D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Includes 5 Classes & New Weapon Mastery System

The latest playtest packet for One D&D has just landed, and features five classes (Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard) and the new Weapon Mastery system.

In this new Unearthed Arcana document for the 2024 Core Rulebooks, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents the rules on the Weapon Mastery property, updates to weapons, new and revised spells, several new feats, and five classes: Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest documents.

Claim Unearthed Arcana now! - D&D Beyond

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[Vaalingrade]

At the same time, the DM is also supposed to create a believable dungeon.

Are they though?

Because I've never met a dungeon that's believable, just a few that are meant to be hard mode with doors that can't be barred and monsters that sense you for no reason to keep the pressure up citing 'verisimilitude' to justify itself.

Like either the game is about attrition, in which case resting should have potential costs and risks. Alternatively, the game should not be about attrition, in which case recovery should be automatic between encounters. This whole half-way thing where you need to rest but you can always do it whenever you want doesn't really work.

Give me the bolded on. Encounter-based design FTW.

 

[mellored]

They haven't quite given up on Short Rests yet, Action Surge is still a Short Rest. Although you can't use Action Surge to cast spells anymore.

Short rest is not 100% gone. I assume arcane recovery would also still exsist. And you can still spend hit dice on a short rest.

But warlocks (and monks) where far more dependant on it than other classes. So adventure paceing would be dependant on what classes where chosen.

Personally I would of preferred if classes had more reliance on short rest (i.e. wizards get less spell slots, but more arcane recovery). But as long as everyone is on a similar schedule the game will run smoother.

Also, this fixes some multiclass warlock issues. Sorcerer/Warlock now has higher level slots.

 

[Thommy H-H]

So what you're saying is that the new Mystic Arcanum replaces the old invocations that no one bothered to take because they were just bad choices? And that you can burn all your invocations to not keep up with a caster of the same level due to a lack both of flexibility and volume?

No, I'm saying sentiments like "warlock is half caster and has lost access to higher level spells" is ignoring that they deliberately shunted some of those features into a different place, while combining them with others. So now warlocks get standard half casting for most of their spell slots, and then a single source of higher level faux slots, rather than having a bunch of different features and invocations that replicate that same basic utility.

It's fine if you don't like the specific implementation, but just looking at the warlock table and jumping to conclusions - which is what a number of people seem to have done - isn't really telling the whole story.

 

[TwoSix]

A bunch of the new spells feel like the should be class features. Scribe scroll most of all.

I think this is interesting, because it's probably the biggest change in presentation between older 5e and new 5e.

Basically, WotC seems to have come to believe the exact opposite. They've moved a bunch of abilities that used to be "class features" and now made them "class-specific spells". I think it is overall a good change, but I'm still going over the pros and cons.

 

[kenmarable]

There's a nitpicky exploit in the Light weapon definition. Since there's no stipulation about having to wield that second light weapon in a different hand and you can equip/unequip weapons with each attack in an Attack option (either before or after), what's to stop a character with a shield from attacking with a light weapon/unequip as their first attack, then equipping a second weapon/stab as a bonus action? It may not be clear that you can equip/unequip as part of the bonus action attack, but it I'm not sure it's clear you can't either. That's a bit of fuzziness they should just be explicit about.
And even if they clarify that you can't equip/unequip as part of the bonus action attack, is that superseded by the thrown property which explicitly allows you to equip a thrown weapon as part of the ranged attack when you use it as that light weapon bonus action attack?

The equip/unequip is only part of the Attack action (capital 'A' since it's the name of an action). The Light property allows you to make one extra attack (small 'a'), not an extra Attack action. So the bonus action attack does not include the free equip/unequip no more than it includes the extra attacks granted by the Extra Attack class feature. As for the Thrown weapon property, I'd presume the same rule holds true that "specific overrides general" - the specific Thrown weapon properties override the general rule (or in this case, lack of a rule) of not equipping with a bonus action attack.

 

[Vaalingrade]

yeah what;s up with class features now as bonus spells only that class knows but gets for free?

this is just more "Everything is a spell"

God, Book of Shadows.

It's a spell you cast to get spells.

Spell-ception.

Weren't we supposed to be fetishizing simple? In what way is this less simple than 'pick spells, know spells'?

 

[Zaukrie]

God, Book of Shadows.

It's a spell you cast to get spells.

Spell-ception.

Weren't we supposed to be fetishizing simple? In what way is this less simple than 'pick spells, know spells'?

I like this spell a lot. You aren't going to use it over and over and clutter your list on an adventure.

I do agree with Matthew that some of this could be a class ability and not a spell. I'm actually good with some of this being rituals, though, as it is a good downtime, non-encounter, fiction bit. So I guess I'm good either way.

 

[mellored]

yeah what;s up with class features now as bonus spells only that class knows but gets for free?

this is just more "Everything is a spell"

Class features giving additional known spells is hardly new. Many subclasses have them since day 1. So do many races.

And for a wizard, yes. Everything should be a spell.

 

[payn]

Personally I would of preferred if classes had more reliance on short rest (i.e. wizards get less spell slots, but more arcane recovery). But as long as everyone is on a similar schedule the game will run smoother.

I prefer a day/long schedule, but agree its good to get the band on the same schedule.

Also, this fixes some multiclass warlock issues. Sorcerer/Warlock now has higher level slots.

Bonus.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Class features giving additional known spells is hardly new. Many subclasses have them since day 1. So do many races.

And for a wizard, yes. Everything should be a spell.

Writing things down: now a spell.