Comparing the Subclasses Revisited Unearthed Arcana

This most recent Unearthed Arcana revises three subclasses from previous articles. The Revived rogue subclass has become the Phantom, the Noble Genie warlock subclass has been revised to the Genie, and the Archivist artificer subclass has become the Order of Scribes wizard.

Also, the survey for the recent Psionics UA is up!

Roguish Archetype: Phantom

Rogues with the Phantom subclass are connected with the forces of death. These rogues may be associated with necromancers or Shadowfell agents, or they may have otherwise brushed up against the afterlife. The previous iteration of this subclass, the Revived, was a rogue who had been brought back from death at some point.

Whispers of the Dead: 3^rd level feature

At 3^rd level, you can gain a skill or tool proficiency after finishing a short or long rest, which lasts until you use the feature again. This is contextualized as receiving knowledge from beyond the grave.

This is similar to the original Revived feature called Tokens of Past Lives, though the new version also allows you to use it on a short rest instead of just a long rest.

Wails from the Grave: 3^rd level feature

At 3^rd level, after dealing Sneak Attack damage to a creature, you can use this feature to deal extra damage to a second nearby creature. You can use this feature a number of time equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

This feature seems to replace Bolts from the Grave, which gave you a ranged spell attack after using Cunning Action if you hadn’t used Sneak Attack on your turn. The Revived Nature feature also came at 3^rd level but has been cut.

Tokens of the Departed: 9^th level feature

At 9^th level, you can steal a bit of a creature’s life essence if they die near you. You receive a soul trinket when you use this feature. When you have a soul trinket, you gain advantage on Constitution saving throws and death saving throws. You can only have a number of soul trinkets up to your proficiency bonus (you can’t create a new one when you’re at max).

You can also use an action to destroy a soul trinket and ask the spirit a question. They will answer as they pass on, but they aren’t required to be honest or particularly verbose.

This replaces the Revived’s 9^th level feature, Connect with the Dead. Connect with the Dead allowed you to cast speak with dead once per rest, plus it granted a benefit from the Revived Capabilities table after using the spell.

Ghost Walk: 13^th level feature

At 13^th level, you can use a bonus action to go ghost become spectral (yep, I totally haven’t used that one before). The spectral form grants you a fly speed of 10 feet (and you can over), and any attack rolls against you have disadvantage. You can move through solid objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain and take damage if you end your turn in one as usual for these sorts of effects. This lasts for 10 minutes, though you can also revert back to normal as a bonus action. You can do this once per long rest, or you can destroy a soul trinket to get an extra use out of it.

This feature replaces the Revived’s Audience with Death feature, which was the “please don’t force your rogue to make death saves to get answers to your questions” feature.

Death Knell: 17^th level feature

At 17^th level, you can apply the extra damage from Wails from the Grave to the first creature you attacked along with the second creature it already applied to.

The Revived’s 17^th level feature was called Ethereal Jaunt and allowed you to use Cunning Action to teleport somewhere within 30 feet (with limits). It seems like they retooled and expanded on Ethereal Jaunt, which became Ghost Walk.

Overall, the Phantom rogue has received a lot of alterations from its previous life as the Revived. I’m interested to see if this is generally what the final version will look like, or if more changes are on the way.

Otherworldly Patron: Genie

Warlocks with this subclass have made pacts with noble genie, who are powerful entities ruling over the Elemental Planes. Some options are influenced by which type of genie you have pledged service to—a dao (earth), djinni (air), efreeti (fire), or marid (water).

The previous version of this subclass was called the Noble Genie, and it did not offer different options based on the type of patron.

Expanded Spell List: 1^st level feature

The expanded spell list for this patron includes a general Genie Spells list plus another list depending on the genie’s type. Some of the spells originally on the Noble Genie list appear on the general list (such as phantasmal killer) while others appear on other lists (the marid has fog cloud), and others have been switched out completely.

Genie’s Vessel: 1^st level feature

At 1^st level, you receive a magical vessel from your patron. This vessel can act as a spellcasting focus and provides a few other features—Bottled Respite and Genie’s Wrath.

Bottled Respite allows you to use your action to magically disappear and reappear inside your vessel, which has a comfortable extradimensional space inside. You can stay inside for a number of hours equal to double your proficiency bonus. You can use Bottled Respite once per long rest.

Genie’s Wrath allows you to deal extra damage once per turn with an attack. The type of damage depends on your patron.

This feature replaces the previous version’s Collector’s Vessel feature. The flavor here is similar, but the original let you create a tether to a willing creature, and that tether was used by other features later in the subclass’s progression.

Elemental Gift: 6^th level feature

At 6^th level, you gain resistance to a certain damage type depending on your patron. You also can use a bonus action to grant yourself a fly speed for 10 minutes. The fly speed is 30 feet, and you can hover. The uses (per long rest) for the fly speed is equal to your proficiency bonus.

This feature replaces the previous version’s Elemental Resistance feature. The previous version let you choose between a few different types for your resistance, and you could change it on a long rest. The resistance would also extend to the tethered creature.

