Unearthed Arcana is back, with 3 new subclasses and the Path of Ceremorphosis, a group of feats.

Two of the subclasses, the Barbarian and the Wizard, are about the Deep Imaskari – a groupt that I honestly didn’t know about, and they look pretty interesting lore-wise, while the Rogue is about the Houses of Menzoberanzan, another very intriguing idea. We also have the Youtube videos back!

But let’s get into it.

Barbarian – Path of Unlight

The Imaskari barbarian utilizes a strange “light” to empower all their abilities; this “Unlight” can be used to grow and heal, but also corrupt and destroy. And the barbarians do a lot more of the latter than the former.

Radiant Rage (Level 3)

While raging, you shed Bright Light in a 20-foot radius, and when a creature hits you with a melee attack they take radiant damage equal to your rage damage bonus. Pretty weak starter, the extra damage is (and remains throughout the levels) very low. Some of the utility offered in later features could be moved here, and additional power given to them instead.

Unlight Revelation (Level 6)

You gain Proficiency and Expertice in Perception, and Blindsight in the range of the light emitted during your rage. A cool idea, and I can see how it fits with the theme, but certainly not doing much for a Barbarian. You could have also something affecting the enemies inside your light; maybe the retaliation damage from Radiant Rage affects all enemies that hit you from within the light or something.

Infectious Unlight (Level 10)

When you deal damage with Brutal Strike, it can be radiant instead of the normal one, and you get a new Brutal Strike option:

• Radiant Infection: The target becomes infected with Unlight for 1 minute. While infected, it sheds Bright Light in a 10-foot radius. Additionally, at the start of each of its turns, the target takes 1d6 Radiant damage. The target makes a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + STR + Proficiency Bonus) at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

It’s a bit of extra damage every turn, which I’ll count as at most 2d6, 3d6 if you’re really optimistic (or pessimistic – you don’t want an enemy surviving 3+ turns). Still, if you don’t need the utility of Forceful Blow or Hamstring Blow, I guess it’s decent. It’d be a lot cooler if there was more interaction by the other features with your rage Unlight, and this was actually helpful in expanding its coverage, but alas, there’s nothing else.

Harbinger of Unlight (Level 10)

You have resistance to radiant damage.

…Alright. Did we really need a full feature for this? This could have easily gone on Level 3, with this giving you immunity to radiant damage while raging or something.

Brilliant Rage (Level 14)

The range of Unlight you emit while raging increases to 30 feet.

As a bonus action, you can unleash blinding brilliance, causing each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you to make a CON saving throw (DC 8+STR+Proficiency bonus). On a failed save, they take 1d12 radiant damage and are blinded, while on a fail they simply take half damage. You can use this only once per long rest, unless you expend a use of your Rage to reuse it.

Blindness is quite powerful admittedly, so I can see why they didn’t want to put more damage on this, but I still think it could use more.

Generally, this subclass seems quite low on power, especially compared to others. There’s a lot of mechanics that could be explored; personally I would slowly but steadily increase the range of the Rage light, maybe by 5 feet increments every feature; 25 feet at level 6, 30 at level 10, and 35 at level 14 – maybe even pushed to 40. Or, in a simpler way, increase it by 10 feet whenever you rage damage increases; 30 feet at level 9, 40 feet at level 16.

Then, you need more ways to interact with this light. The blindsight at level 6 is a good start, but as I said, it could also expand the range of the retaliation damage; maybe it also makes enemies easier to crit, or weakens a particular saving throw, et cetera. It could also have interesting interactions with magical darkness and sunlight, though that’s quite niche. The blinding flash of Brilliant Rage should also scale with the light radius; it certainly feels as if that’s the intended way, and it’d be practically the same result, except it would work with the extra range I proposed above.

Anyway; cool theme, very interesting idea for a barbarian in particular, lacking in mechanical power.

Rogue – House Agent

Somewhat confusing because House Agent is already a thing from Eberron, a background/feat if I remember correctly. But not that big a deal. The concept is pretty similar though; you are sponsored by one of the houses of Menzoberanzan, or perhaps even another faction like the Zhentarim or Bregan D’Aerthe to do their dirty work in the vast game in intruge of the drow society.

