One D&D Playtest 6 Full Video

Here follows my breakdown of the Playtest 6 full video that Wizards of the Coast released to introduce the Playtest 6 packet.

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

Video

I watched this so that you don’t have to! But in case you do, here it is:

Bard

  • Vicious Mockery is now Bard-exclusive and now uses 1d6 instead of 1d4.
  • You decide which of the ”big three” spell lists is your character’s primary spell list (Arcane, Divine, or Primal). At level 10, Magical Secrets lets you pick spells from any list.
  • “Primal Bard” is a sort of nod to the OG Bard from 1E who had Druid spells as part of their journey.
  • At level 20, ”Words of Creation” means Bards always have Power Word Heal and Power Word Kill prepared, and can target TWO creatures.
  • Power Word Heal is now ranged to be consistent with the other Power Word spells.
  • Brand new subclass: College of Dance!

Cleric

  • Cleric had been well-received in previous play tests so is now just getting things dialed in.
  • “Holy Order” is renamed to “Divine Order” and moved from level 2 to level 1. The Thaumaturge and Scholar options have merged into just Thaumaturge. Now there’s just Protector and Thaumaturge. These used to be baked into subclasses, but now give players choice.
  • Potent Spellcasting and Divine Strikes (formerly on subclasses) are now baked into the core class.
  • The main feedback on Divine Intervention has been to make it more reliable/eliminate the “mother may I” aspect of it. Both Divine Intervention and Greater Divine Intervention have been redesigned to be more reliable. Can now use these features to cast, as an action, any Divine spell of 5th level or lower, free of having to prepare it or have material components for it. Todd Kenreck jokes that this will “ruin the diamond market”.
  • Greater Divine Intervention is basically like Wish with some careful parameters.
  • The Trickery Domain’s duplicate is easier to use.
  • Light Domain combined a couple of things to allow the creation of a new feature.
  • Subclasses: Life Domain, Light Domain, Trickery Domain, War Domain.
  • In some cases the fourth subclass is just a pointer to the Tasha’s version.

Druid

  • New features, new version of Wild Shape, a brand-new subclass, and two subclasses completely redesigned.
  • Primal Order, at level 1, is like Cleric’s Divine Order. Better armor vs. more magic.
  • Circle of the Moon lets you choose, when Wild Shaped, whether to use your AC or the beast’s AC (whichever is better).
  • Elemental Fury allows Druids to enhance damage of cantrips or melee attacks — including when Wild Shaped.
  • A recurring theme for the Druid is to let the player choose between leaning into casting and leaning into Wild Shape.
  • A new mechanic allows Druids to convert Wild Shape uses into spell slots and spell slots into Wild Shape uses — much like Sorcerers and Sorcery Points. They’re also providing ways for Druids to use Wild Shape uses for things that aren’t turning into a beast.
  • Wild Shape has been redesigned. Went back to the 2014 version and adjusted it…
  • No longer get HP from the forms you turn into, but Circle of the Moon does get temp HP when Wild Shaped.
  • Can now stay in Wild Shape form until the Druid’s HP drop to 0 instead of the beast’s HP dropping to 0, which should allow people to stay in Wild Shape longer.
  • Activating Wild Shape is now a Bonus Action for all Druids.
  • Druids can now talk in Wild Shape form.
  • Druids now prepare a number of beast forms per day, starting with three forms. The list can be changed at every long rest.
  • Subclasses: Circle of the Land, Circle of the Moon, Circle of the Sea, Circle of the Stars (see Tasha for the last)
  • Land and Moon have been heavily overhauled and are “almost new subclasses”.
  • Circle of the Land can attune to a different land type daily to change out spells.
  • Circle of the Land can use Wild Shape to make a burst of foliage that can damage foes or heal friends. Healing Blossoms from the prior UA got moved from the core class into this ability.
  • Circle of the Land can call up a protective nature sanctuary.
  • Circle of the Moon has a lunar theme running through it all. In beast form, you can call down Moon Beam. Can change beast form’s damage to Radiant. At later levels, your beast form can fly, regardless of form.
  • Brand new subclass: Circle of the Sea! Incorporates not only water-themed abilities but also storms.

