D&D (2024) Jeremy Crawford Gives an Overview of the New Unearthed Arcana

The upcoming Unearthed Arcana playtest packet for One D&D gets a preview from WotC's Jeremy Crawford. This is apparently the largest of these playtest packets so far, and the biggest Unearthed Arcana they have ever done, at 50 pages long.

It contains 5 classes, new spells, new feats, a revised rules glossary, and the new weapon mastery system.

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[UngeheuerLich]

One of my players is extremely mathy and piles up every tiny little advantage, even when everyone else scoffs or shrugs their shoulders. The cumulative effect, though, is quite impressive.

It doesn't have to be a bonus that appeals to everyone.

That is what I think. 6 more damage per round can make a difference. D10 vs d8 does feel better, and once in a while those few points of damage make the difference.
D10 +5 with duellist fighting style and 16 str might be able to drop a 14 or 15 hp foe with a single blow with a 10% or 20% chance, while d8 + 5 has a 0 percent chance. So that little +1 average damage (which is actually +0/+1 or +2) can be worth a lot more than +1 to hit (which only helps for 5% of your rolls).

 

[Vaalingrade]

This many years out from 4E, it's funny to see them drop in an explicitly videogame style of play into the game -- letting archers "kite" their foes by slowing them down with their arrows and slowly walking backwards -- and no one says boo about it.

Clearly being like a videogame is okay if it's actually like a videogame.

 

[darjr]

I do think a much bigger UA document is not only a good idea but might be a must do at this point. Nice.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Clearly being like a videogame is okay if it's actually like a videogame.

As someone who kited his fair share of monsters in EverQuest back in the day, it's also a very fun thing to add to the portfolio of ranged martials. With it, an archer who wants to stay at range can do so more reliably, rather than having to switch to the melee weapons they didn't specialize in.

 

[Zaukrie]

As someone who kited his fair share of monsters in EverQuest back in the day, it's also a very fun thing to add to the portfolio of ranged martials. With it, an archer who wants to stay at range can do so more reliably, rather than having to switch to the melee weapons they didn't specialize in.

Or go to simultaneous initiative......ducks ...

 

[Remathilis]

It takes some of the most interesting weapons and eliminates what makes them interesting.

It would be better to take a generic one-handed weapon and increase the damage die instead.

I feel it emulates these forgotten gems

One-Handed Melee Weapons
Sword, bastard 35 gp 1d8 1d10 19-20/×2 — 6 lb. Slashing
Waraxe, dwarven 30 gp 1d8 1d10 ×3 — 8 lb. Slashing

Sword, Bastard
A bastard sword is too large to use in one hand without special training; thus, it is an exotic weapon. A character can use a bastard sword two-handed as a martial weapon.

Waraxe, Dwarven
A dwarven waraxe is too large to use in one hand without special training; thus, it is an exotic weapon. A Medium character can use a dwarven waraxe two-handed as a martial weapon, or a Large creature can use it one-handed in the same way. A dwarf treats a dwarven waraxe as a martial weapon even when using it in one hand.

 

[MarkB]

That would kind of undermine the whole idea of a fighter being able to swap traits.

You can apply the trait to any weapon you like. But if the weapon lacks the Versatile quality it just won't do anything.

 

[ZetaShift]

With Flex, your weapon is now just a strong one-handed weapon with nothing else interesting. It basically erases the versatile part of the weapon.

That is precisely why I don't like Flex and some of the other masteries. They don't really give interesting options, they only just barely double-down on the damage role of weapon users. The difference between a two-hand longsword and a flex longsword is that the two-hand longsword is strictly worse for the you can't use your offhand, and you can't carry a shield to optimize your AC. Nothing else.

 

[WanderingMystic]

In theory I like the idea, I am just hoping for maybe a bit more than what they are giving us as far as weapon mastery goes. A bleed effect on a weapon would be nice, things that grant disadvantage in their next attack would be very cool as well. Personally I want some mechanical difference between a longsword and a battle axe and was a little upset that that is not the case even after the new properties were added. Same for the war pick and morningstar being identical

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think that some of the features baked into the Hexblade do need to be moved to Pact of Blades, but that's mostly because the Hexblade as it currently exists is using up a chunk of its design space to prop up Pact of Blades. If anything, that's weighing it down.

I disagree. You can’t remove anything low level from Hex without making it basically require blade pact, which should never be the case.

I'm not saying make 70% of the Hexblade subclass redundant by giving a handful of its features to Pact of Blades, I'm saying give those features to Pact of Blades and free up that 70% so they can revise the Hexblade and let it lean even harder into cool ways to hex and curse your opponents.

Warlock only has three subclass options in the '14 PHB, but is supposedly being given four in the '24 revision. Given its popularity, a revised Hexblade seems like a decent choice for that fourth slot.

Sure, but it will still have to give you the ability to fight effectively with weapons as a warlock, so I’m just not convinced there actually is 70% to work with. More like 20%, at most, IMO.

I don’t think blade pact should give a bunch of proficiencies, or a special curse, and I don’t think the Hexblade can rely on blade pact to attack and damage with Cha, or to be able to stand in front and take hits.

Okay, maybe Hexblade without Blade Pact could attack with Dex or strength like everyone else, but then ppl will just cry that it’s MAD.

If we can find a way around these issues, then sure I’d love to see He blade lean into the curse mechanic (I’d prefer it be worded so that any “curse”, such as the hex or bane spells, gain the hexblade’s curse rider), and the wraith thing, and gaining THP or regaining HP when a cursed enemy dies, etc.

But I’d also love to see the entire class lean harder into the curse concept, with each Pact having its own twist on the curse, Hex be part of that class feature, and you are always hitting harder in some way against the creature you’ve cursed.