Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana Subclasses Part III: Artificer, Druid, and Ranger

The third in the recent spate of D&D subclasses from WotC! "Continuing our series of new D&D subclasses in 2020, Unearthed Arcana presents three more for you to playtest: the Armorer for the artificer, the Circle of the Stars for the druid, and the Fey Wanderer for the ranger. Today’s article also includes some new infusions for the artificer."

https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/UA2020-Subclasses03_0224.pdf

 

[Tonguez]

I got more of a Ravnica vibe off the Power Armour then Iron Man, but I guess I can see that too.

Ah yes, I’m not too familiar with Ravinica but do recall it had something of a Steampunk vibe to it? So that makes sense

honestly though when I wass reading through my mind found immediate analogies to Ironman - Starman and - umm The Shadow?

 

[thealmightyn]

Ok...thoughts on the Artificer; if it's your thing, you'll probably like it. I am not a big fan of the Artificer, so having a power mech is not my idea of D&D.

I wholeheartedly agree. I am personally not a fan of the Artificer class in any way, shape or form. However, it seems to be a popular class with some of the players in my two games so I've been willing to work with them to find a way to integrate it into the campaign setting that I created.

I have warned them that if they want to go with this new Armorer sub-class, which I'm allowing, it will be less a shiny Iron Man suit and more Cartman's AWESOME-O from South Park.

 

[Hussar]

That Iron Man subclass is really, really OP. Two attacks per round and about 5+ bonus HP every round? Note, on a round where you didn't get hit, you then just make 3 attacks, one with your off hand, just for fun.

Oh, and Shield plus heavy armor is way, way too powerful. There's a reason they took shield away from Forge Priests.

I'm not usually one to talk about OP stuff, but, WOW, this is very over the top.

 

[Leatherhead]

As someone else pointed out, the Armor Mods feature is a little odd in how it breaks up the armor. Armor and weapon are mandatory, boots is useful, but a bracer slot? The only two bracers on the Replicate Item list are Archery and Defense, and neither is likely to be useful to this subclass.

Archery is useful for the Infiltrator armor at least. And maybe you could make an argument that Gauntlets of Ogre Power count as a Bracer.

But really they expect you to get a free armor and weapon infusion out of the power, then use your 3-6 other infused items for other items of general use or for your party to use. The Bracer and boots slots are just a back up option in case you can't find a suitable armor and weapon infusion. Or perhaps to prevent DMs from saying "You can't have magic boots, this armor is all over your body!"

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I think in terms of fulfilling desired lore archtypes this may be the best Unearthed Arcana batch I've ever seen. I'm really a little surprised that some sort of fey oriented ranger hadn't arrived long ago, there are fey associated Druids and Warlocks, and some sort of interaction with fairy courts seems like an obvious origin story for a woodland warrior. This is the most arcane feeling druid yet and I've personally always wanted a more wizardy druid option (or naturish wizard option). I'm not sure how common a desire that is but I know from various threads on building Radagast that I am not alone. First time I've ever felt inclined to play a non-Moon Druid. And mecha-artificer/iron man is something that I'm not into, but I know a lot of artificer enthusiasts are very into; it seems like a clear "give the people what they want" situation.

Of course this is not to say that these subclasses are particularly well designed. The Ranger seems like a particular mixed bag to me. It's divine smite-like ability not scaling for higher level spell slots means I would basically never use it except with a 1st level slot and the level 11 ability seems like something you may virtually never get to use whilst the other conclaves mostly get cool extra attack abilities that work under pretty common circumstances at that point. Then again the spells are really good and I like the level 3 abilities. Meanwhile

Also I think they may have made a straight rules mistake or if not a mistake of communication on the Dreadful Strikes ability because it reads like you can use it with a bonus action attack and have it apply to all your attacks, but by RAW the offhand bonus action attack has to be after the attack action attacks which means it would be too late to apply to those. If it is meant to only apply to the bonus action attack then having it apply to your other weapon, as it says it does ("weapons"), would never be relevant.

 

[Stoutstien]

Is it just me or is the armor Smith's lv 9 feature mostly redundant other than the 2 free infusions?
both armor types attack options are categorized as weapons therefore they can already be infused.
I'm a little hesitant about them imposing disadvantage on anyone they hit regardless. Compared to the cav fighter which only works within 5ft. I'm going to have to see an actual play to make a call there.

The spell list is unfocused. I'd rather save hypnotic Patterns and greater invisibility for a gem/jewelry focused artificer.

 

[Vael]

Is it just me or is the armor Smith's lv 9 feature mostly redundant other than the 2 free infusions?
both armor types attack options are categorized as weapons therefore they can already be infused.
I'm a little hesitant about them imposing disadvantage on anyone they hit regardless. Compared to the cav fighter which only works within 5ft. I'm going to have to see an actual play to make a call there.

No, it means you can infuse your power armor with non-armor infusions. Like Enhanced Weapon, which should work with Thunder Gauntlets or Lightning Launchers in the "weapons" slot. Or Gauntlets of Ogre Power into the bracers.

I like this subclass, but I wish it weren't so obviously Iron Man, or if there were a feature or two that were a little outside of the Iron Man box. But, hey, this seems solid.

 

[Stoutstien]

No, it means you can infuse your power armor with non-armor infusions. Like Enhanced Weapon, which should work with Thunder Gauntlets or Lightning Launchers in the "weapons" slot. Or Gauntlets of Ogre Power into the bracers.

I like this subclass, but I wish it weren't so obviously Iron Man, or if there were a feature or two that were a little outside of the Iron Man box. But, hey, this seems solid.

That's my point. the thunder Gloves/ gem blaster are already simple weapons or 'count' at least which would mean you can use infusions on them.

 

[Undrave]

The Star Druid is kinda weird. I think it would have been cool if you got new Wild Shape based on constellations instead!

 

[Minigiant]

You would think they would be able to do a Subclass of Artificer for every magic item type:
Armor, Potions, Rings, Rods, Scrolls, Staffs, Wands, and Wondrous Items.

I mean Wands, Staffs, and Rods are already covered in the Artillerist. But there are still Rings, Scrolls, and Weapons to be covered. (The Battlesmith clearly goes for Wonderous Items with that pet)

Armor-Armorer
Potions- Alchemist
Rings- ????
R/S/W- Artillerist
Wonderous Items (Wearable)- Gadgeteer?
Wonderous Items (External)- Battle Smith