One D&D Expert Classes

Here follow my notes about the One D&D Expert Classes playtest packet that Wizards of the Coast released in September 2022.

These may be a bit spotty as they’re compiled from me just blasting my thoughts into Slack as I encountered the material for the first time.

For more context and my Standard Disclaimer, check out the introduction to this series.

Notes on the Video(s)

Oh snap! ASIs at level-ups are Feats now.

Has Arcane, Divine, and Primal spell lists up through level 9.

The intention of each UA is to fully replace the rules glossary from the prior ones, but otherwise layer the materials together… In this iteration of the rules glossary, crits are back to the PHB2014 version.

d20 tests are back to mostly PHB2014, where 1/20 aren’t auto-fail/success, but adding in that rolling a nat 1 gives inspiration!

Some more in-depth videos are apparently coming. Also sounds like it’s taking them a while to process feedback as they’ve had over 40,000 responses to the first one.

New “framing” for classes — with groups of classes. These three are presented as “Experts”. (Tying into the sidekick rules?)

Some feats will have class group prerequisites, allowing future classes to plug into all the feats available across that class group.

They’re talking about Warrior, Mage, and Priest groups too, but no details yet.

To make life easier for trying a new spellcasting class, they’re providing lists of suggested prepared spells, all the way up to level 20.

Ritual casting for everybody without the ritual caster feat!

20th level features now at 18. 20th level lets you pick an Epic Boon as a feat.

And a fun fact: there are apparently 48 total subclasses in the works. Some are revisions to existing subclasses, while others are new.

In depth videos dropped: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfS8QgUdeGYpjKukxCBPTRJErLC5NMEWR

And the materials themselves: http://spr.ly/6010MwKNp

From the spoken description, I like the tweaks to Bardic Inspiration a lot. And so far it seems like rangers are awesome again!

The reactive support things for Bard and Ranger are interesting, and I think could be really fun.

Class groups seem to have shaken out about how I expected (Monk in the Warrior group, Paladin in Priest).

Ooo, they ARE syncing up the levels where subclass features kick in. I expected they might.

An interesting small change: “0-level spells” instead of “cantrips”.

Weird: Bard has 0-level spells, Ranger has cantrips.

I will say calling the 10th level Ranger:Hunter feature “multiattack” but having it be different from what that means in monster stat blocks is a strange choice.

Just when I thought a lot of things were pretty similar to 2014PHB, Great Weapon Master is changed significantly.

Eldritch Blast is still not in the spell lists — so looks like that’ll most likely become a class feature for Warlocks. Toll the Dead is missing too, so that might become a (sub?)class feature for Clerics.

Bards and Rangers are going to be able to swap out prepared spells after a long rest, just like other prepared spell casters. Seems like the way everything’s going to be going. They call this out in both class videos: they want characters to be able to try out more flavorful spells in addition to the combat essentials.

It looks like every 4th-level Feat comes with a +1 ASI to help you feel less bad about the ASI vs uniqueness decision.

Based on how much better the Ranger is now (and I love how they called out how dual-wielding was an iconic Ranger feature! Yes!), I’m really excited to see what the basic Sorcerer is like. I’m playing a (created pre-Tasha) Sorcerer now and while she’s a fun character, the new subclasses got so much of a boost that it makes the OG one a little lackluster in comparison.

Someone diffed the spell lists for Bards; I know my last Bard would be sad about losing some of their favorites: https://www.reddit.com/r/onednd/comments/xru2fd/heres_the_differences_in_the_bards_spell_list/

People on Reddit are, as you might expect, having a series of giant tantrums about all of it.

Exhaustion is different! It’s a condition. It now takes 10 levels of exhaustion to die. Rather than giving disadvantage, exhaustion is a debuff on d20 rolls and spell saves: -1 per level of exhaustion. Interesting that movement is not affected.

Inspiration is now “Heroic Inspiration”, presumably to make it easier to differentiate from Bardic Inspiration. And as maybe mentioned above, rolling a 1 gives it now instead of a 20.

Long rests now recover ALL hit dice, restore a reduced max hp, and restore a reduced ability score. The last 2 were pretty common before but were in individual spells or monster abilities, rather than standard.

The Search action is new, I think? I appreciate the guidance on which skill goes with what thing a player is trying to do.

Shortswords are now simple weapons (formerly martial).

The Study action I think is also new, again with good guidance about which skill goes with what kind of lore (including which creature types are covered by particular skills).

Interesting nuance: Blindsight counts for “can you see it” requirements, but Tremorsense doesn’t.

Bard

Going to dig into some side-by-side stuff to call out notable changes in classes, starting with the Bard…

First up: Formerly proficient with simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortswords, the Bard now only gets simple weapons. Again, shortsword is now Simple, so they’ll still have that. I don’t think I will miss longsword for a Bard, but rapier felt on-brand for them. Starting equipment now replaces rapier/longsword/any-simple with shortsword.

