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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[Paul Farquhar]

I always felt the paladin should have been a sub fighter like class, but what ever.

It was in 1st edition.

The Oath of the Watchers not sure if it was done on purpose but could it be similar to a certain show that came out a few weeks ago?

Lost in Space?

 

[TwoSix]

I always felt the paladin should have been a sub fighter like class, but what ever. The Oath of the Watchers not sure if it was done on purpose but could it be similar to a certain show that came out a few weeks ago?

You're about 7 years late with that feedback, friend.

 

[Aaron L]

I really like this Unearthed Arcana update! The Way of Mercy Monks are extremely flavorful (creepy!) and cool, and the Oath of the Watchers Paladin seems very neat as well (Chromatic Orb is an interesting choice as a Paladin Oath spell but I can totally see the reasoning behind it; allowing the Paladin to select the elemental damage type based on the specific resistances of the Fiend he is fighting) and a perfect complement to the Horizon Walker Ranger. I could see an Order of Knights dedicated to guarding their world against extraplanar incursions, composed of Horizon Walker Rangers and Paladins of the Oath of the Watcher.

I approve.

 

[Connorsrpg]

So, we have a genie patron now, but seems people don't like it much. We've had a genie patron for some time in our game. Our house subclass: Genie-Kind Patron

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So, we have a genie patron now, but seems people don't like it much. We've had a genie patron for some time in our game. Our house subclass: Genie-Kind Patron

Yeah, yours is a lot better. I can't see WotC going for the three variant pact gifts though - it could create problems down the road when they want to add another gift (see the Talisman in UA).

 

[gyor]

Maybe tether is supposed to replicate the Sha-ir gen servant, but it's a clunky workaround that the Pact Boon isn't given until 3rd level, and the next opportunity to give an otherwordly patron feature to alter it isn't until 6th level.

I do like the idea of the Sha-ir being a warlock (2nd edition didn't have these other spell caster classes). But I think the best thing to do would be to make a minor gen servant

I would then alter the Collector's vessel to "Gen Vessel" keep it as a spellcasting focus, allow you to "release gen servant", and have the gen servant have an AC and Saving Throws equal to yours, beastmaster's beast style hit points, but you can cast spells from it's square and boosts your perception and arcana for an hour (I'd add arcana to give a little more of that consult gen for spell knowledge feel). If it reduced to 0 hit points it returns fully intact to your vessel.

I'd then add a pull box with fluff that connects your gen to your boons (the gen servant fetches you a weapon from the genie's horde [blade] spells from the library [book] or animals from their menagerie [chain])

Protective wish would then be more clearly turning the minor gen into some extra hit points for you (hence the Beastmaster pet HP progression)

With maybe an Eldritch invocation for chain warlocks to get an elemental servant OR include a stat block of a greater gen servant and have a box "at the DM's option a Warlock pact of the chain can select a greater gen servant as their familiar).

4e did have other arcane spellcasting classes including the Warlock and the Shi'ar was still a Wizard not a Warlock. They are supposed have full access to the wizards spell list. Shi'ar should be Wizards. The Noble Genie Patron is clearly not entended to replace the Shi'ar wizard, which is why it focuses more on the NOBLE Genie aspect, then the elemental nature a Genie, so they don't step on each others feet.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

4e did have other arcane spellcasting classes including the Warlock and the Shi'ar was still a Wizard not a Warlock. They are supposed have full access to the wizards spell list. Shi'ar should be Wizards. The Noble Genie Patron is clearly not entended to replace the Shi'ar wizard, which is why it focuses more on the NOBLE Genie aspect, then the elemental nature a Genie, so they don't step on each others feet.

I don’t think that “they’re supposed to be wizards” is an argument wotc will care about without getting feedback to that effect.

 

[maceochaid]

4e did have other arcane spellcasting classes including the Warlock and the Shi'ar was still a Wizard not a Warlock. They are supposed to have full access to the wizard's spell list. Shi'ar should be Wizards. The Noble Genie Patron is clearly not intended to replace the Shi'ar wizard, which is why it focuses more on the NOBLE Genie aspect, then the elemental nature a Genie, so they don't step on each others feet.

Well I mean it's all arbitrary, but my idea is that if they had made the Sha'ir in 2e and had warlock as an option they would have made it a warlock, but they didn't so they made it a wizard. Their special feature was that they could swap out spell slots in a way that kind of traded a memorization problem of 2e spell casting with a new problem, but the memorization, not a problem that exists in the current system.* So what is the core identity of a 2nd Edition Sha'ir? That it is a "wizard" or that it serves a patron? (And also from cursory research on the term in Arabic folklore a Sha'ir sounds like it should be a Bard anyways).





*(Actually thinking about it would work pretty well with Mystic Arcanum. Makes me want to think about how to homebrew that in to a revised Noble Genie patron)

 

[cbwjm]

Considering that a 2e sha'ir had access to priest spells (though at a penalty to find), reducing it to just a wizard subclass seems to be reducing its versatility anyway. I think wotc would look at the spirit of the class rather than which class it belonged to, and the spirit of the class seems to me to be a genie warlock patron. It's how I built it anyway and most (all?) homebrew versions I've seen seem to do the same.

 

[gyor]

I really like this Unearthed Arcana update! The Way of Mercy Monks are extremely flavorful (creepy!) and cool, and the Oath of the Watchers Paladin seems very neat as well (Chromatic Orb is an interesting choice as a Paladin Oath spell but I can totally see the reasoning behind it; allowing the Paladin to select the elemental damage type based on the specific resistances of the Fiend he is fighting) and a perfect complement to the Horizon Walker Ranger. I could see an Order of Knights dedicated to guarding their world against extraplanar incursions, composed of Horizon Walker Rangers and Paladins of the Oath of the Watcher.

I approve.

They are literally Dr. Kovorkian Monks, trained as a healer, but able to give death when it would be more merciful.