Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Barbarian and Monk

Unearthed Arcana makes an unexpected return (the last one was back in May) with a three-page PDF containing two subclasses -- Path of the Wild Soul for the barbarian, and Way of the Astral Self for the monk.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Am I the only one who gets a Darksun vibe from this one? I mean, Wild Soul would work well for a psionic-as-spellslots Wilder, right?

 

[Jer]

Am I the only one who gets a Darksun vibe from this one? I mean, Wild Soul would work well for a psionic-as-spellslots Wilder, right?

I didn't think about it before, but you're right. The mechanics would work fairly well for a wilder-type. And the Astral Monk needs even less reskinning to make it a psionic character subclass.

 

[Parmandur]

Yes, the context matters.

However, I don't tink the context is Eberron for a very simple reason: Mention of the Feywild. The Eberron equivalent is called something different. If you where writing something for a specific setting you wouldn't namecheck something that didn't exist in that setting.

Given the level of whackyess of exploding flumphs, I think Rick and Morty is a more probable context.

The Feywild exists in 5E Eberron, though, because it is being integrated with the Great Wheel metasetting.

 

[Rhineglade]

Yeah I have to say I am not a big fan of either. The barbarian wild soul makes no sense to me at all. I don't typically associate "barbarians" with the "fae" I guess. Seems like a very goofy combo. And the abilities of the monk seem to be too underwhelming.

 

[Parmandur]

Honestly I don't get an Eberron vibe from either of these at all. They are based on no prestiage class or Paragon Path from Eberron, they don't seem to tie onto any uniquely Eberron feature or story line.

But both are Planar based so I'll buck the trend and say it's for Volo's Guide to Spirits and Shades instead of the New Eberron book.

Cold be, though I still think the bit in Dragon Hesit was a joke and not an actual product prediction.

 

[Plane Sailing]

How about the Angry Wizard? You know, the Wizard subclass that specializes in melee and raging?

I’m sure that one of the 3E sourcebooks had a ‘rage mage’ in it...

 

[Navar]

sigh

I swear, I feel like WoTC is like those people who gave us peanut butter + jelly in a jar. Some things you WANT separate.

I think the only way out of this Jam is to break a few jars . . .

 

[burntgerbil]

These look fantastic! Please tell me these are for an upcoming Spelljammer sourcebook!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[TwoSix]

However, I don't tink the context is Eberron for a very simple reason: Mention of the Feywild. The Eberron equivalent is called something different. If you where writing something for a specific setting you wouldn't namecheck something that didn't exist in that setting.

Yea, but it's not like the UA article on spore druids mentioned Golgari or Ravnica anywhere. Replacing the generic "Feywild" with the Eberron-specific "Thelanis" is a simple text replacement before it goes to print.

I personally don't think this is for Eberron, but the presence/absence of any specific place names can't be used as evidence for any interpretation. They're simply not going to tip their hand this early.