D&D 5E Archetypes Still Missing?

[doctorbadwolf]

Are there any archetypes you feel are still missing from 5e?

As far back as the run up to Xanathar’s, the designers claimed that most common archetypes were served by the game already, and soon they’d need to start branching out into stranger waters.

But IMO, they still haven’t filled some narrative spaces that deserve to be filled.

Keneticist - character, probably Monk, that is all about throwing things around with their mind, and/or manipulating gravity and inertia. These could be two archetypes, in fact.

The gravity does have dunamancy, from wildemount, but it deserves a more dedicated “bender” style archetype.

Telekinesis, though, is a footnote in a dozen archetypes, but no one actually specializes in it. No one fights and solves problems primarily via telekinesis.

Oh, I guess one more would be the summoner, but they have kindof serves this archetype, by now. Not well, but they’ve done it.

Oh! And the acrobat/athlete that isn’t necessarily supernatural.

What are yours?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Yeah, a few. WotC really, really were off when they said the most commons archetype were covered after Xanathar. Really disappointed that time.

- Dedicated non-magical weapon specialist fighters: duelist, archer etc. You know, making archetypes supporting those damn fighting style you put in the game!

- plant/terrain based druid. The land druid is basically a non-archetype.

- dual-wielding barbarian. C'mon, its been a thing since Diablo 2! How about a shout barbarian? Ever played a game called Skyrim? Too close to 4e for the market?

- a.Bard.that.is.about.music How hard can it be? I know they wanted to prove that ''not every bard plays the lute'', but there is now so few things about music and performance in the class and its spells that it seems disconnected from the fluff.

- Blood magic. Yeah its eye-rolling-ly edgy, but its also the most common 3pp archetype published on the Dmsguild. Even my mom published a blood mage!

- Evil, Chaos and Good cleric's domains. With so many gods that are defined as The Gods of Gud or the Evilz Godz, its pretty strange that they must pick a subporfolio of healing or war to have clerics!

Those arent niche or rare archetypes, they are present in most fantasy fictions nowaday.

so yeah, no thanks, WotC-I-know-what-the-market-wants\salty

 

[JEB]

Elemental-focused arcane caster. Closest we've gotten (outside UA) was the Storm Sorcerer. (Plane Shift also had the Pyromancer, but that's borderline homebrew.) There's even an NPC elemental warlock (firenewt warlock of Imix), but no PC equivalent.

Speed/agility-focused barbarian (usually called "Dervish" in homebrew circles).

Dragon warlock (was surprised Fizban's didn't include this).

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah, a few. WotC really, really were off when they said the most commons archetype were covered after Xanathar. Really disappointed that time.

- Dedicated non-magical weapon specialist fighters: duelist, archer etc. You know, making archetypes supporting those damn fighting style you put in the game!

Yep. Frankly I think splitting the fighter into 2-3 classes would have helped with that, but especially during the playtest there was 0% chance of that, so here we are.

- plant/terrain based druid. The land druid is basically a non-archetype.

Goodness yes. I’d settle for 3 more elemental Druids (wildfire exists, so earth, wind, and water).

- dual-wielding barbarian. C'mon, its been a thing since Diablo 2! How about a shout barbarian? Ever played a game called Skyrim? Too close to 4e for the market?

Yes! A Barbarian that can do a big flashy thing when they rage, flavored as shouting words of creation or whatever, would be dope.

Related, Bardarian. Give me a Frienzied Skald that tells stories and can bane or bless x/day, including when they rage.

- a.Bard.that.is.about.music How hard can it be? I know they wanted to prove that ''not every bard plays the lute'', but there is now so few things about music and performance in the class and its spells that it seems disconnected from the fluff.

Ugh. Yea. Even just spells that are concentration group effects.

I so badly want a bard that gets less Spellcasting and “Jack of all trades” stuff, and has bigger punch with their ability to speak truth into being. Swap Warlock’s Mystic Arcanum and Bard’s Magical Secrets. Warlocks cheat at magic, Bards have limited powerful magic but their words are terrifyingly powerful. (Also give bards new languages known over levels, and flavor it as unlocking the secrets of the First Words, which underpin all languages and were used to speak the multiverse into being. )

- Blood magic. Yeah its eye-rolling-ly edgy, but its also the most common 3pp archetype published on the Dmsguild. Even my mom published a blood mage!

