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Unearthed Arcana: Spirits Bard and Undeath Warlock
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<blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 8056551" data-attributes="member: 53176"><p>Subclasses Part 4? How cheeky.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, the return of the Grey Box is trying to remind people that they bork the balance on playtest material, both in general and especially for multiclassing. And so you shouldn't let that impact your survey results. (Also because excessive negative feedback on anything causes WoTC to throw babies out with the bathwater instead of salvaging or tweaking things.)</p><p></p><p>Moving on!</p><p></p><p><strong><em><u>College of Spirits</u></em></strong></p><p>Return of the old Dirge Singer? No, it's a Hasbro in-house cross-promotion with the Ouija Board. Now if only we could convince them to do one with Transformers~</p><p></p><p><strong>Guiding Whispers</strong></p><p><em>Guidance</em> is easily one of the best cantrips in the game, and this time it doesn't count against your spell slots and has a 60' range. However, it may be a bit overkill on a Bard who already has access to Bardic Inspiration, given that they both stack and can be done in the same round. 1d6+1d4 is an average of +6! Which can then also go on to stack with other dice and flat bonuses which conveniently ignore (dis)advantage.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I think that just giving them <em>Toll the Dead</em> might be a better idea, because the concept of dice stacking is problematic.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Spiritual Focus</strong></p><p>You get a slew of new foci, one of them letting you do your best Hamlet. Then at level six you get another d6 to tack on to your damage or healing spells. Bards aren't exactly famed for their spellcasting damage potential. So it's a nice bonus. The healing side will likely get a stink-eye from Clerics once that Bard Poaches some AoE healing spells.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand (heh), most of these foci would appear to require two-hands and maybe a table to wield properly. But there is a potential fix for that: You have Spirits on your side, so maybe it should be reworked so that the spirits are partly holding this stuff for you when you wield them. Extra creepy and useful to boot.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tales from Beyond</strong></p><p>Continuing a trend of cramming extra abilities into the level 3 feature of a subclass (because there just isn't enough room in the "I get my cool identity and powers at level 3" format for subclasses, a regret I am sure WotC is living right now), you take a random spirit (based on inspo dice rolling, which makes it auto-scale but not in an obvious way), weave it into a story as a bonus action, then unleash that story as a normal action. You can keep the story trapped in your head till a long rest, in some kind of call back to Vancian magic. Of note, all of these powers have a 30' range.</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Beast: it's worded super weird, but when your enemy has a (non-incapacitated) friend near it, you gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and attack rolls against it for 1 minute.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Warrior. It's a single melee spell attack with 2xInspo+Cha damage. A bit of boobie-prize that's nowhere near as good as the others. I really hate that kind of balance where everything is obscured by the chance you can get something meh.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Friends. Effectively Inspo+Cha healing on two targets. Short rest healing two targets is way better than stabbing one in the right situation. Again, this is relying on RNG to obscure the power level here.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Runaway. Up to 6 people can reaction teleport up to 30'. Hey Grey box, I know you said don't sweat the balance, but at this point I think you need some Jazzercise.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Avenger. The target gets a mini-hellish rebuke to use their reactions on for the next 1 minute.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Hero. Inspo+cha THP, but also 10' walking speed while they have this temp hp. The spirits foretell me of the resignment on the faces of players as they max roll their inspo dice, and get this.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Fey. Wis VS charm or the target has to make a melee attack against a creature of your choice. HOWEVER you can't have them just take swipes at the ground or air to waste their turn if there isn't another creature in melee range. Potentially an actual dud. Just let them wiff at the very least.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Dark Spirit. Invisibility with a side dish of Fear+Inspo necro damage on hit for one turn. The fear bit is the best part of this power.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Giant. An AoE Warrior-ball with an added prone. It only does 2xInspo damage (half on save), but the AoE prone part of it makes up for that.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Dragon. 3xInspo damage Fire Breath in a 30' cone. It's better than rolling another Warrior for sure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Celestial. This is an upgraded Friends, but with a single target.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Unknown. INT save or take 3xInspo damage and be unable to speak for 1 minute. Potentially shutting down enemy casters.