Dungeons & Dragons Releases Updated Unearthed Arcana for Arcane Subclasses

Dungeons & Dragons has released an updated set of Unearthed Arcana, incorporating feedback about the Arcane Subclasses released for playtesting earlier this year. Included in the new subclass is the Arcane Archer Fighter, Tattooed Warrior Monk, and the Conjurer, Transmuter, Necromancer, and Enchanter Wizard classes.

The Arcane Archer has several new features, including Magical Ammunition that can be used outside of combat and a new Arcane Burst that pushes creatures away when the Indomitable feature is used. The Tattooed Warrior Monk has also been redesigned, with magical abilities that are no longer spellcasting, along with Beast Tattoos that provide cantrips in addition to enhancing other core Monk features.

Meanwhile, the Conjurer Wizard now emphasizes summoning spells with creatures that are much more durable, the Enchanter has moved back to a subclass similar to the 2014 design, the Necromancer now has ways to summon multiple Undead creatures, and the Transmuter now has shape-shifting ability. With the Transmuter ability, the Durability option of the Transmuter's Stone is now included as a default, as that option was seen as the strongest and other options were considered far inferior.

Three other subclasses from the original playtest - two Warlock subclasses and a Cleric Domain - were not included in the new playtest.

 

[Kurotowa]

It's not a video game; you don't unlock the necromancer class after beating the game on hard difficulty to prove you know the mechanics. There's nothing stopping a bad player from picking the subclass and mucking things up for the whole table.

D&D is constantly walking a fine line between "We can't hold your hand through everything and cover every corner case, you're running your own game and are the final arbiter of the rules for it" and "You know, trap options are probably not a good thing to include, and we should try to put some limits on the performance delta between high and low system mastery". And I think that's just how the TTRPG medium works.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

D&D is constantly walking a fine line between "We can't hold your hand through everything and cover every corner case, you're running your own game and are the final arbiter of the rules for it" and "You know, trap options are probably not a good thing to include, and we should try to put some limits on the performance delta between high and low system mastery". And I think that's just how the TTRPG medium works.

While it's reasonable to expect the DM to have more rules knowledge and system mastery than the players, there are plenty of realistic scenarios where the DM may not know the rules well enough to compensate for a problematic player, problematic class or, god forbid, both, and if you want people to spend money on your supplements, you have to prevent those scenarios from becoming commonplace.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

D&D is constantly walking a fine line between "We can't hold your hand through everything and cover every corner case, you're running your own game and are the final arbiter of the rules for it" and "You know, trap options are probably not a good thing to include, and we should try to put some limits on the performance delta between high and low system mastery". And I think that's just how the TTRPG medium works.

If I were in charge at WotC, I'd foreground "hey, don't be a jerk and if someone's a jerk, don't play with them" and explicitly get out of the game of trying to manage table dynamics, which seems to be at the root of a lot of issues. Other RPGs devote a lot more ink to the idea of the DM being a fan of the players' characters, which I think it largely the right idea.

But fixing trap mechanics -- or not adding new dopey stuff, like the 2024 hide mechanics -- should 100% be their job.

 

[Stormonu]

I think Animate Dead is a problematic spell based on the sheer number of actions someone with a high number of minions using a high level slot will take. The spell should have been fixed when they changed all of the Conjure spells. Sure the making the undead more expendable features of the subclass might reduce those 10+ actions taken more regularly, but it's still a problem with a high level Necromancers turn being really long.

If any character starts spamming monsters, just reach for the Mob rules in the DMG, that will handle them in combat. And make the player learn them or tell them to cut it out.