Monk

  • The big goal: make their damage output more in line with other classes.
  • Martial Arts Die progression has been bumped up a die across the board. Starting with d6 and eventually becoming a d12.
  • Monk now gets Weapon Mastery. Supposed to be interesting combos between this and subclass features.
  • Deflect Energy lets high-level Monks bat away things like Fire Bolts. (But not Magic Missile.)
  • ”Discipline Points” are the new ”Ki Points”.
  • Completely redesigned the Way of the Four Elements subclass, replacing it with Warrior of the Elements.
  • Other subclasses: Warrior of Shadow, Warrior of the Hand, Warrior of Mercy (see “Way of Mercy” from Tasha).
  • Warrior of Shadow can now move darkness and see in it.
  • Warrior of Shadow has less reliance on spells and moves abilities into the subclass.

Paladin

  • Like Cleric, the prior UA Paladin was very well-received.
  • Paladins gain Weapon Mastery too.
  • Lay on Hands is now a Bonus Action!
  • Find Steed is now Paladin-exclusive, and just takes an Action to cast.
  • All Smite spells have been revised based on feedback. Paladins get all but two as part of the Paladin’s Smite feature. Gives you different Smite spells that are always prepared as you level up.
  • Testing here a version of Divine Smite as a spell to make the Smite family feel more consistent, and brought back its extra damage to Fiends and Undead.
  • All Paladins can now cast a Smite for free once per day (removing it from the free casting of oath spells).
  • All but two of the Smites are Paladin-exclusive, and have been removed from the Divine spell list (listening here to feedback about Clerics potentially smiting better than Paladins).
  • Subclasses: Oath of Devotion, Oath of the Ancients, Oath of Vengeance, Oath of Glory

Ranger

  • Trying to “keep the momentum going” on the improvements to how the Ranger has been received.
  • Deft Explorer replaces the low-level Expertise. It includes Expertise in one skill and some terrain-oriented features as requested by play testers.
  • Rangers also get Weapon Mastery.
  • Conjure Barrage is now Ranger exclusive, works with melee and ranged weapons, and had its damage increased.
  • Hunter’s Mark is now Ranger exclusive, and gets extra damage when upcast, but now limits its extra damage to once per turn. Similar to how Hex was tweaked previously.
  • Subclasses: Beast Master, Gloom Stalker, Hunter, and…?
  • Beast Master incorporates primal beasts with a few flavors of generic stat blocks.
  • Gloom Stalker from Xanathar has been refreshed.
  • Hunter has been revised based on feedback, restoring some features from 2014, with a menu of “only the good options”. At high levels, Hunters can pick up additional options.

Rogue

  • Rogues get Weapon Mastery too! Some of the properties like Nick were designed with Rogues in mind.
  • Steady Aim from Tasha’s is now a level 3 feature for all Rogues.
  • Cunning Strike (level 5) lets Rogues trade a Sneak Attack damage die for imposing a condition on their target.
  • Devious Strikes (level 14) adds even more trade-in options.
  • Subclasses: Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Swashbuckler, Thief
  • Assassin now can administer poisons.
  • Assassin can now Assassinate without their target being surprised!
  • Assassins now have Advantage on initiative rolls!
  • Thief “turns up the volume”. Use an Object is back, AND the Thief can use it to activate magic items as a Bonus Action (like quaffing potions, etc.).
  • Thief can use Cunning Strike to stay hidden after doing (a little less) damage.
  • Arcane Trickster can use Cunning Strike to Trip and Disarm with their Mage Hand!
  • Swashbuckler is coming in from Xanathar with some tweaks.

Hot Takes

Having Bards choose a primary spell list is pretty interesting and is a cool way to differentiate different Bard characters.

For Clerics, I’m not a fan of having only two Divine Order options; having a third was more interesting.

At first blush I like the Druid stuff, and Circle of the Sea seems like a good way to round out the offerings.

Monk? Seems all right based on what’s in the video. I look forward to giving it a close read. Could be a nice glow-up over the 2014 version.

I’m happy to see Paladin identity spells becoming Paladin-exclusive; that’s in line with feedback I submitted in the survey.

I’m excited to check out Rangers… but I note that the fourth Ranger subclass seems to be missing?!

Rogue looks like it’s going to be fun and have some interesting options, and I’m happy to see Swashbuckler becoming a PHB subclass.

I’m a little concerned about so many classes having access to Weapon Mastery. They’ll need to do something to make the Fighter still feel special in this regard.

Lukewarm Takes

A detail I’ve finally noticed in reading this UA is that it seems to have quietly dropped explicit Class Groups. Prior UA packets called out a Class Group for each class. While it’s still clearly a thing in the design, it’s no longer explicitly defined or indicated on individual classes.

Also throughout this packet, there’s an emphasis on Ability Score Improvement as the headline for ASI-or-Feat levels, where prior UA packets headlined with Feat and suggested ASI Feats. After almost a year of making Feats a core game mechanic, this feels strange.