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]

I think the Monk should be renamed Athlete. The Asia-esque Monk and Shinobi, would be subclasses among other concepts involving athletic prowess.

The BD&D Monk was called the Mystic, and I think that would fit better. Make Monastaciam a Backgroujd issue, keep the supernatural martial arts which is not necessarily culturally specific.

 

[Yaarel]

The BD&D Monk was called the Mystic, and I think that would fit better. Make Monastaciam a Backgroujd issue, keep the supernatural martial arts which is not necessarily culturally specific.

The Theros setting referred to the Monk as an "Athlete", and this seems the essense of the class, inclluding the possibility of a nonmagic fight sports combatant.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think Athlete is much better than mystic.

But my personal preference would be to axe the class and have an unarmed combat fighter subclass instead.

 

[Charlaquin]

So...if I violate the tenets of being an Oathbreaker, do I become a Super Oathbreaker?

Worse! You become a flip-flopper.

 

[Parmandur]

I think Athlete is much better than mystic.

But my personal preference would be to axe the class and have an unarmed combat fighter subclass instead.

Here's the thing about the Monk: it is less about unarmed combat, especially with the 2024 changes, it is about being the shirt rest half-caster fighting with supernatural elements. Remove the forced Kung Fu esthetic, it can just as easily cover the concept of, say, a Witcher, or Hercules.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Here's the thing about the Monk: it is less about unarmed combat, especially with the 2024 changes, it is about being the shirt rest half-caster fighting with supernatural elements. Remove the forced Kung Fu esthetic, it can just as easily cover the concept of, say, a Witcher, or Hercules.

Interestingly, the not-drunken-anymore-warrior class, if it really gets special potions, would work really well as a Witcher, since potions are in their wheelhouse. But I guess you need a multi-sub-class Monk to also get Signs.

 

[Xethreau]

No, it's not. Those Hong Kong films were very popular here. It's not racist and colonial to bring them to a class themed on those movies. It's respectful and directly in line with the theme of what those movies did with those themes to bring them to the class. What is disrespectful is an American saying we shouldn't respect the creations as they are by Asian creators and change them for fear that us bringing them accurately here is somehow colonist and racist.

You calling them racist, smacks as at least odd to me. That you, with your Western eye, somehow know better about the value and representation they created than the original creators do. I am struggling to understand your perspective on this topic.


It was not in this case. That's only a valuable view WHEN IT IS TRUE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DISCUSSION. America didn't bring alcohol to China. China had alcohol around 9000 years ago! Why on earth did you make that argument with this particular topic?

What do you honestly think the remaining creators of the Drunken Master movie would think if they heard there WAS a Drunken Master class in Dungeons and Dragons which was trying to bring their creation to the game, and Americans decided to change it's name to "Warrior of Intoxication" for fear of colonial and racist overtones? I am willing to bet cold hard cash they would think that was insulting and ridiculous.

I was trying to explain why it felt bad to me.

And to be fair, what you said about alcohol not being a colonizing weapon in this context, to my understanding, is correct. But I am very sensitive to that matter of drugs as a colonizing device, and drug addiction (opium) DOES play a colonizing role by English-speakers in China---which is a little abstracted from what I said (alcohol), but that was generally what my position was.

I would feel a lot better if there were more Asian creators on WotC authors' list, given my sensitivity I perceive within this issue. But perhaps that is just me. I think that the real-life tradition and the fantasy of the "drunken fist" goes deeper than the martial arts movies, and I still want to emphasize that trying to copy martial arts movies within RPGs requires sensitivity that I am skeptical about a Westerner doing well. Changing the name of the class (a move I disagree with) seems strange in this whole context and does nothing to assuage my nerves.

If I said a buch of things that seem intense and not quite right, I hope you will chalk it up to the enormous landmines I see in this line of conversation which put me ill at ease.

 

[Parmandur]

I would feel a lot better if there were more Asian creators on WotC authors' list

To be fair, the person who seems to be leading UA right now, Mackenzie de Armas, is Asian, and even used to be a regular panelist for the podcast Asians Represent when they were dissecting old D&D Orientalism. So I think those concerns are pretty well understood at WotC right now.

 

[Xethreau]

To be fair, the person who seems to be leading UA right now, Mackenzie de Armas, is Asian, and even used to be a regular panelist for the podcast Asians Represent when they were dissecting old D&D Orientalism. So I think those concerns are pretty well understood at WotC right now.

This is extremely good news! I loved Islands of Sina Una (I worked in the Philippines very briefly), and I know that team was uncompromizing in expressing their values and resisting harmful steriotypes.

 

[GarrettKP]

To be fair, the person who seems to be leading UA right now, Mackenzie de Armas, is Asian, and even used to be a regular panelist for the podcast Asians Represent when they were dissecting old D&D Orientalism. So I think those concerns are pretty well understood at WotC right now.

I don’t think Mackenzie is leading D&D, but she is certainly its main spokesperson. Mostly because she has an infectious love for the game. But there are a few other designers on the team with a more senior position, including James Wyatt and Justice Arman.