</li> </ol><p>Quick reminder of the inspo die levels: Level 1+ (1d6); Level 5+ (1d8); Level 10+(1d10); Level 15+ (1d12)</p><p></p><p>OK, so, I hate this power. The usage is cumbersome, because you need to sink a bonus action to prime, then use your action to actually trigger the effect. And the effects are all over the place and somewhat bonkers. The Automatic Scaling as you level is a nice concept, but the implementation here makes it harder to get what you want. Need Runway or Healing of some kind? Too bad, you got another damage power thanks to your ever-bloating list of random things.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spirit Session</strong></p><p>A very fluffy way of getting an extra Necromancy or Divination spell of 5th level or less. Be very careful if you pick <em>Animate Dead</em>, because you can potentially lose access to this spell if you can't do the ritual again the next day for whatever reason. Otherwise it's kind of meh. But the other thing you get at level 6 more than makes up for that.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mystical Connection</strong></p><p>You can get a free use of your Tales from Beyond if you roll a 1d6. The unintended side effect of using this power is that you cap the list at 1d6 instead of 1d12 which can be really useful if you want to prime up, say, Runaway. But I still don't like the core power.</p><p></p><p><u>Thoughts.</u></p><p>I've often found myself thinking that bonus stacking, despite being something that 5e ostensibly tried to do away with Bounded Accuracy, is getting a bit out of hand with all these stacking bonus dice being thrown around.</p><p></p><p>I cannot bemoan Tales from Beyond enough. It has basically everything I hate about RNG based power design baked into it. The only thing it's lacking is an effect that just flat out harms you and your party, which will unfortunately mask it from general scrutiny, much like how the Alchemists random-brewed potion managed to make it through playtesting as it's core feature.</p><p></p><p>Over all, I wish they would have done a proper Dirge Singer instead any of this.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><em><u>The Undead.</u></em></strong></p><p>Part of WotC's dedicated efforts to make us forget the SCAG ever existed.</p><p></p><p>For the record, the Undying was some kind of non-healing support subclass which is just really weirdly implemented, it's best use being to make your own Rasputin. The Undead seems to be more of what you would expect for being the "minion" of an undead master.</p><p></p><p><strong>Undead Expanded Spells</strong></p><p><em>1st bane, false life</em></p><p><em>2nd blindness/deafness, phantasmal force</em></p><p><em>3rd speak with dead, phantom steed</em></p><p><em>4th death ward, greater invisibility</em></p><p><em>5th antilife shell, cloudkill</em></p><p></p><p>For comparisons sake here is the spell list from The Undying</p><p><em>[spoiler]1st false life, ray of sickness</em></p><p><em>2nd blindness/deafness, silence</em></p><p><em>3rd feign death, speak with dead</em></p><p><em>4th aura of life, death ward</em></p><p><em>5th contagion, legend lore[/spoiler]</em></p><p></p><p>The spells are OK. Greater Invis, Death Ward, and Bane jump out to me in particular. Given the non-Cha potential of this subclass I kind of wish there were more non-saving throw based spells added to the list.</p><p></p><p><strong>Form of Dread</strong></p><p>You change your appearance to that of something horrifying. You become fearless, gain some Temp HP, and can inflict fear whenever you attack something (spell or weapon). A great power in general, almost a mini-Rage. In fact, if the fear part wasn't dependent on a Wisdom Saving throw (or if that saving throw was somehow tied into your attack stat), it would be a unique instance of a non-charisma based warlock. Something that is only theoretically possible right now due to (somewhat maligned) implementation of the Blade Pact Boon. Of course, Eldritch Blast is still the best way for a Warlock to lay down multiple attacks, so it would still be a technicality at best, but a welcome one.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grave Touched</strong></p><p>You do the standard creepy undead treatment of no eating, drinking, or breathing. But you still have to sleep. Presumably because Vampires have to sleep I guess, but you aren't the Vampire, your master is. It's kind of a weird omission. </p><p></p><p>Anyway, the real meat of the power is that you can change your damage dice when you attack (spell or weapon, again) into necrotic damage, and add an extra damage die when you do so. That last part is a bit crazy, just add an extra damage die? When you hit someone with an Eldritch blast you deal 2d10 necro damage instead of 1d10 force? When you stab them with a greatsword you deal 3d6 necro damage (I guess you would want to use a greataxe instead)? At least I think that's what that says. You could even get your Two Weapon fighting going... Well ok probably not, because that form of combat would be crazily bonus action starved given you need one to change forms and one to drop a <em>Hex</em>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mortal Husk</strong></p><p>Resistance to necrotic damage which becomes immunity when you hulk-out. OK.</p><p></p><p>Then if you drop to 0 HP you can explode into a necro ball for 2d10+level damage and revive yourself with 1 hp and a level of exhaustion. While the idea of a dead-mans switch is cool. The implementation of this power could potentially screw over your party, especially that healer who would need to be somewhat close to you in order to prevent you from just getting re-deaded. The 1d4 long rest cool down seems excessively prohibitive on a power that hits you with exhaustion and hurts your party to boot.