D&D (2024) New Unearthed Arcana Playtest Includes Barbarian, Druid, and Monk

The latest Unearthed Arcana playtest packet is now live with new barbarian, druid, and monk versions, as well as new spells and weapons, and a revised Ability Score Improvement feat.

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WHATS INSIDE

Here are the new and revised elements in this article:

Classes. Three classes are here: Barbarian, Druid, and Monk. Each one includes one subclass: Path of the World Tree (Barbarian), Circle of the Moon (Druid), and Warrior of the Hand (Monk).

Spells. New and revised spells are included.

The following sections were introduced in a previous article and are provided here for reference:

Weapons. Weapon revisions are included.

Feats. This includes a revised version of Ability Score Improvement.

Rules Glossary. The rules glossary includes the few rules that have revised definitions in the playtest. In this document, any underlined term in the body text appears in the glossary.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

They explicitly say at the beginning of the document that the Equipment, Feat, and Rules Glossary sections are unchanged and juat included for playtest reference.

Wizards probably should have a design note at the beginning of each of these sections saying that. I was watching YouTubers do streamthrough readings and analysis and several of them were scouring those sections for changes even though they had read the section in the beginning of the document saying that those were included purely for reference. Some of these folks make a living at D&D on YouTube and if they trip up on this, I imagine a lot of average playtesters will be wasting their time looking for changes that aren't there.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Wizards probably should have a design note at the beginning of each of these sections saying that. I was watching YouTubers do streamthrough readings and analysis and several of them were scouring those sections for changes even though they had read the section in the beginning of the document saying that those were included purely for reference. Some of these folks make a living at D&D on YouTube and if they trip up on this, I imagine a lot of average playtesters will be wasting their time looking for changes that aren't there.

I don´t think being a youtuber automatically gives proficiency in reading comprehension. Sometimes I think you lose it if you had it before.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

They're so different it's hard to call it a nerf. For example, if it's one of those moveable area of effect damage dealers which does damage ever "turn" you enter it or start there, then it's highly part dependent on how much damage it now does. Barbarians knocking foes through the area? Monks grappling and running that same target back through the area on their turn? Really depends how many bites at the apply you get but it could be much more damage than the old conjure spells. It's much more of a tactical change than a nerf.

The celestial one is better version of healing spirit. Ok, it is level 7, so it should be really good.
Actually I like conjuring spirits. Those effects are not bad at all. Some of them deal a decent amount of damage and help controll the field.

On the other hand, I could also see them going a different route: increase casting time of all spells to the conjure elemental casting time of 1 minute. That alone makes them distinct from summon spells. Then clarify, that you can´t force fairies or elementals to cast their spells whenever you want, but can only reliably force them to attack.

If you want more from them: circle of protection inwards. Planar binding.

 

[Minigiant]

No one wants to deal with one or potentially several playera mass summoning 4 to 8 beasts per person man. The game isnt designed well enough to make this fun, smooth, or elegant. If you really want to deal with this headache-inducing spell, use the original spells from 2014. Backwards compatibility!

You ain't summoning beasts, you'll be summoning effect.

The issue is that the new Conjure effects have the weakest flavor and just lame damage.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

I don´t think being a youtuber automatically gives proficiency in reading comprehension. Sometimes I think you lose it if you had it before.

I definitely agree with this. In fact, from what I see, I think that having some sort of ADHD might be a job requirement for being a TTRPG YouTuber judging from how a lot of them tackle these playtest packets.

But given that, then what we are really dealing with is an accessibility issue, if repeating a one sentence disclaimer at the beginning of each of the relevant sections helps people use the document better it is probably something they should consider.

On the other hand, I saw several of these same YouTubers skip side-bar text entirely. I think Ted from Nerd Immersion spent two or three minutes theorizing on whether someone could choose to fail a saving throw when the text saying that they could was literally right below in a sidebar section, but he blew past it because it wasn't part of the text of the feature.

These playtest packets seem to be highly optimized for my way of reading and learning, but Wizards might want to hire a consultant in that area because watching people run into the same issues over and over again simply because the way something is formatted is frustrating. Of course, that probably creates highly redundant text which is the sort of thing that drives me insane, but there is a balance. I get that this is a playtest, not a consumer product yet, but they should be thinking about these things at every step in the process.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I definitely agree with this. In fact, from what I see, I think that having some sort of ADHD might be a job requirement for being a TTRPG YouTuber judging from how a lot of them tackle these playtest packets.

