Throughout the history ofDungeons & Dragons, updates and erratas have had to be developed as more and more content was filtered into each edition. Mainly for clarification and expansion of mechanics, these developments have been known as Unearthed Arcana, the public testing ground for new mechanics and rule changes.
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Updates like this can make huge changes to the way you play the game. Unearthed Arcana Player’s Handbook Playtest Five is a huge combination of new content that would make remarkable changes to the construction of your characters, in some cases necessitating needs for changes inthe standard character sheet. There’s a collection of new changes to existing mechanical pillars of the game, including huge changes to equipment, feats, and even classes.
8Weapon Mastery
One of the new mechanics added for testing in this Unearthed Arcana is the addition of weapon mastery properties. Mastery properties are an interesting way to make the equipment more unique, with higher damage dice no longer being the only factor as to why you might pick a weapon.
When faced with the question; why would my character pick a Greataxe over a Greatsword? The answer has always been boiled down to the fact that the Greatsword has the best damage dice. With the exception of characters who picked their weapon due to aesthetic, the basic properties of a weapon have always been the core draw.
Weapon masteries change this. By eitherhaving levels in Fighteror taking the associated feat, you add an effect to weapons that varies from the ability to reduce an enemy’s movement speed to the return of the 3.5 edition perk Cleave. Weapon masteries add a unique twist to character creation choices, making otherwise undesirable weapons very appealing.
7New Feat Options
Feats are a great way for you to customise and add additional, and often niche, functionality to your character. With the introduction of Epic Boons and Dark Gifts in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition, campaigns that lead to capped level characters now have great feat options that feel like a cornerstone ability to cap off their leveling progression.
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With a combination of utility available in the new Epic Boons, the Unearthed Arcana adds a lot of diversity to progression of high level characters. Additionally, adding the Weapon Master feat allows even lower level characters to make more nuanced choices with their builds by granting the new weapon masteries to three weapons of the character’s choice.
6Spell Creation
A mechanic that was sorely lacking in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition was any formal way to create spells. To facilitate this, the Unearthed Arcana introduces three new spells; Scribe Spell, Modify Spell and Create Spell.
Modify Spell is a fourth level spell that allows the caster to take any one arcane spell in their spellbook and change one of its defining properties including, but not limited to, damage type, range and even removing one of a spell’s components. The changes made to this spell only last until Modify Spell is cast again or until the next long rest; however, if you cast the fifth level spell Create Spell immediately afterward, you can then cast the first level spell Scribe Spell to add this changed spell permanently to your spellbook.
5Class Feature Spells
An interesting addition to the arsenal of the caster classes Sorcerer and Warlock, each of the classes has been given new spells that change how the classes play with their current iterations.
The Sorcerer gains some guaranteed prepared spells as they level, starting with the damaging spells Chaos Bolt and the new Sorcerous Burst — a spell that deals a d6 that, on the roll of a six, causes you to roll yet another d6 until you stop rolling sixes. After gaining some levels, you gain the additional spells Sorcerous Vitality, which heals you and Sorcery Incarnate, a bonus action spell that recovers Sorcery Points and grants a secondary benefit.
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The Warlock change is a little more pronounced. Instead of having their pact type defined by a feature gained at third level, they gain a cantrip out of the original three feature choices. Pact of the Blade, Pact of the Tome and Pact of the Chain are replaced with Pact Weapon, Book of Shadows and Pact Familiar respectively. Though this brings forward one of the more defining features of the class, it begs whether these spells can be gained by feats like Magic Initiate, essentially giving this class defining feature to literally any class that takes the feat.
4Barbarian Changes
The Barbarian class gets a little love in this Unearthed Arcana, specifically in reference to very limited base abilities and the inefficiencies of the Path of the Berserker subclass.
In keeping with the changes also made to Fighters, the Barbarian gains Weapon Mastery as a feature at level one, granting them some early game utility with their weapon attacks. At second level, the Barbarian gains another new feature that allows them to use their Strength for skills like stealth and perception when they are using their Rage feature. With these changes, as well as the moving around of some major class abilities like Indomitable Might, which has moved from 18th level to ninth, the Barbarian levels in a much more favourable progression.
The changes to the Path of the Berserker clean up some of the oversights in the subclass that made it suboptimal. With the most important changes being to the Frenzy feature, you no longer gain a level of exhaustion when you use it. On top of this major change, you no longer gain a Bonus Action attack, which conflicted with other Rage features, and you now deal extra damage each round instead. With other changes making it so that the charmed and frightened conditions end on you during a Frenzy and some of the more important features being moved to lower levels, the Path of the Berserker is now a lot more viable as an option.
3Fighter Changes
Fighters have a few major changes to their core class abilities and their Champion subclass. Between changes to Second Wind, so that it can be used more than once a long rest without requiring a short rest scaling with your level, and Action Surge now being able to only provide an action usable for attack, dash, disengage or dodge actions, the class has some very fine retuning, losing some of its better utility for more utilitous options.
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Champion now grants some incredible out of combat ability, giving them a flexible skill proficiency, as well as some truly incredible combat performance enhancements. This includes the ability to grant themselves advantage once per combat and advantage on death saving throws that can, on an 18 or higher, count as rolling a 20.
2Sorcerer Changes
The Sorcerer changes give the class some very interesting balance changes. Gaining access to more Metamagic options at second level instead of third, as well as gaining more spell slots overall, and their late level feature Sorcerous Restoration granting Sorcery Points when they roll initiative in addition to its core effect, gives the Sorcerer some much-needed flexibility. The trade-off for this though is having a level requirement added to restore spell slots with Font of Magic.
The Draconic Bloodline subclass also gained a few changes, granting a new name as well as an improved Elemental Affinity ability, which now requires no Sorcery Point to grant resistance to your related element from the draconic colour you chose, as well as granting extra functionality to Draconic Exhalation (the replacement for Draconic Presence) and Dragon Wings.
1Warlock Changes
The Warlock changes are the most pronounced and controversial. On top of making the Warlock pacts a cantrip chosen at level one, the class undergoes many changes. Gaining proficiency in medium armour, as well as access to the Mystic Arcanum invocation at level five instead of eleven, the Warlock’s early levels are greatly improved.
Where the changes become questionable is with the change from Pact Magic to the basic Spellcasting feature given to all other casters. Instead of having very limited spell slots that replenish on a short rest, they will act as all other casters and have more spell slots, but the ability to replenish them only on a long rest. With the fact that these slots are also not always at the highest spell level available to the Warlock, this makes their casting less unique and far weaker.
The Fiend patron also got a few changes, granting changes in the wording of abilities like Dark One’s Blessing so that their functionality is altered, and in most cases improved. Combined with a litany of new invocations and the condensing of some options into Mystic Arcanum, the Warlock really came out on the bottom of this Unearthed Arcana, losing most of its identity for a few interesting changes.
