Unearthed Arcana New UA: 43 D&D Class Feature Variants

The latest Unearthed Arcana is a big 13-page document! “Every character class in D&D has features, and every class gets one or more class feature variants in today’s Unearthed Arcana! These variants replace or enhance a class’s normal features, giving you new ways to enjoy your character’s class.”

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[cbwjm]

Some excellent ideas here, I like that ranger and paladin can use their fighting style to pick up cantrips instead. I already allow switching out spells (mainly if the player feels like they aren't really getting any use out of it). The new fighting styles are pretty cool, I've been trying to figure out a good style for throwing and I don't think it occurred to me that you couldn't draw a weapon as part of the attack when throwing weapons.

 

[tetrasodium]

I really like the new options. There are some very eberronyish feeling shifts with bein able to shift skills/cantrips & the barbarian options really fit with it having acual education systems & such in place. I wish that the wizard cantrip shift was onRest rather than onLevel like everyone else's though, the spellbook is supposed to grant that kind of flexibility.

 

[Undrave]

Some excellent ideas here, I like that ranger and paladin can use their fighting style to pick up cantrips instead. I already allow switching out spells (mainly if the player feels like they aren't really getting any use out of it). The new fighting styles are pretty cool, I've been trying to figure out a good style for throwing and I don't think it occurred to me that you couldn't draw a weapon as part of the attack when throwing weapons.

You can draw a weapon but that's only once per turn so I think this is meant to be every time?

 

[cbwjm]

You can draw a weapon but that's only once per turn so I think this is meant to be an additional time?

I think so, I remember the free object interaction when people are drawing a second weapon, I guess I just never really considered it for thrown weapons and instead treated them like ammo for bows where you can make as many attacks as you have throwing weapons.

 

[Sacrosanct]

You can draw a weapon but that's only once per turn so I think this is meant to be every time?

my interpretation was that you can draw as many weapons as you have attacks. So a fifth level dual wielding fighter could draw and throw three daggers (2 normal plus bonus offhand weapon), all with an additional +1 damage.

 

[Xenonnonex]

It is about goddamned time 5e included something like this.

 

[Sunsword]

I like the idea of alternate class features but, IMO, the enhancements are crazy. Too much power creep in enhancements.

 

[Jay Verkuilen]

It's only ONE spell per day so this will mostly be use for more niche spells. Like in my party where our main caster is a Warlock and we could REALLY use a Sending spell to contact our home base, but it's not worth keeping it on the Warlock for a long time.

Yes, I agree. My guess is that this isn't something that'd be used a ton either. As you say, for niche spells.

 

[Undrave]

Yes, I agree. My guess is that this isn't something that'd be used a ton either. As you say, for niche spells.

I don't know anyone who even considers changing all their spells on a day to day basis anyway.

I know my Druid had a default load out ready, plus a few secondary choices I kept in mind in case of specific situations and some I never even considered preparing.

 

[Jay Verkuilen]

1. A lot of the Versatility options are things I already offer as a DM. Being able to retrain when you realize that some things aren't working is important. But I like having them in print.

I'm not playing AL but I bet the fact that these (or some version anyway) are likely to become official will help people who have more rules restrictions. I also agree about there being a decent aspect to it being semi-official or official. Some groups' social contract really restricts things to being "official." (In some cases this is due to seriously crazy things back in the D20 glut days.)

2.

Expanded Spell Lists: Still no Shapechange for Sorcerers? Aside from that, these are solid expansions, and I have no major quibbles.

There are a number I think should have been added. For example, those feat tax invocations that let a Warlock cast iconic spells like Polymorph or Bane seem like things that should simply been on the class' list in the first place. Bards having access to both Bless and Bane also make sense, assuming these represent the bard singing either praises or insults. Still no Bless (without Magical Secrets, anyway).

 

[Jay Verkuilen]

So now who doesn't think something like Xanathar's 2 isn't in the works?

Xanathar's 2: Electric Boogaloo?

 

[Undrave]

my interpretation was that you can draw as many weapons as you have attacks. So a fifth level dual wielding fighter could draw and throw three daggers (2 normal plus bonus offhand weapon), all with an additional +1 damage.

We can finally make a knife thrower fighter

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I like the concept of variants, where you can customize your PCs changing some class features, like the archetypes of Pathfinder. Do you remember the gladiator from "Dark Sun"? it was a fighter with some little changes.

I like the concept of class and racial feats from Pathfinder. And I miss something like the article "martial cultures" from Dragon Magazine, where some races had got a different list of racial traits to can play with nature classes as ranger or druid.

And I say again some concepts as swashbuckler, knight, assassin, ninja or samurai shouldn't only subclasses but base classes. Some 3rd Party have done it.

 

[tetrasodium]

Xanathar's 2: Electric Boogaloo?

I think that it's more "Rather than reprint every core class with fluff & boundaries more linked to eberron than FR, there will be some fluff & some optional x replaces/extends y ability" things like how PF archtypes work

 

[Ashrym]

Welcome to 5.5th edition.

That's exactly what my first thought was, lol.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

It is not 5.5 but "remastered/reforged edition".

 

[Jay Verkuilen]

My guess is that they see that people both like to play one character through an entire campaign AND like to try out different builds and stuff. Interesting.

Right. One thing I often find is that one build either doesn't fit the story of the character over time, it starts to get boring in play/doesn't fit with the character concept, or both. Some people switch out characters entirely, which is fine in some cases, but others want to respec. I tend to try to tie story changes with respec, but it may be driven by the way the character is going or dissatisfaction with the play.

 

[Hussar]

Under Monks - Quickened healing - what is a "Martial Arts die"?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Under Monks - Quickened healing - what is a "Martial Arts die"?

The damage dice of your unarmed strikes.

 

[Al2O3]

I wonder how much of this is intended to address power creep in other areas. The UA Artificer Battlesmith seemed on the verge of being a better Beast master than the Ranger. This UA solves that issue, probably. So there might be some power creep, but at least this might help making it balanced power creep.