House Insignia (Level 3)

You gain a magical token that marks you as an agent of your sponsor, and also allows you to cast certain spells with it, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability. You start with the Friends cantrip, the Charm Person spell, and the Find Familiar spell that can be cast only as a ritual – with your sponsor very kindly providing the material costs for your first cast, though your familiar will necessarily take the form of a spider. At further levels, you learn more spells: Suggestion at level 5 and Hypnotic Pattern at level 9. You can cast each spell once per long rest – you use your insignia for this, instead of expending a spell slot.

Charming Presense (Level 3)

You can take the Influence action as a bonus action. You also gain proficiency in one of Deception, Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion.

An interesting start; a Charisma-based rogue with some very focused spellcasting. More proficiences on a rogue are perhaps overkill, but I like the idea of a social agent; the rogue feels like a good fit for it. I have some issues though which will be expanded upon at the end.

Backstab (Level 9)

You have advantage on attack rolls against creatures within 5 feet of your that are Friendly or have the Charmed condition (tey don’t have to be charmed by you). You also get a new Cunning Strike option:

• Stunning Betrayal (Cost: 4d6): If your target was Friendly to you or had the Charmed condition, they have the Stunned condition until the start of your next turn.

A very powerful option, though not one you can spam – Friends helps, though you need to have some time to cozy up to your target first.

Infiltration Partner (Level 13)

Your Familiar (from the Find Familiar spell) gains 120 feet of Darkvision and 30 feet of Truesight. Also, when you cast Find Familiar or after a short or long rest, you can give your familiar Temporary HP equal to your rogue level.

This feels more of a sidetrack, but while I can see how it fits in the infiltrator/agent style, I’d appreciate more another “social”-focused combat ability like Backstab.

Silver Tongue (Level 13)

A creature’s Hostile attitude doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Charisma checks to influence them. I’ll be 100% honest here, I didn’t even know this was a thing; I’d just assign higher DCs for social checks on hostile creatures. I generally don’t really use a lot of mechanics for social roleplaying, but that’s a much bigger conversation than this UA could fit without completely derailing it.

Subtle Manipulation (Level 17)

You gain another Cunning Strike option:

• Confound (Cost: 5d6): The target must succeed on a WIS saving throw (DC being your spellcasting DC) or have the Charmed condition for 1 minute, repeating the saving throw whenever they take damage and ending the effect on a success.

You also get some more bonuses: you can cast Friends as a bonus action, and it doesn’t automatically fail if the target isn’t a Humanoid or if you’re fighting it; and when you cast a spell that gives the Charmed condition and it ends, the target doesn’t know it was charmed by you. All in all, a pretty good feature for enabling all your other stuff, though I’m not usre if that’s really enough at level 17.

I have some thoughts on this subclass. Again, it seems like a really cool concept, and something that would obviously thrive on social/political/spying campaigns and have tons of opportunity for some incredible RP, especially with the baggage that comes from having a sponsor-superior-debtor above you helping and using you in equal measure. However, since it tries to merge the combat and roleplaying aspects of the game, it will inevitable stumble upon a lot of issues. Roleplaying in particular is so dependent on the group that it’s honestly impossible for me to predict if this is good or bad; if I assume that this subclass is played as it was envisioned to be played by the developers, I’d call it… not bad, but not exceptional either. It would probably have some “explosive” moments with Backstab, and some alright utility, but I’d play it more for the flavor.

Wizard – Imaskarcanist

I had to check at least 3 times if I spelled that right. Like the barbarians, these wizards have mastered the Unlight – taught by the Imaskarcana, sentient artifacts, in the depths of the Underdark.

Unlight Adept (Level 3)

When you cast a spell that deals Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder damage, you can change its damage type to Radiant. In addition, Dim Light created by your spells is Bright Light instead. A nice little utility to start us off.

