Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Sorcerer and Warlock

There's a new Unearthed Arcana from WotC today, hot on the heels of the recent one for barbarian and monk. "Two classes, the sorcerer and the warlock, discover new playtest possibilities this week. The sorcerer receives a new Sorcerous Origin feature: the Aberrant Mind. Meanwhile, the warlock gains a new Otherworldly Patron feature: the Lurker in the Deep. We’ve also included a new cantrip: mind sliver."

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think I've had a revelation: the fact that they give extra spells to the sorcerer and the fact that the warlock has some duplicate spell already on its list is probably because those spell will be replaced by 'spells'' from the Psionic Spell list they are working on.

Aberrant mind wont have have extra spells; they will be, just like the Divine Soul with cleric spells, be able to take from the Psionic Spell list.

Deep warlock will probably have some Psionic Spell instead of those already on the list or that are a weird fit.

Those things are just for the playtest until they finalize the new spell list.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Yeah Mind Sliver is amazing. I would take it over any other damage cantrip.

 

[Henry]

Yeah Mind Sliver is amazing. I would take it over any other damage cantrip.

I don't know - single-target d6-base, with a weak 1-turn partial-bane effect? The fact that it targets Intelligence makes it stand on its own two feet, but I would not take it over a firebolt, eldritch blast, or even ray of frost necessarily. I'd say it sounds balanced - I really can't see someone spamming it because it's so good or anything.

 

[Charlaquin]

I've been saying since the start that the Sorcerer is a bit too thin in number of known spells, and I blamed the fact that WotC did not include the Sorcerer into the public playtest (the first iteration of the class, later withdrawn from the playtest, doesn't count).

That version of the sorcerer was so freaking cool! I wish the idea of sorcs getting various buffs as they used up their sorcery points had survived in some form, even if just as a subclass.

 

[phantomK9]

For the Lurker of the Deep:
I'm not particularly fond of the patron's spell list. Seems to me there is too much reliance on thunder/sonic/lightning damage. Those all seem more appropriate for a Storm based patron, not deep dark cold patron. I would remove thunderwave, shatter and lightning bolt and replace with something more dark and cold appropriate.

 

[Aaron L]

Space depths.

I could totally rock Lovecraftian Spelljammer.

 

[Aaron L]

Warp Reality
For some reason, I’m reminded of the color out of space.

That was the first thing I thought of, too.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

For the Lurker of the Deep:
I'm not particularly fond of the patron's spell list. Seems to me there is too much reliance on thunder/sonic/lightning damage. Those all seem more appropriate for a Storm based patron, not deep dark cold patron. I would remove thunderwave, shatter and lightning bolt and replace with something more dark and cold appropriate.

There's a lack of spells from the Deep if they're just using spells from the PHB.

 

[Parmandur]

It must be said, ever since Crawford took over UA (post-MToF), it has become a lot more of a hand of cards held close to the chest. Crawford is better at showmanship and misdirection than Mearls, by a longshot.

 

[Aaron L]

I know! The next book will be Elminster & Mordenkainen's Guide to Going Mental!

...maybe?