New Unearthed Arcana Released, With 8 New Forgotten Realms-Themed Subclasses

Today, Wizards of the Coast has announced a new Unearthed Arcana playtest featuring eight new Dungeons & Dragons subclasses that will appear in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. The new subclasses include five classes tied to Forgotten Realms regions, as well as the return of the Knowledge Domain Cleric subclass from the 2014 Player's Handbook and the Bladesinger Wizard subclass and Purple Dragon Knight Fighter subclass from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

Each of the five remaining subclasses are themed to one of the five regions explored in the Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide also coming out in November. The College of the Moon Bard subclass is tied to the Moonshae Isles, the Winter Walker Ranger subclass is tied to Icewind Dale, and the Oath of the Noble Genies is tied to Calimshan. The Scion of The Three is tied to the Dead Three (of Baldur's Gate fame). Meanwhile, Spellfire Sorcery dates back to 2nd Edition and can both heal allies and harm foes.

The eight new subclasses can be found below:

• College Of The Moon (Bard)
• Knowledge Domain (Cleric)
• Purple Dragon Knight (Fighter)
• Oath Of The Noble Genies (Paladin)
• Winter Walker (Ranger)
• Scion Of The Three (Rogue)
• Spellfire Sorcery (Sorcerer)
• Bladesinger (Wizard)

The Forgotten Realm's Players Guide comes out on November 11th.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Sure, and if this was the first time the subclass was being printed, I would agree that the generic “banneret” option was the way to go. But, it’s a second pass at an existing subclass that was called purple dragon knight, and there’s already demand for revising into something to do with purple dragons.

So it's a failed design. That's OK. We don't need to be committed to doing something with the name that has nothing to do with the setting. We can just not use the name.

This to me is not an argument against changing the PDK. 4e’s lore was way cooler than the stuff it replaced.

Eh, opinions vary. But even granting it, "being cool" is only part of the goal of a D&D design. D&D has a history and a context and millions of people playing it, many of whom thing that the current stuff is cool. This isn't a fantasy heartbreaker homebrew. D&D design should leave officially-sanctioned room for people to continue to enjoy the existing story, without replacing it with what some gormless nerds in Seattle deem "cooler."

Again though, Forgotten Realms is still a living setting. Just because the purple dragon knights haven’t yet been dragon tamers doesn’t mean they can’t become dragon tamers. That can be a new development in the setting, if that seems to be something the playerbase would like.

I mean, if they went that route, I'd be having a different argument.

Mainly, that becoming dragon tamers is kind of a lame move. Feels very try-hard. Almost like someone read the name and imagined what it could be without doing the actual work of finding out what it is in the setting and then they had to justify it with a sloppy retcon.

 

[mellored]

Almost like someone read the name and imagined what it could be without doing the actual work of finding out what it is in the setting and then they had to justify it with a sloppy retcon.

I feel that's most D&D players. Especially the new ones.

They read the name, and expect dragons. Not to have to go and read specific lore from a specific campaign and realize it was only a dragon on a banner.

 

[Kurotowa]

I spent a little while planning out character options for a Noble Genie Paladin with a one level dip in Warlock for Blade Pact. And my conclusion is... I'm not sure it's worth it. Not unless you have a really specific character fantasy to live out.

Pros: You get to be Cha primary Dex secondary instead of the other way around. Which somewhat improves some Paladin features like spells and Aura of Protection.

Cons: It costs a level, which delays everything. To multiclass you need a 13 Str, while a single class Genie Paladin can dump that stat. It runs into the Bladelock problem that all the good martial feats boost Str or Dex, not Cha.

You can't run PAM or GWM because they don't boost Cha. You can go sword & board with a Longsword, but it's probably better to avoid all the multiclass costs and just sword & board with a Shortsword instead. If you're going Dex primary with a Shortsword you can take Defensive Duelist and really stack your AC. Or explore a TWF Paladin, which you can't do with a Blade Pact build.

tl;dr You can't dump Dex if you want a good AC, and the upsides of being Cha primary are not worth the downsides.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It's WOTC's native country and if they want to put up a casino on their tribal lands which used to be hunting grounds, that's not colonial it's their right.

