D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Drakewarden and Way of the Ascendant Dragon

We have a new UA available today, this time showcasing new monk and ranger dragon-themed subclasses, in the Way of the Ascendant Dragon and the Drakewarden, respectively.

Interesting to note that these are both dragon adjacent subclasses. Is this foreshadowing for an upcoming product? Or just coincidence?

 

[Kannik]

One thing that I can see as a risk with allowing them to use it with the flurry, is by 17th level they could stack 4 of them for four instances of ping burn damage. Which, yes, is the majority of their daily uses but is also just a sizable amount of damage over a large group over time.

It would be something to watch out for, aye. But as a supreme alpha-strike it could produce some excellent moments of play (and as a DM I could prepare for it) and allow the monk to match some of the other classes' alpha-strikes. Rule of cool might govern.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Still doesn't fulfill the beastmaster ranger trope though.

Essentially the problem is the image of a beastmaster changes depending on the beast.

The image of "a ranger and his hawk" is different from "a ranger and his bear" and "a ranger and its monkey" and "a ranger and her unicorn" and "a ranger and his swarm of insects" and "a ranger and her hound". Each one of those fantasies are different. The hawk is seen as an utility tool and occasionally harasser. The bear is expected to be a decent combatant on its own. The unicorn is a mount. And the hound fights soft targets and grants out of combat utility.

Therefore any "beastmaster" system will fall short unless it has a way to differentiate the types of companions the ranger might pair up with OR create a subclass for each type of companion.

Not at all. Using customized beast stats, each type of pet can have specialized abilities and traits to help it do the thing people want from it. The Hawk can get scouting and harrying abilities (light damage with an attack but give the target disadvantage on its next attack or saving throw), the bear can be beefy and do solid damage, the wolf can be...really the phb wolf works fine other than HP, the hound can have extra tracking ability and grant advantage rather than having advantage (making it a foil to the wolf ranger), etc.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Not at all. Using customized beast stats, each type of pet can have specialized abilities and traits to help it do the thing people want from it. The Hawk can get scouting and harrying abilities (light damage with an attack but give the target disadvantage on its next attack or saving throw), the bear can be beefy and do solid damage, the wolf can be...really the phb wolf works fine other than HP, the hound can have extra tracking ability and grant advantage rather than having advantage (making it a foil to the wolf ranger), etc.

Another model could be that the ranger can easily "tame" (shades of WoW here) any one beast at a time, below X HD, and when doing so the ranger gets to pick from a list of special abilities.

That means that the ranger could tame a bear and give it a tank-y ability, or a hound and give it tracking ability. The advantage is that you don't have to pre-define everything, or limit choices based on what sorts of creatures live nearby.

The side effect, which some will see as a pro and some as a con, is that you could easily create less obvious, or even non-sensical, combinations. But so what? People who don't like that don't have to play that way.

 

[Minigiant]

Not at all. Using customized beast stats, each type of pet can have specialized abilities and traits to help it do the thing people want from it. The Hawk can get scouting and harrying abilities (light damage with an attack but give the target disadvantage on its next attack or saving throw), the bear can be beefy and do solid damage, the wolf can be...really the phb wolf works fine other than HP, the hound can have extra tracking ability and grant advantage rather than having advantage (making it a foil to the wolf ranger), etc.

Yes, but until the designers make such a system, the onus to create it is on the DM.

That's the ranger's problem since 2e. It's a "Have your DM fix it because we aren't going to do more than a raw base" class.

 

[Leatherhead]

The Survey is up.

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