New Unearthed Arcana Barbarian and Monk Classes | A Dungeon Dad Review
So, recently Unearthed Arcana released play testing material for a brand new Barbarian Primal Path (Path of the Wild Soul), as well as a new Monk Monastic Tradition (Way of the Astral Self). Unfortunately, unless you’re into memorizing the Players Hand Book and pouring over cramped, text heavy rule books (What’s with the weird two-column format?) then you were probably left thinking “Cool… what does this ACTUALLY MEAN???” Well, have no fear. The Dungeon Dad is here to help you break down and simplify all of the coolest features for each subclass.
(Check out the Official UA Subclass material HERE)
NOTE: Both new subclasses are still very much in the play testing stage. This means that a lot of details will probably change over time to help with balance issues, unclear rules, etc. That being said, the most important thing to remember is to HAVE FUN WITH IT. If you don’t like something about a new feature, talk with your DM and change it. These new subclasses are designed to be like Middle School Writing Prompts. They serve to give you a starting point to character creation and spark creativity for you as a player and/or DM. Don’t let it frustrate you. Let it inspire you.
Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian
Overview
Barbarians now have MAGIC! Well, sort of. The Primal Path of the Wild Soul combines the traditional Barbarian with the added flavor of the Wild Magic Sorcerer. The emotional energy produced by your Barbarian’s rage manifests floods of chaotic magical prowess. Everything about this new class sounds cool. Of course, untamable arcane powers are not without their drawbacks, but I’ve got to say that I’m super excited about this path.
New Feature Breakdown:
Lingering Magic (Level 3)
As soon as you accept this path, your Barbarian receives Lingering Magic. This feature lets you cast the spell “Detect Magic” for free a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (at level 3, it’s probably 1–2). This may not seem like a huge deal, but I really like this feature for two reasons.
- I love the picture of a character who can sense danger organically, like when the scar on Harry Potter’s head would burn in the presence of Lord Voldemort. Making your Barbarian capable of sensing the presence of magic leads to some really neat role play. Not to mention, being able to cast such an important out-of-combat spell a few times per day really takes the pressure off your party’s Wizard.
- This features works super well with a Barbarian’s Danger Sense, which gives you advantage on Dexterity saves from traps you can SEE. Now, maybe sensing the presence of powerful dark magic isn’t EXACTLY the same as “seeing”, but as a DM I’d definitely argue that if you can detect the magic from a trap or hidden baddie, you deserve to get advantage from Danger Sense.
Wild Surge (Level 3)
Wild Surge is honestly just a reskin of the “Wild Magic” table for Sorcerers. As soon as you rage, roll a d8 and apply the random effect. A lot of nay-sayers have complained this list gives too big a risk of friendly fire. Well, they can get over it, because that’s honestly what I love MOST about this new feature.
The fact is, you if you choose to play a Barbarian you should expect your character to have a sense of danger and unpredictability. The whole point of this class is to position your character as an angry behemoth driven by powerful, uncontrollable emotions. I mean, two of your key class mechanics are named RAGE and RECKLESS ATTACK. If you don’t want your party to be afraid of you then go be a Cleric. The flavor of the Wild Surge table is one that screams “The Barbarian’s about to rage. Everybody GET BACK!!!” Maybe that’s not your style, but I’m totally into it. Here’s the breakdown:
D1- As if Barbarians didn’t already have enough health, now they can absorb 1d10 of health from EVERY creature within 30 feet. Perfect for that pesky low-level horde of goblins.
D2- Teleport up to 20 feet as a bonus action as long as you’re raging. Nice. Not to mention, teleporting away from an enemy doesn’t invoke attacks of opportunity. Double nice.
D3- Conjure 1d4 explosive spirits that fly away randomly and cause 2d8 force damage to anyone who can’t escape the blast. Yeesh.
D4- +2AC PLUS anyone who causes you damage within melee range takes damage equal to your Constitution modifier. I wouldn’t want to get close either…
D5- The ground within 10 feet of you becomes difficult terrain. I mean… that’s cool I guess. Overall, not the most impressive.
D6- Every creature within 30 feet makes a Wisdom saving throw or gets disadvantage until your next turn. Perfect time to Reckless Attack.
D7- Adds the “light” and “thrown” property to a weapon you possess. Now, this one takes some explaining. At first glance, you may see this and think “So I could dual wield Greataxes?! SWEET!!” And while you would think that adding the “light” property to a weapon would mean that you could hold it in one hand, this TECHNICALLY doesn’t negate the “two-handed” property of a weapon like a Greataxe. So, your hopes of double fisting instruments of death will have to remain just a daydream for now. On the other hand, adding the “thrown” property effectively doubles your reach with a melee weapon. Plus, it essentially becomes a pact weapon while you’re raging, reappearing in your hand at the end of your turn. It’s like temporarily transforming into a Hex Blade Warlock (you know, without all that “selling your soul” nonsense).
D8- Go Super Saiyan for a turn and blast a 60 ft long Kamehameha wave for 2d8 radiant damage. Simple. Painful. I like it.