It's TSR and Ed Greenwood's native country, WotC is the colonist.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Mainly, that becoming dragon tamers is kind of a lame move. Feels very try-hard. Almost like someone read the name and imagined what it could be without doing the actual work of finding out what it is in the setting and then they had to justify it with a sloppy retcon.

All it takes is a charismatic and visionary commander of the PDK to make a deal with some dragons in 1490DR (or whenever).

 

[mellored]

I spent a little while planning out character options for a Noble Genie Paladin with a one level dip in Warlock for Blade Pact. And my conclusion is... I'm not sure it's worth it. Not unless you have a really specific character fantasy to live out.

Pros: You get to be Cha primary Dex secondary instead of the other way around. Which somewhat improves some Paladin features like spells and Aura of Protection.

Cons: It costs a level, which delays everything. To multiclass you need a 13 Str, while a single class Genie Paladin can dump that stat. It runs into the Bladelock problem that all the good martial feats boost Str or Dex, not Cha.

You can't run PAM or GWM because they don't boost Cha. You can go sword & board with a Longsword, but it's probably better to avoid all the multiclass costs and just sword & board with a Shortsword instead. If you're going Dex primary with a Shortsword you can take Defensive Duelist and really stack your AC. Or explore a TWF Paladin, which you can't do with a Blade Pact build.

tl;dr You can't dump Dex if you want a good AC, and the upsides of being Cha primary are not worth the downsides.

PAM and GWM don't add as much to paladins as they do to fighters. You need bonus action to smite and lay on hands.

Not exactly bad feats, but not great as good as it a fighter.

IMO, If your dipping warlock, take inspiring leader, Warcaster, and telekinetic.

Though in that case i would probably go Devotion over genie.

 

[Remathilis]

Mainly, that becoming dragon tamers is kind of a lame move. Feels very try-hard. Almost like someone read the name and imagined what it could be without doing the actual work of finding out what it is in the setting and then they had to justify it with a sloppy retcon.

Because you are looking at it from the perspective of old Cormyr.

Tell me, what's interesting about Cormyr? A good aligned kingdom with knights? How many of those are there in D&D, let alone fantasy in general? Cormyr is kinda generic. Sure, if you deep dive into the all the lore there is cool things about it, but at it's heart it's a generic medieval kingdom in the center of the map.

But let's say that the new king has made a deal with a dragon. And that deal is protect Cormyr at some price. So the dragon knights move from a generic knighthood to a nation of dragon calvary. They have draconic allies. They are strong, but their is questions on what price Cormyr is paying for Pax Draconia. Now we got something interesting. Something unique. The banner of the Purple Dragons isn't symbolic, it means your going to be fighting some actual purple dragons!

I hear all the time how generic the Realms are. I'm interested in seeing some evolving that isn't just blowing them up. And Cormyr, like Moonshaes and Callimshan, are great places to inject a more fantastical element. A kingdom of dragons, a merchant nation of genies, and island chain of the fey. I'm interested..

 

[Kurotowa]

PAM and GWM don't add as much to paladins as they do to fighters. You need bonus action to smite and lay on hands.

Yeah, that's why I'm looking at a TWF Genie Paladin. Take Defensive Duelist and skip Dual Wielder, to leave your Bonus Action free. That seems like a good balance of offense and defense. The other attractive option is to go all in on being a defender; sword & board, Defensive Duelist, Protection fighting style. But that really depends on having the right party for it.

 

[mellored]

Yeah, that's why I'm looking at a TWF Genie Paladin. Take Defensive Duelist and skip Dual Wielder, to leave your Bonus Action free. That seems like a good balance of offense and defense. The other attractive option is to go all in on being a defender; sword & board, Defensive Duelist, Protection fighting style. But that really depends on having the right party for it.

You could take Defensive Duelist and Inspiring Leader.

 

[mellored]

Hmm... Dance bard / Genie paladin...

10+Dex+Cha+Cha + 2 shield AC = 27 (max)
-extra smite slots.
-punches can smite and get +1d8 at paladin level 11.
-hand out bonuses to initiative, saves, movement, and attacks.