- So there's new "Unearthed Arcana",
you have specifically said it's part one,
which implies there may be a part two.
Why suddenly are we calling it part one,
because I feel like there was a lot
of "Unearthed Arcana" recently in 2019?
- So we've decided, launching into 2020
to start calling each
year's "Unearthed Arcana",
something that involves the year
so this year, it's
"Unearthed Arcana 2020",
and we want to be able
to have article titles
that are a little less of a mouthful
than some of our article titles last year
where we had things like, you know,
Wizard, Barbarian, Bard,
Ranger, and just this long list,
and so we decided, if
we do year in the title,
the subtitle can be something simple
like, subclasses part one.
And again implying that
there will be a part two,
because we can't resist
noodling with subclasses,
and sharing them with the D&D community
to see what everyone thinks.
- Tell me about the first one.
This is the one I am
extremely excited for,
'cause I'm super gothic.
I like werewolves and vampires,
and this is very satisfying.
It's a new barbarian subclass.
What was the inspiration for this?
- So the Path of the Beast
is a barbarian subclass
that digs into this fantasy
of possibly having a lycanthrope ancestor,
but also it could be used to do something
a little less monstrous,
and create a character,
who might be descended from an arch druid,
and you have inherited maybe a little bit
of that wild shape magic.
Whatever your origin,
this subclass is all about
entering your rage as a barbarian
and as you do so adopting
certain characteristics
that are associated with a beast,
hence the name, The Path, the beast.
Whether those are claws or a tail
that you can whip around to hit people.
This is for playing that barbarian who has
that animal inside and
it manifests visibly.
Many of our barbarians
have a story of primal rage
that might be connected to
different elements of nature.
What sets the Path of the Beast apart
is they're essentially wearing
that primal power on their sleeve.
You can see it, their claws growing out.
- Yeah.
- They have a bestial visage
or you know, there's a tail back there.
In a way, it's a little bit
of the shifter from Everyon
sprinkled into the Barbarian
and then you can imagine
actually a shifter,
having the Path of the Beast
- Yeah.
- To really lean into that bestial legacy.
The Path of the Beast also allows you
to infect people that you're attacking
with some bestial qualities.
- Which I love (laughs).
- And there, we were inspired.
And specifically this was sort of,
it was a concept I shared with the team,
which is often how we've
been doing these subclasses.
I will often come with a concept
and say, "This is what I'd love to see."
And then either I design it
or someone on the team designs it.
In this case,
Dan Dylan took the
concept and ran with it.
And really delved into this idea
of not only potentially
affecting others sort of the way
a lycanthrope infects
others with lycanthropy
but also the culminating
feature of the subclass
is being able to infect your allies
with sort of recklessness and
really in mechanical terms,
you're letting your allies use
the barbarian's reckless attack feature,
which is potentially very juicy.
- It's very juicy mechanically
and it's very juicy in role play.
When you have like maybe a timid halfling
that suddenly decides
to just get infected,
almost like have a rage.
That's so fun.
It's such a great picture power.
- It could be skinned as,
you know, a werewolf like fury.
But in the subclass we've provided a table
where you can roll to see what
the origin of your beast was.
And that could include you
were blessed by a fae creature
to have this ability.
So you can imagine that
a barbarian who has
that origin for their inner beast.
When they are inspiring their friends
with this reckless fury,
it might actually be something
sort of bright and cheery,
you know, everyone is so pepped up by
the powerful nature magic of the fae
that they are able to now
benefit from this class feature.
- That feeling of being
part of a pack is brilliant.
Which reminds me of the live game
you and I were on (laughs),
The telepathic, and that's there actually.
So that's very convenient.
I'm very tempted to make
a bat barbarian, right?
Like a werebird and then like,
take a dip into the Swarm
keeper ranger in UAE as well
and it will be bats, bats...
(Jeremy laughs)
