The newest 5E supplement has arrived! Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is chock full of new optional rules and player options. If the player options pique your interest, you’ll be happy to learn it’s the largest section. Learn about all the new options with our Tashas Cauldron of Everything New Subclasses Guide.
Table of Contents
Tashas Cauldron of Everything New Subclasses
There are 22 new subclasses in all; at least one for every class. Every one of these subclasses has been previewed in Unearthed Arcana over the last year or two. Some of the final versions have changed based on UA feedback. Read on to see them all! As we take a deep dive into each subclass we’ll add a link in each section below.
Artificer – Armorer
See our Armorer Artificer 5E Guide
We start with a new artificer specialist: the armorer! As the name implies, this subclass is all about using your armor as a conduit for arcane magic. Using your smith’s tools, you can add a variety of buffs. At level three you can ignore armor strength requirements and use the armor as a spellcasting focus. You can also remove the armor as an action, and it can’t be removed from you against your will. It even replaces missing limbs!
You can also customize the armor with a series of buffs that can add temporary hit points, increase your walking speed, give advantage on dexterity checks, and more. At higher levels you can customize the armor further with infusions and other powerful options.
Barbarian – Path of the Beast
See our Beast Barbarian 5E Guide
The Path of the Beast is a cool option that allows a barbarian to alter their shape based on the primal beast that they descend from. This archetype allows a raging barbarian to have natural weapons in the form of bite, claw, or tail attacks. These attacks are powerful and have unique properties like granting the reach property or even regaining hit points on a successful bite attack.
At higher levels, you can begin to alter yourself by improving your ability to swim, climb or jump. Eventually you can curse your targets when you attack with your natural weapons and even boost party members HP when you rage.
Barbarian – Path of Wild Magic
See Our Wild Magic Barbarian 5E Guide
This interesting archetype is based on the concept of a barbarian that is infused with the power of wild magic. Due to the barbarian’s rage, their emotional state makes them susceptible to the forces of natural magic.
The central aspect of this class is the third level ability Wild Surge, which causes wild magic effects to occur when you rage. At higher levels you can use your connection to wild magic to help allies recoup spell slots and eventually control your wild magic effects. Despite the name, this doesn’t allow you any spellcasting abilities.
Bard – College of Creation
See Our College of Creation Guide
The College of Creation centers on the “Song of Creation,” the primeval harmonies that pre-exist the known world. These bards draw on this song using art, music, and poetry.
Mechanically, the College of Creation provides an interesting use of bardic inspiration. At level 3, you gain additional buffs when a creature expends an inspiration die. These buffs vary depending on the purpose of the roll. Using it with attack rolls can deal additional damage while using it with a saving throw gives temporary hit points. This subclass also allows for animating dancing constructs.
Cleric – Peace Domain
See Our Peace Cleric 5E Guide
This domain is pretty self-explanatory. Peace clerics oversee peace treaties and calm conflicts between warring nations. Their spell list is full of support options like sanctuary, beacon of hope, and greater restoration.
When it comes to mechanics, this domain is about buffing your allies. Instead of healing, the early features allow friendly creatures to add d4s to a variety of rolls. the channel divinity is a healing option that also allows you to avoid attacks of opportunity. At higher levels these powers become stronger and the range they work in grows.
Cleric – Twilight Domain
See Our Twilight Cleric Guide
This combat-centric domain centers on the dual premises of the restorative nature of sleep and the need to destroy the dark things that lurk in nightmares. These clerics gain proficiencies with martial weapons and heavy armor, and they can share their newfound darkvision with allies. Your channel divinity is an interesting buff that allows creatures close to you to gain temporary HP or end the charmed or frightened effect. The radius of this effect grows at higher levels.
Druid – Circle of Stars
See Our Circle of Stars Guide
The Circle of Stars draws on the natural magic of starlight. Understanding the patterns the stars make has opened your eyes to the magic of the skies. The theme of this class is largely based on navigating using the stars. You create a star map that can be a spellcasting focus and it grants you new cantrips.
