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*Dungeons & Dragons
Unearthed Arcana Takes On Theurgy & War Magic
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<blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 7711263" data-attributes="member: 53176"><p><strong><em><u>Theurgy</u></em></strong></p><p></p><p>It's back, this time up for review. This subclass is worst offender in the "Taking the Cleric's flavor and stuff" category. </p><p></p><p><strong>Divine Inspiration</strong></p><p></p><p>You gain access to a cleric domain. Some domains are better than others, obviously.</p><p>It's worth noting this basically makes the Theurgy into 9 different subclasses.</p><p>No wait, scratch that, it makes it 9+ subclasses, including any new cleric subclass that ever gets printed from here on out. This is a bit crazy. I know they have a Core+1 book limit when making characters for public play, but still. </p><p></p><p>PHB:</p><p>Knowledge</p><p>Life</p><p>Light</p><p>Nature</p><p>Tempest</p><p>Trickery</p><p>War</p><p></p><p>DMG:</p><p>Death</p><p></p><p>SCAG:</p><p>Arcana</p><p></p><p>UA:</p><p>Forge</p><p>Grave</p><p>Protection</p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane Initiate</strong></p><p>In theory, you get access to your domains spells on level up. Some domains offer picks normally available to the Wizard, some provide opportunities to branch out, and a few of them offer spells at different levels than a Wizard would normally get them. However: Should you run out of domain spells to pick (by having already known them), you can instead learn <em>any</em> Cleric spell. Which makes this ability really crazy, considering you are going to be able to easily get all of the domain spells. 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th level spells aren't even granted by domains, yet the Wizard can still learn them, because this ability works every time they get a level. Another quirk: You know the spells, but you don't have them prepared at all times like a real Cleric would.</p><p></p><p>Knowledge domain offers a bunch of redundancy with the wizard spell list, allowing them to start out and top off by picking any cleric spells they want. Contrast with Life Domain which strait up gives spells that no other wizard would ever have access too. Heck, Nature Domain features spells that aren't even on the cleric list to begin with, giving the wizard access to three different spell lists.</p><p></p><p><strong>Channel Arcana</strong></p><p>This is an interesting one, you effectively gain the Channel Divinity power of your Domain. Unfortunately, some of these powers use math that ties directly with your <em>Cleric</em> level, not <em>Wizard</em> level. Making the Divinity power range from absolutely useless to really good. </p><p></p><p>However, you also get a power that gives you a +2 bonus to an attack roll or save DC, which is amazing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane Acolyte</strong></p><p>Now you get the rest of the benefits that a level 1 cleric would have gotten, except for armor/weapon proficiency. You can still get other proficencies, just not those. Of note: A lot of these powers tie into your Wisdom Score, which most Wizards don't prioritize. </p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane Priest</strong></p><p>At level 10, you get the level 6 powers. This is even more varied than what you could get at level 2. But at least most of them work properly without being a dedicated Cleric.</p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane High Priest</strong></p><p>At level 14, you get the level 17 feature of a Cleric. It's not just a slap in the face to all the people playing a normal Cleric out there, it grants t4 powers at t3 of play. </p><p></p><p><u>Thoughts:</u></p><p>This subclass is just badly designed, and I don't like saying that. It's lazy, in that it just copy-pastes every Cleric domain over to the Wizard with a few, almost superficial, tweaks. It doesn't take into account what should be obvious problems (any call for Cleric Levels in a calculation). The way it handles gaining Cleric spells is perhaps one of the most egregious bits of system mastery I have seen in years. The capstone is something that could have mechanically worked in a system where all capstones were gained at the same level, but even there it would be questionable due to taking the one of the Cleric's few remaining defining features.</p><p></p><p><strong><em><u>War Magic</u></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><u></u></em></strong></p><p>I'm not sure if there was actual demand for this, or if this was a result of misinterpreting everyone realizing the Lore wizard needed to be stripped of like half of it's power before it could be a viable option. </p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane Deflection</strong></p><p>On the surface, it's a weak variation of <em>Shield</em> on demand. However it can be used to save the spell you are concentrating on, so that's nice. I don't think it's better than Sculpt Spells or Bladesong, which are gained by the two schools that are the most likely to be in direct competition for this character concept.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tactical Wit</strong></p><p>A +5 bonus to initiative is hands down better than most of the Savant abilities, and probably better than having light armor most of the time.</p><p></p><p><strong>Power Surge</strong></p><p>Extra minion killing power once per short rest. Good for action economy, but not so good for killing bosses. Hands down better than Extra Attack, arguably better than Potent Cantrip (though that might change if they make more evocation cantrips that benefit from it)</p><p></p><p><strong>Durable Magic</strong></p><p>Add +2 AC and your saving throws while you maintain concentration. This is really nice, especially considering it stacks with your Deflection. Empowered Evocation isn't nearly as good, but Song of Defense might be on par.</p><p></p><p><strong>Deflecting Shroud</strong></p><p>This is a little disappointing. Granted, you can hit lots of creatures with this ability, but it's for 10 max damage (7, when you get it), and you have to be in harms way to get anything out of it. That said, it's still better than Song of Victory, though I would absolutely rather have Overchannel.