New Unearthed Arcana Released, With 8 New Forgotten Realms-Themed Subclasses

Today, Wizards of the Coast has announced a new Unearthed Arcana playtest featuring eight new Dungeons & Dragons subclasses that will appear in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. The new subclasses include five classes tied to Forgotten Realms regions, as well as the return of the Knowledge Domain Cleric subclass from the 2014 Player's Handbook and the Bladesinger Wizard subclass and Purple Dragon Knight Fighter subclass from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

Each of the five remaining subclasses are themed to one of the five regions explored in the Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide also coming out in November. The College of the Moon Bard subclass is tied to the Moonshae Isles, the Winter Walker Ranger subclass is tied to Icewind Dale, and the Oath of the Noble Genies is tied to Calimshan. The Scion of The Three is tied to the Dead Three (of Baldur's Gate fame). Meanwhile, Spellfire Sorcery dates back to 2nd Edition and can both heal allies and harm foes.

The eight new subclasses can be found below:

• College Of The Moon (Bard)
• Knowledge Domain (Cleric)
• Purple Dragon Knight (Fighter)
• Oath Of The Noble Genies (Paladin)
• Winter Walker (Ranger)
• Scion Of The Three (Rogue)
• Spellfire Sorcery (Sorcerer)
• Bladesinger (Wizard)

The Forgotten Realm's Players Guide comes out on November 11th.

 

[ECMO3]

+1 Studded Leather is slightly better because it .... doesn't require a spell slot every day.

Studded Leather in terms of gp value is equivalent to over 80 1st level scrolls.

80 scrolls of Mage Armor is enough to go two entire 1-20 campaigns without using a spell slot (assumes 7-medium combat standard adventuring days lasting 8-hours).

And Bracers of Defense is the same rarity and two points of AC better.

 

[CleverNickName]

Studded Leather in terms of gp value is equivalent to over 80 1st level scrolls.

80 scrolls of Mage Armor is enough to go two entire 1-20 campaigns without using a spell slot (assumes 7-medium combat standard adventuring days lasting 8-hours).

And Bracers of Defense is the same rarity and two points of AC better.

I know you're trying to make some point about cost of scrolls vs. cost of armor, but this is...dubious advice.

I just finished a 1st-thru-20th level D&D campaign, which had far more than just 80 days of overland travel through a single swamp. Some days there were only one or two random encounters, most days there were none, but nobody gained 20 levels in the time it took them to explore the swamp.

 

[mellored]

So Barbarian, Monk, Druid and Warlock lose out. I wonder if they will be represented in the unannounced book? If it is Magic the Gathering related which setting would be a fit for those classes?

I assume they didn't want to do a UA for all 12 at once.

Get some feedback on these first, do the other 4 later.

 

[Ashrym]

I know you're trying to make some point about cost of scrolls vs. cost of armor, but this is...dubious advice.

I just finished a 1st-thru-20th level D&D campaign, which had far more than just 80 days of overland travel through a single swamp. Some days there were only one or two random encounters, most days there were none, but nobody gained 20 levels in the time it took them to explore the swamp.

I think the number required was off and possibly misleading, but 1st level spell scrolls being cheap and more accessible is valid. Especially if the wizard is making their own during downtime.

 

[Willie the Duck]

The only significant nerf to the new Bladesinger is there are less uses at very high level (17+) and only then if you can't manage a 22 Intelligence.

People have claimed online that removing Armor proficiency and the ability to Bladesong in light armor is a nerf, but it's not. Mage Armor has a higher AC then Studded Leather and magic items that boost AC in Mage Armor are more common than magical light armor.

People have also said that the new Song of Victory encourages spell use and not weapon use, but again they miss the actual details, using extra attack lets you cast a Cantrip as part of the attack action, then casting that spell triggers yet another attack through Song of Victory. So at 14th level a Bladesinger can make 2 attacks and a cantrip. If they have nick they can use a Cantrip and 3 attacks.

There are two huge buffs as well (three if you consider new spells) - letting you use Intelligence for attacks in Bladesong makes the class less mad and when combined with martial weapon proficiency this is huge. The old Bladesinger only had proficiency in one martial weapon, and they could only generally use Finesse weapons so they were very limited. Now they can use any weapon that is not heavy or two handed.

2024 spells make Bladesingers better at melee too. Specifically Truestrike lets them use Intelligence for one attack a round out of Bladesong and lets them use it with ranged weapons. The new Mirror Image is going to be awesome on a Bladesinger.

Assuming for the sake of argument that the bladesinger will still want a decent str or dex for the non-Truestrike attacks, how do you think this will compare to a 2014 bladesinger using Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade?

 

[TwoSix]

I'm glad to see this.

I also think the genie paladin is bizarre, lore-wise. Why would all the genies be working together? The fact that they don't is the basis for a lot of lore and history. Maybe I missed when/if they changed that (my brain is basically a 2E stone tablet).

I didn't read it as "the paladins are just genie warlocks."

I viewed it as "these paladins are sworn to an ideal of Calimsham, which is that the genies are benevolent guardians of our nation."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It also weighs less ... on a character that typically is going to have a low strength.

You use equipment weight in your games?!

 

[Ashrym]

You use equipment weight in your games?!

I don't know if they do, but I do.

 

[Azzy]

You use equipment weight in your games?!

It's easy to do if you're using D&D Beyond or Foundry.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I know you're trying to make some point about cost of scrolls vs. cost of armor, but this is...dubious advice.

I just finished a 1st-thru-20th level D&D campaign, which had far more than just 80 days of overland travel through a single swamp. Some days there were only one or two random encounters, most days there were none, but nobody gained 20 levels in the time it took them to explore the swamp.

You can just cast Mage Armor with a spell slot on travel days when you're not expecting to expend all your slots anyway, and only cast it from a scroll when you're entering a dungeon or other adventure location.