With your wild shape, a Circle of Stars druid can draw from magical constellations in the shape of a chalice, dragon, or archer. At higher levels, you can read omens from the star map to add or subtract a d6 from nearby creatures rolls. At level 14 you even become incorporeal, making you resistant to natural damage.
Druid – Circle of Wildfire
See Our Circle of Wildfire Guide
This druidic circle allows you to harness the destructive power of nature through a bond with a primal spirit. Summoning this wildfire spirit is central to this subclass. These spirits grow in power as you do, and you can use your bonus action to make fiery attacks or teleport. At higher levels, the bond with the spirit enhances your spells that deal fire damage or restore HP. You can also use the spirit as the focus of your spells.
The higher level features include the ability to turn the dead into healing or damage dealing spectral fires. You can also sacrifice your spirit when you hit zero HP and regain half your hit points instead.
Fighter – Psi Warrior
See Our Psi Warrior Guide
Psionics options are what many 5E fans have been waiting for in this release, and the fighter is one of the archetypes that gets in on the action. These psionic abilities allow you to avoid damage or enhance your own attacks.
Psi warriors get Psionic Energy die which are each d6. Many of the features of this subclass expend these die, which you regain after a long rest. the die also increases up to a d12 at level 17. Using the die, you can make psionic attacks, use telekinesis, or create a protective field.
As you hone your skills, you can fly or knock targets prone with your psionic attacks. Eventually you can spend Psionic Energy die to cure conditions like charmed or frightened. At level 18 you can cast telekinesis without any materials once per long rest or more if you use your Psionic Energy die.
Fighter – Rune Knight
See Our Rune Knight Guide
As with the Psi Warrior, the Rune Knight is another highly anticipated part of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. This subclass can create magical runes that enhance their gear. You gain in number runes you know by your fighter level up to a maximum of 5. These runes allow you to essentially enchant mundane items. The benefits of these runes vary, with many buffs to sight and saving throws.
At level 3, these runes allow you to become large and give you advantage on strength checks and saves. At higher levels, you can make attackers reroll hits when they are nearby. The power of the runes also amplifies as you level up.
Monk – Way of Mercy
See our Way of Mercy Guide
Mercy Monks wander the world extending aid to those that need it. This mercy extends to providing a swift end to those that are beyond help. You can spend your ki points both to heal or to inflict necrotic damage with your touch. You can also learn to cure a variety of conditions or poison another creature. This power to heal or harm expands at higher levels when you can replace a flurry of blows with a flurry of healing or harm. At Level 17 you have the power over death, allowing you to spend 5 ki points to bring back to life a creature that has died within the last 24 hours.
Monk – Way of Astral Self
See our Way of Astral Self Guide
Astral Self monks see themselves as an illusion on the material plane. This subclass can summon portions of their astral form to augment their mortal body. At level 3, you can summon astral arms that allow you to replace wisdom for strength checks and saves. You can also make unarmed strikes at greater range.
At higher levels, you can gain access to your astral face and body. this gives you an array of benefits including deflecting damage and seeing into the astral plane. At level 17, you can summon your full astral form and gain a boost to your attacks and AC.
Paladin – Oath of the Watchers
See our Oath of the Watchers Guide
The oath of the Watcher is focused on protecting the mortal realm from extraplanar creatures. Their tenets are vigilance, loyalty, and discipline. Much like clerics with undead, these paladins can turn aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, and fiend using channel divinity.
At higher levels, you and your party gain a boost to initiative rolls. You also can use your reaction to deal force damage when you or a nearby ally succeeds on intelligence, wisdom, or charisma saves. At Level 20 you gain truesight and a slew of benefits batting extraplanar beings.
Ranger – Fey Wanderer
See Our Fey Wanderer Guide
The Fey Wanderer projects a mystique straight from the feywild. This fey magic enhances everything you do. At level three you can dish out psychic damage on top of your weapon strikes and gain access to additional spells. Your fey qualities give you a boost in charisma checks and new proficiencies.
