While I like the mechanics behind Brute, do we really need another generic fighter? Champion already does that pretty well.
The immediate impression I get from this UA is that they had a whole handful of various game mechanics they wanted us to give our opinions on whether we liked them or not... all to be used in their various other classes/subclasses coming up. But because they weren't ready to show us the full work-ups of those classes/subclasses... they "created" these three subclasses to use as a flavor clothesline from which to hang all the mechanics from.
I mean, the arcane armor just screams Artificer to me. But because they probably don't have the full 20 levels of Artificer to show us for another round of playtesting yet... they create this fake "School of Invention" so that we can see and give opinion on the mechanics before they possibly then incorporate the armor stuff into the Artificer for that classes next playtest.
And the Brute? As FlyingChihuahua says, it's completely unnecessary when we already have the Fighter. But if they want us to tell them whether we like giving out a smaller damage bonus die at a lower level just like they already give out a larger bonus die to many of the cleric domains at a higher level... they made up this basic Fighter subclass to have us take a look.
The eventual question of course being whether anyone will actually ever comment on the mechanics, rather than just rail against the fluff over and over. We might not see it here on the boards... but hopefully they'll get something useful in their surveys.
I also thought of MtG when reading this UA. I was thinking that invention might work as a class for Urza.As an avid Magic player who’s been loving the Plane Shift supplements, the first thing that struck me is that the Circle of Spores and College of Invention are perfect fits for a Ravnica campaign, adding the perfect subclasses for the Golgari and the Izzet respectively.
Although, a friend pointed out something to me...with the way the Circle of Spores’ Fungal Infection is worded, it seems like the zombies it creates can’t move...oversight maybe?
Also, unless I misread it, the spore zombie cannot move, since it says it can only take the attack action. For lasting as long as it does, that seems a mistake – maybe it should be “can only take the move or attack action.”
Druids of the Circle of Spores find beauty in decay. They see within mold and other fungi the ability to transform lifeless material into abundant, albeit somewhat strange, life.
I dont think moving is an action.