Best Unearthed Arcana Subclasses In D&D Which Were Never Published

Unearthed Arcana is the testing ground for future Dungeons & Dragons content, be it new classes, subclasses, spells or monsters. Subclasses in particular tend to be the most prominent element of these test environments, although not all of them see a future as published work.

Whether they are too overwhelming, too underwhelming, or simply haven’t found the right home yet, these subclasses are yet to be included in any official Dungeons & Dragons book. Still, many players still use them for their power, flavor or sheer imagination that they can bring to the table.

11

College Of Satire

Subclass For Bards

If you want to build a court jester as a Dungeons & Dragons character, you will clearly choose the bard class, although not one subclass fully represents the essence of the jester. This is where the college of satire comes in, letting you be an acrobatic comedian able to pry the deepest truths out of your opponents.

The main drawback of the subclass is the lack of interaction with Bardic Inspiration, making it need some clear tweaks if it ever sees itself printed. There’s also the level 14 feature Fool’s Luck, letting you possibly turn a failed check into a success but having to fail a check in the future; too much of a penalty for so little benefit.

10

Way Of Tranquility

Subclass For Monks

Monks that want to dabble into the support role often choose the way of mercy subclass, but the Unearthed Arcana publications once had a different option: the way of tranquility. This subclass isn’t only about healing, it is about bringing conflicts to a peaceful resolution without the need for rolling initiative.

While perfect for campaigns filled with social situations, ones that aim at having a constant influx of actions might be at odds with this subclass. Still, the opportunity of being a more socially-oriented monk is appealing to a lot of players, even if a lot of the unique mechanics are lost once combat starts.

9

Circle Of Twilight

Subclass For Druids

The Circle of Twilight is the perfect subclass for druid players that want some edge on their nature-loving class. It is all about facing undead forces with the power of nature, keeping your allies alive while you reap the souls of the damned from the material plane.

It is also a great subclass for players looking to deal a lot of damage, thanks to the Harvest’s Sythe feature, although the flavor is all over the place. You gain more benefits from slaying undead with this feature, although the extra damage it deals is necrotic, a damage type often resisted by that family of monsters.

8

Brute

Subclass For Fighters

Fighter has always been considered the ideal class for beginners, having very few complex systems and often just gaining additional attacks. Subclasses tend to add just a little bit of complexity for players looking for it, but if you want to keep your fighter simple, then the brute subclass is the one for you.

All the subclass really does is hit harder, even when using the smallest of weapons. In later levels, it also lets the player survive all kinds of situations, which all in all makes the subclass a bit too good for one-shot adventures looking to just go from one fight to the next.

7

Oath Of Treachery

Subclass For Paladins

The oath of treachery for paladins is about two things: being evil and being deadly. As such, you can charm people to attack their allies against their will, turn invisible through various means, and poison enemies with your ‘divine’ magic.

While you can potentially roleplay this subclass as not being evil, it is something rooted in every aspect of its features, which might be why it won’t ever see the light of day. In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, paladins that break their oaths are recommended to switch to a different class instead of becoming oathbreakers; if the 2024 rules don’t even include the oathbreaker, chances are the oath of treachery won’t be published any time soon.

6

The Revived

Subclass For Rogues

The idea behind the revived subclass for rogues is one with a lot of roleplay potential, since it is all about being someone who has come back from the realm of the dead. While your creature type doesn’t change to undead, you become oddly similar to them, since you don’t need to sleep, eat, or even breathe.

The subclass also comes with a lot of damage potential, letting you make ranged attacks of necrotic energy whenever you take your cunning action, although only if you haven’t used your sneak attack. Still, most of the features of the subclass change how your species works rather than your class, so it is understandable why it was never published.

5

Primeval Guardian

Subclass For Rangers

Rangers with the primeval guardian subclass gain the Guardian Soul feature, which essentially means that they become a giant tree. As a tree, your speed lowers to five feet, your size increases to large, and you are constantly gaining temporary hit points; a great tank with very low mobility.

The subclass can be a lot of fun, but the central mechanic (the Guardian Soul) is a bit cumbersome to use in more dynamic scenarios, even if it is only a bonus action to use it. At level seven, the tree form also increases your hit point maximum, something great in concept but a pain to keep track of during a fight.

4

Stone Sorcery

Subclass For Sorcerers

The magic of a sorcerer can come from many places, and one edition of Unearthed Arcana proposed one of those places as the Elemental Plane of Earth. As one might expect from such a source, stone sorcery lets the normally fragile class be the tank of the party, turning their flesh into stone to shrug off most attacks.

As it stands, the subclass is a perfectly functional tank that can shield itself as well as allies, focusing on the frontline while still having access to the full sorcerer’s spell list. However, when compared to bladesinger for wizards, the lack of an additional melee attack at later levels begs for a few changes if it was ever published.

3

Unity Domain

Subclass For Clerics

The unity domain as a concept for clerics is an interesting subclass, since it revolves around the whole party helping each other. You can link two creatures with Emboldening Bond and have them buff each other’s D20 tests and give resistances, or use Shared Burden to turn lethal damage done to one ally into the same damage spread among the whole party, making the pain negligible.

Now, while we don’t know if this subclass will ever be published, it does come with a significant weakness: players being team players. We’d like to think that everyone would play along once we are all sitting at the table, but the unity domain falls apart if even one party member decides not to share in the damage of Shared Burden, for example.

2

Lore Mastery

Subclass For Wizards

We can’t know why the subclasses on this list haven’t made it to print, but in the case of the lore mastery subclass for wizards, we can hazard a guess: it’s just too strong. As early as level two, you gain the ability to change the element of the spell you are casting for free, when sorcerers need to pay a sorcery point to use the same feature.

That comparison to sorcerers continues at higher levels, with the lore mastery wizard using leftover spell slots instead of any new resources. By level 14, the lore master can just think of a spell outside its prepared ones and cast it, transforming the character into one that will always have the right answer for every single problem.

1

The Raven Queen

Subclass For Warlocks

This subclass gives warlocks an interesting patron filled with flavor, the Raven Queen, a mysterious character that resides on the Shadowfell and commands immense power. The real fun of the class comes with the Sentinel Raven, an animal companion that perches on your shoulder and aids your perception, while also giving you darkvision.

Should someone slay your raven, you have advantage on attack rolls against them for 24 hours, making a strange yet fun dynamic of sending the raven to its death to reap the benefits. At level six, however, you might not want to sacrifice your raven so often, since you can merge with it and take to the skies as a bonus action.