said that the Dragon's of Eberron created and forgotten more knowledge and magic then any of the other races have access to combined. They often follow the goings on of all the other races, especially those in Khorvaire and the Dragonmarked houses for their potential connection to the Draconic Prophecy, of which the information they have gathered from it they guard as jealously as their own hoards.
The dragons having mastery over all manner of disciplines and training their lesser race agents in said disciplines is actually not that farfetched. It would only make more sense if they had added a Dragon Barbarian (as the shores of Argonnessen are protected by the Seren Barbarians that worship dragons) and a Dragonslayer Subclass (Both for the elves of Aerenal that train to fight and hunt dragons due to the Dragon-Elf wars and for Dragon slayers trained by dragons to hunt and kill potential rivals or deviant dragons that are enemies of Argonnessen like the Talons of Tiamat)
Once again through, this is following the lore of 3.5's Eberron.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
My one issue with the Drakerider is that I don't like the limited amount of time the drake sticks around.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I don't like the ability to summon a different Drake each time either. Should choose a drake and raise it as an actual companion instead of a summoning spell. If if falls in battle, expend a slot to "heal" it is a good mechanic though.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I will admit the jump from small to large seems a bit odd. Why not have it grow to medium at lv 7 for a bit of a more natural progression? It's not an actually complaint just a curious observation.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
I honestly think this might be an oversight....
Or it was intended as small PCs could have a flying mount at 7th which might be early. Either way I could see it honestly.
That's a good point, I forgot about them potentially getting a fly speed at 7 lv.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Yeah small PCs with a flying mount could be a tough call at level 7 but I guess fly spell is on the table at that point so IDK....
Overall I wouldn't care too much if they added it. Might be fun to play a goblin riding a dragon!
Okay, full reviews:
Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk
First, I like the feel, but it is kind of strange. However, given the fact that most monk subclasses are strange (I'm looking at you, Sun Soul, Astral Self, Long Death, and Mercy Monks), I guess it fits into the crowd. Second, it definitely feels more Tiamat connected than just any other dragon type, given that you are never specifically linked to a type of damage, but that just makes this subclass better, as they can choose to focus on lightning damage, but do fire damage when fighting trolls. Third, I am not one to criticize something without offering suggestions or help to fix the issue, so all of my posts below where I harp on something will include a suggestion to fix it.
Draconic Discipline: This ability is not great. I understand that it is meant to be the minor ability of 3rd level, but it still feels lacking to me.
Breath of the Dragon: Okay, strange ability. Well, it's not strange in theme, but is strange in mechanics. It's a breath weapon, but you can pick and choose what damage types and breath weapon shapes you want to use whenever you use this ability. That's kind of weird, but can be extremely useful in certain battle positions. The damage starts out worse than just punching or hitting with a spear, but it eventually gets to decent amounts of damage. I know that it is meant to be weak at lower levels, but 5 damage doesn't feel like a FIRE BREATH ability to me. Would it be too broken to allow it to be 3d(Martial Arts Dice) at lower levels? At the end of the feature, I thought we finally got a monk that does not use ki points for everything in the game, until I saw that it in fact can recharge from Ki points, even if you get some free uses. Still, another way to fuel your abilities except for KI at least makes this not be awful (stares deadpan at Way of the Four Elements). I would prefer for this to be once a short rest, maybe getting more uses at later levels, instead of the weird long rest recharge.
Wings Unfurled: Also kind of weird. I mean, I like its theme a ton, but again, the mechanics are weird. Wizards of the Coast is really going all in on the Proficiency Bonus scaling, to the point that its getting annoying. I would change this to have no limits whatsoever. If a level 20 dragon monk wants to spend all of their 20 ki points to fly through the air for 2 minutes straight, I would let them do it without this stupid ki point tax. Scrap the proficiency bonus per long rest thing, as well as the extra Ki points tax, and this is gold. Or, you could move this feature to level 11 and have them expend 3-4 ki for flight for 1 minute (maybe with concentration).
