New D&D Unearthed Arcana Reveals Two New Subclasses for Monk and Sorcerer, Plus Revamps For Seven More

Wizards of the Coast has a new Unearthed Arcana playtest for Dungeons & Dragons, featuring revamps of seven existing Arcane-themed subclasses, plus two new subclasses. Today, Wizards of the Coast unveiled a new Arcane Subclass Unearthed Arcana, featuring the following subclasses:

• Arcana Domain Cleric
• Arcane Archer Fighter
• Hexblade Patron Warlock
• Conjurer Wizard
• Enchanter Wizard
• Necromancer Wizard
• Transmuter Wizard
• Tattooed Warrior Monk
• Ancestral Sorcery Sorcerer

Notably, the Hexblade Patron and Necromancer Wizard were both relatively high on the wishlist of many D&D players.

That Tattooed Warrior grants the Monk access to several magic tattoos with specific effects that enhance various monk abilities. The Ancestral Sorcery plays off the idea of having a powerful magical ancestor that grants them guidance and direction from beyond. Notably, the ancestral spirit has an spectral haze form and can even Frighten those around the sorcerer at higher levels.

Some of the notable changes in the UA include a revised Arcane Shot ability that comes with an Arcane Shot die used to deal extra damage that ramps up in size, the Conjurer Wizard's benign transposition starts at an earlier level as does Durable Summons, the Enchanter Wizard has some more versatile low-level options that replace Hypnotic Gaze, and the Necromancer has been wholly redesigned with an emphasis on generating temporary hit points for the wizard, their party members, and undead thralls.

 

[Remathilis]

I am guessing the horror subclass UA was for the October release, and I'm still thinking it's the Ravenloft steampunk domain Lamordia. That may mean this UA is for the November release of the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. It actually makes sense because FR is high magic and these are subclasses are tailored for that world. The Thayans are well-known for their Necromancy prowess so placing the Necromancy subclass in the FR fits very well.

We've already had the FR subclass UA, before the horror ones. This is probably for a 2026 project.(The psion and horror are too, most likely).

 

[Parmandur]

Given this is Arcane subclasses, does anyone think we could also get Martial & Divine subclass UAs?

Very possible.

 

[Parmandur]

We've already had the FR subclass UA, before the horror ones. This is probably for a 2026 project.(The psion and horror are too, most likely).

The Horror may still be for something specific...we'll probavly start hearing about the October book soon, if it is still on.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

This could be for a book like Tome of Magic

 

[Paul Farquhar]

This could be for a book like Tome of Magic

And a Ravenloft book, and a Psion book, along with the Eberron book and the FR book that are announced?! It looks increasingly like WotC are doing some gaslighting to me! Probably just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks for a generic player options book next year.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

OK. Hear me out... What if the Arcane Archer could choose Int or Cha as it's secondary ability? It's not a book class like the Wizard so it doesn't have to be Int-based, and there are more Charisma arcane traditions than Int. (Wis seems too useful and not "arcane", but maybe it allows for a Seeker build?)

I think that the damage scaling should be reviewed to make sure it stays competitive with the Battle Master. Do the math for both PB and Ability Mod progression for comparison. If it falls behind, maybe at higher level you can add the Secondary ability mod to the damage to make that ability more desirable? Or should another die be added to all shots later in the progression? Is 3d12 at 17th level a big problem?

As for the actual Arcane Shots, fiddle with them to make them a little more competitive with each other. Maybe the single target shots get reviewed to see if they get another die added on top?

Not all of the above suggestions should be applied at the same time, but pick something to make it juicier.

 

[mellored]

Burning through your Cool Points in a couple rounds and then having a bunch of dead features just sucks.

That's certainly a valid opinion. But it applies to BM as well.

Also about your math,

Well I screwed it up.
Curving shot can be used every round, but I only added it once per short rest.
And every ready shot can add another die or 2.
So AA does even more damage than I calculated.

while I'm usually not one to focus on high level play, it breaks entirely when BM gets Relentless at 15th level and can use a maneuver twice a round every round. The fact that AA lacks anything like that rather stands out.

I'll point out that Curving Shot scales somewhat at level 11 and 17. As you get more chances to miss.

But I agree BM 15 is pretty sweet, and a lot more interesting. And more damage.

AA 15, assuming 20 Int, is +10 damage per short rest.
BM is 12 damage in 3 rounds, plus effects.

 

[Rushbolt]

We've already had the FR subclass UA, before the horror ones. This is probably for a 2026 project.(The psion and horror are too, most likely).

Yeah I forgot about the FR playtest. Actually deleted my post.

 

[dalisprime]

This could be for a book like Tome of Magic

This takes me back. Anyone else wish WotC would abandon their sterile class design and experiment more like they did in Tome of Magic and other 3.5e splats?

 

[Kurotowa]

Curving shot can be used every round, but I only added it once per short rest.
And every ready shot can add another die or 2.
So AA does even more damage than I calculated.

Curving Shot is one of those ones that's really hard to model in a simple damage calculation because it has so many caveats. Yes, it can potentially turn a miss into a hit once every turn. If your Bonus Action is free, if you have a second enemy to attack, if you don't mind spreading your damage away from the priority target.

So it's great against mobs of weak enemies where there's lots of targets and you don't really mind which one you're hitting, but it turns off entirely when you're up against a big solo boss monster. Now yes, a lot of encounters will fall somewhere in between those two extremes. But you can't realistically model it as just "get a second chance on a missed attack every turn".