D&D 5E So Favored Soul is going to be Divine Soul Now?

[MoonSong]

According to the last AMA, they are going to be more careful when using legacy names in 5e, and because of that Favored Soul is going to be Divine Soul now. What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? What do you think of the subclass now? Could there be hope to see the Favored soul as a stand alone class?

 

[Prakriti]

What Mearls said was: "We basically default to what people already knew, but I do think that may have been a mistake. I think we've learned it's better to avoid re-using terms unless the exact meaning is the same. For instance, we're looking at changing the favored soul sorcerer into the divine soul, simply to keep expectations clear."

In other words, the change is a possibility, but not a certainty.

 

[pukunui]

This aligns well with my thoughts on the most recent version of the favored soul. In my feedback, I said I preferred the original attempt, as that most closely resembles the favored soul of old, and I asked that if they were not going to go back to that, then could they at least change the name. Sounds like that is the path they are looking at taking.

That said, I would still like to see a favored soul based on the 3.5 version. My take would be to use the initial UA version, but with a wholesale replacement of the sorcerer's spell list with the cleric's.

 

[Flamestrike]

That said, I would still like to see a favored soul based on the 3.5 version. My take would be to use the initial UA version, but with a wholesale replacement of the sorcerer's spell list with the cleric's.

That's exactly how I run it in my games. Gets the cleric list instead of the sorcerer list, Medium armour at first level and extra attack at six level.

I have a druid variant as well.

 

[Dualazi]

I dislike the re-naming, especially being as close as it is to the old one. It inhibits clarity for one, having a game with a warlock, binder, and hexblade all thematically similar gets confusing really fast. It also begs the question of if they would simply release both options, because the re-naming makes even less sense without that being made available. It's basically saying "yeah, that class existed before and still doesn't, but here's a similar off-brand version". If the version of favored soul people currently envision isn't coming to 5e then there's nothing lost by taking the name, and it's not like classes haven't shifted in form and function over the years.

 

[pukunui]

That's exactly how I run it in my games. Gets the cleric list instead of the sorcerer list, Medium armour at first level and extra attack at six level.

Cool. How has it worked out in play?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

It's basically saying "yeah, that class existed before and still doesn't, but here's a similar off-brand version". If the version of favored soul people currently envision isn't coming to 5e then there's nothing lost by taking the name, and it's not like classes haven't shifted in form and function over the years.

I think that there is something lost: it seems to cause confusion among quite a lot of posters. If a class with a legacy name acts differently than it used to do in previous editions, there will be people claiming that it is a "failed conversion" rather than understanding that it isn't meant to be the same thing.

Using a different name reduces those complaints, whether well-founded or not.

 

[Mephista]

One of the things I liked about 5e Favored Soul was being gishy. Wizard's got gish mode. Bard's got gish mode. Warlock has gish with some issues. Druid has shapeshifting sorta-gishness. Clerics have several gishy Domains. No gish here.

No matter how you spin the new Divine Soul, its not a Favored Soul if its just a dedicated caster.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

No complaints. If the name was a stumbling block, best to change it.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Favored Soul was having the magic of the gods come out of you, rather than praying and receiving it. The current iteration from UA is not specifying the gods only as the origin, it's any divine being-- angels, celestials, gods, etc. Thus you aren't necessarily "favored" by any being (which is why you have the magic), but just that you have a divine spark within you. So changing the name to Divine Soul makes sense, especially when you want to not confuse potential players who were knowledgeable of the 3E version.