D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Document: 77 Pages, 7 Classes, & More!

There's a brand new playtest document for the new (version/edition/update) of Dungeons of Dragons available for download! This one is an enormous 77 pages and includes classes, spells, feats, and weapons.

Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Unearthed Arcana Playtest Materials Get Unearthed Arcana playtest content, try it out in your game, and provide feedback! Check back regularly for ...

www.dndbeyond.com

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 updated rules on seven classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. This document also presents multiple subclasses for each of those classes, new Spells, revisions to existing Spells and Spell Lists, and several revised Feats. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest document.

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[CleverNickName]

Lots of interesting design in this packet...but it lost me.

I just cant get interested by MOAR buttons!! (each with their own pool and recovery) anymore. I think I'm not in the market for a game with that much fiddly bits. I really need a more streamlined system with less things happening on the character's sheet.

I'll still wait to see Cubicle 7's offering, but I thing gasp I might be done with 5e?

I'm coming to the same conclusion, but I'm taking a different road to get there.

I agree that there are a lot of interesting things in this packet...but it's not really enough to sell me on the new, updated product line.

And that's true for everything else, including Cubicle 7's latest offerings (or Pathfinder's ORC, or Kobold Press, or whatever OSR is making headlines in the next 18 months.) My gaming group has made it very clear that we aren't going to switch from the current 5th Edition rules. "Once was enough!" they say, referring to the time we switched from 3.5E/PF to 5E. So we aren't in the market for any new game (or an old game with a fresh coat of paint).

And that's fine; we are under no obligation to always switch to The Newest Thing^TM anyway. It's weirdly liberating actually, to finally understand and accept that I am no longer the "Target Audience" of this hobby.

 

[Parmandur]

So, I guess we can use this list as the current definitive list of what subclasses they are planning to put into the 2024 PHB

Bard: Dance, Glamour, Lore and Valor. Dance is new, Glamour reprinted from Tasha's, Lore and Valor from PHB2014
Cleric: Life, Light, Trickery and War. All PHB2014 reprints
Druid: Land, Moon, Sea and Stars. Sea is new, Stars from Tasha's, Land and Moon from PHB2014.
Monk: Open Hand, Mercy, Shadow and Four Elements. All reprints, 3 from PHB2014, one from Tasha's.
Paladin: Devotion, Glory, Ancients and Vengeance. All reprints, 3 from PHB2014, one from Tasha's.
Ranger: Beast Master, Fey Wanderer, Gloom Stalker, Hunter. All reprints, 2 from PHB2014, one from Xanathar's, one from Tasha's.
Rogue: Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Swashbuckler, Thief. All reprints, 3 from PHB2014, one from Xanathar's.

I said earlier I'd have wanted one new subclass for each class, but tbh, I was scraping barrels trying to come up with good notions that fit a PHB (ie, most iconic and generally applicable) for several classes. So, IMO, this is a solid list.

Slight note, Glamor is from Xanathar's.

So of the 28 Subclasses here:

PHB 2014: 19
Xanathar's: 3
Tasha's: 4
New: 2

And 6 PHB Subclasses for the remaining Classes:

Wizard: Evoker and Necromancer confirmed
Barbarian: Berserker
Fighter: Champion
Warlock: Fiend
Sorcerer: Dragon Mage

So, that leaves 14 Subclasses unaccounted for yet.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm coming to the same conclusion, but I'm taking a different road to get there.

I agree that there are a lot of interesting things in this packet...but it's not really enough to sell me on the new, updated product line.

And that's true for everything else, including Cubicle 7's latest offerings (or Pathfinder's ORC, or Kobold Press, or whatever OSR is making headlines in the next 18 months.) My gaming group has made it very clear that we aren't going to switch from the current 5th Edition rules. "Once was enough!" they say, referring to the time we switched from 3.5E/PF to 5E. So we aren't in the market for any new game (or an old game with a fresh coat of paint).

And that's fine; we are under no obligation to always switch to The Newest Thing^TM anyway. It's weirdly liberating actually, to finally understand and accept that I am no longer the "Target Audience" of this hobby.

Long term, a big part of the reasoning of WotC approach here is...y'all might adopt stuff piecemeal, sooner or later. Like maybe the DM decides the new Monster Manual is worth it, or a player decides they want a new Ranger...without needing to adopt a new system for your game.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Nice to see the monk still pays a feature tax to function. Unarmored Defense isn't a meaningful class feature, it's a fluffed form of armor proficiency. Martial arts barely qualifies as well. Two of their three starting class features bring them up to the default level of "dude with a stick and basic armor", which every other fighting type class just gets on top multiple class abilities.

