Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Four New Subclasses

There's a new Unearthed Arcana from Ben Petrisor, Dan Dillon, Bill Benham, Jeremy Crawford, F. Wesley Schneider. This one has four new subclasses Path of the Beast (Barbarian), Way of Mercy (Monk), Oath of the Watchers (Paladin), Noble Genie (Warlock).

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[Azzy]

I'm just seeing Talenta halfling dino beast barbarians.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yes. The cloud poisons them, then you can use Hands of Harm to deal 3 dice of damage to them.

okay, but first you'd have to use the cloud, which targets all creatures.

 

[Fenris-77]

The combo is mutli-turn unless you turn it on before the start of combat. Even in the latter case the creature needs to both start its turn in the aura and fail a CON save before you can whack them for the extra damage. It's a neat trick but pretty situational. Plus the usual disclaimers about poison as a damage type. Narratively speaking it's very cool though. If you had an additional source of 'add poisoned condition' it might look more generally useful.

On the whole I like all the subclasses. Some are better mechanically than others, but I like them all. Well, maybe I'm a little iffy on the actual realization of the genie Warlock, but I'll happily admit I was very excited when I started reading it.

 

[gyor]

I'll not that this is labeled #1, so it's the first of a bunch of these. I'm the Noble Genie Patron is not elemental themed because the Shi'ar Wizard is coming too, so they wish to miniumize the over lap.

 

[gyor]

The Warlock subclass screams Al Qadim, but the Path of the Beast screams Dambrath to me instead. And the Paladin Oath either Narfell or the Old Empires region which which has a lot of fiends around lately. The Monk maybe Kara Tur.

I could be wrong, I'm not familar with all the kits of Al Qadim.

 

[Kurotowa]

An interesting suggestion from Reddit for the Beast Barbarian is a slight reskin with more vampire flavor. You've got claws, a life draining bite, the ability to skitter across the walls and ceiling, and can spread your blood rage to enemy and ally alike. It's a great mechanical foundation for someone suffering a lesser version of the vampire curse.

 

[Ace]

I think they managed to make me want to play a Monk. As for the rest Watchers and Beast seem OK, the later might make a nice start for a Wolverine type multi-class think.

I'm n ot as sure about the Genie Pact. I don't have any Al Quadim stuff in my games and to be frank, I'm not skilled enough at 5E to be sure if its balanced.

 

[Todd Roybark]

I like the Path of the Beast-barbarian. My critique would be to add the ability to either use a bonus action to swap between the various natural weapons, or allow the ability to manifest multiple natural weapons simultaneously at higher level.

Also while admittedly very much a corner case, in an aquatic campaign, 2 of the 3 Movement enhancements would be either redundant or rendered moot. Aquatic races can already breath water. Climbing walls is unnecessary in an submerged environment. The ability might need some more options.

I would love to play this subclass on a Lizardfolk character, just reskin as a shamanic warrior channeling Lizard Power and it totally works.

Way of Mercy- Monk...like it except the poison part and capstone power. Sorta feel if you combine this with some of the elements of the elements of Way of the Long Death, onewould get a better ‘grey monk’.

Uncannily I had home brewed a magic item The Scrolls of the Righteous Fist that allows the monk holding the scrolls (attunement required) to pretty much word for word use the Hands of Healing power. The monk has not used it yet, (just received the item), but this makes me feel better about the design

Way of the Watchers- Paladin. I like the name and flavor. The spell list is jacked.
Some combination of Glyph of Warding, Arcane Eye, Magic Circle and Find Familiar would meet the flavor better.

Aura of the Sentinel is too weak and situational. Initiative....snore who cares about going first, especially for a subclass that has Counterspell and a Reaction based power. Change the aura to grant an extra Reaction use per turn, ( yup 2), and then we are talking.

Idea of the Geni lock is cool but it needs more work.

my two cents

 

[Xeviat]

Uncannily I had home brewed a magic item The Scrolls of the Righteous Fist that allows the monk holding the scrolls (attunement required) to pretty much word for word use the Hands of Healing power. The monk has not used it yet, (just received the item), but this makes me feel better about the design

Isn't that a great feeling?

I was actually just about to make a lycanthrope Barbarian subclass, so this saves me the work. I love the theme of the Oath of the Watcher, I just wish the capstone had more value when you weren't fighting outsiders. Way of Mercy is cool (forget poison damage immunity, this is the poison condition and it uses necrotic damage), maybe explore letting allies be immune to your miasma for a ki cost?

I agree that the Genie pact is cool in theory but odd in execution.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The combo is mutli-turn unless you turn it on before the start of combat. Even in the latter case the creature needs to both start its turn in the aura and fail a CON save before you can whack them for the extra damage. It's a neat trick but pretty situational. Plus the usual disclaimers about poison as a damage type. Narratively speaking it's very cool though. If you had an additional source of 'add poisoned condition' it might look more generally useful.

On the whole I like all the subclasses. Some are better mechanically than others, but I like them all. Well, maybe I'm a little iffy on the actual realization of the genie Warlock, but I'll happily admit I was very excited when I started reading it.

YEah, combine all that with the friendly fire, and I just don't see it being worth the extra damage that often. Which in turn means that I'd sometimes forget about it when it would be the right tool for the turn.

About the Warlock, I'm confused about the general reactions here. I think it reads really really fun, and feels like a character that has made a pact with a djinn, to me. Each ability speaks to that concept, from binding a willing creature to an object and gaining power from doing so, to the mini-wish (needs a rework but the actually effects of the ability are solid), to the elemental resistence and the ability to make an enemy dance for your genie patron. It's all just about perfect, IMO.