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.

 

[Weiley31]

Also, more Arcane Gish concepts are great. Since ExE's inclusion of a Swordmagey artificer in Forge Adepts, I've finally come around to the idea that the Arcane Gish does not need its own class

Heh, add in the Stone Sorcerer's "Aegis" to the Forge Adept, maybe change the spell listing or keep it the same, and you pretty much have your Swordmage.

 

[Charlaquin]

When I give feedback, I always caveat it with that I do NOT want them to drop the option, just tinker with it. I fear WotC often takes the wrong impression from dislikes of implementation as if we don't want the concept in the game. Too many great ideas dropped because they didn't hit that threshold!!!

Yeah, for this reason I’ve started voting “satisfied” for things with which I’m actually not satisfied but want to see iterated upon and “very satisfied” for things I’m actually just satisfied with, reserving “dissatisfied” for things I actively don’t want to see iterated on and “very dissatisfied” only for things I well and truly hate. With “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” serving as an abstain option if I really just don’t care about something one way or the other.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I imagine shaman like a mixture of vestige binder class and incarnum totemist. A ritual with a totem, and temporaly you have a mini-list of monster traits as superpowers, even a special totem could give martial maneuvers of the tiger claw schools.

Ravenloft is coming soon, but I guess the "player handbook" will be something as "heroes of horror", to be used for all settings. Some time I have said Ravenloft has got a great potential as multimedia franchise. The metaplot will be frozen for a time, but new stories are possible, for example dark powers causing troubles to survivors with infected-mutant postapocalypse from a secret underground laboratory in "Gamma World".

And WotC should allow 3PPs to publish their own ideas for the "Ghoswalk" setting.

 

[ZeshinX]

So basically a shaman (rose by another name) and necromancy a la warlock. :/

Options are good, so I appreciate them on that level....but seriously, if they're willing to take another stab at a damn patron (Undying -> Undead patron) and yet still we have the gawd awful PHB ranger...well, disappointing in that sense.

If they want to explore new options for the warlock, I'd rather they explore expanding their pacts instead of their patrons. New patrons are nifty of course, but I'd like to see some warlock subclass options that focus on pacts. They kinda/sorta did that with the Hexblade, but not really. I'd like to see options that expand what you can do with your pact, and add some new pacts while they're at it. Not just invocations (where they already get few enough), but actual subclass abilities that widen the pacts capabilities themselves. An option where their pact IS their patron sort of thing.

College of Spirits is nifty, but meh (already dislike bards anyway). Feels more like an option for a druid than a bard honestly, but hey, still nifty.

 

[Remathilis]

For the love of Zozo, The College of Spirits is a medium or fortune teller, not a shaman!

 

[Aldarc]

No, they just know it’s terrible.

Vancian design: publish and forget.

But why not show the same courtesy to the 4 Elements monk?

 

[Haldrik]

True. I personally prefer Vampires as a non-ancestry concept that is layered on top, whether as a class, or a feat, or a subclass, or maybe the best variation would be a supernatural gift.

It is almost possible to use the Undead Warlock to be the Vampire class. After contracting vampirism, take Warlock levels to develop vampire skills. Think of a few vampiric feats to complete the Warlock invocation and spell options. Misty Step can make a decent albeit brief gaseous form.

Missing. Energy drain.

D&D 5e actually makes energy drain easy: the TERRIFYING 5e mechanic, exhaustion. The vampiric character suffers a level of exhaustion for each 24 hours (at sunrise) if without drinking living blood. This exhaustion can only be replenished by drinking living blood. Meanwhile, anyone who supplies the blood, whether willing or unwilling, suffers a level of exhaustion, for each level the vampire revitalizes.

Something like that.

 

[Undrave]

D&D 5e actually makes energy drain easy: the TERRIFYING 5e mechanic, exhaustion. The vampiric character suffers a level of exhaustion for each 24 hours (at sunrise) if without drinking living blood. This exhaustion can only be replenished by drinking living blood. Meanwhile, anyone who supplies the blood, whether willing or unwilling, suffers a level of exhaustion, for each level the vampire revitalizes.

Le Gasp

YOU MONSTER!

 

[Weiley31]

D&D 5e actually makes energy drain easy: the TERRIFYING 5e mechanic, exhaustion.

That's pretty much how I've always viewed Energy/Level Drain in 5E as.

 

[Weiley31]

Le Gasp

YOU MONSTER!

HORRORS!

faints