D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Shows Us The New Druid & Paladin

WotC has released the fourth One D&D playtest document. This 29-page PDF includes the druid and the paladin with Circle of the Moon and Oath of Devotion subclasses.

Druid. The Druid class and Circle of the Moon subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Paladin. The Paladin class and Oath of Devotion subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Feats. Several revised feats appear here for your feedback, with more revised feats coming in future articles.

Spells. More spells are ready for playtesting, with a focus on smite spells, Find Familiar, and Find Steed.

Rules Glossary. The rules glossary has been updated again and supersedes the glossary in previous Unearthed Arcana articles. In this document, any underlined term in the body text appears in that glossary, which defines game terms that have been clarified or redefined for this playtest or that don’t appear in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.

Claim Unearthed Arcana now! - D&D Beyond

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Burnside]

So D&DB still will have both books available to use and you'll probably just see a switch to flip in the character creator section that asks you which PHB to use (like they have switches for Homebrew Content, Critical Role Content, Magic: The Gathering Content, Eberron Content etc. etc.)

In an ideal world. I'll believe it when I see it, because the changes are a lot more technically complex then just turning on or off a few sources with some extra sub-classes and backgrounds.

 

[Azzy]

im sorry you don't like what we are talking about... if it was threadcapping no one would respond... the discusion is the back and forth

Way to take the higher ground.

 

[DEFCON 1]

In an ideal world. I'll believe it when I see it, because the changes are a lot more technically complex then just turning on or off a few sources with some extra sub-classes and backgrounds.

That's all any of us can do. But then again, even the current D&DB does not allow all potential rules changes to be used within it, so it's not like that program is this pristine artifact to begin with.

 

[Maxperson]

Yep. That's another change to the druid that absolutely sucks.

Yeah. It seems really odd that a druid can become a mouse, but have a 20 strength and dex because he has a 20 wisdom. I mean talk about Mighty Mouse!

 

[shadowoflameth]

My initial thoughts on the new play test Paladin. (haven't played yet). Where do I begin? It's BAD when it could very simply be made good. Stop it with changing how critical hits work. As written, the extra dice on a Divine Smite wouldn't double on a critical hit, but the dice on a smite spell would. Mr. Crawford says they don't want the Nova of using both on the same attack. Be consistent. You can solve the same problems by having the Smite spells follow the Greenflame Blade model where the somatic component of the Magic action would be making one melee attack. Make Divine Smite do extra damage and make it the Attack action. I'm not in love with ranged weapon smites. Make that a feat. Doing a Divine Smite shouldn't preclude casting a spell on the same turn. This was designed specifically to stop a 'Nova Attack'. This is less fun for the Paladin player, and doing a Divine Smite should not stop the player from casting a spell as a bonus action or reaction, and Using a Smite spell should cost you your bonus action if the aim is to make it easier to use in play. Smiting with unarmed strike I think is fine. Many players want it and there is little opportunity for abuse. Ranged smites I can see being abused especially smite spells by clerics.

The Steed, similarly to the Druid Wildshape is BAD. The template does not let the mount have the normal actions and powers of the creature. Just say you call a spirit in the form of a warhorse or whatever beast with the exceptions of whatever kind that use your ability instead. Stop it with the, Yes, it's my warhorse, but it can't attack with bludgeoning damage or trample, it does radiant damage and it can heal. Just put a CR cap on the creature based on the spell used. (also, cap the the CR at 5th spell level so that Clerics don't get better steeds than paladins do.

Leave Cleansing Touch alone. The change to only cleansing Poisoned isn't terrible, but it's a Nerf without a good reason. Perhaps a feat or feats to expand it's usefulness?

TLDR. Let Divine Smite crit, separate them from smite spells without requiring your bonus action. Let your steed be like the creature you choose, not just a template and let it have actions that fit the creature not just generic ones.

 

[SkidAce]

While reading through this thread, at least a few people said or implied that "looking up" wild shapes is a pain.
In a pre-internet era, I would have agreed.

However, researching available wild shapes is very easy:
- If you have a D&D Beyond account, you can easily filter on beasts with the appropriate CR.
- Alternatively, you can type "5E beast CRX" into Google, and get an instant list
- Or the best option IMO, research which beasts you want to use before the game (choosing several based on their abilities, and the situations you are likely to face), have that list readily available at the table, and give a copy to the DM.

(Of course the list would include the stats of each beast)

This is the Way.

 

[cranberry]

Ya know, if someone was developing a new VTT, it sure would be easier to code for a single generic stat block than to code for all possible beasts...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

see the point is to lable it... to be able to say "i'm playing this and your playing this so we have the same base line. or I am playing this and you are playing that so we have a diffrent baseline...

by now, today in the 2014 version of the game (5e, 16th3, next what every you want to lable it) we already have sub break downs...
"Im playing 5e"
"I'm playing 5e with the tash rules and that MotM rules"
"I'm playing 5e with some of the MotM rules but not the tasha rules"

I don't see the point in adding "2014" and "2024" to it

Ok. So lets not agree to disagree. You still try to convince me of your viewpoint, which is impossible, because I don't see it having any ground. If you dismiss any attempt to just agree, that different points of views are possible, I have to say: labelling it 6e now in my view is completely bollocks and grabbed out of thin air...
You have redefined what constitutes an edition several times. Oh skills and powers are the same edition, no I have seen it called 3e. Dark sun a setting? No. It is a different game in disguise. Sorry at that point you just prove that edition does not carry any weight.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

This is the Way.

Oh yes: plan ahead what creatures one happens to stumbe upon... how I always play it...

Edit:
RPG = "Railroad Planning Game" isn't it?
D&D = "Druids and Data"

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Ya know, if someone was developing a new VTT, it sure would be easier to code for a single generic stat block than to code for all possible beasts...

Nope. If actually the opposite way. It is one more block you have to implement, which feeds on your game stats and has a lot of dependencies.
It is a lot easier to just take the animal block that is in the database anyway and replace your druid with that.