D&D (2024) Upcoming One D&D: Unearthed Arcana 'Expert' Classes (Bard, Ranger, Rogue)

WotC has posted a video describing the upcoming Unearthed Arcana playtest document which will feature three of the core character classes, each with a single subclass.

This document is the second in a series of Unearthed Arcana articles that present material designed for the next version of the Player's Handbook. The material here uses the rules in the

2014 Player's Handbook, except where noted. Providing feedback on this document is one way you can help shape the next generation of D&D!

Inside you'll find the following content:

Expert Classes. Three Classes appear in this document, each one a member of the Expert Group: the Bard, the Ranger, and the Rogue. Each Class appears with one Subclass. More Subclasses will appear in Unearthed Arcana in the months ahead.

Feats. Feats follow the Class descriptions, particularly feats available to the classes in this document.

Spell Lists. Three Spell lists-the Arcane, Divine, and Primal lists-are featured here. The Ranger uses the Primal list, and the Bard potentially uses all three, thanks to the Magical Secrets feature.

Rules Glossary. In this document, any term in the body text that is underlined appears in a glossary at the end. The glossary defines game terms that have been clarified or redefined for this playtest or that don't appear in the 2014 Player's Handbook.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And All casters get ritual caster.

Even better, ritual caster is just irrelevant because if you can cast a spell, and it has the ritual tag, you can cast it as a ritual. That means even if it comes from race or a feat or whatever.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A ranger should be able to do these things without casting a spell.

They should be able to set up a magical perimeter that alerts them silently in their mind if it’s crossed, without casting a spell?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That’s not compatible. I won’t be able to play my 8th level no feat having human Paladin.

Just…take the ASI feat.

 

[Yaarel]

They never were going to read random Internet people's game design thoughts... But marketing is happy to see how many people engaged with the survey!

From what I understand, they read the comments IF the ratings for a feature are low.

That said, I think it all gets read ... eventually.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Beastmaster Ranger and Four Elements Monk, I would wager. Or significantly, significantly redesigned.

BM ranger ain’t going anywhere, but it’ll likely be reworked to make its level 1 abilities more broadly useful while staying distinct from the Tasha’s replacements.

 

[Maxperson]

Alternatively, Bards could be turned into Half-Casters similar to Artificers (getting spellcasting at level 1, cantrips, non-spell magical features similar to Warlock Invocations).

This is what I would like for bards. They've always(at least from 1e-3e) been a semi-caster with their magic adding to their roguish abilities.

 

[Yaarel]

So we’re back to paladins hoarding spell slots for Critical Smites? And uber sneak attacks on a Crit? That’s… unfortunate

But now, Paladin and Ranger can perform rituals. So they can finally access some of the interesting stuff in their spell lists.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Just…take the ASI feat.

Side Note: I wouldn't be surprised if that's a level 4 feat to avoid PCs from getting an 18/19 in their main Ability Score at level 1. So that part wouldn't work if you wanted to update a non-variant human to a OneD&D without having an extra feat (for some reason).

Actually, going by their current format of feats, this is my guess of what it will look like:

Ability Score Improvement
4th-Level Feat

Prerequisite: None
Repeatable: Yes

You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1, to a maximum of 20.

 

[Maxperson]

Then why are they touting the numbers so hard?

They're probably trying to show the "success" of the playtest to those who don't want changes by putting out 40k+ responses!!!!! My first thought, though, was 40k out of 50 million really isn't that many. 1% is 500k. So less than 1 player in a 1000 has responded to the survey.

 

[Maxperson]

Side Note: I wouldn't be surprised if that's a level 4 feat to avoid PCs from getting an 18/19 in their main Ability Score at level 1. So that part wouldn't work if you wanted to update a non-variant human to a OneD&D without having an extra feat (for some reason).

You're probably right that it will be a level 4 feat, since that's when ASI's kick in currently. That said, I really don't think it will be to avoid an 18 or 19 in a stat, given that rolling is a default method of stat generation so you can start with a 20. If high stat avoidance was a goal, rolling wouldn't have been a default method for generating stats.