The next playtest release for One DnD will be “a large chunk of a book”. According to DnD designer Jeremy Crawford, a 50-page Unearthed Arcana will be released tonight, on April 26. This is the largest update for One DnD we’ve ever had, and the creators promise plenty of content.
The ‘Overview & Weapons’ playtest for One DnD will contain five DnD classes, new D&D spells, and a revised rules glossary. But the feature the designers are most hyped up about is the weapon mastery system, described in a teaser video as “a bit of a game changer if you are a martial class”.
The new system is apparently a way to make martial classes more tactically interesting during combat, and also give a cinematic feel to their fighting style. The way it works is each DnD weapon has a special property which you can only access if you have the right class feature, or a particular feat.
Though the document is not yet out, Crawford has shared plenty of examples of these properties already. There’s Topple, which can knock an enemy prone; Cleave, which can hit multiple targets; Graze, which does some damage even on a miss; Slow, found on ranged weapons, which can reduce an enemy’s speed, and so on.
The Fighter class is apparently the best at using weapon mastery. It has class features which include changing a weapon’s property, or even applying two abilities to the same weapon. The feature will be available to all One DnD classes within the ‘Warrior’ group, which means the Barbarian, Fighter, and one other class.
Non-warriors can still access the weapon mastery system, through a special optional feat. Crawford compares this to the Magic Initiate 5e feat, which gives martial classes a taste of magical power.
We won’t have to wait long to see the new content, as its expected to release later today.