Yeah it’s weird that there’s no blood magic warlock. Pact of The Chalice could be flavored as using your own blood for power.

- Evil, Chaos and Good cleric's domains. With so many gods that are defined as The Gods of Gud or the Evilz Godz, its pretty strange that they must pick a subporfolio of healing or war to have clerics!

Those arent niche or rare archetypes, they are present in most fantasy fictions nowaday.

so yeah, no thanks, WotC-I-know-what-the-market-wants\salty

agreed

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Elemental-focused arcane caster. Closest we've gotten (outside UA) was the Storm Sorcerer. (Plane Shift also had the Pyromancer, but that's borderline homebrew.) There's even an NPC elemental warlock (firenewt warlock of Imix), but no PC equivalent.

Wasn’t there also a Phoenix sorcerer? Did that get published?

Speed/agility-focused barbarian (usually called "Dervish" in homebrew circles).

Man we gotta rename that class…the idea of calling Dervishes (a real tradition) Barbarians really bothers me.

Dragon warlock (was surprised Fizban's didn't include this).

Very weird to get a dragon monk but no dragon patron.

 

[JEB]

Wasn’t there also a Phoenix sorcerer? Did that get published?

UA did a Phoenix Sorcerer, a Stone Sorcerer, and a Sea Sorcerer, but they never made it to official status for whatever reason.

Man we gotta rename that class…the idea of calling Dervishes (a real tradition) Barbarians really bothers me.

4E's equivalent was the "Whirling" barbarian, but I bet they can do better.

 

[Charlaquin]

Seconding blood mage. Seems like such an obvious sorcerer subclass I’m amazed it’s still absent from WotC-published material.

I’d also really like to see a proper alchemist. You could argue the artificer has this covered, but it really doesn’t satisfy the fantasy for me. PF2’s alchemist hits the spot though, and has bomber, healer, and mutagenecist varieties.

Personally I find the warlock satisfies the witch archetype just fine but I know a lot of people want something different out of a witch and I think there’s plenty of fertile ground there.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

UA did a Phoenix Sorcerer, a Stone Sorcerer, and a Sea Sorcerer, but they never made it to official status for whatever reason.

Ah okay, I thought I remembered a Phoenix sporcerer.

4E's equivalent was the "Whirling" barbarian, but I bet they can do better.

Yeah you’d think.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Man we gotta rename that class…the idea of calling Dervishes (a real tradition) Barbarians really bothers me.

The 4e name for that theme's PP was Wildrunner. I kinda like the name.

Very weird to get a dragon monk but no dragon patron.

Well Dragon Disciple monks have been a thing for some time now, but I agree that having the Cult of Dragons show up in most of the first adventures and having no player options to be members of the cult or be agents of a good dragon as either a warlock or a cleric is weird.

Same with the elemental caster: we got a whole adventure and a whole supplement about elemental magic, but no archetypes that goes with them?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Animist
Rune magic

 

[JEB]

Rune magic

I'm hoping the Runecrafter from the latest UA might finally net us an official rune magic option.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'm hoping the Runecrafter from the latest UA might finally net us an official rune magic option.

Hopefully reworked for the artificer.

 

[JEB]

Hopefully reworked for the artificer.

Well, that would only be fair, since the wizard poached the UA archivist...

 

[humble minion]

I could easily name 20 subclasses I'd like to see, but jeez it'd be nice if we started to see some barbarian subclasses without magical abilities again.

 

[JEB]

I could easily name 20 subclasses I'd like to see, but jeez it'd be nice if we started to see some barbarian subclasses without magical abilities again.

More non-magical fighters would be nice, too.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I could easily name 20 subclasses I'd like to see, but jeez it'd be nice if we started to see some barbarian subclasses without magical abilities again.

I kinda wish they’d taken the idea of the Oath of Glory Paladin and made a Barbarian instead.

