Designer Insights from Unearthed Arcana: Villainous Options

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Get down with your bad self as we explore Villainous Options. This Unearthed Arcana features four new subclasses and two paths of villainy. These options encourage players to embrace their inner antiheroes and harness forces of evil, though characters who walk these paths can be of any alignment. Call on these forbidden powers—of demons and decay, titanic might, and wounding hellfire—in defense of civilization…or use them to hasten its destruction.

The material in this UA uses the rules in the Player’s Handbook. Learn about this playtest directly from the D&D Game Design Team in this article!

New Subclasses

This Unearthed Arcana features four new subclasses:

Pestilence Domain (Cleric)

A Cleric of the Pestilence Domain heralds gods of disease, famine, poison, and decay, unleashing plague as an act of devotion. The Pestilence Domain grants access to spells that detect and guard against poison, sicken others, cause crops to wither, and summon insects. Its unique Channel Divinity effect, Plague Blessing, turns the Cleric or an ally they touch into a conduit for pestilence, conferring Exhaustion to nearby enemies. When enemies perish, Clerics of this domain can cause them to burst with plague and spread one of two potent contagion effects. At the height of this subclass’s power, the Cleric can shape-shift into a swarm of plague-ridden pests to terrorize foes.

Circle of the Titan (Druid)

Sometimes, the best way to fix a problem is to tear it down. Druids of the Circle of the Titan do just that, growing to seismic proportions to wreak colossal havoc. This Druid can use Wild Shape to take on one of three monstrous Titan Forms: a structure-stomping Behemoth, a waste-spewing Leviathan, or a healing Insectoid. These forms improve in size and might as the Druid gains levels, bringing greater destruction to their surroundings. At level 14, Druids of this circle can grow to Gargantuan size and swallow enemies whole.

Hell Knight (Fighter)

Anointed champions of the Nine Hells, Hell Knights imbue their weapons with hellfire, transforming them into glowing Hellfire Weapons. With a Hellfire Weapon, the Fighter can deal Fire damage and inflict debilitating and persistent Infernal Wounds. At higher levels, a Hell Knight can superheat their armor to erupt with hellfire, their attacks overcome Fire Resistance, and Infernal Wounds deal explosive damage whenever the Fighter rolls a 6 on their Infernal Wound Die. By level 18, the Hell Knight can turn bad luck into good fortune, representing the infernal deals that devils offer mortals.

Demonic Sorcery (Sorcerer)

Demonic Sorcery embodies the corruptive magic of demons. Sorcerers of this subclass use their own bodies as conduits for the wicked powers of the Abyss. Early on, this energy ruptures out from the Sorcerer in bursts, which the Sorcerer can use to reel in enemies and protect against attacks. Eventually, this unstable magic radiates from the Sorcerer as an Abyssal Aura, corrupting reality around them and bringing the Abyss to their surroundings. Enemies caught in this Emanation must contend with caustic ooze, mind-affecting spores, and other effects inspired by the infinite layers of the Abyss. The spells included in this subclass also take inspiration from these layers and the demon lords who rule them; Confusion, for example, takes inspiration from Demogorgon’s gaze, while spells like Detect Magic and Dispel Magic appear in the stat blocks of many demon lords.

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Villainous Paths

Two villainous paths offer new ways for characters to become icons of evil. Each path presents a selection of feats that allow a character to transform themself into a death knight or a lich. The Path of the Death Knight appeals to martial characters, while the Path of the Lich might attract spellcasters.

Path of the Death Knight

Feats associated with the Path of the Death Knight bolster the character’s Strength and Charisma—necessary abilities for an imposing undead warrior. The character’s vile power is represented by Death Points: a resource that can be expended to cast spells such as Wrathful Smite, Command, and Bane with augmented effects. A character who completes this path is inured to mortal vulnerabilities like poison and exhaustion, and the character can hurl exploding hellfire orbs at foes.

Path of the Lich

Lichdom isn’t just for wizards; any character with the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature can walk the Path of the Lich. The first feat in this path, Lich Initiate, grants the character a spirit jar, a magical vessel unique to them that anchors their soul to the world of the living. This spirit jar allows the spellcaster to consume the souls of Humanoid enemies and use that energy to bolster their own arcane power. Much like the lich they aspire to be, the character doesn’t need to carry their spirit jar with them to benefit from it. When the character finally ascends to lichdom, they become a fearsome being impervious to death—so long as they safeguard their spirit jar from would-be heroes!

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