Unlight Invigoration (Level 3)

As a bonus action, you can choose a willing creature within 30 feet of you and roll (and expend) one or two of your Hit Dice. The target gains Temporary HP equal to the total rolled + your INT modifier, and until they have no Temporary HP, they have advantage on Strength checks and shed bright light for 10 feet.

An interesting ability; the wording is a bit confusing, as I’m still not sure if they could maintain the advantage/light indefinitely by re-applying other effects of THP or not, but I don’t expect it to come up often regardless. However, the fact you have to use your Hit Dice is a pretty big downer; they are quite a precious resource that replenishes more slowly than spell slots, so I expenct eizards especially to be very stingy with them.

Unlight Restoration (Level 6)

As a bonus action, choose a creature you can see within 30 feet of you, then roll (and expend) one or two of your Hit Dice.The target regains HP equal to the total rolled, and sheds bright light for 10 feet until the end of their next turn. If you expended 2 Hit Dice, you can choose to end a condition (Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, or Poisoned) instead of healing.

This might sound harsh, but this is useless. You’re almost never using this.

Secrets of Deep Imaskar (Level 10)

You gain several new benefits.

• Imaskarcana Lore: You can attune yourself to a magic item as a Magic Action once per long rest.
• Piercing Unlight: Your spells ignore resistance to radiant damage.
• Unlight Resilience: You gein resistance to radiant damage.
• Imaskar Seals: You always have the Glyph of Warding spell prepared and can cast it once per long rest without a spell slot or material components, and when you cast it this way it counts as if using your highest available Wizard spell slot. If you do this, any previous Glyphs cast this way (but not all your other ones cast normally) dissipate without activating.

Imaskarcana Lore is fun and might come in clutch if you come upon a powerful artifact and don’t have the time to rest in order to attune, but other than that it’s mostly a distraction. Piercing Unlight is very nice as combined with Unlight Adept can bypass pretty much any resistance or immunity (I don’t know if there even is a creature with immunity to radiant damage). Imaskar Seals is the real deal though – it’s a level 3 spell that deals 5d8 damage, though it takes an hour to cast – but you can also put other spells in it of the same level. That means that you could, for example, get a free level 9 spell if you’re high level enough – Meteor Swarm sounds pretty juicy, or maybe using it to buff someone else with Foresight. But even at level 10, you have access to level 5 spells; Ice Storm (dealing radiant damage perhaps), Polymorph, or even Summon Aberration/Construct/Elemental can be quite devastating. For FREE – not even the 200+ gold worth of powdered diamond is needed.

Doom of Unlight (Level 14)

When a creature takes radiant damage from a spell you cast (pretty trivial) you can use your reaction to curse that creature with Unlight, forcing them to make a CON saving throw against your spell save DC – if they fail, they are cursed. While cursed, they suffer the following effects:

• The target emits bright light for 20 feet.
• Attack rolls against the target have advantage.
• At the start of each of the target’s turns, they take radiant damage equal to your character (not Wizard) level.
• If the target hits another creature with a melee attack roll, they can repeat the CON saving throw, potentially ending the effect.
• If the target is reduced to 0 HP, they explode. Roll a number of d8 equal to half your character level. Creatures in a 10-foot Emanation centered on the target take that much radiant damage (no saving throw!).

You can only do this once per long rest, or by expending a level 6+ spell slot.

Now this isn’t too bad; it can be a lot of guaranteed damage if you apply it, with 14 radiant damage every turn at the minimum plus 7d8 radiant more if they di without a chance to save, with a Faerie Fire on top.

Overall, the Invigoration and Restoration look pretty bad; I get that Unlight can be a source of healing and growth and such, but spending your Hit Dice is always going to be incredibly limited, and for a very minor benefit especially as you get up there in levels. Getting a Magic Adept feat just to have access to Cure Wounds is going to do more for healing than both of those combined. Secrets of Deep Imaskar and Doom of Unlight are pretty cool and I like them, but I really thing the first features need changes or buffs pretty badly.

Path of Ceremorphosis

And now the feat path to turn into a Mindflayer. Warnings for all the usual body horror and eye/brain stuff you get from this sort of thing.