Aspect of the Wyrm: So, this is basically a paladin aura spell, mixed in with a duration effect that basically gives you a weaker, no-save, extended range Hellish Rebuke. Kind of weird, especially for monks, who typically don't get support abilities, and its even weirder for a dragon-themed monk. Dragons aren't support themed, and they're certainly not retribution-themed. Also, by this point, most people have a lot of reaction options, so another to do 1d8 damage that is very commonly resisted is not very good, IMO.
Ascendant Aspect: By this point, WotC ran out of ideas for naming features, and just decided to combine the name of the subclass with the name of the previous ability. Besides the kind of lazy name, this ability is also kind of weird.
Overall, I like the theme of the subclass, but I think it was poorly executed. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want this published, and I appreciate that Ki points aren't automatically taken to use all of your features, but it definitely needs quite a bit of work before being published, IMO. I would love to play a Kobold Monk who was taught the art of being a Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk, using Wings Unfurled to temporarily become an Urd. There are a lot of character concepts that thrive with this subclass. However, I think it is mechanically lacking. I'm not saying it's underpowered, but it's just unnecessarily weird.
Drakewarden Ranger
First, I literally just created a homebrew fighter subclass kind of similar to this about a week and a half ago (Dragon Rider), but mine is different in many ways. Second, I love the idea of this, but some parts of it are like the Ascendant Dragon Monk, not bad, just kind of weird. Third, like above, I never criticize something just to complain, I want to alert people of the issues and offer advice for fixing them.
Draconic Gift: There are some issues with this. The draconic language is decent, but not great if you want to play a Dragon Hunter that rides a Drake, as Favored Enemy will give you draconic if you choose dragons as your favored enemy. This probably won't end up being a problem if Tasha's comes out with Favored Foe, as most people will probably end up taking that instead of Favored Enemy, but for people who won't use that book, this will occasionally be an issue. Thaumaturgy is a good cantrip that fits the draconic theme (for the most part), but I don't think it fits this subclass. IMO, it would fit better with the Monk or a Dragon Warlock Patron than for this ranger subclass. I would replace this cantrip with making the drake a bit better.
Drake Companion: Cool dragon companion. It's better than Beast Masters, as you can command it as a bonus action, and actually better than the Steel Defender in some ways, with the AC, its being able to speak, its reaction, and by allowing it to act even if you're incapacitated. That is a great feature that makes your character still feel useful even if the enemy mage has cast hold person on you. I would change some things about this, though. I would make it start out Large, just to let you mount it right off the bat. I'd also change it to allowing you to summon it during a long rest and lasting all day, but can expend a spell slot to summon it back if it dies. I would also allow the drake to add its strength modifier to its damage, like 99.9% of the monsters in the game.
Bond of Fang and Scale: This is all good. Damage resistance is good, the movement increase is good (95% of Drakewarderns will choose flight), and the extra damage is good. Whether or not its balanced, I'm not sure. Most rangers will be able to attack as a bonus action somehow, and the Drake Companion can't benefit from hunter's mark, so I feel like their damage is balanced. I also would increase the Infused Strikes by 1d6, but that could push this feature over the edge.
Drake's Breath: So, you basically can make a cone-shaped-fireball of any draconic damage type, but it only deals as much damage as fireball once you get to level 15. I would change this to be the damage type your drake has as their Draconic Essence, but that's just for it to make sense. I'd also change this to a bonus action you can only cause your Drake to make, but that's not a huge deal.
Perfected Bond: You finally get to ride your dragon! At level 15. It's too bad your campaign ended 5 levels ago. This is how I would change this:
Overall, I like the theme of the ranger. I personally think its mechanics are a bit better thought out than the Ascendant Dragon Monk's features, but both have their quirks. Maybe before D&D 5e gives us a subclass devoted to Drakes, they should actually define what the hell drakes are, as there are only the guard drakes and ambush drakes in 5e, and they don't really give us a good description of what drakes are, other than "medium dragons, but no wings, and not intelligent." All of those rules are broken by this subclass. Furthermore, this subclass's only definition of a drake is a "minor dragon," whatever that means (aren't wyrmlings already a thing?). This makes me wonder if WotC wanted to make a Dragon Rider subclass without actually making a Dragon Rider.
