Summary
AsDungeons and Dragonsroll out its next generation, Wizards of the Coast recently revealed its newestPlayer’s Handbook. Backwards compatible withDungeons and Dragons’ 5th edition, the sourcebook makes extensive changes and improvements to classes and subclasses, races and origins, combat, magic, and more.
One notablefeature in the newPlayer’s Handbookis its new approach to subclasses. There are 48 total, with each class having four, and three subclasses are making their debut. General subclass progression is also getting a overhaul. Overall, what this initially indicates is better playability across classes, but the change has both exciting developments and major drawbacks.
Subclasses in D&D’s New Player’s Handbook Have Multiple Features
One D&D Makes Classes More Equal and Delivers New Content
The most obvious pro to the new changes is that classes begin more equally with each having access to four subclasses. More than anything, this gives more options to classes that previously had very few in the original 5ePHB. For instance, 5e originally gavewizards nine subclasseswhile druids only had two, giving the impression that some classes were superior to others. The new change negates that issue.
There are also three entirely new subclasses, markedly for classes that tend to not get a lot of attention where variety is concerned—Circle of the Sea for druids, College of Dance for bards, and Path of the World Tree for barbarians. Excitement over sea-based druids is especially palpable, given every other terrain type has been covered in theexisting 5e druid subclasses. There’s a lot of potential power and flavor in ocean-centered abilities forD&D.
One of the biggest advantages comes out of what’s implied by the new change. This might apply to numerous areas, but warlocks in particular get a lot of much-needed love in the newPHB. With only four subclasses, the absence of the Hexblade warlock indicates that it may become easier tomake anyD&Dwarlock a martial character, as Hexblade is currently the only means to make that build powerful. This is a feature that’s been asked of Wizards of the Coast for some time, and such general class improvements might follow if this is true.
The New Player’s Handbook Offers Less Variety to Start
Most obviously, having only four subclasses means there’s far less beginning variety thanD&Dplayers are used to. Certain character archetypes and play styles are getting left behind. Wizards and clerics got far more subclasses than others in the original 5e release, and one can see it’s because they produced so many character options naturally.
Clerics have so many gods to choose from, and their domains should decisively reflect that huge assortment. To play a cleric is to often play a devotee whose mechanics and roleplay are based on their unwavering faith, so being limited in options doesn’t make sense.Light and Life Domains(of the new PHB) are thematically so similar, while the beloved and interesting Grave Domain is nowhere to be seen.
Wizards are scholarly masters of all arcana. Magic in the game will always have its designated schools, so wizards should have access to specialization ineveryD&Dschool of magic, not just four. The lack of necromancy especially saps the game of an adored archetype. These were compelling reasons the original 5th edition included more subclasses for some classes.
There are other places where having four subclasses lacks variety, like with druids or rogues. Or there are huge similarities among the classes, highlightingpsionic abilitiesin several while abandoning iconic themes like death across the board. These are major losses, especially for people who are just getting introduced to the game. This could create major problems if future updates make additional changes to how classes fundamentally operate. WotC must be careful to not take it too far, or else backward compatibility will require much more work — either on their part or the players’.
