Unearthed Arcana New UA Paladin and Bard.

There's a new Unearthed Arcana in town! "The bard receives a new Bardic College feature: the College of Eloquence. Additionally, the paladin gains a new Sacred Oath feature: the Oath of Heroism."

 

[Gladius Legis]

Opens doc, scrolls to Paladin.

Hopes for Oath of Liberty or Freedom.

Doesn't see it.

Sighs.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Haha it’s a forum debater and a White Knight!

Oh sacred night I hate you right now....

Anyway, my thoughts on a quick read through.,

The Sorcerer is quite safe from being made obsolete. Partly because even if Undeniable Logic (seriously this subclass is going to facilitate really really obnoxious behavior), "make obsolete" a sorcerer metamagic option in some sense, and I'm not sure how it possibly could when they're two separate class and the two options do different things, there's nothing actually wrong with that. It's one metamagic option. If a player's whole concept is "giving enemies disad on saves"...expect more from your players.

It would be completely untenable nonsense to avoid mechanics for the rest of the life of the game just because one option out of several within one class feature does a similar thing.

It also requires a save to impose the effect on the target, where Heightened Spell doesn't. And this usage competes with the other usage.

Even if you made a character that had both this subclass and 6 levels of bard, and levels of sorcerer and Heighened Spell as one of their metamagic options, there would be times to use HS to simply apply disadvantage with no way out of that, and times where Obnoxious Logic would be the better option. Cool!

That aside, I think I really hate the bard subclass. Or least the names of it's abilities.

Level 3 is less fun than it could be. Calm Emotions is fine, I guess, but the other ability is just kinda...lame, to me. Just give me the ability to learn new languages easily, and give me like 5 bonus languages, and the ability to spend a BI to speak to creatures that can't normally speak any humanoid language. IDK, the idea of rolling to see how many people in a crowd can magically understand me is just...it's using the dice roll exclusively for the sake of making sure that the die gets rolled. It makes my eyes roll.

level 14 is fun, but over-complicated, and confusingly worded. Desperately needs a rewrite.

Speaking of that level 14 ability...

Can we just get a Bard that uses "Songs of" abilities to inspire the whole group? I have come torealise that this is the main thing that decreases my enjoyment of the Bard as a class in 5e, aside from the fact that spellcasting eats too much of the design space of the class, leaving too little room for the power of words and song and story, which is what I'd prefer the Bard's identity be based on.

Without getting into deep lore on worlds none of you will ever play in, I'll use an example of what I want to do as a Bard from a thing my friend did in a Star Wars game. The Sith army had boarded the ship, there was no victory here, only escape or death. My friend's Jedi defied that reality, stood in a doorway, told his fellows, "There is no death. There is only the Force." and ignited his lightsaber for a last stand. Inspiring everyone to victory in the process, though he fell in the course of that victory. That's a bard moment. The bard should be able to do that, and every ally that hears it is inspired in a way that no one else could accomplish.

So give me a damn subclass, or some Bard only spells, or something, that accomplishes this. Even in 4e, there were Daily Powers that inspired your whole group and were meant to be used early on or to turn the tide.

Anyway, on to the Paladin!

I love it. Print it as is.

 

[Parmandur]

So here are all the subclasses so far;

Path of the Wild Soul (Barbarian):
The realm of the Feywild abounds with beauty, unpredictable emotion, and rampant magic. A barbarian exposed to this realm feels emotions powerfully and magic saturates their body. When a barbarian who follows this path rages, it is a bellowing roar for freedom, an explosion of expression, manifesting in unpredictable ways.

Way of the Astral Self (Monk):
Monks of the Way of the Astral Self have an internal struggle with their ki. They see their mystical energy as a representation of their true form, an astral self. This form has the capacity to be a force of good or destruction, with some monasteries training students to either temper their nature or embrace their impulses.

