One D&D Playtest 7: 'Deep Dive'

September 8, 2023

Here follows my breakdown of the Playtest 7 “Deep Dive” video that Wizards of the Coast released with the Playtest 7 packet.

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

Please note (haha) that this is just to catalog what was in the video and my initial thoughts. I haven’t had a chance to read any of it in depth yet.

Okay, let’s take a quick look at this brief introduction video that’s… EIGHTY-SIX?! minutes long. Well, jeez, okay then!

Intro

We return now to classes in UA5: Fighter, Barbarian, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard with revisions based on feedback, plus additional subclasses — including brand new subclasses for Barbarian and Fighter. The Brawler (Fighter) is all about improvised weapons. The Path of the World Tree (Barbarian) taps into the power of a “world tree” that links all worlds together, and includes some positioning and teleportation powers. The intent is to “explore the edges” of these classes to see if there’s something thematic they haven’t touched on yet. We also have revisions to other subclasses as well as revisions to spells.

Playtest 7 also returns to class-specific spell lists. Feedback showed that having access to full spell lists diminished the class identities of various spellcasters. In particular, this was seen as a big disappointment for Wizards, who liked that they had the biggest spell list. The Warlock’s return to Pact Magic also necessitated a curated spell list, as some spells are too powerful to upcast all the time. The Bard also felt diluted by not having a curated spell list.

Barbarian

Base Class

Danger Sense is back at level 2, even if you have the Blinded or Deafened conditions.
Reckless Attack’s effects all last until the start of your next turn, allowing them to be used in reactions (like opportunity attacks). This also unifies the duration of Reckless Attack.
Some levels have been moved around (which has happened to other classes too). Primal Knowledge moved from level 2 to level 3.
Instinctive Pounce has been ported in from Tasha. Expect to see more of the popular things from Tasha coming into the core rules.
Brutal Critical is back to being a die roll, but now it’s always a d12 — they want it to feel good no matter what weapon you’re using. 2d12 at level 13, 3d12 at level 17!
They have been asked for crit range expansions for Barbarians, like the Champion Fighter, but haven’t done so because of Reckless Attack upping the odds of rolling a crit.
Primal Champion returns to level 20, with a +4 to Strength and Constitution.

Berserker

Previously very well-received, very few changes here.
Intimidating Presence is now a Bonus Action instead of an Action, allowing it to be used more readily.

Path of the Wild Heart

This is the new Totem Warrior.
Baldur’s Gate 3 players will recognize this name. JC worked with Larian to name the subclass, knowing that it’d be unified in the 2024 PHB.
Overall shape is the same as 2014 — supernatural abilities linked to animals. But many of the options have been refined, and there are nine in total.
Lackluster options have been improved.
The Bear option has been toned down from being “wildly overpowered” — now you choose two damage types you have resistance to, where formerly you had resistance to all but one damage type.
It’s now possible to swap out animal options so that you can try lots out.
Six have been renamed. Bear, Eagle, and Wolf remain at level 3, while the others have been renamed to make it clear that you don’t have to go Bear all the way. At level 6 we now have Owl, Spider, and Elephant, for example.

Path of the World Tree

Brand new!
Two of the main themes are healing and teleportation, tapping into the power of the multiverse-spanning world tree.
Also battlefield control.

Path of the Zealot

Ported over from Xanathar with quality of life and balance tweaks.
Divine Fury lets you determine the damage type when using it.
Warrior of the Gods provides some self-healing.
Zealous Presence can be used multiple times between long rests by expending Rage uses.
Rage Beyond Death turns you into a warrior spirit after using Relentless Rage.

