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]

The Explorers Guide and Netherdeep were both published by WotC but through a licensing deal with Critical Role. None of the options have since be reprinted in other books because they can’t be.

The only time those options can be used by WotC is in Critical Role licensed products. It’s very similar to how Marvel and Sony work together on Spider-Man films but marvel can’t just use Spider-Man outside of their agreement.

So the three Wildemount subclasses aren’t coming back. Other subclasses like the Undying Warlock or Long Death Monk have been replaced with thematically similar but mechanically superior options like Undead Warlock and Mercy Monk.

Maybe Jeremy and Chris can give them the 2024 treatment when Darrington releases a new 3pp CR book.

 

[Remathilis]

Piggy-backing off this. So far the two themed UA's included 8 subclasses (not including the Hexblade rework in Arcane which bumped it up to 9) and 2 of them were new, so other themes will likely follow a similar pattern.

I don't know if they are going to be so clean as this, but I wouldn't be surprised if we do get more themed bundle UAs. Then again, the Forgotten Realms book only had three reprints (knowledge, bladesong, and PDK) and a swath of new subs. We could very well end up with a UA around some theme that only has a few reprints and LOT of new as well.