Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Modifying Classes & Spell-less Rangers

WotC's Rodney Thompson takes a look at how to customize and modify character classes in the latest Unearthed Arcana article, including an example of a spell-less ranger similar to Lord of the Rings' Strider (an often asked-for class option). There are aslo notes about each of the other classes, discussing what to be careful about changing.

The article is here.

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[EzekielRaiden]

Yeah, I like the tradeoff as it is. Favoured Soul enjoys the best armour, martial prowess, and most versatile spell selection, but lacks in other defenses (including HP), skill utility, and raw magical output compared to other sorcerers.

I thought the Favored Soul only got up to Medium armor? In which case it's not really quite accurate to call it "best." (IIRC, doesn't Medium armor actually fall behind Light+max Dex/Plate, giving max AC 17 instead of 18? Or did they patch that "hole"?)

 

[famousringo]

I thought the Favored Soul only got up to Medium armor? In which case it's not really quite accurate to call it "best." (IIRC, doesn't Medium armor actually fall behind Light+max Dex/Plate, giving max AC 17 instead of 18? Or did they patch that "hole"?)

Light and medium both go up to 17, if your dex is high enough. Yes, a dragon sorcerer or mage armour spell could go to 18, but shield proficiency puts the soul over the top, letting them hit 20 with Mage Armor, or 19 with medium armor and a moderate dex score.

Spellcasting with a shield can be a bit of a pain, though, especially since sorcerers can't build a focus into their shield.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Light and medium both go up to 17, if your dex is high enough. Yes, a dragon sorcerer or mage armour spell could go to 18, but shield proficiency puts the soul over the top, letting them hit 20 with Mage Armor, or 19 with medium armor and a moderate dex score.

Spellcasting with a shield can be a bit of a pain, though, especially since sorcerers can't build a focus into their shield.

More what I meant was that Plate+Shield is 1 point better (equal to Mage Armor+Dex+Shield), and thus heavy+shield is "the best armor" while medium+shield is slightly less. (Plus, Mage Armor is a non-negligible cost in the early stages of the game, though I guess you could probably make do with Light Armor at first and switch to Mage Armor once you had a comfortable number of 1st-level slots...)

Definitely worth remembering the casting/shield thing though. Clerics can get around it with the Holy Symbol, as you (implicitly) noted, but Sorcerers can't. Unless they focus almost totally on pre-combat buffs and post-combat healing, the FS Sorc has a very strong incentive to not use (or frequently stow and re-equip) a shield, and thus have only 17 or 18 armor. This is of course still good, but it's definitely a step down from "best," and that's before accounting for Fighting Styles and other sources of AC that go above and beyond armor and shield/Mage Armor and shield.

 

[famousringo]

More what I meant was that Plate+Shield is 1 point better (equal to Mage Armor+Dex+Shield), and thus heavy+shield is "the best armor" while medium+shield is slightly less. (Plus, Mage Armor is a non-negligible cost in the early stages of the game, though I guess you could probably make do with Light Armor at first and switch to Mage Armor once you had a comfortable number of 1st-level slots...)

Definitely worth remembering the casting/shield thing though. Clerics can get around it with the Holy Symbol, as you (implicitly) noted, but Sorcerers can't. Unless they focus almost totally on pre-combat buffs and post-combat healing, the FS Sorc has a very strong incentive to not use (or frequently stow and re-equip) a shield, and thus have only 17 or 18 armor. This is of course still good, but it's definitely a step down from "best," and that's before accounting for Fighting Styles and other sources of AC that go above and beyond armor and shield/Mage Armor and shield.

Sorry, I thought it was clear that I was talking about "best" relative to other sorcerer subclasses, since Favoured soul obviously doesn't enjoy the "best" martial prowess or spell selection in the entire game, either.

 

[MoonSong]

Sorry, I thought it was clear that I was talking about "best" relative to other sorcerer subclasses, since Favoured soul obviously doesn't enjoy the "best" martial prowess or spell selection in the entire game, either.

What you are misisng is that a favored soul will more likely focus on utility, like a cleric, the proficiencies and extra attack are so they aren't dead-weight in combat. Want to dominnate? be fire dragon sorcerer with quicken and empower. You even have the HP that way. The extra spells are mostly situational utility, or a few evocations you could have anyway, but without rider bonuses you don't have the damage output.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I found the examination of each class to be the most fascinating portion of the article. Reading what Rodney considers core/fundamental elements, and a peak at rationale behind design choices. For example, the Barbarian's Rage as a defensive feature, and the bonus movement as a means to enable the raging barb to maintain the rage.

Great insight into the guts of the game.