New Unearthed Arcana Released, With 8 New Forgotten Realms-Themed Subclasses

Today, Wizards of the Coast has announced a new Unearthed Arcana playtest featuring eight new Dungeons & Dragons subclasses that will appear in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. The new subclasses include five classes tied to Forgotten Realms regions, as well as the return of the Knowledge Domain Cleric subclass from the 2014 Player's Handbook and the Bladesinger Wizard subclass and Purple Dragon Knight Fighter subclass from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

Each of the five remaining subclasses are themed to one of the five regions explored in the Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide also coming out in November. The College of the Moon Bard subclass is tied to the Moonshae Isles, the Winter Walker Ranger subclass is tied to Icewind Dale, and the Oath of the Noble Genies is tied to Calimshan. The Scion of The Three is tied to the Dead Three (of Baldur's Gate fame). Meanwhile, Spellfire Sorcery dates back to 2nd Edition and can both heal allies and harm foes.

The eight new subclasses can be found below:

• College Of The Moon (Bard)
• Knowledge Domain (Cleric)
• Purple Dragon Knight (Fighter)
• Oath Of The Noble Genies (Paladin)
• Winter Walker (Ranger)
• Scion Of The Three (Rogue)
• Spellfire Sorcery (Sorcerer)
• Bladesinger (Wizard)

The Forgotten Realm's Players Guide comes out on November 11th.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Enjoying that we are getting:
Druid-flavored Bard
Wizard-flavored Cleric
Ranger-flavored Fighter
Arcane-flavored Paladin
Warlock-flavored Ranger
Divine-Flavored Rogue
Cleric-flavored Sorcerer
Fighter-flavored Wizard

I'd say more Psion Flavoured Cleric.

And we already got a Cleric flavoured Sorcerer, this is more Cleric Lite flavored Sorcerer.

 

[Parmandur]

I'd say more Psion Flavoured Cleric.

And we already got a Cleric flavoured Sorcerer, this is more Cleric Lite flavored Sorcerer.

I think the Spellfire Sorcerer is a good example of Setting lore dictating the mechanics, rather than the other way around.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I think something to consider is that WotC is designing these subclasses in tandem with the setting guide that is focusing on specific areas of the Realms. And those areas are going to get some lore work done on them. The Moonshaes are getting a fey glowup to make them less Faux-Ireland. Callimshan is getting some sensitivity reading and focusing on the genies that ruled it in 4e. (Please include genasi, please include genasi). Cormyr is probably getting a greater dragon focus and the knighthood changing to dragon knights. BG is playing on the urban strife seen in BG3 and DIA, Icewind Dale is getting a survival horror focus. Each subclass reflects the themes of the area it's focusing on. (Knowledge, Spellfire and bladesong appears to be along for the ride).

Some people are reading this like this is the next "of Everything" book where it needs to feel generic and applicable everywhere. I don't think that's completely the right way to look at it. The lunar sorcerer is uniquely Krynn, despite some generic wording, and makes sense when you consider them in the context of High Sorcery rather than moon magic.

Which is to say, I think it's hard to say if the dragon-riding PDK is appropriate for Cormyr because outside a few paragraphs in SCAG, we've not been to Cormyr since the Spellplague and restoration. Cormyr could have adopted draconic protectors against some threat leading to the PDKs becoming an inclusive order of dragon riders. It sure as hell wouldn't be the first time and established group changed it's MO (looks at Zhent mercs a Red Wizard merchants...)

But this highlights the issue of playtests WotC has always done; we're looking though a glass darkly since we don't always know what else is changing. It's hard to see if this hits the spot since we don't know the background and we're not spotting for balance. We're just supposed to see if the item passes the vibes check I guess...

How do you know about so much of the lore changes?

Anyways Spellfire is soon iconic for the Forgotten Realms and gives a less monstrous origin Sorcerers for those who have been asking for one for years now, so that just makes sense.

Knowledge Domain's increased Psion feel I think likely ties to BG3 events as well, just less blatantly then Scion of the Dead Three.

Bladesinger is also super iconic for the Forgotten Realms, but the previous version was way to broken and so they decided to update it.

But most of all it's really, really hard to judge this subclasses without knowing what new developments are, do we even know the year the book is set in?

Like Captain Lorca says "Context is for Kings".

 

[Parmandur]

How do you know about so much of the lore changes?

A lot of what @Remathilis references are quotes from the Direct announcement, like the Moonshaes leaning into the Feywild.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

A lot of what @Remathilis references are quotes from the Direct announcement, like the Moonshaes leaning into the Feywild.

I need to rewatch that. Hopefully that will be Development driven change and not retconning history.

 

[Parmandur]

I need to rewatch that. Hopefully that will be Development driven change and not retconning history.

I mean, the Moonshaes being Fey adjacent goes back to the very beginning, same with Calimshan and Genie stuff.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I mean, the Moonshaes being Fey adjacent goes back to the very beginning, same with Calimshan and Genie stuff.

To some degree, but this sounds like they amping up in some way.

 

[Remathilis]

How do you know about so much of the lore changes?

As @Parmandur said, some of it was hinted at when they revealed the books the first time. And some is conjecture based on other products. But the new subs that are location based seem to match stuff that was known or hinted at.

The Icewind Dale ranger seems to tie back to the horror theme of Rime of the Frostmaiden. Baldur's Gate's rogue was setup in both BG3 and the opening to DiA. Callimshan's paladin is reminiscent of 4e's genie-rulers. They stated the Moonshaes were going to have a feywild and druidic theme and the bard reflects that. So I'm going out on a limb and saying that Cormyr, famous for dragon iconology, is going to get some damn dragons to back that up and the PDK seems to support that. Too much of the lore we do know of is reflected in the new subs that it feels like an educated guess that Cormyr is getting a greater dragon focus.

 

[GarrettKP]

Bladesinger is also super iconic for the Forgotten Realms, but the previous version was way to broken and so they decided to update it.

Wait, do you think the new Singer is nerfed somehow? Or do you mean broken as in "unplayable," because I think that isn't really correct either.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Wait, do you think the new Singer is nerfed somehow? Or do you mean broken as in "unplayable," because I think that isn't really correct either.

I've heard it suggested by others, but I'd have to do a deep look to figure out if it's nerved truly