There has been some discussion about specific mechanics in recent UAs, where people believe that Mechanics are actually not at all connected to the class they are labeled for. It is possible that the final goal of the "change energy type" is to fit in a Sorcerer, or the Shadow Hound is planned for a Ranger subtype.
Potentially true, but there is a small hole in the theory.
Abilities that work just fine in the context of one character, may be vastly different in terms of another character, because of the base class abilities.
It would then make the playtest data potentially less useful. Still possible, but less than likely I imagine.
Raven is by far the more interesting of the two for me, at level 6 they become master escapists and I can see the abilities being really powerful in the hands of someone creative.
I would have ratherred it be tied to "a tiny creature under CR..." rather than specifically raven, not because raven is bad. Just because it would officially accommodate more concepts and I doubt it would break anything.
I agree with that, for both the Hexblade and Raven Queen, it would be nice if they expanded the flavor. However, I wonder if making the Raven Queen patron ability not give a flying creature would weaken it a lot. A lot of the utility of it is tied into the ability to fly. But, if a player chose that it could be okay I think.
Since I didn't see anyone state this directly yet, it's important to remember that Unearthed Arcana is a showcase for ideas, and not intended as fully-analyzed or completely-balanced options for an otherwise-serious long-term campaign. As we've seen in the past, they intentionally over-power the concepts that they want to gather feedback on, because that's the best way to guarantee lots of playtesting for it. If they decide to move forward with an idea, because testers like the concept (even if they complain about the power balance), then they usually tone the numbers down before they make anything official.
See, I’d find that a better argument if I thought the majority of the last few options were actually severely over-powered. Sorcerer, Ranger, Rogue, and Monk all felt either on-par or relatively un-impressive.
I can’t imagine they will actually allow the Lore wizard to hit print as is, because I don’t see how it doesn’t overshadow every wizard and sorcerer option currently available.
- Wizards and land druids get a recovery feature that gives half class level worth of spell levels (1 to 10). This is limited to once per day after a short rest, when the caster must decide how to allocate all the slots.
- Sorcerers get sorcery points equal to class levels (starting at lvl 2, so 2 to 20), which they can use also to create spell slots. The cost is variable, but barring first level slots, this sorcery pool can be converted to spell slots with roughly 30% more efficiency than arcane recovery (for example, a 12 level wizard can recover 3 second level slots whereas a sorcerer can create 4 second level slots). Moreover, the sorcerer can do so on the fly, not needing to plan in advance.
- The sorcerer can also readjust their spell slots if they perceive this could be profitable. This is a corner case, as it is costly, but is still an option other casters don't have. (Of course, using a optional rule like spell points nullifies this advantage sorcerers have)
If a wizard can burn through spell slots to power their new metamagic-like feature, they are also expending resources the same way as sorcerers. To state that arcane recovery recovers spells for the wizard while burning sorcery points to create slots eats up resources for the sorcerer is a little misleading. In the end both are using extra resources, it is just that arcane recovery is less flexible and less efficient.
After the 12th level sorcerer creates those 4 2nd level slots, how many sorcerery points do they have left?
Zero.
If they used any metamagic over the course of that day? Then they can only make 3 2nd level slots just like the wizard. If they twinned Haste and later in the day quickened a fireball, that is 5 points, and with only 7 points remaining they can only get 2 2nd level slots.
Every time a Sorcerer uses their metamagic abilities, or their bloodline abilities that cost points, they lose their ability to create spell slots. How does the wizard lose access to Arcane Recovery? They can’t. Nothing you can do, beyond denying short rests, prevents the wizard from recovering. Font of Magic is theoretically more flexible than arcane recovery, but it is a pool being depleted by 2 important abilities, while Arcane Recovery just happens, all the time.
Sure, a sorcerer could give up their metamagic to create a slot if they need it in a desperate situation, but like you said, all Full casters get the same slot progression. If a Bard or Cleric or Wizard can find ways around not having the perfect slot, sorcerers can too, especially considering that once you’re out of points, a lot of your abilities dry up and disappear.