Fighter

Base Class

Here they’re “turning up the volume” on things that were enjoyed in the past.
Fighters now cap out at six weapon masteries.
Master of Armaments (level 9) allows you to swap out mastery properties on all of your mastered weapons.
Swapping out Fighting Style feats is getting ported over from Tasha.
Fighters regain a Second Wind use after a Short Rest. They’re trying to give every class an incentive to take a Short Rest. More of this will come in the next playtests.
Action Surge can now be used with all actions except the Magic action. It was never meant to be a source of casting extra spells or getting extra uses of magic items.
Tactical Mind (level 2) is a new feature that lets you use a Second Wind use to add a d10 to an ability check. The intent is to be able to give Fighters some extra utility outside of combat; it represents a well of mental stamina in addition to their physical stamina.
Tactical Shift (level 5) is a new feature that lets you move up to half your speed without provoking opportunity attacks when using Second Wind. The intent is to give Fighters richer, more fun tactical options.
Studied Attacks (level 13) is a new feature that gives you advantage on your next attack against a foe when you miss with an attack.

Battle Master

They acknowledged feedback asking for the Battle Master to be “dismantled” and have maneuvers given to the base class. They explored this early on internally! They didn’t want to eliminate a loved subclass just for the sake of other subclasses. Also it represents a different style of play in managing Superiority Dice, which not everyone wants to deal with.
Mainly quality of life improvements…
Student of War gives proficiency in a skill.
Know Your Enemy is easier to use and more reliably useful in battle (it’s now a Bonus Action!).
Relentless (level 15) now lets you use a maneuver without expending a Superiority Die.
Maneuver options have been tweaked to be more fun or easier to use.
Some maneuver options have been imported from Tasha.

Brawler

“Badass that’s going to beat the monster with a chicken wing”
This subclass can be thought of as the antithesis of the Battle Master.

Champion

The previous playtest version was well received and is back here with some tweaks based on feedback.
Remarkable Athlete is back with clarifications of its functionality. Instead of being too subtly worded, It now explicitly gives you advantage on initiative rolls and STR/Athletics checks. You also get an increase in long jump distance.
Heroic Warrior gives you Heroic Advantage (FKA Inspiration) at the start of every turn where you don’t already have it.

Eldritch Knight

After level 3, the spell school restriction has been removed.
An Arcane Focus can be used while casting spells.
War Magic and Improved War Magic have been improved to let you replace an attack with a cantrip. This replaces the 2014 mechanic of casting a spell with an Action and being allowed to make an attack with a Bonus Action. The old mechanic caused the EK’s average damage to lag behind other Fighter subclasses. Improved War Magic lets you replace up to two attacks with spells up to level 2!

Sorcerer

Base Class

The new class-specific spells from the prior UA have either been turned into non-spell class features or into spells on the Sorcerer spell list.
Innate Sorcery is now a level 1 feature that’s like an “arcane Rage” — for one minute, your spell save DC goes up by one, and you have advantage on Sorcerer spell attack rolls. This is later enhanced by other features. They’re trying to lean into the “boiling magic” within a Sorcerer. Later it allows using two metamagics per spell, or metamagic that doesn’t cost Sorcery Points. They want resource management to be fun and interesting instead of painful.
Sorcerous Restoration has been moved from level 15… to level 5! It starts with restoring one point and scales up as you progress.
Something very similar is coming for the Monk in their next update.
Most metamagic is pretty similar to the prior UA with only slight tweaks, except for…
Twinned Spell has a new version that modifies spells that can be upcast to target additional creatures. It now does that upcasting with a modest Sorcery Point cost instead of the upleveled spell slot. This makes the math work better, reduces the complexity of figuring out which spells it can be used with, and fixes the “am I concentrating on two spells” question. ”Quite a few” spells are getting upcasting ability in the 2024 version and will therefore be compatible with this metamagic option.

Draconic Sorcery

Wings are back on all the time (still level 14 though, no matter what Crawford has said in past videos).
Draconic Presence is back, is now a Bonus Action, and no longer requires concentration. Easier and less painful to use.

