D&D: Eight Subclasses Revealed in New ‘Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana’ Playtest

Come playtest eight subclasses featured in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide—5 new, 3 revised, all ready for testing!

Big playtest update today friends. A new Unearthed Arcana for the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide coming later (and I do mean later) this year dropped today. And boy howdy is it a big one.

There are eight subclasses all in all. Five of them are brand new, three are revisions to some familiar facces, from both the Player’s Handbook and, of all things, the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. That’s right, the Purple Dragon Knight, one of the worst subclasses in all 5E is back—don’t worry, it’s still not great. WotC just can’t get the hang of that one, it seems.

But, there’s more than just a beleaguered Purple Dragon Knight awaiting you. So let’s dive on in.

Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana—So Many Subclasses

I can say one thing, having looked through the document, these are much more Forgotten Realms-centered classes in the Unearthed Arcana. They interweave the lore a little more, without necessarily having to be exclusive to it. It’s a delicate needle to thread, and it’s probably why the Purple Dragon Knight is here. It’s very “Forgotten Realms”. Sadly it’s also very “Purple Dragon Knight” in that it both embodies a cool idea and then trips over its feet trying to execute it.

In addition to the return of the Purple Dragon Knight, there are two other revised subclasses: the Knowledge Domain Cleric, recast in the Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana as a sort of “Mind Cleric.” That means blending sagacity with psychic powers. Seems pretty cool.

You’ll also find a returning Bladesinger Wizard, to no one’s surprise, but almost everyone’s delight.

New Subclasses in the Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana, Bard, Ranger, and Paladin

When it comes to new faces, we’ve got five new subclasses to play with, starting with the Bardic College of the Moon. As you might imagine from the name, this is kind of a druidic Bard. I don’t know why, but Druids in D&D get to do all the cool moon stuff, and anyone else is just embodying them.

My theory is that it’s one of the designers’ pet preferences that colors everything else, kinda like how John M. Ford is the one guy who decided, through his editorial voice, that psychic powers were sci-fi, not magic, and are fine to be found alongside even the hardest sci-fi stories. Psionics get technology, and tech is blue comes from one guy. Same with Druids and the moon in D&D.

We also get the Oath of the Noble Genies Paladin. This is an elemental-focused Paladin subclass that doesn’t make you choose just one element. With an enhanced spell list, and new options that follow on after you make a Divine Smite, this feels like it’d be fun to play. Especially since it has an option that allows for you to add your Charisma bonus to your AC while in Light armor.

Rangers get the Winter Walker. If you ever wanted to play a gruff Northener, this is the class for you. As you might have guessed from the name, they get a lot of cold powers and frost abilities. It actually seems really fun, with abilities that enhance your resilience and debuff your targets, often as part of the same action

Rogues and Sorcerers Have New Toys, Too

Rogues get to dabble in darkness and villainy a little, with the Scion of the Three. The subclass name here refers to the Dead Three, a trio of evil gods whom you’ll be familiar with if you played Baldur’s Gate 3. If you haven’t, go do it right now—but also know that the Dead Three are gods of murder, tyranny, and death.

Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul lend their powers and dark influence to certain Scions, who wield occult power in pursuit of dirty deeds, presumably done nowhere remotely close to dirt cheap. But, there’s a reason their price would be so high—they are very combat focused Rogues.

The “combat Rogue” is a niche that’s definitely in need of more options. And the Scion of the Three lets you deal extra damage to Bloodied targets, rewards you for killing foes, and turns you into a battlefield terror. Very nice, very evil.

Then there’s the Sorcerer Subclass: Spellfire Sorcery. Spellfire, in the Forgotten Realms (at least in the Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana) is an “innate connection to the Weave itself”. This means you have commad of magic at an instinctual level.

In game terms, it means you can add either temporary hit points to allies or extra damage to foes whenever you spend Sorcery points. You also get to eat incoming spells, turning them into Sorcery points, so you can keep the magic flowing. This is perfect protagonist energy if you’re looking for a good “adventurous soul” type.

Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana Survey Coming Feb 4th

Of course, this being a big playtest for a book coming up relatively quickly, WotC wants your feedback. And that means there’s a playtest survey coming. In the video at the top of this article, Jeremy Crawford briefly walks us through the new rubric. Depending on how subclass features do, they get a color grade, Red for do not want, Yellow for revise, and Green for look at, tweak, but otherwise good to go.

In talking briefly about the Artificer, it sounds like we’re ging to see much more of a revision in the days to come. So, keep an eye out, it feels like we haven’t seen the last of what the thaumaturgical tinker can do.

But before then, you’ll want to watch for the Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana survey. This will beyour chance to voice your opinions to Wizards of the Coast. I would encourage you to give the new subclasses a try at your next session – or better yet, schedule a one shot to take these out for a spin. Because how these end up playing in the final version is up to you. Well, it’s up to how WotC interprets what you tell them, I guess. So whatever you have to say, say it loudly, and say it clear.

Enjoy the playtest!

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]

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