But given that, then what we are really dealing with is an accessibility issue, if repeating a one sentence disclaimer at the beginning of each of the relevant sections helps people use the document better it is probably something they should consider.

On the other hand, I saw several of these same YouTubers skip side-bar text entirely. I think Ted from Nerd Immersion spent two or three minutes theorizing on whether someone could choose to fail a saving throw when the text saying that they could was literally right below in a sidebar section, but he blew past it because it wasn't part of the text of the feature.

These playtest packets seem to be highly optimized for my way of reading and learning, but Wizards might want to hire a consultant in that area because watching people run into the same issues over and over again simply because the way something is formatted is frustrating. Of course, that probably creates highly redundant text which is the sort of thing that drives me insane, but there is a balance. I get that this is a playtest, not a consumer product yet, but they should be thinking about these things at every step in the process.

I 100% agree. Probably also suffering from ADHD, I am also sometimes skipping to the important parts. But here comes the big but: I have learned to calm down and reading the things around the relevant part instead of starting to rant or theorizing wildly.
If your job is presenting rules to your audience, you should read. Or is ranting generating more clicks???

 

[Shardstone]

You ain't summoning beasts, you'll be summoning effect.

The issue is that the new Conjure effects have the weakest flavor and just lame damage.

Bro what are you talking about. Just use the 2014 spells man. You still have the books. The books still exist. You aren't chained by WotC to not use them.

I will say I prefer the 2024 versions. As both a DM and player, conjuring a huge number of animals has only been headaches in my game, even in clutch moments or when used well. This is because D&D does not handle mass-summons in an elegant way. You get 8 entire stat blocks you have to manage. Even if they all go at once with one roll, it feels terrible.

The new version of creating spirits that can't be destroyed and that do various things I think is very fun. You conjure spirits, you summon actual creatures. It makes sense to me. And if you don't like it, for all of time will the 2014 spells be online. You don't need WotC to specifically keep them either -- there are many places online where these legacy spells can be easily found, for free, with just a google search.

If D&D had something like Aether Nexus' legion die, or if swarms were represented more like they were in my Crimson Catalyst or A5E's swarm rules, it would be fine. But the reality is, the old designs of the spells were janky, slowed the game down, and just overall poorly designed. I'd rather the spells be cut entirely rather then have to go back to the old versions in my games.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Both were started by Neonchameleon. Probably, either you or he has the other on their Ignore list.

I had him - and have just unignored him. I find the way the Ignore list forces the person being ignored to not see you to be weird and annoying, especially as I use the IL as a "don't let myself get into too many slap fights" button.

 

[Minigiant]

Bro what are you talking about. Just use the 2014 spells man. You still have the books. The books still exist. You aren't chained by WotC to not use them.

I will say I prefer the 2024 versions. As both a DM and player, conjuring a huge number of animals has only been headaches in my game, even in clutch moments or when used well. This is because D&D does not handle mass-summons in an elegant way. You get 8 entire stat blocks you have to manage. Even if they all go at once with one roll, it feels terrible.

The new version of creating spirits that can't be destroyed and that do various things I think is very fun. You conjure spirits, you summon actual creatures. It makes sense to me. And if you don't like it, for all of time will the 2014 spells be online. You don't need WotC to specifically keep them either -- there are many places online where these legacy spells can be easily found, for free, with just a google search.

If D&D had something like Aether Nexus' legion die, or if swarms were represented more like they were in my Crimson Catalyst or A5E's swarm rules, it would be fine. But the reality is, the old designs of the spells were janky, slowed the game down, and just overall poorly designed. I'd rather the spells be cut entirely rather then have to go back to the old versions in my games.

I think I may not have expressed my opinions well.

I don't like the UA Conjure spells.
I don't like the 2014 Conjure spells either.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think I may not have expressed my opinions well.

I don't like the UA Conjure spells.
I don't like the 2014 Conjure spells either.

This one's going to be divisive, I expect. I mean, I LOVE these new Conjure spells.

Is anyone out there in the middle-ground? Where you're just like, "Meh, they're fine, I guess."

Because it seems like a lot of love/hate.

The only thing I'd change is to make it more explicit that there's a Celestial creature inside that pillar of light, and not just a pillar.