Magic Reserves (Level 6)
Use an action to roll a d4 (d6 at level 14) and restore that level spell slot to a magic user. If they don’t have a slot open in that level, they take temporary hit points instead (5x the number rolled). The biggie on this one is THERE’S NO LIMIT. That sounds pretty OP to me. What do we need a Cleric for? Just let the giant magic tank heal everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if this feature doesn’t make it to version 2.0
Arcane Rebuke (Level 10)
Anytime an attack forces you to roll a saving throw, you can use your reaction to inflict 3d6 force damage. I’ll repeat that in case you weren’t paying attention, 3D6 FORCE DAMAGE for literally ANY SAVING THROW. This Barbarian don’t play no games. That is a Mage’s worse nightmare. Now you can’t even hide outside of melee range and spam Fireballs without fear of instant death. This feature really pushes enemies to face your Barbarian head on in combat. This is definitely one to take advantage of.
Chaotic Fury (Level 14)
Reroll on the Wild Surge Table if you don’t like the first effect. I get it. I guess at level 14 you deserve to have a little more control over your powers, but I honestly prefer the chaos of the Wild Surge Table. I, personally, won’t use this feature but I figure some will find it a nice safety net.
Pro Tip:
All the magical effects of the Path of the Wild Soul use your Constitution Modifier, so pick a Race that boosts your Constitution and works well with your new magical abilities. Earth Genasi, for example, get a +2 Constitution, +1 Strength, and get some cool extra arcane-inspired features. Goliaths, on the other hand, get +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, and get “Stone’s Endurance” which lets you subtract 1d12+ your Constitution Modifier from the damage of a hit once per long rest.
Conclusion (TLDR)
The Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian is full of powerful (albeit unpredictable) new features. Get used to shouting “Stand back” before raging and you’ll do fine.
Way of the Astral Self Monk
Overview
If the Wild Soul Barbarian was less about FUNCTION in combat and more about FLAVOR, then the Astral Self Monk is the polar opposite. When reading the descriptions for these new class features, I couldn’t decide if I was more shocked by how weird or how overpowered they were. If you’re the type of player who lives for combat encounters, this is the Monk for you.
New Feature Breakdown:
Arms of the Astral Self (Level 3)
Spend 2 Ki points as a Bonus Action to summon two extra arms. Yes, you read that correctly. The defining feature of the Astral Self Monk is that you can summon ghost arms… The appearance of these arms can differ based on your character’s backstory, but you’re basically stuck looking like either Dr. Octopus or Machamp. Either way, your new spectral appendiges give you the following benefits for 10 minutes:
-Use your Wisdom Modifier instead of your Strength Modifier for Saving Throws and Strength Checks. Good to know for Min/Maxers
-Your arms are Monk Weapons (we figured) with a 10ft reach and deal either Radiant or Necrotic Damage. Plus, you can choose to use your Wisdom modifier over Strength or Dexterity when attacking.
-Once you finish attacking with your spooky ghost arms, you can use a bonus action to attack once more (twice at level 11 and three times at level 17). Essentially a pumped up Flurry of Blows without having to spend additional Ki points.
Visage of the Astral Self (Level 6)
Spend 1 Ki point to summon a spectral helmet for 10 minutes that gives you advantage on Insight and Intimidation checks as well as Dark Vision for up to 120 feet. Mechanically, these are actually really neat features that offer some fun out-of-combat role play situations. It’s just that the image of Monk fighting with a glowing welders mask and beefy back arms like Trogdor the Burninator kind of ruins It for me.
Awakening of the Astral Self (Level 11)
While you have both your Astral Arms and Visage active you gain these additional effects:
-Deflect Energy: Use your reaction to decrease acid, cold, fire, lightning, or force damage by 1d10+ your Wisdom modifier + your Monk level. That’s an average of about 19–20 points of damage, which might as well equate to resistance to all magical damage. Pretty gosh-darn powerful.
-Empowered Arms: Add your Martial Arts dice to damage caused from your Astral arms. You’re already punching stuff. You might as well punch HARDER.
-Word of the Spirit: Either speak telepathically or amplify your voice a bunch. Honestly, this is just whatever to me.
Overall, this feature drastically upgrades your 3 Ki point investment in combat. Hit stuff harder. Take harder hits. Oh yeah, and you can talk really loud if you want to.
Complete Astral Self (Level 17)
Spend 10 Ki points to summon your complete Astral Self, which covers you like a suit of armor for 10 minutes. Your Astral Iron Man suit gives you the following benefits:
Armor of the Spirit- +2AC. Because why not???
Astral Barrage- You can attack three times with your Astral arms whenever you use your Extra Attack. If you’re keeping track, that now means you can attack up to 6 times for an average of up to 60 points of damage per turn.
Ki Consumption- Whenever you land the killing blow, regain Ki points equal to your Wisdom Modifier. This becomes super OP if you’re fighting multiple enemies. The Complete Astral Self only costs roughly half of your Ki points, but with Ki Consumption, you can literally regain it all back by killing 2–3 lower level baddies.
Pro Tip:
Monks depend a lot on mobility. Pick a Race that capitalizes on your agility. For Instance, Tabaxi get +2 Dexterity and “Feline Agility” which doubles your speed in a pinch. Goblins also get +2 Dexterity and “Nimble Escape” which lets you sacrifice your bonus action to Disengage (which could DEFINITELY come in handy). You also might want to choose a Race that boosts your Wisdom to capitalize on your Astral Arm attacks. Ghostwise Halflings and Wood Elves both get a Wisdom and Dexterity boost.
Conclusion (TLDR)
The Astral Self Monk gets spooky ghost arms and a weird night-vision helmet that lets you punch stuff super hard. Both crazy strong and crazy strange.
What do you guys think about these new Subclasses? Did I miss something cool? Leave your thoughts in the comments and make sure to follow my Instagram HERE for more RPG and Table Top Resources!
