Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Spirits Bard and Undeath Warlock

We have a new UA release with two subclasses. The College of Spirits Bard is a fortune teller or spirit medium type character with a big random effect table. Meanwhile the Undeath Pact Warlock is a a do-over of the Undying Pact Warlock.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

That patron/subclass is screaming to have a vulnerability to radiant damage once it gains the Mortal Husk ability (saturated with necrotic energy and all that). I know D&D no longer favours actual disadvantages like that, but yeesh, does it scream for it, flavour-wise.

Maybe they could give it vulnerability to radiant damage in their spectral form?

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's like they are intentionally ignoring the design strongpoints of this game, and simply going for chaff.

Care to explain?

 

[jmartkdr2]

Sorry, I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean here, please do explain.

Failed joke. Please ignore.

 

[Parmandur]

I just looked back through recent UA. It seems like the most recent UA they put the "early" marker on was the Subclasses Revisited UA.

IDK, I'm not Romani.

Well, yes, because the note is about setting expectations for feedback. Dunno if this is for the November book, maybe this is for the next project at this point: could go either way.

 

[MarkB]

For the bard subclass, whether it's a shaman or a medium / fortune teller, I'd prefer something that felt less impersonal. With either of those archetypes there's a strong theme of getting in touch with specific spirits, even building up a relationship with more frequently-consulted ones. This subclass just feels like a grab-bag of semi-randomised special abilities fluffed as "because Spirits".

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Failed joke. Please ignore.

No no no. Explain what you meant and don't go "I was just joking so I don't have to defend myself."

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

As to these options...

They do not spark joy. I wouldn't want to play them, and feel deep apathy for them.

Undeath is not meant to spark joy. Undeath is the devourer of joy, vanity of pleasure, enveloper of light, crusher of warmth, insignificance of delight, and terminator of life. Apathy is the prime emotion of the ever-living undead. Anger is weakened, rage is silenced, and the inevitability of death is evermore familiar. Furthermore, undeath is incarnation of nearly endless power, and the embodiment of the futility of the living and their desires.

None shall escape the mortifying power of undeath!

 

[NaturalZero]

Be a zealot barbarian multiclass as undead warlock, boom!, you're a terrifying not-undead-but-not-all-alive brute swinging a giant scythe for massive necrotic damage while being nigh unhurtable (unless the foe can run away long enough for you to run out of dark anger). Any strong race works, but I'm currently picturing a black dragonborn (with a shadow dragon for a patron)

It would be cool if this warlock could be a melee brute that compares to the hexblade but with different flavor but it looks like you need a DEEP multiclass to pull this off. 1 level of warlock is a great dip here, but to get the big damage, you need whopping 6 levels of warlock on top of class that grants martial weapons and good armor. The combo sounds super fun, but i'd only play it in a game where we were jumping in at like level 10+.

 

[Parmandur]

Undeath is not meant to spark joy. Undeath is the devourer of joy, vanity of pleasure, enveloper of light, crusher of warmth, insignificance of delight, and terminator of life. Apathy is the prime emotion of the ever-living undead. Anger is weakened, rage is silenced, and the inevitability of death is evermore familiar. Furthermore, undeath is incarnation of nearly endless power, and the embodiment of the futility of the living and their desires.

None shall escape the mortifying power of undeath!

Yeah, still not feeling it. Compare that to the Genie Warlock, which mad me want to reach for a Character sheet and some dice. That sparked joy. This one not so much.

For the Bard, I'd rather play a Diviner Wizard and use a Charletan or Entertainer Background to get the Carnie flavor...

 

[Haldrik]

They said they were working with a Romani consultant, it could be the tropes they put here passed muster as cool rather than offensive...?

Even the Samurai class archetype makes me uneasy.

I prefer how the "Rogue" class can build a historically accurate Ninja character concept, without being shackled Japanese stereotypes.



So here, it is fine if a player wants to use the Spirit Bard to build a gothic fortune teller, but I would like it also include other concepts beyond Romani stereotypes.

The items are fine. I love tarot cards. Their (historically-accurate) history is fascinating. I want to see more possibilities from other cultures.
There are so many other kinds of divination methods across cultures.



And the Bard is a Bard! I would rather the Verbal voice alone be sufficient to manifest a story.

A crystal ball, tarot cards, and other divination techniques are moreso a "ritual" that takes 1 minute to 1 hour. I would rather the Bard have a benefit if employing a ritual during a short or long rest.

In the meantime, manifesting a story during a single 6-second round, works fine as a Verbal component.