Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Four New Subclasses

There's a new Unearthed Arcana from Ben Petrisor, Dan Dillon, Bill Benham, Jeremy Crawford, F. Wesley Schneider. This one has four new subclasses Path of the Beast (Barbarian), Way of Mercy (Monk), Oath of the Watchers (Paladin), Noble Genie (Warlock).

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[Lidgar]

Hot take on Noble Genie Patron - would have liked this better if you could choose which genie-type was your patron, and your spell list reflected that choice: Earth, Wind and Fire!...oh, and Water

 

[Prakriti]

Hot take on Noble Genie Patron - would have liked this better if you could choose which genie-type was your patron, and your spell list reflected that choice: Earth, Wind and Fire!...oh, and Water

This would make a lot more sense to me. Then we'd have something like an Elementalist Warlock.

I also understand the concept of a Warlock serving a genie, but the whole tethering thing throws me off. What does soul-linking yourself to other creatures have to do with the concept? I'd rather see more Arabian Nights/Al-Qadim-themed abilities. Flying (carpets), granting wishes, etc. (The "wish" in Protective Wish is just fluff.)

Oh, and something amusing in the Collector's Call ability: "As an action, you can implore your patron for aid by making a Charisma (Persuasion) check against your warlock spell save DC." That's right, you have to roll against yourself! Which means that the lower your spell DC is, the better this ability is! I don't dislike this; it's actually pretty funny. But it's definitely odd.

 

[TwoSix]

The Path of the Beast is neat and doesn't seem over- or under-powered. Conceptually, I think it works best with the lycanthropy origin. You're halfway to playing a werewolf at that point. The fey origin doesn't make as much sense to me, because I don't associate rage with fey creatures (most of the abilities are tied to rage).

Eh, D&D has been throwing the moon, lycanthropy, Faerie/the Feywild, druids and primal magic, and barbarians into a thematic hodgepodge for a decade now. It's pretty on-brand.

The Way of Mercy, a healer monk, is a nice concept. But the Noxious Aura ability seems off-theme. Why would a healer have a poisonous aura? This needs to be replaced with something more on-theme. And I can't think of too many in-game uses for the Hand of Mercy. It almost seems like a ribbon.

Poison seems like a solid mechanic for depicting disease and malicious manipulation of ki. It's not just a healer, it's a manipulator of life energy. I quite like it, actually.

The Oath of the Watchers is decent, but I have to say: the Paladin class doesn't really support very many subclasses. This one doesn't feel different enough from others (either conceptually or mechanically) to really justify its existence.

Agreed. Paladin has way too much power baked into the class to make for interesting subclasses.

The Noble Genie Patron is the one dud in the group. I just don't get it. The concept makes no sense (you serve a genie, and other creatures serve you?). Is this from a book or movie or something? Why would anyone want to play it? Bizarre.

Yea, this one is pretty bad. I try to be positive about UA, but yea....yeesh.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Hot take on Noble Genie Patron - would have liked this better if you could choose which genie-type was your patron, and your spell list reflected that choice: Earth, Wind and Fire!...oh, and Water

 

[Nikosandros]

Oh, and something amusing in the Collector's Call ability: "As an action, you can implore your patron for aid by making a Charisma (Persuasion) check against your warlock spell save DC." That's right, you have to roll against yourself! Which means that the lower your spell DC is, the better this ability is! I don't dislike this; it's actually pretty funny. But it's definitely odd.

Not really a fan of this one. I strongly dislike it a a mechanic and I don't understand what it is supposed to represent.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Path of the Beast looks fun. A totem barbarian probably could have sufficed to refluff to a beast shapeshifter type barbarian, but hey it's neat.

The monk is not the class I would have chosen to give a plague doctor subclass to but alright.

For the Oath of Watchers I feel like the entire concept could be easily already modeled with the existing Oath of Devotion. We already have the holy warrior dedicated to protecting others archetype. I prefer the Oath of Heroism we got back in September.

Pact of the Genie is one I've been waiting for a while, but the mechanics here are not quite what I expected. The tether at level 3 is completely underwhelming and it focuses more on the bound servitude aspect than anything elemental.

Overall there's nothing I really have strong feelings for here except that the Pact of the Genie needs a make over.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Oh, and something amusing in the Collector's Call ability: "As an action, you can implore your patron for aid by making a Charisma (Persuasion) check against your warlock spell save DC." That's right, you have to roll against yourself! Which means that the lower your spell DC is, the better this ability is! I don't dislike this; it's actually pretty funny. But it's definitely odd.

It's super weird considering that both your spell DC and persuasion check scale off of charisma. So no matter how high or low you buff your charisma it cancels itself out and you have the same probability of succeeding. And you'll want to take proficiency in persuasion to ensure that your spell DC doesn't outpace your check.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If there is a return of al-Qadim I suggest a not-FR player handbook, something like "1001 nights" (Oriental Adventures 2), with PCs races and monsters from "Sandstorm", sha'ir as class, and soulmolder classes as guru, vizier and.. oh, wait, this is by a 3PP, Dreamscarred Press! I have heared about Disney wants to make a sequel of the action-live "Aladdin". Wouldn't it the best time?

And in the next April Fools, a Kaladesh-Transformers crossover ( )

 

[NotAYakk]

1. Expertise makes you get ahead of your spell save DC.
2. Items that boost your spell save DC make you worse at that ability. (rod of the pact keeper)
3. Enhance ability/guidance/bard inspiration makes you awesome at that ability.

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Is a 1d12 reach is ok I guess. But doesn't stack with any feats.

Can you claw when you have a weapon/shield in that hand? Probably not. Or when you are using a two-handed weapon? Probably.

Can you use that tail in a monk unarmed strike? Probably.

 

[Weiley31]

I usually hate UA subclasses, but most of these are actually pretty good.

The Path of the Beast is neat and doesn't seem over- or under-powered. Conceptually, I think it works best with the lycanthropy origin. You're halfway to playing a werewolf at that point. The fey origin doesn't make as much sense to me, because I don't associate rage with fey creatures (most of the abilities are tied to rage).
OAs auTE]

So in 3.5 there WAS a Fey called "The Ragewalker" and it was basically a Fey based on the aspects of war and the battlefield while commanding living spells and surrounding itself with a cloud of weapons. And it could induce Rage in other living things. Making it pretty much a Rage Fey.
So it's still possible technically.

Basically ya can rename it Path of The Ragewalker. Heck it's main weapon was spiked chains. Reflavor the tail ability as the chains.