Wild Magic Sorcery

“…is also here.” That sure gives me a great feeling…
The main request from players over the years is to make it more reliable to access the wild magic effects instead of being at a DM’s whim. Now, immediately after you cast a spell of level 1 or higher, you can roll on the Wild Magic Surge table. ”Full stop. Just do it!”
Once used, you can’t do this again until finishing a Long Rest.
…except for ways to refresh it before a Long Rest. Tides of Chaos and other features give it back.
Bend Luck now uses a d6 instead of a d4.
Wild Bombardment is the new Spell Bombardment.
The Wild Magic Surge table isn’t in this UA — just use the table from 2014 for now.

Other Subclasses

Aberrant Sorcery (FKA Aberrant Mind) and Clockwork Sorcery (FKA Clockwork Soul) are being ported over as-is from Tasha.

Warlock

Base Class

Pact Magic is back. The previous playtest version’s goal was to find out how important this was. Now they know!
But there’s still a goal of casting spells more often. Enter: Magical Cunning (level 2) lets a Warlock perform a one-minute ritual to regain some Pact Magic spell slots. This can be done once per day. This is similar to what was done with Sorcerers. The Warlock’s higher-level Eldritch Master feature builds on this lower-level feature. Monk will get something similar (as mentioned before).
Contact Patron is here to stay, now at a lower level.
Mystic Arcanum is back in the base class and not a part of Eldritch Invocations.
Pact Boons have been absorbed into Eldritch Invocations. They want players to have more than one.
You can now have up to ten Eldritch Invocations.
Lots of revisions to Eldritch Invocations, including significantly lower prerequisites so they can come online much earlier.
Pact of the Blade has had some improvements to better compete with Pact of the Tome.
Thirsting Blade is back, with improvements.
Additional Invocations have been imported from Xanathar and Tasha, such as Eldritch Smite.

Fiend Patron

“Loved” in the previous UA.
Hurl Through Hell is getting some clarifications and moves the saving throw to the front of it. Damage is reduced a bit, but it now applies the Incapacitated condition.

Archfey Patron

Every feature scored poorly in the 2021 survey, save for Misty Escape. This subclass has been largely redesigned (but keeping Misty Escape). It’s now largely about charm and teleportation.
Has some thematic connection with the Eladrin — tapping into the same kind of fey magic.
Misty Escape lets you cast Misty Step as a reaction to taking damage, plus allows some other add-on effects.
Beguiling Defenses (level 10) still makes you immune to the Charmed condition, and now also makes the attacker take some of the damage they deal.
A new level 14 feature lets you cast Misty Step, without spending a spell slot, and without any action economy cost, whenever you cast an Enchantment or Illusion spell using a spell slot.
Trying to give Archfey a distinct play style apart from other subclass.

Celestial Patron

Imported from Xanathar with a few tweaks.
Patron Spells is improved, granting additional prepared spells.
Celestial Resilience now interacts with the new Magical Cunning feature.

Great Old One Patron

Has improved Patron Spells (like all other Warlock subclasses).
Awakened Mind now allows two-way communication. A level 6 feature lets you weaponize this telepathic connection! “It got spookier.”
Eldritch Hex (level 10) gives you Hex for free (and presumably money for nothing?) with enhancements to how it gets used. The subclass needed a damage enhancement relative to other subclasses. Clairvoyant Combatant (level 6) also helps on this front.
Create Thrall (level 14) has been completely redesigned to let you cast Summon Aberration from Tasha, coming to 2024 PHB. In fact, all of the Tasha summons are coming to the 2024 PHB.

Wizard

Base Class

Wizard feedback from the prior UA is a big reason that they’ve reverted to class-specific spell lists. This benefits some other places like the Ranger, where spells had to be given as class features since the Ranger and Druid were sharing a spell list.
All the permanent spell alteration stuff (Modify Spell, Create Spell) is going back into the vault after feedback indicated deep levels of “dread” for what might be possible.
Memorize Spell remains but is now a non-spell feature.
Arcane Recovery is back to level 1.
Cantrip Formulas has been imported from Tasha, allowing Wizards to change out cantrips more often.
Wizard Spellbook has been folded back into the Spellcasting feature.
Academic has been replaced with Scholar, which gives expertise in a Wizard-appropriate skill.
Spell Mastery has been updated to make it easier to change spells. But those spells are now limited to those that require an Action to cast. Bonus Action and Reaction spells were too powerful with this feature. This was the original design intent.

