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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[Snarf Zagyg]

What?
The new Druid doesn't have the metal armor restriction?


So there goes my favorite tactic. Have a ready supply of druids, load 'em up in metal armor, and fire 'em at the enemy.

Great for mass combat if you got a trebuchet handy.

 

[dave2008]

Has this sidebar been in the other playtest and I just missed it? This seems to spell out how much/little they are changing:

FEATURES OF THE PLAYER’S HANDBOOK PLAYTEST
The Player’s Handbook playtest includes these
highlights:

• Revised versions of every class from the 2014 Player’s Handbook
• 48 subclasses
• Revised species
• New and revised backgrounds
• New and revised spells
• New and revised feats
• New weapon options for certain classes

As the playtest progresses, you will also see new
versions of things that you provided feedback on
earlier in the playtest.

After we conclude the public playtest for the
Player’s Handbook, Unearthed Arcana will explore
material for the Dungeon Master’s Guide and
Monster Manual.

 

[Xamnam]

I'm not terribly surprised to see that Druids now Wildshape (at level 1!) into a more generic statblock that you can flavor however you want, similar to the Ranger pets in Tasha's.

 

[Xamnam]

Some interesting design notes scattered throughout:

DESIGN NOTE: USES OF CHANNEL DIVINITY/NATURE
In the previous Unearthed Arcana, the Cleric’s version of Channel Divinity offered a number of uses equal to a character’s Proficiency Bonus. That number is too generous for a multiclass character, who could take only one level in the Cleric and then get ever-increasing uses as the character gains levels in another class.

In the Druid and the Paladin, we have therefore given Channel Divinity and Channel Nature a number of uses tied to the class rather than Proficiency Bonus. When we release the next version of the Cleric, you’ll see a similar treatment there. We will also address multiclassing issues in other classes when we revisit them.

DESIGN NOTE: EPIC BOON FEATURE
In response to playtest feedback, we’ve made the Epic Boon feature in the Druid and Paladin more powerful than the version previously offered in the Cleric and the three Experts. When we revisit those classes, we’ll add the Ability Score Increase benefit to their versions of the feature.

DESIGN NOTE: EPIC BOON FEATS
We’ve received requests for Epic Boon feats to be more epic. We agree that they could use more pizzazz. With that in mind, we offer three revised ones here, and we’ll offer more in the future.

DESIGN NOTE: WEAPON CHANGES
The upcoming article on Warrior classes will introduce new weapon options. Those options will differentiate weapons from each other more clearly. For example, the Shortsword (Simple) and the Scimitar (Martial) will have different roles to play in the game.

 

[TwoSix]

1) Wow...major nerfs to base wildshape, although it does get quite a bit better with more channel nature uses. Most of the Tasha's design pointed towards using a template for animal shapes, so not surprised to see it here.

2) Paladins get cantrips. Nice change.

3) Also changed paladins to have artificer half-casting, gaining spells at 1st level and rounding up for spell slots when multiclassing. Good change.

4) Divine smite is actually less nerfed than I anticipated. Still 1d8+1d8 per slot level. Still just uses spell slots, so MCing still works. Now restricted to once per turn, and can't be combined with a spell (so no Booming Blade smite, or combining it with smite spells).

5) Druids and Clerics gaining access to those juicy Paladin and Ranger spells makes me way more excited about Clerics and Druids.

6) The "Smite" spells are now BAs you can choose to take after you hit. That's a major buff.

 

[dave2008]

This is also interesting:

ninja'd by @Xamnam

 

[Xamnam]

CHANGE LOG FOR THE RULES GLOSSARY
Here are lists of glossary entries that have been added, revised, or removed since the
previous Unearthed Arcana article.

If an entry is removed from the glossary, that entry isn’t moving forward in the playtest; please use the relevant rule from the 2014 Player’s Handbook instead of the removed entry.

NEW ENTRIES
• Dying [Condition]
• Knocking a Creature Out
• Short Rest
• Telepathy
• Unconscious [Condition]

REVISED ENTRIES
• D20 Test (rolling a 1 on a d20 no longer awards Inspiration, which is now called Heroic Advantage)
• Difficult Terrain (your allies are no longer Difficult Terrain for you, and furniture is Difficult Terrain if it’s one size smaller than you or larger)
• Equipping Weapons [subsection of Attack](clarified how equipping and unequipping work)
• Fly Speed (changed what causes you to fall)
• Grappled [Condition] (“Movable” and “Escape” sections changed)
• Help [Action] (now works with tool proficiencies)
• Heroic Advantage (name changed from Heroic Inspiration, which is no longer gained from rolling a 1 on a d20)
• Incapacitated [Condition] (clarified that it still blocks Bonus Actions)
• Long Rest (changes have been made to every section of the rule)
• Move (“Moving Around Other Creatures” and“ Changes to Your Speeds” sections changed; the latter was formerly called “Speed of 0”)
• Unarmed Strike (grappling and shoving are no longer delivered by an attack roll)

REMOVED ENTRIES
• Ability Check
• Attack Roll
• Climbing and Swimming [subsection of Move]
• Dash [Action]
• Hidden [Condition]
• Jump [Action]
• Slowed [Condition]
• Special Speeds [subsection of Move]

 

[dave2008]

So far I really like the druid, though I am not terribly familiar with the base class. I aslo like the upgrade 20th level Epic boons

 

[TwoSix]

Weird extra post, ignore.