Bardic Inspiration is now a reaction when another party member fails a d20 test or takes damage, and can be used to boost the d20 roll (in which case it’s rolled by the other party member) or heal (in which case it’s rolled by the bard). I personally like this — it means that BI is always going to be impactful and timely.

The number of Bardic Inspiration dice available now scales with proficiency bonus instead of CHA bonus, which means it’ll likely grow more slowly than it did before, but will cap out at 6 instead of 5.

See above for the full diff on spells available to Bards but the short version is they can only prepare Arcane spells, and are restricted to Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, Transmutation. Under these rules, my tabaxi bard, Chase, would lose: Bane, Faerie Fire, Healing Word (lost from the spell list, but regained from Songs of Restoration), Heat Metal (which was so clutch in several big encounters), Leomund’s Tiny Hut, and Counterspell (RIP Additional Magical Secrets)

Bards get Expertise at level 2 (previously 3), and Jack of All Trades at level 5 (previously 2). Interesting that they “go deep” before they “go broad” but whatever.

Song of Rest (bonus healing when the party short rests) is replaced by Songs of Restoration (healing spells that are always prepared — Healing Word @ level 2, Lesser Restoration @ 4, Mass Healing Word @ 6, Freedom of Movement @ 8, Greater Restoration @ 10). I’m mixed on this — I can see additional access to LR, MHW, and especially GR being handy, but all of that’s at the cost of a spell slot where Song of Rest was just a thing you could do.

Bards now have to wait until level 7 for Font of Bardic Inspiration (previously 5th level). This is a bummer, seems like a long time to wait for being able to recharge it. On the other hand, when FoBI kicks in, rolling a 1 on a BI die no longer expends the die, reducing the likelihood that you’ll feel like it was wasted.

Countercharm is just gone. I forget if Chase ever used it, but I know Berwin made good use of it late in our Phandelver/Dragon Queen campaign.

Another round of Expertise kicks in at 9 (previously 10).

Magical Secrets is now at 11 (previously 10). Instead of “pick 2 spells” it’s now “pick Arcane, Divine, or Primal, and prepare up to 2 spells from that list with no restriction on school”. By moving this from spells known to spells prepared, this means you can use it to sample a lot more offerings.

Another round of Magical Secrets happens at 15 (previously 14). The 18th level version is just gone, so you definitely have to forgo access to a chunk of spells.

Superior Inspiration moves from level 20 to 18, and is buffed — Bards now regain 2 expended BI dice instead of 1, and always get to do this instead of only when they’re all out.

Cutting Words is still a reaction that subtracts from a creature’s d20 roll, but it’s now reserved for when that creature has succeeded on an ability check or attack roll, instead of before success/failure is determined. The immunity rule is gone too — if you can see it, you can Cutting Words it! Even if it can’t hear you or is immune to being charmed.

The level 6 College of Lore feature, Additional Magical Secrets, is replaced with Cunning Inspiration — basically giving “advantage” on Bardic Inspiration die rolls.

College of Lore now gives a 10th level feature, Improved Cutting Words, which adds psychic damage to the d20 roll penalty from Cutting Words.

College of Lore still gets Peerless Skill at 14, and it’s mostly the same — but now if the check still fails after the BI roll, the BI die isn’t expended.

Ranger

Rangers now start with studded leather armor (AC12) instead of the choice of leather (AC11) or scale mail (AC14). They also now start with a scimitar and shortsword instead of “two shortswords or two simple melee weapons”. Dungeoneer’s pack is no longer an option — just the explorer’s pack.

Rangers now get spellcasting at level 1! Not only do they get 2 level 1 spell slots right away, they also now get 2 cantrips (3 cantrips starting at level 10). This is a big change from PHB2014 where the base Ranger class got no cantrips at all.

Rangers pick from the Primal spell list, and can use any school except Evocation. Like Bards, they are now prepared casters, so they can swap out spells after a long rest.

Rangers get Expertise at level 1 (dang, really?).

Rangers get a totally revamped Favored Enemy at level 1. tldr: you always have Hunter’s Mark prepared, and don’t have to concentrate on it when cast. I guess this gets away from the “problematic” undertones of the 2014 version, where you hate all of a particular type of creature so much that you’re extra good at hunting and killing them.

A spellcasting detail I missed before — Rangers can now use a Druidic Focus as a spellcasting focus.

Rangers still get a Fighting Style at level 2, but can no longer choose Dueling. They do, however, gain access to Fighting Style feats at later levels.

Land’s Stride, the level 8 feature, is gone. It appears to be replaced by Roving at level 7, which increases movement speed and gives Rangers both climb and swim speeds.

Rangers get more Expertise at level 9.

Hide in Plain Sight, their level 10 feature, appears to be gone from the base class.

At level 11, Rangers get Tireless, which gives temp hp after a rest, and removes 1 level of exhaustion following a short rest.

