Unearthed Arcana Waterborne Adventures: New from Unearthed Arcana

I, for one, am very pleased with the different options for existing classes over completely different classes.

I don't really have an balance thoughts. Balance isn't an issue with me unless it's incredibly flagrant.

 

[abirdcall]

Welfmonk w/a spear (2 hands): 17 Dex, 15 Wis, 13 Con, 12 Str, Int / Cha 10 / 8

Much better is 16 Dex 16 Wis.

Monkotaur is a fun option if you want to be a strength based monk. It's worse than dex based wood elf, but it's an option if that is a thing you want to do.

In the early you game you get 1 more damage and 1 more in a secondary save for a trade of 2 AC, 1 initiative, 1 less in a primary save, and 1 less save DC for stunning strike. Then there is athletics vs acrobatics, stealth, perception, insight, etc.

It gets worse as the game progresses and you get ASIs.

Even if you are hitting 75% of the time that is only an extra 1.5 dmg/rd at level 5.

This in exchange for all of the above, and it gets worse when you have to choose between bumping strength for attack power or wisdom for defense and save DCs. The wood elf can happily boost dex and get attack power and AC among other things.


Now lets get into the rest of the things the race gets.

Wood elves get a free skill that is great, darkvision, 5 extra movement, and an enhanced hide ability.

What do minotaurs get? A bunch of abilities that compete with martial arts and flurry of blows.

It's not even close.

Even with 1d10 damage, if you counted the horns as simple melee weapons the monkotaur would still be far worse than other monks. There is no need to nerf the damage.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Much better is 16 Dex 16 Wis.

To keep from going insane, I simply applied the Default Array to each build.

Monkotaur is a fun option if you want to be a strength based monk. It's worse than dex based wood elf, but it's an option if that is a thing you want to do.

In the early you game you get 1 more damage and 1 more in a secondary save for a trade of 2 AC, 1 initiative, 1 less in a primary save, and 1 less save DC for stunning strike. Then there is athletics vs acrobatics, stealth, perception, insight, etc.

It gets worse as the game progresses and you get ASIs.

Even if you are hitting 75% of the time that is only an extra 1.5 dmg/rd at level 5.

This in exchange for all of the above, and it gets worse when you have to choose between bumping strength for attack power or wisdom for defense and save DCs. The wood elf can happily boost dex and get attack power and AC among other things.


Now lets get into the rest of the things the race gets.

Wood elves get a free skill that is great, darkvision, 5 extra movement, and an enhanced hide ability.

What do minotaurs get? A bunch of abilities that compete with martial arts and flurry of blows.

It's not even close.

Even with 1d10 damage, if you counted the horns as simple melee weapons the monkotaur would still be far worse than other monks. There is no need to nerf the damage.

I mean, I don't entirely agree, but yeah, upon a detailed review, it wouldn't break anything to let a monkotaur just use their horns as monk weapons ("simple melee weapon"). Seems really good, but plays fine.

 

[Inchoroi]

I like everything save the Panache ability; I don't question its balance as much as its appropriateness as written. It doesn't make sense for a rogue who's jumping in and out to be, basically, taunting a target and trying to tank. Something more appropriate would be a way to get advantage on a regular basis, or bleeding damage, or ignoring resistance, or something, dunno.

 

[Fralex]

For the Sneak Attack thing the Toujors l'frenchword gives, I'd be more comfortable if it were something like, "You can Sneak Attack with a melee weapon any creature that was not within your reach at the start of your turn." Then it synergises with the other swashy abilities that help you run up to your enemies, whack them, and run back before they can return the favor.

As for the concerns about mariner being too close to defense, I would point out that mariner also prevents you from using a shield, in addition to heavy armor. If you want to concentrate on defense, the defense fighting style is still 2 points of AC more helpful even in medium or light armor. Considering the only thing it adds is swimming and climbing, it seems like an equal trade off.