I think giving them a fighting style would help.

Hmm, I always thought, a monk at level 1 was never that bad, because 1d8+3 + 1d4+3 damage is not that bad for someone looking like a farmer...
but you are totally right. Looking at the dancer bard subclass, a little bit more would be in order.

I´d love a feature that allows monks to use WIS instead of STR for determining grapple and push DC. Would be in line with their other features and gave them something that other characters don´t have.

 

[Vael]

Slight note, Glamor is from Xanathar's.

So of the 28 Subclasses here:

PHB 2014: 19
Xanathar's: 3
Tasha's: 4
New: 2

Yeah, just realized and corrected that one.

Of the five remaining classes ... it's possible they have new subclasses planned, but if I were to bet, no more than 2 new subclasses. Wizard won't have one, I'm hoping Fighter (some sort of weapon master that goes deeper on the Mastery system) and maybe a new Sorcerer subclass?

 

[CleverNickName]

Long term, a big part of the reasoning of WotC approach here is...y'all might adopt stuff piecemeal, sooner or later. Like maybe the DM decides the new Monster Manual is worth it, or a player decides they want a new Ranger...without needing to adopt a new system for your game.

That's a better approach, for sure. It will let them cast a broader net through the whole player base...they'll catch plenty of big fish who are just getting started in the hobby and need to buy All The Things, and they will catch plenty of us little guys who only want inspiration for a new druid subclass.

 

[overgeeked]

How long before they announce a reprint/merging of Xanathar’s and Tasha’s a la Mordenkainen’s and Volo’s? They’re taking features and whole subclasses out of those books and are explicitly saying they’ll be printed in the new PHB. How much content gets poached like that before they’re merged into a new book?

 

[Amrûnril]

Here's a thought. The new Rogue Cunning Strike and the revised Paladin's Smite feature are basically the same thing. They give you the option of trading away a little damage to get a debuff or other additional effect to the attack. Rogues do it by subtracting Sneak Attack dice. Paladins do it by picking between the pure damage of Divine Smite and all the other automatically prepared Smite spells that do about one or two spell level's less damage but have additional qualities.

I mean, they're not exactly the same thing. Smites cost a limited resource and are always damage focused, while Sneak Attack is free and has more room to scale the amount of damage sacrificed up or down. But from a design perspective they're working on the same principle.

It's also interesting that both of these features make the full list of effects available by default, unlike previous iterations of the Paladin, who had to choose smite options as prepared spells, or Battlemasters, who learn a limited number of maneuvers. I'm curious about the reasoning behind this: it seems like it could be lot to keep track of for players who prefer mechanically simpler characters, and it takes away a potential mechanism for differentiating characters of the same class.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

How long before they announce a reprint/merging of Xanathar’s and Tasha’s a la Mordenkainen’s and Volo’s? They’re taking features and whole subclasses out of those books and are explicitly saying they’ll be printed in the new PHB. How much content gets poached like that before they’re merged into a new book?

I think there's been implication that some of the optional rules from Xanathar/Tasha are being migrated over to the '24 DMG (don't know of anything specific, but there's been talk of stuff like that getting "promoted" to the core books), so honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if subclass options from Xanathar/Tasha/SCAG/etc. that get aren't getting the PHB treatment will be at least considered for a book a year or so down the line - probably depending on a combination of the subclasses' popularity and how desperately they need an update.

They'll be certain to do something along those lines anyway, if only to fill in the gaps in the Cleric/Wizard lineup.

 

[Kurotowa]

It's also interesting that both of these features make the full list of effects available by default, unlike previous iterations of the Paladin, who had to choose smite options as prepared spells, or Battlemasters, who learn a limited number of maneuvers. I'm curious about the reasoning behind this: it seems like it could be lot to keep track of for players who prefer mechanically simpler characters, and it takes away a potential mechanism for differentiating characters of the same class.

At least for Rogues, the differentiation seems to be in the subclasses. Swashbucklers and Thieves each get additional unique Cunning Strike options. Assassin doesn't get a new option, but it upgrades the existing Poison option in a unique way. Edit: I was wrong, Arcane Trickster also gets to upgrade existing Cunning Strike options in a unique way, the same as Assassin. So everyone's getting unique ways to improve or expand on it.