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spirit Projection</strong></p><p>You ditch your body to become a spooky ghost, which takes up your concentration, but leaves you free to do everything else including flying around or traveling through walls. When you end your trip, you can either teleport back to your body, or have your body teleport to you, handy! Also if you are a hulked-out ghost, you can regain HP whenever you deal necro damage.</p><p></p><p><u>Thoughts.</u></p><p>I'm going to admit, I was initially skeptical about this class, but I'm more or less sold on it. Now if WotC could only commit to the idea of a non-Cha warlock to rival the Hexblade and make that fear based on whatever stat you are using to attack, (and some non-cha spell picks) it would be golden.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Leatherhead, post: 8056551, member: 53176"] Subclasses Part 4? How cheeky. Anyway, the return of the Grey Box is trying to remind people that they bork the balance on playtest material, both in general and especially for multiclassing. And so you shouldn't let that impact your survey results. (Also because excessive negative feedback on anything causes WoTC to throw babies out with the bathwater instead of salvaging or tweaking things.) Moving on! [B][I][U]College of Spirits[/U][/I][/B] Return of the old Dirge Singer? No, it's a Hasbro in-house cross-promotion with the Ouija Board. Now if only we could convince them to do one with Transformers~ [B]Guiding Whispers[/B] [I]Guidance[/I] is easily one of the best cantrips in the game, and this time it doesn't count against your spell slots and has a 60' range. However, it may be a bit overkill on a Bard who already has access to Bardic Inspiration, given that they both stack and can be done in the same round. 1d6+1d4 is an average of +6! Which can then also go on to stack with other dice and flat bonuses which conveniently ignore (dis)advantage. I think that just giving them [I]Toll the Dead[/I] might be a better idea, because the concept of dice stacking is problematic. [B]Spiritual Focus[/B] You get a slew of new foci, one of them letting you do your best Hamlet. Then at level six you get another d6 to tack on to your damage or healing spells. Bards aren't exactly famed for their spellcasting damage potential. So it's a nice bonus. The healing side will likely get a stink-eye from Clerics once that Bard Poaches some AoE healing spells. On the other hand (heh), most of these foci would appear to require two-hands and maybe a table to wield properly. But there is a potential fix for that: You have Spirits on your side, so maybe it should be reworked so that the spirits are partly holding this stuff for you when you wield them. Extra creepy and useful to boot. [B]Tales from Beyond[/B] Continuing a trend of cramming extra abilities into the level 3 feature of a subclass (because there just isn't enough room in the "I get my cool identity and powers at level 3" format for subclasses, a regret I am sure WotC is living right now), you take a random spirit (based on inspo dice rolling, which makes it auto-scale but not in an obvious way), weave it into a story as a bonus action, then unleash that story as a normal action. You can keep the story trapped in your head till a long rest, in some kind of call back to Vancian magic. Of note, all of these powers have a 30' range. [LIST=1] [*]Beast: it's worded super weird, but when your enemy has a (non-incapacitated) friend near it, you gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and attack rolls against it for 1 minute. [*]Warrior. It's a single melee spell attack with 2xInspo+Cha damage. A bit of boobie-prize that's nowhere near as good as the others. I really hate that kind of balance where everything is obscured by the chance you can get something meh. [*]Friends. Effectively Inspo+Cha healing on two targets. Short rest healing two targets is way better than stabbing one in the right situation. Again, this is relying on RNG to obscure the power level here. [*]Runaway. Up to 6 people can reaction teleport up to 30'. Hey Grey box, I know you said don't sweat the balance, but at this point I think you need some Jazzercise. [*]Avenger. The target gets a mini-hellish rebuke to use their reactions on for the next 1 minute. [*]Hero. Inspo+cha THP, but also 10' walking speed while they have this temp hp. The spirits foretell me of the resignment on the faces of players as they max roll their inspo dice, and get this. [*] Fey. Wis VS charm or the target has to make a melee attack against a creature of your choice. HOWEVER you can't have them just take swipes at the ground or air to waste their turn if there isn't another creature in melee range. Potentially an actual dud. Just let them wiff at the very least. [*] Dark Spirit. Invisibility with a side dish of Fear+Inspo necro damage on hit for one turn. The fear bit is the best part of this power. [*]Giant. An AoE Warrior-ball with an added prone. It only does 2xInspo damage (half on save), but the AoE prone part of it makes up for that. [*] Dragon. 