D&D 5E Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos No Subclasses Confirmed by James Crawford

[Don Durito]

I would be happier if I thought the move was motivated by playtesting finding that cross class subclasses are mechanically messy or broken.

That's not really the purpose of playtesting. The time between release and survey is far too short. It's basically market testing.

 

[AliasBot]

I'm mostly just disappointed that, because of the UA's timeframe, WotC taking a shot with these subclasses and whiffing means that there's no opportunity to whip up Ravnica-style subclasses (traditional single-class subclasses that line up with the flavor of specific factions but still work fine outside of the context of that setting and faction) to fill in missing archetypes or flavor-gaps in the various colleges.

(Suitably flashy spells being added to the Bard list - whether through new spells or, like Tasha's, through expanding access to existing options - should mostly suffice for Prismari and Silverquill, but there still isn't a particularly fitting Quandrix Druid subclass, and the Witherbloom subclass getting dropped rather than focused into either Wizard or Druid means that there still isn't a clean "come here for all your Witchy needs" option in 5E, which is, y'know, a bit of an issue for the Witch college.)

Ah well. At least the "what existing classes/subclasses make good fits for each college?" list I'd started working on before the UA might have some use again.

 

[Kurotowa]

"Crawford noted that they were prepared for the fanbase to reject the subclasses and had prepared "contingency plans" in case they didn't work out. The subclasses will be replaced with other character options, such as feats tied to each specific college, which will support even more character types than the subclasses would have. We could also see some design elements appear in future D&D products in another capacity. Various new magic items (including magic textbooks) will also appear in the book to help players feel tied to their chosen Strixhaven college."

It's a little disappointing, but this probably the best result. The multiclass subclasses just had too many issues. Things like Bards not having enough subclass feature slots, and the value of extra known spells varying wildly, and none of them being able to engage with class specific resources or features. Also the issue where many people were confused that the subclass for the theater and performance College wasn't available to Bards because it was focused on elemental spells and Bards don't get many of those. And honestly, I only really liked Lorehold and Witherbloom, the others were a lot more bland or unfocused.

College themed feats and a free starting feat (which is what it sounds like we're getting) is 90% the Magical Gifts I predicted, and that's probably the best route for tying your character to a specific College. And if "some design elements appear in future D&D products in another capacity" means they'll shamelessly recycle some of the mechanics for Lorehold or Witherbloom in the future, I'll be a happy camper.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I am sorry to see it go, it was a great idea

 

[Urriak Uruk]

So the book got previewed a little ago, you'll have to rewind a bit but Crawford and Hamond were interviewed by Becca Scott.

 

[Leatherhead]

So the book got previewed a little ago, you'll have to rewind a bit but Crawford and Hamond were interviewed by Becca Scott.

Around the 7 hours and 4 minutes mark, for those of you looking for a more precise timestamp on a nearly 9 hour long video.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I was excited. My interest in this book fell off a cliff. Blah.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Or its intended that all races can be used at Strixhaven, so no Ravnica or Theros style restrictions, including usually D&D only races like Tieflings, Halflings, Aasimar, Genasi, Yuan Ti, Tabaxi, Firbolgs, Warforged, Goliaths, Kenku, Hexbloods, etc...

They take students from other planes. Since D&D and MtG settings share a multiverse, anything that is in either could be a student at Stryxhaven.

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

Kudos to them

It was a neat idea
I would like a future edition to have set levels of subclasses for generic subclasses
But it was awkward. And didn't always match the character you wanted. And didn't include classes like the artificer

Prolly better as feats

 

[Yaarel]

If WotC named the cross-class subclasses "prestige classes", I wonder if they would have gotten more support?