More non-magical fighters would be nice, too.

Duelist and archer, at least.

 

[Weiley31]

I'm hoping the Runecrafter from the latest UA might finally net us an official rune magic option.

Supposedly, Kobold Press' Tome of Heroes has Runic Magic or something like that.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I'm hoping the Runecrafter from the latest UA might finally net us an official rune magic option.

In my mind I'm kinda thinking of something like Earthdawn (or a bunch of video games). Where the mage combines various runes to create a desired magical effect. years ago I did a homebrew style of that magic, so I'm thinking of something more like this (you should be able to get what I'm getting at by this example):

 

[jgsugden]

• Psion - This could be several classes, but it is essentially the psychic PC that is primarily a spellcaster. Their power must come from within themselves.
• Psychic Warrior - The psychic PC that is a gish. Their power must come from within themselves.
• Non-magical Artificer (Science Based)
• Skald (1/3 bard, 1/3 barbarian, 1/3 cleric) - You can do it with multiclassing, but it could be a subclass or entire class
• Two Weapon Barbarian (Dexterity is significant to them)
• Several Cleric Domains: Love (Yes, tricky to make love and not lust/slavery), Vengeance, Hope, etc...
• Historical Druids - "legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors" ... the thinking man's druid, if you will. I often have sects of druids that serve the leaders of realms as their advisors, and I wish I had a druid subclass that focused on their intelligence, wisdom and charisma equally.
• Daggermaster - A character that was fearsome because they used small blades, rather than in spite of it.
• Spearmaster - A character that is fearsome because they use spear and shield, not in spite of it.
• Avenger - A paladin option would suffice: Lose armor proficiencies, gain unarmored defense (charisma and dex = AC), stealth skill becomes a class skill.
• Fierce Ranger - None of the Ranger subclasses evoke the idea of a fierce warrior. You can do it by mixing in barbarian, but I believe there is a gap for a warrior ranger that is fierce and intimidating in battle that would not just be a barbarian.
• Infernal and Abyssal Sorcerers - The Blood of Demons and Devils is a trope that is unused. Yes, you can do a warlock, but there is a huge difference between blood and pact.
• Undead Sorcerer - Not shadow Magic - Undead. The Vryloka of 4E are an idea for this concept. Like a take on the Marvel Character Blade, you're born with necrotic energy infused into you, making you part undead without a specific shadowyness to you.
• Fey Sorcerer - You have the blood of the Fey in you, giving you ties to the Feywild.
• Elemental Sorcerer - You're infused with the 4 Elements themselves.
• Monstrous Sorcerer - Your ancestry includes taints from a monstrosity that grant you powers related to the creature. There are a huge number of interesting options here. Doppelganger, Medusa, Harpy, Manticore, Yuan-ti, Yeti ....
• Rune/Giant Sorcerer - There is fertile ground here for a rune based sorcerer that powers runes with their giant blood or giant curse.
• Cursed Sorcerer - The powers are the result of a curse on your bloodline. They may have come from an artifact, a mummy lord, or some other source. You have power, but curses - similar to the challenges of lycanthropes.
• Primordial Warlocks - The 'Long Lost' or 'Imprisoned' Elemental Themed being that offers power to the warlock in exchange for the warlock working to free them from their prison / bring them back / etc...
• The 'Support' Wizard - In 5E, concentration limits how well a wizard can support their allies. In older editions, a wizard might drop several protective spells on their allies to aid in battle. This 'support role' is missing from 5E. Concentration prevents it, making wizards feel less connected to the group. This is one of the things I do not like about 5E, and is a reason why I make homebrew spells that allow a wizard to support their allies with duration spells that help them in combat - without using concentration. However, I also built a subclass that allows wizards to concentrate on multiple spells so long as those spells only target allies. I think that is a gap that I'd like see filled officially.

 

[MGibster]

Historical Druids - "legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors" ... the thinking man's druid, if you will. I often have sects of druids that serve the leaders of realms as their advisors, and I wish I had a druid subclass that focused on their intelligence, wisdom and charisma equally.

That sounds a lot like a Bard.