D&D (2024) 48 subclasses in the 2024 PHB: What are they?

[bedir than]

Plus Paladin and Cleric DMG options

I wouldn't expect to see these in a player facing book. D&D is themed around playing heroes.

 

[Parmandur]

I wouldn't expect to see these in a player facing book. D&D is themed around playing heroes.

I mean, has anyone ever seen those used in 8 years...?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I think I’d actually rather see at least one patron tied to the concept of each pact boon.

Ugh. I'd absolutely hate that. Warlocks are the best-designed class in 5e because of how they can mix and match subclasses, pact boons, and eldritch invocations.

 

[Marandahir]

I mean, has anyone ever seen those used in 8 years...?

Honestly, I think Grave should kill Death and take its stuff. And I’ve needed a more ”Greyguard” or “Ronin” version of Oathbreaker for many of my games. Oathbreaker is totally a player option that should be seen, as are clerics of death gods - at least as much as Necromancers should be - but it need not be so clearly demonic…

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Honestly, I think Grave should kill Death and take its stuff.

"Death" is a misnomer. It's more "Undeath". But I would approve of Grave being moved to the PHB.

 

[Horwath]

48 seems to little, there are good subclasses in XGTE/Tasha.
some should be in by default.

Barbarian: Totem, Zealot, Beast, reworked berserker and battlerager
bard: Lore, Valor and swords should combine into one subclass, Creation, Eloquence
Cleric: All except twilight
Druid: moon, stars, wildfire, shepard
Fighter: Battlemaster, Champion and samurai should combine somehow, EK and Arcane archer combined also, Rune knight, Banneret combined with cavalier.
Monk: Mercy, Shadow, Kensai. Others are so bad that they need major overhaul or dont bother.
Paladin: all oaths are fine: give 5 most popular
Ranger: Gloomstalker, Feywanderer, Beast and Hunter need a rework
Rogue: assassin, scout, thief, Arcane trickster, swashbuckler
Sorcerer: aberrant mind, clockwork soul, rest need an overhaul looking at 1st two here.
Warlock: hexblade, and 3 others
Wizard: chronurgy, graviturgy, warmagic, bladesinging, School wizards could become some kind of generalist/metamagic or merged into order of Scribes

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Ugh. I'd absolutely hate that. Warlocks are the best-designed class in 5e because of how they can mix and match subclasses, pact boons, and eldritch invocations.

Which would only be enhanced by what I proposed.

 

[Zaukrie]

Type of priest is so much better. Leave domain at level 1, but make it much smaller, and your Order is what actually defines you.

Most domains are extremely boring.

I wish the Deity they worshipped defined them more. I get the specific one is hard, but Priest of War God should have very different powers than Priest of Fertility God (like, for me, turn undead should be a choice of like 20 different powers, or something). Then have the subclasses be different also.

 

[Clint_L]

Artificer: Artificer, Artillerist, Battle Smith, Armourer
Barbarian: Berserker, Totem Warrior, Ancestral Guardian, Storm Herald
Cleric: Life, Trickery, War, Grave
Druid: Dreams, Stars, Moon, Land
Fighter: Champion, Psi Warrior, Battle Master, Eldritch Knight
Monk: Mercy, Open Hand, Shadow, Elemental
Paladin: Vengeance, Conquest, Devotion, Redemption
Ranger: Beastmaster, Gloomstalker, Hunter, Monster Slayer
Rogue: Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Thief, Mastermind
Sorcerer: Wild Magic, Draconic Bloodline, Aberrant Mind, Shadow Magic
Warlock: Great Old One, Hexblade, Fiend, Archfey
Wizard: Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Conjuration

I think it's important to keep basic, vanilla versions of each class for new players, so subclasses like Champion, Thief, and Berserker play an important role. Some classes were hard to cut down to four (Cleric and Wizard!) while others didn't need more than 2-3 (Sorcerer, Monk, Artificer), so I could see a case being made against there being a flat 4 subclasses for each class.

Also, currently, some classes are so dominated by a single subclass that the rest, though cool, are almost superfluous. I would not be shocked to learn that more than 75% of experienced players pick Moon Druids, Mercy Monks, Hexblade Warlocks, etc. So I really hope that 1D&D is able to achieve better balance.

 

[OB1]

I'm going in a bit of a different direction here. Given the 4 PC groupings, I'm guessing that the 4 subclasses for each class will end up representing the 4 Class groupings for each class. You'll have the 'classic' class for each that is the 'pure' version of the class, with the others dipping into the other three groupings. Don't know if that will stick, but I think they may want to test it. While I've used traditional class names for the below, I think there will be significant changes (including name changes) to fit the below.

Barbarian: Berserker (Warrior), Totem (Expert), Ancestral Guardian (Priest), Storm Herald (Mage)
Cleric: Life (Priest), Forge (Expert), War (Warrior), Arcana (Mage)
Druid: Land (Priest), Moon (Warrior), Dreams (Expert), Wildfire (Mage)
Fighter: Champion (Warrior), Battle Master (Expert), Eldritch Knight (Mage), Warlord (Priest)
Monk: Open Hand (Warrior), Shadow (Expert), 4 Elements (Mage), Long Death (Priest)
Paladin: Devotion (Priest), Conquest(Warrior), Vengeance (Expert), Ancients (Mage)
Ranger: Hunter (Expert), Monster Slayer (Warrior), Beast Master (Priest), Horizon Walker (Mage)
Rogue: Thief (Expert), Swashbuckler (Warrior), Arcane Trickster (Mage), Assassin (Priest)
Sorcerer: Storm (Mage), Shadow (Expert), Divine (Priest), Dragon (Warrior)
Warlock: Tome (Mage), Blade (Warrior), Chain (Priest), Genie (Expert)
Wizard: School (Mage), Bladesinging (Warrior), War (Priest), Scribes (expert