</p><p></p><p><em>Thoughts:</em></p><p>In the highly contested niche of "fighting wizard", this school fairs better than the Evoker (but what doesn't really?) And lags behind the Bladesinger. It still has a place if you aren't an elf (or your DM doesn't let you ignore that silly restriction). But over all, I don't think we really needed it. and I would have preferred them to take a second crack at the Loremaster, who absolutely needs such a thing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Leatherhead, post: 7711263, member: 53176"] [B][I][U]Theurgy[/U][/I][/B] It's back, this time up for review. This subclass is worst offender in the "Taking the Cleric's flavor and stuff" category. [B]Divine Inspiration[/b] You gain access to a cleric domain. Some domains are better than others, obviously. It's worth noting this basically makes the Theurgy into 9 different subclasses. No wait, scratch that, it makes it 9+ subclasses, including any new cleric subclass that ever gets printed from here on out. This is a bit crazy. I know they have a Core+1 book limit when making characters for public play, but still. PHB: Knowledge Life Light Nature Tempest Trickery War DMG: Death SCAG: Arcana UA: Forge Grave Protection [B]Arcane Initiate[/B] In theory, you get access to your domains spells on level up. Some domains offer picks normally available to the Wizard, some provide opportunities to branch out, and a few of them offer spells at different levels than a Wizard would normally get them. However: Should you run out of domain spells to pick (by having already known them), you can instead learn [I]any[/I] Cleric spell. Which makes this ability really crazy, considering you are going to be able to easily get all of the domain spells. 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th level spells aren't even granted by domains, yet the Wizard can still learn them, because this ability works every time they get a level. Another quirk: You know the spells, but you don't have them prepared at all times like a real Cleric would. Knowledge domain offers a bunch of redundancy with the wizard spell list, allowing them to start out and top off by picking any cleric spells they want. Contrast with Life Domain which strait up gives spells that no other wizard would ever have access too. Heck, Nature Domain features spells that aren't even on the cleric list to begin with, giving the wizard access to three different spell lists. [B]Channel Arcana[/B] This is an interesting one, you effectively gain the Channel Divinity power of your Domain. Unfortunately, some of these powers use math that ties directly with your [I]Cleric[/I] level, not [I]Wizard[/I] level. Making the Divinity power range from absolutely useless to really good. However, you also get a power that gives you a +2 bonus to an attack roll or save DC, which is amazing. [B]Arcane Acolyte[/b] Now you get the rest of the benefits that a level 1 cleric would have gotten, except for armor/weapon proficiency. You can still get other proficencies, just not those. Of note: A lot of these powers tie into your Wisdom Score, which most Wizards don't prioritize. [B]Arcane Priest[/B] At level 10, you get the level 6 powers. This is even more varied than what you could get at level 2. But at least most of them work properly without being a dedicated Cleric. [B]Arcane High Priest[/B] At level 14, you get the level 17 feature of a Cleric. It's not just a slap in the face to all the people playing a normal Cleric out there, it grants t4 powers at t3 of play. [U]Thoughts:[/U] This subclass is just badly designed, and I don't like saying that. It's lazy, in that it just copy-pastes every Cleric domain over to the Wizard with a few, almost superficial, tweaks. It doesn't take into account what should be obvious problems (any call for Cleric Levels in a calculation). The way it handles gaining Cleric spells is perhaps one of the most egregious bits of system mastery I have seen in years. The capstone is something that could have mechanically worked in a system where all capstones were gained at the same level, but even there it would be questionable due to taking the one of the Cleric's few remaining defining features. [B][I][U]War Magic [/U][/I][/B] I'm not sure if there was actual demand for this, or if this was a result of misinterpreting everyone realizing the Lore wizard needed to be stripped of like half of it's power before it could be a viable option. [B]Arcane Deflection[/B] On the surface, it's a weak variation of [I]Shield[/I] on demand. However it can be used to save the spell you are concentrating on, so that's nice. I don't think it's better than Sculpt Spells or Bladesong, which are gained by the two schools that are the most likely to be in direct competition for this character concept. [B]Tactical Wit[/B] A +5 bonus to initiative is hands down better than most of the Savant abilities, and probably better than having light armor most of the time. [B]Power Surge[/B] Extra minion killing power once per short rest. Good for action economy, but not so good for killing bosses. Hands down better than Extra Attack, arguably better than Potent Cantrip (though that might change if they make more evocation cantrips that benefit from it) [B]Durable Magic[/B] Add +2 AC and your saving throws while you maintain concentration. This is really nice, especially considering it stacks with your Deflection. Empowered Evocation isn't nearly as good, but Song of Defense might be on par. [B]Deflecting Shroud[/B] This is a little disappointing. Granted, you can hit lots of creatures with this ability, but it's for 10 max damage (7, when you get it), and you have to be in harms way to get anything out of it. That said, it's still better than Song of Victory, though I would absolutely rather have Overchannel. [I]Thoughts:[/I] In the highly contested niche of "fighting wizard", this school fairs better than the Evoker (but what doesn't really?) And lags behind the Bladesinger. It still has a place if you aren't an elf (or your DM doesn't let you ignore that silly restriction). But over all, I don't think we really needed it. and I would have preferred them to take a second crack at the Loremaster, who absolutely needs such a thing. [/QUOTE]
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