D&D (2024) New Unearthed Arcana Playtest Includes Barbarian, Druid, and Monk

The latest Unearthed Arcana playtest packet is now live with new barbarian, druid, and monk versions, as well as new spells and weapons, and a revised Ability Score Improvement feat.

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WHATS INSIDE

Here are the new and revised elements in this article:

Classes. Three classes are here: Barbarian, Druid, and Monk. Each one includes one subclass: Path of the World Tree (Barbarian), Circle of the Moon (Druid), and Warrior of the Hand (Monk).

Spells. New and revised spells are included.

The following sections were introduced in a previous article and are provided here for reference:

Weapons. Weapon revisions are included.

Feats. This includes a revised version of Ability Score Improvement.

Rules Glossary. The rules glossary includes the few rules that have revised definitions in the playtest. In this document, any underlined term in the body text appears in the glossary.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

So that invalidates the fly spell at higher levels so that should be gone.

No, it doesn’t. It provides a different option. That’s a good thing.

The Summon Spells fill the role I as a GM want the old conjure spells to fill.

Good for you.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

No, it doesn’t. It provides a different option. That’s a good thing.

No it invalidates it. If you summoned a Giant Eagle that can ferry the whole party that invalidates several other spells. Conjure animals is also problematic for several other reasons.

I am glad it is dead.

 

[Pauln6]

No it invalidates it. If you summoned a Giant Eagle that can ferry the whole party that invalidates several other spells. Conjure animals is also problematic for several other reasons.

I am glad it is dead.

Not every class has those other spells and one giant eagle isn't big enough to fly the whole party but there is definitely a difficulty in balancing very versatile spells. Maybe the animals should not arrive for 1d4 rounds if summoned as opposed to being conjured.

 

[Mistwell]

I would have been fine with making the Conjure spells just conjure 1 creature and leave it to that. It was the quantity of creatures that made them such a pain in the butt, not the creature itself. The only other issue was the one that could summon a fey that had some unusual spellcasting - just put limits on that one spell too.

I am also fine with these new versions, but I see nothing wrong with the old versions with those limitations.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

If you summoned a Giant Eagle that can ferry the whole party that invalidates several other spells.

Summon Beast's flying critter has Str 18, so it can also make the whole party fly (one at a time) from lv3 onwards...

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Summon Beast's flying critter has Str 18, so it can also make the whole party fly (one at a time) from lv3 onwards...

One at a time is different from whole party at once.

 

[Stalker0]

One at a time is different from whole party at once.

It is but its also a big step up from no one can fly.

It still means that a lot of obstacles and terrain hazards go from real encounters to speed bumps. The classic gaping chasm or large river crossing as easy examples.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No it invalidates it. If you summoned a Giant Eagle that can ferry the whole party that invalidates several other spells. Conjure animals is also problematic for several other reasons.

I am glad it is dead.

Well, it isn’t dead, luckily.

But also…no.

Being able to ride a bird doesn’t invalidate a spell that lets you fly.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It is but its also a big step up from no one can fly.

It still means that a lot of obstacles and terrain hazards go from real encounters to speed bumps. The classic gaping chasm or large river crossing as easy examples.

Summon Beast's flying critter has Str 18, so it can also make the whole party fly (one at a time) from lv3 onwards...

Fly is a third level spell. Summoning a single creature to ferry the party one at a time does not really affect the Fly spell.

Conjuring a pair of giant eagles or vultures to ferry the whole party steps on toes much harder.

 

[Stalker0]

Fly is a third level spell. Summoning a single creature to ferry the party one at a time does not really affect the Fly spell.

And summon beast is a 2nd level spell that has a 1 hour duration vs fly's 10 minutes (meaning there is more a chance you can use it for multiple encounters). The beast also has a higher strength than most 3rd level characters would have (your fighter types will likely have 16), and so can carry more things (even though teh beast is small that doesn't affect carrying capacity).