3xInspo damage Fire Breath in a 30' cone. It's better than rolling another Warrior for sure. [*]Celestial. This is an upgraded Friends, but with a single target. [*]Unknown. INT save or take 3xInspo damage and be unable to speak for 1 minute. Potentially shutting down enemy casters. [/LIST] Quick reminder of the inspo die levels: Level 1+ (1d6); Level 5+ (1d8); Level 10+(1d10); Level 15+ (1d12) OK, so, I hate this power. The usage is cumbersome, because you need to sink a bonus action to prime, then use your action to actually trigger the effect. And the effects are all over the place and somewhat bonkers. The Automatic Scaling as you level is a nice concept, but the implementation here makes it harder to get what you want. Need Runway or Healing of some kind? Too bad, you got another damage power thanks to your ever-bloating list of random things. [B]Spirit Session[/B] A very fluffy way of getting an extra Necromancy or Divination spell of 5th level or less. Be very careful if you pick [I]Animate Dead[/I], because you can potentially lose access to this spell if you can't do the ritual again the next day for whatever reason. Otherwise it's kind of meh. But the other thing you get at level 6 more than makes up for that. [B]Mystical Connection[/B] You can get a free use of your Tales from Beyond if you roll a 1d6. The unintended side effect of using this power is that you cap the list at 1d6 instead of 1d12 which can be really useful if you want to prime up, say, Runaway. But I still don't like the core power. [U]Thoughts.[/U] I've often found myself thinking that bonus stacking, despite being something that 5e ostensibly tried to do away with Bounded Accuracy, is getting a bit out of hand with all these stacking bonus dice being thrown around. I cannot bemoan Tales from Beyond enough. It has basically everything I hate about RNG based power design baked into it. The only thing it's lacking is an effect that just flat out harms you and your party, which will unfortunately mask it from general scrutiny, much like how the Alchemists random-brewed potion managed to make it through playtesting as it's core feature. Over all, I wish they would have done a proper Dirge Singer instead any of this. [B][I][U]The Undead.[/U][/I][/B] Part of WotC's dedicated efforts to make us forget the SCAG ever existed. For the record, the Undying was some kind of non-healing support subclass which is just really weirdly implemented, it's best use being to make your own Rasputin. The Undead seems to be more of what you would expect for being the "minion" of an undead master. [B]Undead Expanded Spells[/B] [I]1st bane, false life 2nd blindness/deafness, phantasmal force 3rd speak with dead, phantom steed 4th death ward, greater invisibility 5th antilife shell, cloudkill[/I] For comparisons sake here is the spell list from The Undying [I][spoiler]1st false life, ray of sickness 2nd blindness/deafness, silence 3rd feign death, speak with dead 4th aura of life, death ward 5th contagion, legend lore[/spoiler][/I] The spells are OK. Greater Invis, Death Ward, and Bane jump out to me in particular. Given the non-Cha potential of this subclass I kind of wish there were more non-saving throw based spells added to the list. [B]Form of Dread[/B] You change your appearance to that of something horrifying. You become fearless, gain some Temp HP, and can inflict fear whenever you attack something (spell or weapon). A great power in general, almost a mini-Rage. In fact, if the fear part wasn't dependent on a Wisdom Saving throw (or if that saving throw was somehow tied into your attack stat), it would be a unique instance of a non-charisma based warlock. Something that is only theoretically possible right now due to (somewhat maligned) implementation of the Blade Pact Boon. Of course, Eldritch Blast is still the best way for a Warlock to lay down multiple attacks, so it would still be a technicality at best, but a welcome one. [B]Grave Touched[/B] You do the standard creepy undead treatment of no eating, drinking, or breathing. But you still have to sleep. Presumably because Vampires have to sleep I guess, but you aren't the Vampire, your master is. It's kind of a weird omission. Anyway, the real meat of the power is that you can change your damage dice when you attack (spell or weapon, again) into necrotic damage, and add an extra damage die when you do so. That last part is a bit crazy, just add an extra damage die? When you hit someone with an Eldritch blast you deal 2d10 necro damage instead of 1d10 force? When you stab them with a greatsword you deal 3d6 necro damage (I guess you would want to use a greataxe instead)? At least I think that's what that says. You could even get your Two Weapon fighting going... Well ok probably not, because that form of combat would be crazily bonus action starved given you need one to change forms and one to drop a [I]Hex[/I]. [B]Mortal Husk[/B] Resistance to necrotic damage which becomes immunity when you hulk-out. OK. Then if you drop to 0 HP you can explode into a necro ball for 2d10+level damage and revive yourself with 1 hp and a level of exhaustion. While the idea of a dead-mans switch is cool. The implementation of this power could potentially screw over your party, especially that healer who would need to be somewhat close to you in order to prevent you from just getting re-deaded. The 1d4 long rest cool down seems excessively prohibitive on a power that hits you with exhaustion and hurts your party to boot. [B]Spirit Projection[/B] You ditch your body to become a spooky ghost, which takes up your concentration, but leaves you free to do everything else including flying around or traveling through walls. When you end your trip, you can either teleport back to your body, or have your body teleport to you, handy! Also if you are a hulked-out ghost, you can regain HP whenever you deal necro damage. [U]Thoughts.[/U] I'm going to admit, I was initially skeptical about this class, but I'm more or less sold on it. Now if WotC could only commit to the idea of a non-Cha warlock to rival the Hexblade and make that fear based on whatever stat you are using to attack, (and some non-cha spell picks) it would be golden. [/QUOTE]
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