Unearthed Arcana June Unearthed Arcana: Druid Shepherd, Fighter Cavalier, and Paladin of Conquest

The latest Unearthed Arcana from Mearls and Crawford revisits four subclasses from earlier UA articles. "Part of the fun of playtesting is seeing how feedback and play can push a design in new directions. In this month’s Unearthed Arcana, we revisit class material that appeared in previous installments: four subclasses for various classes, along with Eldritch Invocations for the warlock. This material was all popular, and the revisions to it were driven by feedback that thousands of you provided in surveys. The updated subclasses are the druid’s Circle of the Shepherd, the fighter’s Cavalier, the paladin’s Oath of Conquest, and the warlock’s Celestial (formerly known as the Undying Light). One of the main pieces of feedback we got about the Eldritch Invocations is that most players didn’t want them exclusive to particular Otherworldly Patron options, so we’ve opened them up to more warlocks, tweaked them, and cut the least popular ones."

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[Yunru]

That's the only time it does go away.

Nope. It goes away if it's any magic weapon, not just one granting a bonus +X.

A Frost Band Sword, for example, loses you the bonus just as much as a +2 Sword does.

 

[Flamestrike]

The difference is that the paladin has more spell slots, albeit lower-level ones. Up to 10th level, the warlock only has two spell slots (per short rest), while the 10th level paladin has a total of 9 slots of 1st through 3rd level.

And the warlock's slots can generally be used to do more interesting things. Blight with a 5th level slot would deal 9d8 (save for half). A fiend-pact warlock could fireball for 10d6. Or you could cast fly, hold monster, or hypnotic pattern.

And the warlocks two spell slots are fifth level (6d8) and have been since ninth level, whereas the Paladin has barely only just hit third (4d8). Factoring in the recommended 2 to 3 short rests per day, that's enough for 6-8 x 6d8 smites per long rest, increasing to 9-12/day, 1 level later at 11th.

+72d8 of smite damage makes the paladin 11 cry. Yeah the paladin does get plus 1D8 to all attacks at 11th level but the warlock gets plus charisma to damage one level later.

Adding in the free trip attack (no save) on huge or smaller creatures and the warlock is comfortably in front.

Did I mention he's also a full ninth level spellcaster?

 

[Flamestrike]

Nope. It goes away if it's any magic weapon, not just one granting a bonus +X.

If you find a magic weapon and want to turn it into your pact weapon simply swap out the invocation up on gaining a level.

What's the big deal?

 

[Flamestrike]

They killed greatweapon hexblade builds right? I don't see any reason to do a STR build, except for the 2d6 instead of 1d10, but the amount of cha riders all over negate that. I'd like to see a heavy weapon invocation, or some love in the final hexblade version.

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Three words: great weapon master.

Also the hex blade is still a class - it remains to be seen what they've done for with plus charisma to hit and damage. My gut tells the day either removed it completely or allowed it to be used with two-handed weapons.

 

[Flamestrike]

Wut?

You can't compare many slots to two slots.

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Why not? Youre comparing long rests to short rests.

Hang on, I forgot you don't police the adventuring day in your campaigns.

When this comes on line at 5th level the warlock is spamming third level slots. Two per short rest. Of which the game assumes (if the DM is doing his job) that there will be between 2 to 3 there of each long rest. So 6-8 slots of +4d8.

24-32d8 per long rest.

The paladin 5 is stuck with 4 x firsts and 2 x 2nds.

14d8 per long rest.

After a single short rest, the warlock is already in front.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Whether the invocations are assigned to specific patrons or not doesn't matter at all to me. If they had been included and I didn't like it, I would have ignored them. If they don't include them and I decide that I want "patron-specific" invocations, I'll assign and make a list of which invocations go to which patron myself on a Word doc. It'll take all of 3 minutes. 7 if I actually type out the entire description of each one.

 

[gyor]

Why not? Youre comparing long rests to short rests.

Hang on, I forgot you don't police the adventuring day in your campaigns.

When this comes on line at 5th level the warlock is spamming third level slots. Two per short rest. Of which the game assumes (if the DM is doing his job) that there will be between 2 to 3 there of each long rest. So 6-8 slots of +4d8.

24-32d8 per long rest.

The paladin 5 is stuck with 4 x firsts and 2 x 2nds.

14d8 per long rest.

After a single short rest, the warlock is already in front.

The Warlock is a better Paladin then the Paladin, they, should nerf the warlock smites to 1D4 instead of 1D8.

 

[Corwin]

The Warlock is a better Paladin then the Paladin, they, should nerf the warlock smites to 1D4 instead of 1D8.

Totally. And then they need to nerf the paladin's HD down and get rid of their better armor proficiencies, too! Not to mention all the other things they have that are different. I mean, everyone knows smite is all the paladin really is, amIright?

 

[SkidAce]

Thanks. I fell off the numbering band wagon and you saved me the time needed to check dates. It's appreciated.

Why they don't just maintain a consistent naming scheme with numbers is kinda baffling.

Guess they just sort by date modified....

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Declaring an offensive action? The DM calls for initiative.

Why would I do that? There's nothing happening that needs initiative to resolve.

A Hexed creature realises it has been hexed. It is also a fair assumption that the text itself involves the evil eye, or you otherwise laying a curse ('Your eyes glow red as you point your index finger at the King and declare the King will for evermore be mentally deficient, as arcane energy streams from your finger to the King') upon your target.

Maybe in your game. Not in mine, and not in Jeremy Crawford's: https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford...tp://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/01/14/hex-effect/

Hi @JeremyECrawford! Does a character know it's under the effect of a hex spell?

@Sleylock Typically, a target doesn't know it's under the effect of a spell like hex until it experiences the spell's effects.

Crawford doesn't explain his reasoning, but my reasoning is that Hex is clearly designed to have noncombat uses as well as combat uses; and it wouldn't fulfill those functions if Hexing were always overt.

Just because an action or bonus action doesn't specify the exact visual or other perceptual stimulus behind that action doesn't mean that it doesn't have any stimuli.

If you read what I wrote, you'll know I share this opinion--it would be better from a roleplaying perspective for Hex to nail this down one way or the other by specifying HOW you transfer the Hex, instead of just handwaving it as something you do with "a bonus action." After all, if you leave everything undefined except in terms of combat jargon ("bonus action"), you (the game designer) are just asking for DMs to interpret everything through the lens of combat, whether that is intended or not.