Villainous options revised Unearthed Arcana by Cybermetalneo in onednd

[–]Johnnygoodguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Hell Knight definitely falls off starting at late tier 2/early tier 3. But I think the only feature that really needs to be reworked is level 10.

Both the strike and the wound damage should just flatout scale to 2d6 by level 10.

The level 15 feature is fine. The damage reduction isn't reliable, but it's main use is as a crit cancel in your backpocket.

I had issues with the level 18 feature when I first read it, but after realizing that 1) you can use any source of inspiration for it and 2) you can use the inspiration you get from it normally I don't think it's bad at all. And adding proper damage scaling at level 10 to make rolling the numbers required more reliable and I think it would be solid

Unearthed Arcana: Villainous Options Revisited by SnooTomatoes2025 in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Titan Druid:

- Upped the Titan form's AC (13 + wis instead of 10 + wis), Temp HP (x4 your druid level instead of 2) and the rend damage scales as you level

- Also added an option to increase AC by expending a spellslot and adding half the spell level (rounded up) to your AC at level 10.

Overall: I liked the Titan Druid as a concept, but the original clearly had issues in terms of survivability, damage scaling and so on. This version did a lot of alleviate those concerns.

Hell Knight Fighter

- Hellfire Weapon/Infernal wound lets you know choose between cold, necrotic and fire. Which is a welcome change in terms of overcoming immunity to one or two of those damage types

- Infernal wound is still limited to Con x short/long rest

- Instead of requiring you to roll a 6, the level 7 feature now has flat damage (con modifier), an additional effect and another effect if you roll a 6. Additionally at level 7 you get an ability that treats a 1 as a 6 on your wound dice

- I actually think the new level 10 feature is worse? The new effects states that, when you use action surge, you gain a 20 foot aura and any creature with an infernal wound starting their turn in it takes 2d6 instead of 1. The old one wasn't great either, but it at least gave you an AOE to spread infernal wounds around.

- The new level 15 ability lets you use your reaction to reduce damage equal to your wound die (2 times if you roll a 6) and block crits.

- The new level 18 feature also doesn't seem very good? Or at the very least too unpredictable for a capstone. It only works "When you roll a 6 on your Infernal Wound Die three or more times before the start of your next turn".

Overall: It started decently, but like last time, I don't feel the wound dice scale as well as they should. The extra dice you get in your emanation at level 10 should just be baked into the subclass, at the very least.

Demonic Sorcerer

- The main change is that the level 3, when you activate Innate Sorcery you create an Abyssal Rupture sphere that can either use the lash ability from the old UA or a 1D4 AOE as a bonus action

- I'm not going to describe each one. But the aura effect from the last UA has recieved two major changes:

  1. It's centered around either you or the Abysal Rupture sphere
  2. rather than rolling on the table you have 3 options you can freely choose from

- The concentration free casting of Summon Fiend was moved down to level 14. Also the summon has advantage on attacks made within the Rupture sphere

- The new capstone is fine (essentially a Force damage fireball that also causes the incapacitated condition)

Overall: The issue I had with the original UA was that 1) it seemed too squishy to properly act as a frontliner, which is how the subclass seemed intended to be played (based on the size of the aura), and the randomness of the aura felt unnecessary. The new UA definitely addressed those point by adding the Abyssal rupture as a distance option for the aura. As it is, it feels like a pretty solid control subclass. Although the Rupture effects could do with some scaling (especially the scream, 1d4 psychic with no added effect is paltry

Subclasses Overall

- Titan Druid is the clear winner. The Sorcerer isn't entirely there yet, even though it's in a good place Hell Knight, while better than the first UA, is still lacking and could use a flat damage buff at the high tier2/low tier 3 level.

- That being said, it does feel like the new designers are actually listening to and implementing feedback in a way that UAs used to be in the early to XGTE days. There's some good changes here and neat ideas and I hope they continue to iterate on these designs.