I’ll admit I’m curious as to what pushed the DnD team to make this. Well, I know – it’s Baldur’s Gate 3, obviously, but I was thinking more for lore reasons. You are supposed to retain your individuality along this feat chain instead of becoming a “pure” mindflayer, although the Full Ceremorphosis feat simply mentions that your transformation into a mindflayer is complete – that would imply that “you” are dead and the Mindflayer is completely under the control of the Elder Brain. It will also be immensely hard to actually have this in a party, unless you want to literally roleplay through the story of Baldur’s Gate 3. But anyway, I don’t really mind it that much; I just found it interesting and wanted to discuss it a bit.

Tadpole Host (Prerequisite: Level 4+)

Your Intelligence increases by 1 to a maximum of 20, you learn the Mind Sliver cantrip, and you get a number of Psionic Energy Dice (which are d6) equal to your proficiency modifier; for now, you can use them to increase your psychic damage, but you’ll also use them for your other feats along this path.

Illithid Thrallmaker (Prerequisite: Tadpole Host)

Your Intelligence increase by 1 to a maximum of 20, your Psionic Energy Dice increase to d8, and you gain Telepathy with a range of 10 feet. You also always have the Charm Person spell prepared, which you can cast using a Psionic Energy Die instead of a spell slot; or, if you cast it with a spell slot, you can roll a Psionic Energy Die to have one target of the spell subtract the result from their saving throw.

Tadpole’s Safeguard (Prerequisite: Tadpole Host)

Your Intelligence or Constitution increases by 1 to a maximum of 20, your Psionic Energy Dice increase to d8, and you gain Telepathy with a range of 10 feet. You also always have the Shield spell prepared, which you can cast using a Psionic Energy Die instead of a spell slot; or, if you cast it with a spell slot and the attack against you misses, you can roll a Psionic Energy Die and have the attacker take that much psychic damage.

Ulitharid’s Might (Prerequisite: Tadpole Host)

One of your Intelligence, Dexterity, or Strength increases by 1 to a maximum of 20, your Psionic Energy Dice increase to d8, and you gain Telepathy with a range of 10 feet. Two long tentacles sprout from around your mouth, which you can use to make an Unarmed Strike with your reach increasing by 5 feet.

Full Ceremorphosis (Prerequisite: Level 12+, At least 2 Path of Ceremorphosis Feats)

Your Intelligence increases by 1 to a maximum of 20, your Psionic Energy Dice increase to d10, and you become an Aberration. You also choose a specialization:

• Brain-Seeking Tentacles: When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use both the Damage and the Grapple option. You can expend a Psionic Energy Die when you use this benefit to roll the expended die. The target takes extra Psychic damage equal to the number rolled plus your Intelligence modifier, and it subtracts half the number rolled (round up) from its saving throw to avoid gaining the Grappled condition. If the target is reduced to 0 Hit Points as a result of this benefit, the Psionic Energy Die isn’t expended. You can use this benefit only once per turn.
• Mind Flayer Spells: You always have the Detect Thoughts, Levitate, and Mind Blast spells prepared. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells. You can cast these spells without expending a spell slot by expending a Psionic Energy Die.

Mind Blast is a level 6 spell that deals heavy psychic damage and stuns creatures in a cone, which is very powerful.

Overall, I think that mechanically, the Full Ceremorphosis feat is worth it – both specializations are quite powerful for either fighter-type or spellcasting-type characters. But as I mentioned, the issue is in what sort of campaign will you get to play this? Still, as I said with the House Agent, if you get to do this it looks quite fun.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the theme and flavor of everything here is pretty strong, but both Imaskari subclasses, the Barbarian and the Wizard, need quite a bit of work in my opinion. The House Agent could use another pass as well, but if you look at it as a niche option for specific campaign styles, it’s not as bad; and the Ceremorphosis feats are pretty nice in my opinion, but I can’t see myself ever using them.

Go ahead and read the Unearthed Arcana post yourselves, and let us know what you think as well!