 

[pukunui]

I like everything save the Panache ability; I don't question its balance as much as its appropriateness as written. It doesn't make sense for a rogue who's jumping in and out to be, basically, taunting a target and trying to tank. Something more appropriate would be a way to get advantage on a regular basis, or bleeding damage, or ignoring resistance, or something, dunno.

Or maybe a different form of taunting - one that would let them use their Charisma to intimidate and demoralize a target, thus imposing disadvantage on their attacks in general. Or to feint and gain advantage, if nothing else.

 

[Inchoroi]

Or maybe a different form of taunting - one that would let them use their Charisma to intimidate and demoralize a target, thus imposing disadvantage on their attacks in general. Or to feint and gain advantage, if nothing else.

Pretty much like that, yeah. Just doesn't fit, as awesome as the rest of it is.

 

[Dragoslav]

At first I thought that the Swashbuckler was a little underwhelming, but then I realized that it was only because I was comparing to the Arcane Trickster archetype. Swashbuckler seems to swap out utility for extra combat enhancements. Some other points:

1) Swashbuckler is the only Rogue archetype that isn't predicated on picking proficiency (and possibly even expertise) in stealth or sleight of hand (or both) in order to be effective with your class features. Consequently, that frees up one, or even two, skill choices, so you can create more varied characters (e.g., a pirate with athletics, acrobatics, and intimidation, or the wandering gentleman-scholar with history, insight, and performance)
2) Swashbuckler is the best Rogue archetype for two-weapon fighting. A focus on TWF is a liability for other builds, because hitting with your off-hand means that you can't extract yourself from dicey situations or hide in the middle of battle. Fancy Footwork lets you do the equivalent of taking Cunning Action to Disengage, move up to an enemy, attack, and then run away, while also doing extra damage each round in comparison.

Regarding Panache, yeah, as an ardent fan of "martial mind control" like Come and Get It, I still think it's totally overpowered and thematically inappropriate. The obvious comparison is to Compelled Duel, which is less reliable and also expends a resource (spell slots). Even CAGI could only be used once per encounter.

 

[abirdcall]

To keep from going insane, I simply applied the Default Array to each build.

That is still with the default array. Give +1 to the 15 and +2 to the 14.

Even with 17 and 15 though at level 4 it will still be the same 18 and 16 so the wood elf still jumps ahead.

I mean, I don't entirely agree, but yeah, upon a detailed review, it wouldn't break anything to let a monkotaur just use their horns as monk weapons ("simple melee weapon"). Seems really good, but plays fine.

Yeah, a lot of what the minotaur has goes against the monk class with the d10 being the only thing that works with it.

So the d10 stands out as being awesome for a monk, but in the end it isn't.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Perhaps I feel that way because none of this stuff was run past us alpha testers first, whereas a lot of the preceding UA material was.

Ah. And I might be unconsciously influenced by the "v3" label on the file for this one--perhaps they put it there to try to implant the impression that it was more polished than it is...

This has not been my experience in play. The flat +2 damage is quite effective as is, whether or not a shield is used.

The problem is that a shield is at least +2 AC. I shouldn't have to choose between a mechanical benefit OR looking cool. I should be able to have both. Now, I'm willing to get say, only a +1 AC in order to look cool, but entirely losing a +2 bonus is just too much.

 

[Fralex]

Or maybe a different form of taunting - one that would let them use their Charisma to intimidate and demoralize a target, thus imposing disadvantage on their attacks in general. Or to feint and gain advantage, if nothing else.

I still like the essential narrative of taunting an enemy to reduce their effectiveness, but I think it should feel less like a "Fight me! I'm the one you want!" tank thing and more like a smug "Haha! Wow, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! By all means, keep embarrassing yourself!" thing. Here's how I would do it: If they fall for the taunt, they have disadvantage on all attack rolls. The effect lasts for one minute or until they successfully deal damage to you.

Then it's less of a tanking thing and more of a debuff that makes you a somewhat more tempting target.


The charming thing actually doesn't bother me. In this edition the charmed condition isn't really that magical in nature; it just makes the target more agreeable and docile. I'm assuming the condition ends if you or an ally attack the target, although they really should say that on the document.