D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Shows Us The New Druid & Paladin

WotC has released the fourth One D&D playtest document. This 29-page PDF includes the druid and the paladin with Circle of the Moon and Oath of Devotion subclasses.

Druid. The Druid class and Circle of the Moon subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Paladin. The Paladin class and Oath of Devotion subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Feats. Several revised feats appear here for your feedback, with more revised feats coming in future articles.

Spells. More spells are ready for playtesting, with a focus on smite spells, Find Familiar, and Find Steed.

Rules Glossary. The rules glossary has been updated again and supersedes the glossary in previous Unearthed Arcana articles. In this document, any underlined term in the body text appears in that glossary, which defines game terms that have been clarified or redefined for this playtest or that don’t appear in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.

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[Maxperson]

That is more of an issue with the lack of high level adventures than an issue with Planeshift.

I don't know. I'm in agreement with @James Gasik on this. If they didn't build into the high level planar adventures a way to plane travel, that would be bad design. Plane Shift the few times I've seen it used, was player fueled. They wanted to go to some plane to talk to some being or find some sort of object/metal. I could also see it happen in homebrew campaigns once the players have the spell. Then the DM would know that they could get to another plane and wouldn't have to build in a way to plane travel. WotC designed adventures, though, can't assume that spell will be taken.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I don't know. I'm in agreement with @James Gasik on this. If they didn't build into the high level planar adventures a way to plane travel, that would be bad design. Plane Shift the few times I've seen it used, was player fueled. They wanted to go to some plane to talk to some being or find some sort of object/metal. I could also see it happen in homebrew campaigns once the players have the spell. Then the DM would know that they could get to another plane and wouldn't have to build in a way to plane travel. WotC designed adventures, though, can't assume that spell will be taken.

I never said they should not, I was arguing that the lack of higher level planar travel is no reason to get rid of Planeshift the spell.

 

[Hussar]

I think that there is something if a disconnect though. A Druid banishing a baddy to the Abyss seems a bit out of character for a Druid. If plane shift was a purely transportation spell it would be different.

Like I said, I doubt most groups will even notice the change.

 

[James Gasik]

I think that there is something if a disconnect though. A Druid banishing a baddy to the Abyss seems a bit out of character for a Druid. If plane shift was a purely transportation spell it would be different.

Like I said, I doubt most groups will even notice the change.

And while Druids going to the elemental planes or the Feywild is on theme (as would be the Beastlands, I suppose), what is a Primal caster doing opening portals to Mechanus?

 

[mellored]

My issue with planeshift, and other some other spells, is that makes certain campaigns require certain classes.

Like, what if your party is a monk, paladin, rogue, barbarian, and fighter?

 

[James Gasik]

My issue with planeshift, and other some other spells, is that makes certain campaigns require certain classes.

Like, what if your party is a monk, paladin, rogue, barbarian, and fighter?

Well that's why you simply don't require players to have the spell, but offer other ways for them to get to the Planes, via portal, friendly spellcasters, a magic item, or wild magic.

D&D has always been weird in this respect; if the party doesn't have spell X, the DM typically gives them a workaround. Your reward for having spell X in the first place? The DM doesn't have to bother with a workaround, lol.

There are, I've noted, quite a few spells that mostly exist not primarily for players to use, but to fill niches and gaps in things that NPC's should have access to. Guards and Wards is an example I like to use. There's not usually a lot of reason for a PC to need this spell, especially since it's been 24 years since having a personal fortress or permanent base of operations has been an assumption. But we still have the spell because it would be weird for it not to exist (and presumably as justification for NPC Wizards to have magical defenses in their homes).

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't know. I'm in agreement with @James Gasik on this. If they didn't build into the high level planar adventures a way to plane travel, that would be bad design. Plane Shift the few times I've seen it used, was player fueled. They wanted to go to some plane to talk to some being or find some sort of object/metal. I could also see it happen in homebrew campaigns once the players have the spell. Then the DM would know that they could get to another plane and wouldn't have to build in a way to plane travel. WotC designed adventures, though, can't assume that spell will be taken.

Yeah. Even so, I certainly wouldn't want the game designed around the published adventures as a base. Most gamers play homebrew.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah. Even so, I certainly wouldn't want the game designed around the published adventures as a base. Most gamers play homebrew.

Do we know that for sure? I mean, it's not that I don't believe it, but I've been on a lot of published adventures.

 

[Bill Zebub]

My issue with planeshift, and other some other spells, is that makes certain campaigns require certain classes.

Like, what if your party is a monk, paladin, rogue, barbarian, and fighter?

Which is exactly why the loss of the spell is not a big deal: adventures that require traveling between planes already have to accommodate parties that don’t intrinsically have the means to do so.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah. Even so, I certainly wouldn't want the game designed around the published adventures as a base. Most gamers play homebrew.

That’s not true. It’s actually split about half and half.