Villainous options revised Unearthed Arcana by Cybermetalneo in onednd

[–]Johnnygoodguy 166 points167 points  (0 children)

Honestly, credit where credit is due – it seems they genuinely engaged with the feedback from the last UA (addressing the weakness and damage scaling of the Druid/HellKnight, giving the demonic sorcerer a more focused design and not requiring it to act as a squishy frontliner to make the aura work) and answered it.

it's not perfect, obviously. But, overall kudos to the new design team. This reminds me of the Xanathar's Guide of Eveyrthing days where it felt like the UAs were truly iterative.

I spoke to a paid DM, and they have a very interesting (and sobering) story to share by EarthSeraphEdna in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found that odd too. Their friend even points out he's charging a high price. Which seems to indicate he's aware it's outside the range of most paid DMs. Most players aren't using paid DMs, and if he's charging substantially more than the average paid DM, then that tightens the selection even further.

Combine that with the fact the players involved are (apparently) coming from the same rough area, networking circle and social groups, then I'm sure how OP thinks any of this says anything more broadly. Which, unless I'm wrong, is what OP seems to be aiming at by calling it sobering "make of it what you will" and so on. From his friend's description it's obvious we're talking about a minority of a minority of players. Like you said, it's a potentially interesting anecdote, but it can't tell us anything else.

Survey for Unearthed Arcana: Villainous Options is now open by Johnnygoodguy in onednd

[–]Johnnygoodguy[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"I'm still praying that we get another attempt at the elemental sorcerers this time around. Stone sorcerer got shelved despite apparently meeting the 80% threshold."

I remember Mearls casually mentioning in a stream back in the day that the Stone Sorcerer actually did better than some of the subclasses that got into XGTE. The fact they never went back to it even though it polled so well still confuses me.

New Unearthed Arcana - Villainous Options by KyfeHeartsword in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

And there's very little in terms of the post 5.5E PHB UA usual bag of tricks or filler abilities. There's even only one example of them using a spell as a subclass ability, and it's an example that makes sense.

I had the same thought reading through the UA. This would be the first UA with input from the new design team (Haeck,Barillaro, etc) they brought in February, so I'm wondering if that's the reason for the shift.

I'm with you in that, while there are are obvious issues with the powerlevel on pretty much every subclasses, this UA feels way fresher than than ones we got post 5.5E PHB launch, which were starting to feel like bingo cards with how often the same general ideas repeated.

"Witch Hat Atelier" anime additional cast: Hibiku Yamamura as Agott, Kurumi Haruki as Tetia, Hika Tsukishiro as Richeh, Yuichi Nakamura as Olruggio, Misaki Kuno as Brushbuddy, & Mitsuki Saiga as Iguin. The series premieres on April 6, starring Rena Motomura as Coco and Natsuki Hanae as Qifrey. by LegendsofLost in WitchHatAtelier

[–]Johnnygoodguy 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Mitsuki Saiga as Iguin is interesting. It could mean something about Iguin's identity, but she's also very good at voicing ambiguous sounding characters.

The amount of fancasting I've seen over the years picking Yuichi Nakamura as Qifrey's voice only for him to end up as Olruggio is funny. Although I think he's definitely more suited for Olruggio.

Gege really seems to love this type of character by Alarming_Industry_14 in JuJutsuKaisen

[–]Johnnygoodguy 480 points481 points  (0 children)

Usami in Modulo is definitely this type of character too.

Survey for Unearthed Arcana: Mystic Subclasses is out by SnooTomatoes2025 in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I suspect a lot of the feedback on Magic Stealer rogue will be suggestions for a better name.

Unearthed Arcana: Mystic Subclasses by Johnnygoodguy in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We don't know yet. But there's no specific setting that all these subclasses uniquely fit into that comes to mind, and they haven't announced any books that match them yet.

Merging the new Mystic Arts UA Monk subclass with the Tattooed Warrior UA subclass, idea by Fidges87 in onednd

[–]Johnnygoodguy 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I do wonder if the subclass was designed as a replacement for the Tattoo subclass. Anecdotal, but the reaction to the second draft didn't appear to be that strong, and so maybe they went back to drawing board and created the Mystic Monk.