Aberrant Mind (Sorcerer):
An alien influence has wrapped its tendrils around you, warping you in both body and mind. Perhaps a psychic splinter lodged in your psyche after you suffered domination by an aboleth. Maybe you were born somewhere tainted by the Far Realm, a planar blot that changed you forever. Or perhaps mind flayers kidnapped you, subjecting you to the nightmarish process of ceremorphosis—but the transformation failed and left you altered.

The Lurker in the Deep (Warlock):
You made a pact with an entity that lurks somewhere deep in the ocean, or even on the Elemental Plane of Water, such as a mighty kraken, an ancient primordial, or a monstrous being from creation’s earliest days. You serve as this creature’s eyes and ears, watching the world beyond its domain and reporting your findings. You may have gained this pact as a member of a cult dedicated to the entity or after your patron saved your life when you nearly drowned at sea.

College of Eloquence (Bard):
Adherents of the College of Eloquence master the art of oratory. Persuasion is regarded as a high art, and a well-reasoned, well-spoken argument often proves more powerful than objective truth. These bards wield a blend of logic and theatrical wordplay, winning over skeptics and detractors with logical arguments, and plucking at heartstrings to appeal to the emotions of entire audiences.

Oath of Heroism (Paladin):
The Oath of Heroism is an affirmation of a destined path, one laid out for you by divine hands. For whatever reason, a god or a group of gods has included you in their machinations. You are not a reluctant hero, but one who fully embraces the idea that great deeds are yours to achieve. You train diligently, sculpting your body and refining your skills so you’re ready when destiny calls.

I'll say overall, the only thing tying these various subclasses together is potentially each having a link to a region of Planescape, as several of the mention areas like the Feywild, the Astral Plane, the Far Realm, the elemental planes, "divine intervention," etc. Planescape is also considered the most popular setting without a book apart from Dark Sun (and these don't fit that), so I'm putting a new setting book for the planes at the top of my guess list.

The only other guess I could make is a new setting book that combines several Magic settings into one book, such as Zendikar, Theros, and maybe another, but I still think the Planescape theory fits better.

Why not both...?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Since each of these Unearthed Arcana are themed, I'm pondering what we might get for the Wizard/Cleric, Fighter/Rogue, and Ranger/Druid articles coming next...

 

[Parmandur]

Since each of these Unearthed Arcana are themed, I'm pondering what we might get for the Wizard/Cleric, Fighter/Rogue, and Ranger/Druid articles coming next...

I dunno, wonder what would fit with those Classes and Black or Green Mana?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I dunno, wonder what would fit with those Classes and Black or Green Mana?

Other than Ranger/Druid being really obvious Green.

 

[Gladius Legis]

But really, despite my initial disappointment that my long-desired Paladin Oath is nowhere to the found, the Oath of Heroism is pretty cool flavor-wise and solid mechanically.

 

[Parmandur]

Other than Ranger/Druid being really obvious Green.

Kinda covered by the PHB: I think a Hedge Wizard would fit, and maybe a Fighter Subclass.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The Crusader class got access to that school and a lot of it was about team work. In 4e a bunch of the team tactics related powers of the Warlord was inspired by the White Raven School.

Interesting!

They also tie into rescent and upcoming MtG card set worlds. The first two, especially the Barbarian fits Eldraine the current set location, the second fit Zendikar, which slated for fall 2020 and this current one fits Theros which is slated for Theros 2020.

I'm thinking instead of a single MtG setting, a compilation of MtG settings. One else suggested this in another thread, I forget who.

Next month's should confirm it.

I think that may have been me. Well, I know I suggested it, but I don't know if I'm who you are remembering. Anyway, yes, I really think we are going to get Chandra's/Nyssa's/The Gatewatch Guide to The Multi-Verse/The Planes, which will detail several MtG worlds, at least 1 or 2 classic DnD worlds, and some or all of the Planes of DnD, with rules and guidelines for playing in a multiversal campaign, as such, as well as worldbuilding advice, etc.

 

[Guest 6801328]

But really, despite my initial disappointment that my long-desired Paladin Oath is nowhere to the found, the Oath of Heroism is pretty cool flavor-wise and solid mechanically.

You still get to charge heedlessly and headlong into danger, but for entirely new reasons!