Anyway, my main critique of this subclass is that point. Its a dragon rider more than a drake warden. Nothing about their flavor text suggests that they "ward" anything, their drake isn't actually a drake by 5e standards, and this subclass kind of bashes on Beast Masters, even with the CFV UA's Beast Companions. Instead of making a subclass that's main objective is to crap on the already crappy subclass of the already crappy class, maybe Wizards should have taken this theme and moved it elsewhere, or at least solidified what the heck this subclass is meant to be except for "Magic-Dragon Beast Master, but BETTER!" I don't know. Maybe I'm just being whiny.
Conclusive Thoughts
I like the themes of these subclasses. I really do. I would love for a game named after this creature type (dragons) to have more options to play dragon-themed characters. Currently, there's basically just Kobolds, Dragonborn and Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers. These would add a lot of more options and combinations to play draconic PCs, which I absolutely love. With this UA, if you want to play a completely draconic character, there are now 6 options for race-subclass combinations, instead of the previous 2 (there's more with dragonborn subraces, heritages, and bloodlines).
Despite my love for more draconic characters, I have some fairly large issues with this UA, particularly in design and mechanics. The mechanical issues are larger for the Ascendant Dragon Monk than the Drakewarden Ranger, but the design/theme issues are a much larger problem for the Drakewarden Ranger than the Ascendant Dragon Monk. I want to play a draconic monk whose features actually match the flavor, possibly giving them some frightening features (as that is draconic in theme), instead of the strange aura-damaging-support-punishment feature that it currently gets for "reasons." The designers at WotC need to decide whether or not they want a Dragon Rider subclass or Drake-Warden subclass for the ranger. If they choose the former, the dragon needs to actually be a dragon, instead of the current mutt of a dragon wyrmling and a guard drake. If they choose the Drake-Warden, the subclass needs to actually be a warden in a real way, not just in its name. The Drake also really needs to be a drake, or the designers at WotC need to change/expand the definition of drakes in 5e. Currently, it's basically just "dragons, but not really."
I am very excited that they're actually doing more UA after a few months of them having a break. I can't wait to see what book this is meant to go in. The theme shouts Dragonlance or just general Dungeons and Dragons, but with TCoE coming out in less than a month, and the lawsuit against WotC by the creators of Dragonlance, I really don't see them making a campaign setting book for that world anytime soon. This UA is very peculiarly released. Typically, the only books that have subclasses in them are XGtE/TCoE type books or setting books. We're literally just about to get a XGtE-type book, so this is highly unlikely to be planned for a Xanathar's 3.0, and with the high improbability of getting Dragonlance, this UA raises a lot of questions about what Wizards of the Coast has planned for the future. Could it be Council of Wyrms? A Draconomicon? Will Volo's 3.0 have subclasses in it? There are so many questions produced by this UA.
That's it for now. I'll pop back in from time to time to see how the discussion is going.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Second bullet point in particular.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Drake Companion
There we go! A companion that requires bonus action commands that doesn't have arbitrary restrictions on its actions (that make things like whether or not it can escape the grappled condition unclear) and doesn't become immediately helpless should it's master get incapacitated.
I also love the straightforward scaling of just adding your proficiency bonus to it's AC and saving throws.
Would that the Homunculus Servant could get some of that forethought in it's design.
Well, hot diggity dang! I didn't think we'd see another one of these for a while yet.
I'll poke around it later and see what thoughts come up, but for now I'll just say that it looks interesting...
Draconomicon 5e confirmed? With Tasha's basically becoming Xanathar's 2, I'd expect we'd see a Volo's 2 sometime soon and theorized about this, but this seems to cement my theory.
I would freak out with excitement if a Draconomicon was might possibly coming out!
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
I prefer to think of that this magical Drake can change his damage type. If a monk can do it why not a magical Drake?
For the monk when it says choose a damage type do you choose every time you use the power or is your character aspected to a certain type, based on dragon color, that you’re limited to and choose at character creation?
It doesn't say "chosen when you receive this ability" it says "you can change the damage type to acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. " I think it means at any time
If Tasha's is Xanathar's 2, and the possible Draconomicon will probably end up closer to Volo's 2, what do y'all think will be Mordenkainen's 2? Maybe the Manual of the Planes would work.