Dungeons & Dragons Playtests Four New Mystic-Themed Subclasses

Dungeons & Dragons has dropped their first Unearthed Arcana playtest of 2026, with four brand-new subclasses being tested. Today, Wizards of the Coast posted a Mystic Subclasses Unearthed Arcana playtest to D&D Beyond, featuring four magic-themed subclasses. The new subclasses include the Warrior of the Mystic Arts Monk subclass, the Oath of the Spellguard Paladin subclass, the Magic Stealer Rogue subclass and the Vestige Patron Warlock subclass.

The Warrior of the Mystic Arts is a spellcasting subclass that grants Monks the ability to cast Sorcerer spells up to 4th level spells. The Oath of the Spellguard is designed with protecting magic-casters in mind, while the Magic Stealer Rogue targets spellcasting and can empower their Sneak Attacks with magic stolen from nearby spellcasters. The Vestige Patron Warlock forms a bond with a dying god, with the god taking on a vestige form as a companion. The Vestige companion grows in power with the spellcaster. Notably, the Vestige Patron draws inspiration from the Binder from past editions of D&D.

There's no indication when or what this new Unearthed Arcana could be related to. There are several Unearthed Arcanas not currently attached to an announced D&D product, although two almost are certainly tied to a Dark Sun sourcebook.

You can check out the subclasses here. Feedback opens for the playtest on January 22nd.

 

[Charlaquin]

See, I am not sure that giving xp for finding a way around an encounter actually fits the assumptions upon which 2014 5e was built.

This may be another difference in choice of language, but 5e definitely recommends awarding full XP for encounters that are completed nonviolently.

 

[Charlaquin]

Really, this is rubbish.

Math and actual play experience both disagree with you on that.

Characters can end up consuming more resources early on due to unlucky rolls, causing them to die later because they haven’t enough resources remaining. It’s just a matter of if the bad luck happened during the current fight or three sessions earlier.

Yes, but when that risk is spread between several encounters, players have much more opportunity to recognize that they’re in a rough spot and turn back. When it’s all packed into a couple high-CR encounters, the consequence of that bad luck is much more immediate. In an adventuring day model you can have one very unlucky encounter and go “wow, we’re already almost out of spells. Guess we call today a loss and come back after resting, hope for better luck next time.” In a 1-3 deadly encounter model, that one very unlucky encounter results in someone being killed with no death saves due to massive damage.

 

[Maxperson]

All correct, assuming the meat is handled properly. Cross-contamination can result in bacteria on the cooked exterior of meat. If you’re at a high-end restaurant they are probably handling it safely, but I’ll still usually go for medium rare if I’m not cooking it myself.

Sure, but at that point it doesn't matter how you order it cooked, the bacteria will still be on the outside of the cooked exterior.

 

[Charlaquin]

Sure, but at that point it doesn't matter how you order it cooked, the bacteria will still be on the outside of the cooked exterior.

Good point

 

[doctorbadwolf]

This may be another difference in choice of language, but 5e definitely recommends awarding full XP for encounters that are completed nonviolently.

Hmm. See, I wouldn't consider that to be the same thing as circumventing an encounter, necessarily.

And frankly, just because you award XP (for those who even use XP still) doesn't mean it is an encounter, especially in terms of assumptions of how many resources a group should need to use before taking a long rest.

I mean, when I was using XP i would award encounter-level XP for completing a personal or group goal, or for a "scene" of intense roleplay or just RP that meaningfully advances the story, but I didn't consider any of that to be "encounters" in the sense of determining how challenging the day had been.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

turn back

If they are free to turn back (which is the same as taking a long rest) then you aren’t playing an enforced X encounter day.

Math

Speaking as someone who used a many variable mathematical model in their PhD thesis, I can confidently say that there are far to many variables involved over 6-8 combat encounters to be confident about any mathematical conclusion. However, cascade anomalies are not unlikely.