Sanctuary Vessel: 10^th level feature

At 10^th level, the Sanctuary Vessel feature enhances the Genie’s Vessel feature. Now you can draw up to five willing creatures (who are nearby) to pull into the vessel with you. You can eject them as a bonus action. If a creature stays in the vessel for 10 minutes, they gain the same benefits as from a short rest. Plus, they can add your proficiency bonus to any hit points regained with Hit Dice.

This feature replaces the previous version’s Protective Wish and Genie’s Entertainment features. Protective Wish allowed you to switch whether you or your tethered creature was hit by an attack. The Genie’s Entertainment feature acted like a banishment spell, sending a creature who failed a Charisma saving throw to your patron’s court for a short amount of time.

Limited Wish: 14^th level feature

At 14^th level, you can request your patron to replicate the effect of a spell. The spell has to have a casting time of 1 action and be of 6^th level or lower. But, you can pick from any class’s spell list and don’t have to provide any requirements or components for the spell to take effect. After using this feature, you can’t use it again until after 1d4 long rests.

This feature replaces the previous version’s Collector’s Call feature. Collector’s Call allowed you to ask your patron for help and cause one of several options of effects, including healing, debuffing an enemy, and allowing you to cast legend lore.

This subclass, like the Revived/Phantom rogue, also received significant changes. I liked the potential to help your friends with the Noble Genie pact, but overall I find I’m more excited about the current version of the Genie pact.

Arcane Tradition: Order of Scribes

The Order of Scribes aims to record as many discoveries as possible for the advancement of wizardry, and wizards of the Order of Scribes awaken their spellbooks, granting it a mind of its own.

This wizard subclass used to be an artificer subclass called the Archivist. The Archivist also had a magical companion, a sort of artificial intelligence.

Wizardly Quill: 2^nd level feature

At 2^nd level, you can use a bonus action to make a quill. This magic quill doesn’t require ink, and it halves the gold and time you need to spend to copy a spell into your spellbook.

The Archivist artificer gained proficiency with calligrapher’s supplies and the forgery kit, along with a reduced time to craft magic scrolls.

Awakened Spellbook: 2^nd level feature

Also at 2^nd level, you have instilled a consciousness in your spellbook. This book can be your spellcasting focus, and it allows you to cast a ritual without adding extra time to it once per long rest. Additionally, when you use a spell slot to cast one of your wizard spells, you can switch out its damage type.

The Archivist artificer’s Artificial Mind feature is like this, though it acts as a companion as soon as 3^rd level. The Artificial Mind granted additional skill proficiencies and allowed you to attack a creature with Information Overload. You could use it as a spellcasting focus much like the Awakened Spellbook.

Master Scrivener: 6^th level feature

At 6^th level, you can make a magic scroll after finishing a long rest. This copies a spell in your Awakened Spellbook and uses the magic quill to make the copy. You can only copy 1^st or 2^nd level spells with a casting time of 1 action. But, the spell counts as one level higher when you use it in scroll form. No one else can read the scroll.

This feature also halves the time it takes to craft spell scrolls, like the Archivist artificer’s bonus from Tools of the Trade.

The artificer version of this subclass got access to Mind Network at 6^th level,, which let you communicate with those holding items with your artificer infusion on it. It also boosted the damage from Information Overload.

Manifest Mind: 10^th level feature

At 10^th level, you can summon the mind of your Awakened Spellbook using a bonus action. The mind appears as a tiny, hovering spectral construct. Its hit points equal your Intelligence modifier plus your wizard level, and it uses your stats for Armor Class and save modifiers. The mind can hear and see, with darkvision out to 60 feet. You can use an action to use the mind’s senses instead of your own. You can also cast a spell from the mind’s space, much like a familiar. The mind will disappear if it gets too far away (or if it dies, you die, or you dismiss it).

This functionality is much like the 3^rd level Archivist ability that manifest the Artificial Mind. But, since that version of the artificer always got “pets” at 3^rd level, it shakes out a bit different for the wizard, who got different features like the magic quill earlier.

One with the Word: 14^th level feature

At 14^th level, you gain a greater connection to your Awakened Spellbook. You can use your action to swap places with the manifested mind (a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest). If your Awakened Spellbook has at least one spell in it, you revive with 1 hit point when you die. You lose spells of combined level equal to 3d6 from your spellbook, and you cannot cast them without using a wish spell to restore them.

The Archivist’s Pure Information feature allowed you to teleport as well, to a space near the Artificial Mind or near an item with an artificer infusion of yours.

I really liked the Archivist, so I’m disappointed that we won’t get an artificer version of the subclass. But, this wizard subclass is pretty cool, and it’s something I would consider playing!

Interesting note here, it looks like all of these subclasses use proficiency bonus to determine number of uses for certain abilities. Generally, this is determined by the modifier of the class’s most used ability (so you see language like: you can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, with a minimum of once). I wonder if we’ll see this carried forward into other designs?

What do you think of the changes made to these subclasses? Did you play using the old versions, and if so, do you plan to switch? I’d love to hear what you think!