New Unearthed Arcana Brings Back Five Subclasses

Five existing D&D subclasses are getting a rework in a newly released Unearthed Arcana. Four of the subclasses come from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, while the fifth is the Oathbreaker subclass for Paladins from the 2014 Player’s Handbook.

The revised subclasses are:

• Path of the Spiritual Guardian Barbarian (previously Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
• Path of the Storm Herald Barbarian
• Cavalier Fighter
• Warrior of Intoxication Monk (formerly Way of the Drunken Master)
• Oathbreaker Paladin

The Path of the Spiritual Guardian has received a revamped Spiritual Protectors ability with a choice of effects. The Storm Herald’s Storm Aura now scales with Rage damage and the Raging Storm now has redesigned environments. The Cavalier’s Unwavering Mark no longer has limited uses. The Warrior of Intoxication now has the ability to create potent drinks that grant abilities when drank. The Oathbreaker has received some updates bringing its abilities in line with the revamped Paladin’s ability.

The survey for the new subclasses opens on November 6th.

 

[GarrettKP]

Not mutually exclusive: the Class and Subclasses tested for Rising from the Last War and rhe subclasses for Mythic Odysseys of theros also were published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

In some cases yes. But there’s also content for those books that never got carried over to the setting agnostic books, like the Warforged or Leonin species.

Gladiator Fighter I could see coming over to an Everything book, but stuff like the Sorcerer King Warlock Patron likely wouldn’t be brought over.

 

[Parmandur]

In some cases yes. But there’s also content for those books that never got carried over to the setting agnostic books, like the Warforged or Leonin species.

Gladiator Fighter I could see coming over to an Everything book, but stuff like the Sorcerer King Warlock Patron likely wouldn’t be brought over.

True, but the Subclasses specifically, which is all we have seen, did. Just saying, some of these could easily be for multiple books: say a Ravenloft revisit, a Dark Sun product, AND an Everything book with overlap.

 

[Afroconan]

I saw somewhere "Warrior of the Drunken Fist" and I think it fits perfectly.

Warrior of Intoxication sounds like someone who eats bad shellfish to get their powers.

The chuds are going to have a good one just from that name alone.

 

[Chaltab]

Removing the limit on the Cavalier’s mark is great. Hook that 4e Defender class action right to my veins.

I still think that Vigilant Defender should hit at level 10 or 15 instead of 18. By 18 it's so late in the game and monsters have so many ways of avoiding provoking OAs that it feels underwhelming.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I quite like the Barbarian subclass updates, though I still think fire damage for a desert barbarian feels forced. I get that causing exhaustion would be overpowered, but deserts aren’t full of fire, they’re just dry, and they’re cold a good half of the time. Ah, well.

Removing the limit on the Cavalier’s mark is great. Hook that 4e Defender class action right to my veins.

The drunken monk is a complete mess, like I says. It stil (IMO correctly) says it’s about imitating the movements of “the intoxicated” not about actually being drunk, but then for some reason decides it needs magic potions… which have nothing to do with being drunk anyway, so why are they here?

Oathbreaker is still trying to be an antipaladin when it should be a fallen paladin. Take all the undead, fiend, necrotic damage stuff, put it in its own Oath of the Balckguard subclass, and bring back the old UA Oath of Conquest mechanics for a proper Oathbreaker. Give the Blackguard the tenants about fear and domination, and give the Oathbreaker tenants about doing what must be done at any cost, even your own honor. Oathbreakers should be anti-heroes, with Blackguards as the full-on villains.

Totally agree that Drunken Monk and Oathbreaker are two concepts smashed into one.

I'll go one further and say Cavalier and Storm Herald are a thematic mess, too.

Cavalier is a combination of defender mechanics and mounted combat mechanics. I would really prefer to have these split in two. I think there's a design space for a 4E style Defender AND a mounted fighter (with land, sea, or flying mounts). But they should not be the same subclass.

Storm Herald...is supposed to be about storms, I guess. You know, Thor. Yet the features are named after terrain. What, exactly is the difference between a sea storm and a desert storm? And why would you name them this way? Something's just...off?

A weakness of 5E is subclass design, including the thematics around it.

 

[Charlaquin]

I still think that Vigilant Defender should hit at level 10 or 15 instead of 18. By 18 it's so late in the game and monsters have so many ways of avoiding provoking OAs that it feels underwhelming.

I agree, though subclass abilities coming way too late is a pretty universal problem in the game.

 

[Scribe]

Changing Way of the Drunken Master to Warrior of Intoxication Monk feels like a bad parody of a sensitivity reader suggestion.

 

[Charlaquin]

Totally agree that Drunken Monk and Oathbreaker are two concepts smashed into one.

I'll go one further and say Cavalier and Storm Herald are a thematic mess, too.

That’s a fair assessment

Cavalier is a combination of defender mechanics and mounted combat mechanics. I would really prefer to have these split in two. I think there's a design space for a 4E style Defender AND a mounted fighter (with land, sea, or flying mounts). But they should not be the same subclass.

I definitely think there’s room for a full defender subclass. Not sure there’s room for a full mounted fitghter subclass. Not due to lack of design space, but due to the narrow usefulness of mounts. A lot of places adventurers tend to go adventuring are not very mount-accessible. And there is synergy between the defender mechanics and mounted combat, because your mount insures you always have a creature in range to use your defender abilities to protect.

Storm Herald...is supposed to be about storms, I guess. You know, Thor. Yet the features are named after terrain. What, exactly is the difference between a sea storm and a desert storm? And why would you name them this way? Something's just...off?

Conceptually, a desert storm is like a sandstorm, whereas a sea storm is a tempest. It’s choking dust and abrasive grit vs drowning rain, capsizing waves, and lightning. And then the tundra storm is a blizzard. Freezing rime and crushing snowfall.

 

[Yaarel]

I don't know how you think "Intoxication Monk" sounds better unless you've already been drinking heavily.

I am thinking about calling the subclass the Slosh.

 

[Parmandur]

Totally agree that Drunken Monk and Oathbreaker are two concepts smashed into one.

I'll go one further and say Cavalier and Storm Herald are a thematic mess, too.

Cavalier is a combination of defender mechanics and mounted combat mechanics. I would really prefer to have these split in two. I think there's a design space for a 4E style Defender AND a mounted fighter (with land, sea, or flying mounts). But they should not be the same subclass.

Storm Herald...is supposed to be about storms, I guess. You know, Thor. Yet the features are named after terrain. What, exactly is the difference between a sea storm and a desert storm? And why would you name them this way? Something's just...off?

A weakness of 5E is subclass design, including the thematics around it.

Thor is the Tempest Cleric note for note (which I am gonna just predict coming along here eventually), and the Cavalier being the Defender class in D&D goes back to before I was born: