D&D 5E xanathar's guide to everything class options thread

[Charlaquin]

I like it, I think that the arcane archer is very cool and I also like the ranger subclasses.

I am not sure about the Scout as I feel it is threading on the Ranger's toes and that the Ranger is already a weak class.

Over all, though a thumbs up

I like that Scout steps on the ranger’s toes, because it finally gives us a spell-less ranger option. Yeah, it’s technically a rogue, but it does everything I want a ranger to do, without all the baggage the Ranger Class has accumulated over the years.

 

[Parmandur]

I like that Scout steps on the ranger’s toes, because it finally gives us a spell-less ranger option. Yeah, it’s technically a rogue, but it does everything I want a ranger to do, without all the baggage the Ranger Class has accumulated over the years.

Stepping on the Rangers toes was more or less explicitly the point.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm not super thrilled about Hexblade and getting to use Charisma as the attack stat, but I may be the odd one out. I didn't like that in other editions, either.

I hate pretty much everything about the Hexblade. Don’t love the Celestial either. Which sucks because Warlock is hands-down my favorite Class.

 

[gyor]

The flavour of the Hexblades could have been a bit better.

Divine Soul is awesome, Divine Magic Sorceror and cleric spell lists mixing with metamagic is interesting, and the alignment affinity is an minor if interesting twist, but doesn't lock you in, Favour of the Gods is neat mini miracles that fits the flavour, Otherworldly wings is neat, Good and Lawful get Eagle Wings, Evil and Chaotic get Bat Wings, and Neutrality gets Dragonfly wings, I like the flavour of this new twist.

What they did to Empowered Healing is interesting, purehaps the most interesting change, it not only can be applied to your spells, you can apply it to spells of your allies if they are within 5 feet of you.

So the Druid casts healing spirit beside you, you can lend some of your divine energy to the spell so it heals more damage, or a Bard casts mass cure wounds and you empower the Bard's spell. Its like metamagic that can be used on someone elses spell, except it can stack with actual metamagic.

Unearthly Recovery is still useful, if not the most exciting feature.

 

[Yaarel]

Can someone with the book take a legible picture of the Cleric sidebar about the ‘Philosophy or Force’, page 18? Or write it out? I am curious about the wording.

 

[gyor]

Shadow Magic got beaten hard with the nerf stick, but it had to be, and it's still awesome.

Being able to cast Darkness at 1st level for 1 spell point (which is normally a second level spell) and being able to see through it was over powered, so now you don't get that trick till third level, and now it costs 2 spell points, which is still a nice discount for 2nd level spell especially since you can see through it.

Hound of Ill Omen should have just been called Bale Hound in my opinion, but an awesome feature.

Umbral Form (previously called Shadow Form) also got hit by the nerf stick, but it was crazy powerful. It was for 3 sorcery points resistance to all damage except force, the ability to move through objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain and you take 5 force damage if you end up in the same space as an object. No concentration required.

Now it's more expensive at 6 sorcery points, yet still absolutely worth it as it's powerful, and both force and radiant damage ignores your resistance. It's still shockingly good, it's resistance to all damage types except two, the ability to move through objects and creatures (admittedly less of an issue given you can teleport around 120 feet to shadows), but while you take damage you can share the space with a creature or object and that is crazy powerful.

Imagine a group of monsters is trying to kill you, so you move into the same space as their boss, so to hit you, they have to risk hitting their boss. Just one example of what could be done with this feature.

Between Shadow Walk and Umbral Form, you have basically become a shadow.

Imagine a Shadow Sorceror using Umbral Form and casting darkness, then next turn summoning a Hound and casting Dragons Breath on it, to attack a target in the Darkness you summoned.

Shadow Sorceror did get a couple of buffs to make up for its needs, it's darkvisions range was doubled to 120 feet and it can now cast Darkness using a slot, so it can up cast darkness using a higher slot, but at the cost of the slot verson not being seen through by the Shadow Sorceror, unlike the points version.

 

[Azzy]

It's literally the very next page. It's not like you have to remember something referenced pages and pages ago.

The same complaint applies to 99% of similar mistakes made before this, too.

 

[Azzy]

Can someone with the book take a legible picture of the Cleric sidebar about the ‘Philosophy or Force’, page 18? Or write it out? I am curious about the wording.

Here you go:

Serving A Pantheon, Philosophy, Or Force
The typical cleric is an ordained servant of a particular god and chooses a Divine Domain associated with that deity. The cleric’s magic flows from the god or the god’s sacred realm, and often the cleric bears a holy symbol that represents that divinity.

Some clerics, especially in a world like Eberron, serve a whole pantheon, rather than a single deity. In certain campaigns, a cleric might instead serve a cosmic force, such as life or death, or a philosophy or concept, such as love, peace, or one of the nine alignments. Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide explores options like these, in the section “Gods of Your World.”

Talk with your DM about the divine options available in your campaign, whether they’re gods, pantheons, philosophies, or cosmic forces. Whatever being or thing your cleric ends up serving, choose a Divine Domain that is appropriate for it, and if it doesn’t have a holy symbol, work with your DM to design one.

The cleric’s class features often refer to your deity. If you are devoted to a pantheon, cosmic force, or philosophy, your cleric features still work for you as written. Think of the references to a god as references to the divine thing you serve that gives you your magic.

 

[Mistwell]

It seems to me Hexblade 1 (or 2)/ Paladin X will be a popular combination. They can increase the crit range, which helps Paladin a lot, and change their attack and damage bonus stat to charisma eliminating the MAD issues with Paladin, and provide some spell slots to power smites.

 

[Parmandur]

Here you go:

Serving A Pantheon, Philosophy, Or Force
The typical cleric is an ordained servant of a particular god and chooses a Divine Domain associated with that deity. The cleric’s magic flows from the god or the god’s sacred realm, and often the cleric bears a holy symbol that represents that divinity.

Some clerics, especially in a world like Eberron, serve a whole pantheon, rather than a single deity. In certain campaigns, a cleric might instead serve a cosmic force, such as life or death, or a philosophy or concept, such as love, peace, or one of the nine alignments. Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide explores options like these, in the section “Gods of Your World.”

Talk with your DM about the divine options available in your campaign, whether they’re gods, pantheons, philosophies, or cosmic forces. Whatever being or thing your cleric ends up serving, choose a Divine Domain that is appropriate for it, and if it doesn’t have a holy symbol, work with your DM to design one.

The cleric’s class features often refer to your deity. If you are devoted to a pantheon, cosmic force, or philosophy, your cleric features still work for you as written. Think of the references to a god as references to the divine thing you serve that gives you your magic.

I mean, beyond just referencing the DMG, it's largely just repeating what it says.