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.

 

[Parmandur]

Probably both. They are not going to add a new core class then force people to buy a setting they may have no interest in in order to get it.

Yeah, WotC has happily reprinted options before. They don't expect people to buy every book.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah so, in my view, the drunken master is kind of a racist trope, not the least reason being for the colonistic legacy of weaponized alcohol addiction. And l agree with you about the pains of alcoholism on family systems: alcoholism can destroy lives, no matter the context. But the martial arts movies are so fun that I guess WotC wanted to add this trope anyway??

But in this revision, instead of addressing the core problems, WOTC is doubling down on it. If it's not about intoxicating beverages, then WHY is it about intoxicating beverages??

If WOTC were trying to support people with "traumatic correlations to people who drink excessively," especially if that correlation is racially coded, then they have failed stupendously both through its name and through its design.

I mean, the Drunken Fist style is an actual martial art tradition that has no connection to colonialism...or actually being drunk.

 

[Xethreau]

I mean, the Drunken Fist style is an actual martial art tradition that has no connection to colonialism...or actually being drunk.

Exactly! The problem is adding and requiring an intoxicating drink. The RL fighting style is not about Intoxication.

Someone who focuses on ecstatic meditation and practices a combat style that mimics the fluidity of a drunken person is not itself problematic. It can even be educational!

But saying that you have to drink an intoxicant, and then saying it is not about alcoholic connotations, is nothing less than the Way of the Mental Gymnast.

 

[tetrasodium]

Does "intoxication" really suggest, to the average person, significantly less inebriation than "drunken?" Certainly, if I told a cop that I wasn't "drunk," I was "intoxicated," I'd expect I'd be getting a free ride to the station house in the back of a patrol vehicle.

I can understand not wanting to sell a book that says "hey, kid, now your character gets wasted before fighting the dragon," but I'm not sure this change really achieves that goal.

Maybe it gives a wider spectrum on the scale of rock lee drunken fist

To the more dignified and composed Shunsui Kyōraku rather than just slapstick Jackie Chan comedy fighting?

 

[Horwath]

Go home WotC, you're drunk, err, sorry, intoxicated.

 

[Parmandur]

8 from Xanathar's (sort of 9 if we count the Oathbreaker as a Conquest Paladin)

There are 4 Xanathar's Subclasses promoted and updated in the new PHB (Zealot Barbarian, Glamour Bard, Gloomstalker Ranger, and celestial Warlock) so with these 8 updated versions that leaves 19 on the table as potential test subjects (or 18 if we count Oathbreaker as a replacement for the Conquest Paladin):

• Bard: College of Swords, College of Whispers
• Cleric: Forge Domain
• Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of Shepherds
• Fighter: Samurai
• Monk: Kensei, Sun Soul
• Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
• Ranger: Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer
• Rogue: Scout, Inquisitive, Swashbuckler, Mastermind
• Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Storm Sorcerey
• Wizard: War Magic

All the Barbarian and Warlock options are accounted for in UA or the PHB at this time.

Some of these seem very likely to come up again (Swashbuckler was tested for the new PHB, even, before the Psionic options came in).

Others seem like maybe the new PHB made the core concept outmoded: Kensai Monk seems fairly redundant with the changes to the way the Monk base Class relates to weapons, College of Swords feels like it was sort of folded into the updated College of Valor, War Magic feels more like Baclground material, Samurai might be kind of problematic, etc...

Still, we may see a few of these in UA over the coming months, which makes me think thst Xanathar's might be going out to pasture with Volo's and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes soon.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's so obvious, too - if they feel the need to change the name (I can't really fathom why) then the obvious name would be...

Warrior of the Brew Master.

Brewmaster is also the name of the counterpart monk specialization in WoW, which fans of the D&D subclass will certainly be aware of, if they're also WoW players.

 

[Azzy]

and Intoxication Monk sounds better to them? Who are these people?

To be fair, it's a "Warrior of Intoxication" not an "Intoxication Monk" (though that's the shorthand everyone will go with, anyway). Not that "Warrior of Intoxication" sounds any better.

This does beg the question of what substance confers the "intoxication". Is it going to strictly be alcohol intoxication, or is it any intoxicating substance—like, can I have this stoner monk that weaves and dodge in combat using vibes?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This does beg the question of what substance confers the "intoxication". Is it going to strictly be alcohol intoxication, or is it any intoxicating substance—like, can I have this stoner monk that weaves and dodge in combat using vibes?

I could definitely see that being popular.

 

[Horwath]

To be fair, it's a "Warrior of Intoxication" not an "Intoxication Monk" (though that's the shorthand everyone will go with, anyway). Not that "Warrior of Intoxication" sounds any better.

This does beg the question of what substance confers the "intoxication". Is it going to strictly be alcohol intoxication, or is it any intoxicating substance—like, can I have this stoner monk that weaves and dodge in combat using vibes?

there will be sub-sub classes,
hammered monk,
stoner monk,
crackhead monk,
methead monk,
crackwhore monk,
dopehead monk,
horse monk,