D&D 5E Two Subclasses from Tasha for Barbarian and Warlock

WotC has posted two previews from the upcoming Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything — the barbarian’s Path of Wild Magic and the warlock’s Genie patron. You can download them both as PDFs.

D&D Celebration | Dungeons & Dragons

dndcelebration2020.com

 

[Paul Farquhar]

it can actually be anything beside what’s in the list...

Actually, that's interesting. And exploitable, since the item is automatically a spellcasting focus. Make it a weapon.

 

[Horwath]

I would rather see wild magic toned down a little and make the subclass 1/3 caster with mostly druid spells.

Like some quasy wise shaman of the tribe, not just a raging brute.

 

[Coroc]

The genie lock seems quite sound.

The barbarian, not so much. The detect magic at will (and even the slightest magic, would e.g. a healing pot qualify?), around corners, through walls means for the dm:

I cannot surprise ambush the party anymore if i intend to attach any spell or magic items to the attackers.
Additionally i cannot hide any magic treasure anymore, the group will find it effortlessly.
Wait what's that, nearly bless w/o concentration? So this guy is a party buffer too? Yea, yea i hope that makes up for all the wild magic effects exploding in your face in the most unfitting situations.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

The barbarian, not so much. The detect magic at will (and even the slightest magic, would e.g. a healing pot qualify?), around corners, through walls means for the dm:

I cannot surprise ambush the party anymore if i intend to attach any spell or magic items to the attackers.
Additionally i cannot hide any magic treasure anymore, the group will find it effortlessly.

Their version detect magic works for one round, proficiency bonus numbers of times a day, in a game where detect magic is already a level 1 ritual spell available to the majority of classes. It does not work on anything behind full cover.

It is not "even the slightest magic", it explicitly has to be a spell or magic item, unlike the Detect Magic spell which has vague, difficult to adjudicate language about any "creature or object in the area that bears magic". But, yes, a health potion is technically considered a magic item by RAW.

I had a group where someone had the Drow racial feat that allowed casting detect magic at will, and despite this being in the hands of one of the most trollish players I've ever encountered it really didn't effect the game much. It just meant that whenever my wizard started to ritually cast detect magic he'd beat her to the punch to show her up.

 

[CubicsRube]

What we really need is a caster subclass with no magic.

Not really a no magic, but id love to see a melee sorceror without spells in the vein of a shadowrun adept.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

It would be unethical, inappropriate, and possibly treasonous to publish a genie patron that did not provide a reason to say "Phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space."

"Dead Sea Tupperware"... *pfft..."still good!"

 

[Warpiglet-7]

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WotC has posted two previews from the upcoming Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything — the barbarian’s Path of Wild Magic and the warlock’s Genie patron. You can download them both as PDFs.

D&D Celebration | Dungeons & Dragons

dndcelebration2020.com

I like the warlock.

The barbarian? That’s just awful and bizarre. I am not sure what they were going for but it’s almost like being out of ideas but feeling compelled to add a barbarian subclass.

I am sorry. I cannot see anyone thinking: “gee I want to play a barbarian warrior who happens to detect magic and have wild magic bursts at higher level!”

huh? The fluff on this is so bad I can’t even get offended by the crunch, though it looks bad as well.

If someone in my group had proposed a new subclass and this was the pitch, I would have been bewildered. That WOTC has produced this? Does this give us a reason to stop asking for more options?

 

[TwoSix]

I like the warlock.

The barbarian? That’s just awful and bizarre. I am not sure what they were going for but it’s almost like being out of ideas but feeling compelled to add a barbarian subclass.

I am sorry. I cannot see anyone thinking: “gee I want to play a barbarian warrior who happens to detect magic and have wild magic bursts at higher level!”

huh? The fluff on this is so bad I can’t even get offended by the crunch, though it looks bad as well.

If someone in my group had proposed a new subclass and this was the pitch, I would have been bewildered. That WOTC has produced this? Does this give us a reason to stop asking for more options?

De gustibus non est disputandum and all, but I would absolutely play a barbarian with these abilities. It would work awesomely for any character with a fey connection, like an eladrin or a satyr.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

I like the warlock.

The barbarian? That’s just awful and bizarre. I am not sure what they were going for but it’s almost like being out of ideas but feeling compelled to add a barbarian subclass.

I am sorry. I cannot see anyone thinking: “gee I want to play a barbarian warrior who happens to detect magic and have wild magic bursts at higher level!”

huh? The fluff on this is so bad I can’t even get offended by the crunch, though it looks bad as well.

If someone in my group had proposed a new subclass and this was the pitch, I would have been bewildered. That WOTC has produced this? Does this give us a reason to stop asking for more options?

I totally disagree. This looks like the most fun barbarian sub-class by far. Uncontrollable magic spews from my body when I get angry is certainly a character-defining feature.

 

[NotAYakk]

If you already had a barbarain, drop-in replacing that barbarian's subclass with this one would be very strange and would change the character.

I'd argue this is a good idea. Subclasses that are drop-in replacements for each other are bland, pretty much by definition.

We are used to that on the barbarian. A frenzied barbarian, totem barbarian, zealot barbarian; it is trivial to refluff the same character to use any of those subclasses and be almost indistinguishable.

This barbarian subclass won't work that way.

Together with the ability to move boosts around, a high-strength wild elven (or gnomish, bwahahaha) barbarian with this subclass would work pretty well.