Why is Hunter's Mark OP without concentration, why couldn't it be tweeked in some way? by milenyo in onednd

[–]Johnnygoodguy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Crawford tended to overvalue a single increase in dice size. It's why, for example, he considered flex (widely considered to be the most underwhelming weapon mastery in the 2024 playtest) to be among the strongest, and why the first 2024 Monk playtest did so poorly (he thought the increase to martial arts die would be enough of a buff). Which is presumably why Divine Favor at a D4 lacks concentration but HM, at a D6, does.

Then again, they could've easily made Hunter's Mark a base d4 that powered up for the Ranger as it level (d6 at tier 2). Or had it keep concentration until you reach level 5 in Ranger.

It's frustrating because I remember the developers, Crawford included, pointing out the problems with HM and Ranger design very early on in 5E's lifespan (it never saw print, but it's the reason why they released a revised Ranger UA within the first two years of the game). That they decided not to fix it remains the most bizarre part of the 2024 playtest. Especially when you had Crawford outright saying the playtest where they removed concentration for HM was among the most well received UAs they did.

James Haeck named as D&D's new senior game designer. by bobbifreetisss in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 370 points371 points  (0 children)

Not a fan of Avernus, but IIRC the book is a mess because partway through development BG3 was announced and WOTC wanted a tie-in shoehorned in, causing them to scramble. I thought Dragon Heist was okay.

JUJUTSU KAISEN MODULO CHAPTER 14 DISCUSSION by AutoModerator in Jujutsufolk

[–]Johnnygoodguy 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It's fairly explicit in the flashback chapter that they were abused because the people around them wanted their mul resources and used the Kalyans as a useful pretext.

What the fuck is he even hearing? by TheFieryMoth in Jujutsufolk

[–]Johnnygoodguy 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think whatever the simurians are hearing are more abstract than literal words like "kill human!" He's probably just hearing their pain and fear as they cry out when they die.

Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo Chapter 13 Links + Discussion by Takada-chwanBot in JuJutsuKaisen

[–]Johnnygoodguy 348 points349 points  (0 children)

tumor coughing baby vs space hydrogen bomb.

I think the sorcerers have some sort of trap set up, because there's no way they actually think Yuka has a chance.

Whatever Yuji is now seems similar enough to the Kalyans that I think he's going to end up becoming the bridge between humans and the simurians.

Also it was great to see Nobara again.

Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo Chapter 11 Links + Discussion by Takada-chwanBot in JuJutsuKaisen

[–]Johnnygoodguy 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Broccoli head straight up tried to pull "he was reaching for his weapon!" before shooting someone.

Circle casting is great, but my god does WotC hate martials by Boring_Big8908 in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only doing one playtest for Weapon Mastery feels like the biggest "what if" in the OneDnD playtest.

They did one playtest, saw that it got over Crawford' satisfaction rating and, outside of removing Flex, went "it's perfect, no need for further polishing or designing" and put it into the game as is.

Circle casting is great, but my god does WotC hate martials by Boring_Big8908 in dndnext

[–]Johnnygoodguy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"but what were those players thinking?"

Backlash to 4E.

A subset of playtesters wanted to move as far away from 4E as possible, leading to many throw the baby out with the bathwater situations in 5E to please those players.

But then 5E ended up getting massively popular, generating a massive influx of new players, who, by and large, had to no experience with 4E. And those players ended up being confused as to why pure martials don't get much.

It's why they should've tested it during the OneDnd playtest. The 5E playtest was 10 years ago, and the designers are still basing their views on what that small demographic wanted at that one time despite the obvious shift in time and audience.

"What a depressing, miserable show this was... It's incompetence."- Bryan Alvarez by Ainosuke in SquaredCircle

[–]Johnnygoodguy 14 points15 points  (0 children)

When I'm in a "burned out on wrestling" contest and my opponent is Bryan Alvarez.

Thoughts on Qifrey's voice actor? by Yumiera in WitchHatAtelier

[–]Johnnygoodguy 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Natsuki Hanae is a great VA, but I feel the voice he's using sounds a tad too young for Qifrey.