Vanish, the level 14 feature, is gone. It has been replaced at level 13 with Nature’s Veil, which lets you use a bonus action and a spell slot (of any level?) to become Invisible until the end of your next turn.

Feral Senses moves from level 18 to level 15, and is now simply 30 feet of blindsight.

Foe Slayer moves from level 20 to level 18. Instead of incorporating your wis modifier into favored enemy damage, it buffs Hunter’s Mark from a d6 to a d10 of damage. I haven’t played a Ranger at this level but it definitely feels like a downgrade to me.

Speculation: A lot of things seem to suggest that player damage output is being reined in a bit, which might mean that as a DM I won’t have to buff monster HP so much any more.

The Hunter subclass gets a revised Hunter’s Prey at level 3 that does an extra 1d8 if the target is missing any hp, 1x per turn. This is basically the Colossus Slayer option. Giant Killer & Horde Breaker are gone (sorry, Sariel).

Defensive Tactics, the 7th level Hunter feature, is gone. In its place we have Hunter’s Lore at level 6, which adds pokedex info (immunities, resistances, vulnerabilities) to Hunter’s Mark.

Multiattack (whose name has surely never caused any confusion) moves from level 11 to level 10, and instead of letting you choose Volley (the Legolas option) or Whirlwind Attack (the Aragorn option), you get the Conjure Barrage spell (a 60’ Cone of Ouchie Things, 3d8 damage or half on save) permanently prepared. Interestingly, this may be down-cast by Hunters to use a lower level spell slot for less damage.

Superior Hunter’s Defense moves from level 15 to 14. Instead of having options here, it acts mostly like  Uncanny Dodge did — using a reaction to halve the damage — but also allowing the other half to be optionally redirected to another creature. I kinda love this, but I know some folks will miss Evasion. Interesting nuance here: you don’t have to see the attacker who hit you to use this, but you do have to see the target that you redirect damage to.

Rogue

Rogues lose Performance as a skill option.

Rogues now get proficiency in simple weapons, and martial weapons with the finesse property. Formerly this was simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortswords. This change is very similar to the Bard.

Rogues now start with a shortsword (formerly a rapier or shortsword) and a shortbow + quiver + 20 arrows (formerly bow/quiver/ammo OR a shortsword).All Rogues now start with a Burglar’s Pack (bye bye Dungeoneer & Explorer packs).

Rogues still get Expertise at level 1, but can only choose skill proficiencies to improve — not thieves’ tools.

Rogues still get Thieves’ Cant at level 1, but it it now grants TC plus an additional language.

The level 6 Expertise moves now to level 7 and is again restricted to skill proficiencies.

Evasion has been moved from level 7 to level 9 but appears otherwise unchanged. I think this was moved mostly to keep subclass feature and feat levels consistent across classes.

Reliable Talent at level 11 is mostly unchanged, just updating the wording to focus on Skill and Tool proficiencies.

Blindsense, from level 14, is gone. Looks like it’s replaced with Subtle Strikes at level 13, which gives flanking-style advantage whenever you have an ally within 5 feet of your target.

Slippery Mind stays at level 15, buffed to include CHA saves in addition to WIS.

Elusive moves from level 18 to level 17 but is otherwise unchanged.

Stroke of Luck moves from level 20 to level 18, and is buffed to turn any failed d20 test into a nat20 — so instead of turning a miss into a hit, it turns a miss into a crit!

For the Thief subclass changes level 3’s Fast Hands to add Search to Cunning Action options, but removes Use an Object. People on Reddit are salty about this. One thing I do like is that Sleight of Hand is now explicitly used (under this rule at least) for picking locks and disarming traps.

Second-Story Work remains a 3rd level feature. The climb stuff is slightly reworded (gives a climb speed instead of saying that climbing doesn’t cost extra movement). Jumping now uses DEX checks instead of STR checks; previously the DEX modifier was added to the regularly calculated jump distance.

Supreme Sneak moves from level 9 to level 6. Instead of requiring using half or less of your movement to get advantage on Stealth, it now requires that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor. Nice!

Use Magic Device moves from level 13 to level 10 and is totally rewritten. It now boosts the maximum number of items a Thief may be attuned to, gives a 1:6 chance of not using any charges when using a magic item with charges, and lets the Thief attempt to use any spell scroll using an arcana check (DC 10+spell’s level), with cantrips and 1st-level scrolls being automatic successes. Previously this would have let the Thief ignore all class, race, and level requirements on the use of magic items. (So I hope you brought some Clerics and Paladins with you to Barovia…)

Thief’s Reflexes moves from level 17 to level 14 and is totally rewritten. Instead of taking a second turn at initiative roll minus 10, the Thief now gets a second bonus action on their turn, and this bonus action must be one of the Cunning Action options. Additionally this is a PB-per-long-rest ability — it can only be used on N turns up to your proficiency bonus — where previously it could be used in the first round of any combat.