Evoker

Sculpt Spells and Potent Cantrip have swapped levels. Potent Cantrip comes online at level 3, with Sculpt Spells at level 6. The intent is to align with where cantrips are most important and when AoE spells start coming online.

Abjurer

Arcane Ward now lets you burn a spell slot to replenish the ward’s hit points.
Spell Breaker replaces Improved Abjuration. It gives you always-prepared Dispel Magic as a Bonus Action, and lets you add your proficiency bonus to the check.
Counterspell no longer includes an ability check when using it!

Diviner

Third Eye is now a Bonus Action to activate.
Third Eye is no longer stopped by the Incapacitated condition.
Third Eye combines options and just lets you cast See Invisibility without spending a spell slot.

Illusionist

Malleable Illusions is now a Bonus Action instead of an Action.
Illusory Self can now be reused by expending a spell slot of level two or higher.
Illusory Reality has been clarified — good.

Spells

Jump is now a Bonus Action instead of an action, can be upcast to affect multiple targets, and it no longer relies on speed, so it’s easier and more fun to use.
Counterspell has been significantly changed. The 2014 version was too similar to Dispel Magic, and didn’t account for the “might of the spell caster”. Counterspell is now a CON save for the caster (similar to concentration being a CON save), interrupting the spell if the caster fails the save. Further, when a caster fails the save and their spell is countered, the caster doesn’t expend the spell slot they were trying to use to cast the spell.

Hot Takes

Why wouldn’t someone fix Todd Kenreck’s shirt collar? WHY?! I couldn’t stop staring at it the whole time. I’m sorry, Todd — your people let you down.
Barbarian changes seem positive at first blush. I’m intrigued by the new subclass but withholding judgment until I get a chance to read it.
I’m digging the Fighter changes — it sounds like they really took the “okay but how are Fighters going to be special now that so many classes can use Weapon Mastery” to heart.
The Brawler’s emphasis on improvised weapons kind of makes them the Sorcerer of Fighters.
The Brawler is also kind of the Monk of Fighters — this archetype feels like it could be right at home in a Jackie Chan movie.
I’m feeling good about the Battle Master, eager to see the details here.
Champion’s Heroic Warrior feature is going to be wild!
The new Innate Sorcery, as described in the video, sounds FREAKING AWESOME and totally in alignment with the Sorcerer I’m playing in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Ditto the move of Sorcerous Restoration to level 5. I reserve the right to change my mind when I get a chance to read these in depth, but for the moment: YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
The new approach to Twinned Spell is definitely better than what was in the prior UA. This might be an okay compromise, depending on which spells get updated to allow upcasting for additional targets.
Wild Magic Sorcery seems better too, but I’m still scared enough of accidentally dropping Fireballs on myself at point-blank range that I’m not sure I want to play one. The “arcane Rage” idea is fun though!
The Warlock sales pitch is pretty good. I like what I heard in the video, but again reserve the right to change my mind.
I’m deeply relieved that the Wizard Create Spell and Modify Spell spells are going away, as I was part of the chorus of dread in the prior UA’s survey. They were just too broken, and I’m glad to see this acknowledged.
The Wizard subclass changes seem positive and well-reasoned to me (again without having had time to read them yet).
The Counterspell changes are interesting, and I think probably necessary. I think wasting the target’s action, but not wasting the target’s spell slot, is a solid compromise. I’m hoping that this prevents Counterspell from sucking the fun out of a spellcaster-oriented encounter.

All in all… without looking into details… this seems generally positive to me? (Minus, of course, Todd Kenreck’s wardrobe malfunction.)

I’m sure I’ll have some deeper thoughts when I get a chance to review the new material in depth.