The fey theme continues at Level 7, where you gain advantage against being charmed or frightened. Eventually you learn to cast misty step almost at will and you can summon fey to do your bidding.
Ranger – Swarmkeeper
See Our Swarmkeeper Guide
The swarmkeeper has a magical connection with some type of natural swarm. This could be bugs, birds, or even pixies. Using the swarm you gain Mage Hand, and the swarm can also boost your damage rolls, move enemies, or even transport you by 5 feet.
at level 7, the swarm can lift you up to give you a flying speed of 10 feet for one minute. As you level, the swarm’s ability to do damage and move creatures grows as well. At level 15 you can become one with the swarm, allowing your to give yourself resistance to damage after you’ve already been hit.
Rogue – Phantom
See Our Phantom Rogue Guide
Phantom rogues become so comfortable walking the line between life and death they nearly become ghosts themselves. The knowledge they gain from the dead is useful in a variety of ways.
At level three you can gain a skill or tool proficiency you do not already have. You can change this proficiency out after a short or long rest. The Phantom also gets a boost to sneak attack, allowing you to deal necrotic damage to a second creature after a successful sneak attack. At higher levels you gain soul trinkets that can help with everything from death saving throws to asking questions of the dead.
Rogue – Soulknife
See Our Soulknife 5E Guide
The rogue class gets a psionic option! The Soulknife uses psionic powers to pick locks and assassinate enemies. Like with the Psi Warrior, the Soulknife gains Psionic Energy dice, which are a d6. These dive increase up to d12 at level 17. You can use these die for a variety of features including adding them to failed ability checks or allowing your party to communicate telepathically.
You also gain the use of psychic blades; essentially soul-powered daggers that can be thrown or used as finesse weapons. As you level these blades grow in power, and you gain other options like invisibility.
Sorcerer – Aberrant Mind
See Our Complete Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Guide
More psionics! this time, you even get a spellcaster with some psionic powers. the Aberrant Mind sorcerer gains psionic spells and telepathic speech at level 1. At level 6, you can use sorcery points to cast a spell instead of slots. As you level, you gain resistance to psychic damage and advantage against being charmed or frightened.
At level 14 you can begin to transform your body with sorcerer points. This includes gaining the ability to fly or see through invisibility. At level 18, you can teleport while leaving a space-crushing anomaly in your place.
Sorcerer – Clockwork Soul
See Our Complete Clockwork Soul Sorcerer Guide
Clockwork Soul sorcerers obtain their arcane power from the cosmic force of order. Mechnically, this subclass is about balance. It allows you to negate advantage or disadvantage in some cases, and it lets you spend sorcery points to ward off damage. At higher levels you can prevent advantage rolls against you and avoid especially low rolls. Your level 18 ability summons a spirit of order that can dish out 100 HP across your party, repair damaged items, and ends lower-level spells targeting your allies.
Warlock – The Fathomless
See Our Complete Fathomless Warlock Guide
As a warlock, the Fathomless gains its powers from a patron of the deep sea or the elemental plane of water. It should come as no surprise that the spell list is heavy on water and weather-themed options.
Fathomless warlocks gain a swim speed, can breathe underwater, and gain a magical tentacle that can deal damage all starting at level 1. As you level, you gain resistance to cold damage and your tentacles can absorb damage from successful attacks. At higher levels you can cast Evard’s black tentacles and teleport your part up to a mile away to a body of water you have seen before.
Warlock – Genie Patron
This warlock subclass is empowered through a pact with a genie. This class centers around the Genie’s vessel. As you might have guessed, this is basically the genie’s bottle. You can use the vessel as a spellcasting focus, transport yourself inside it, or use it to grant you extra damage.
As you level you begin to gain resistances similar to a genie’s and you can bring other willing creatures with you into the vessel. Staying within the vessel also begins to grant the benefits of a short rest in only 10 minutes. At level 14, your patron grants a wish that gives you the effects of a 6th level spell or lower for an hour.
Wizard – Order of Scribes
See Our Order of Scribes Guide
The Order of Scribes is the most bookish of wizards. You gain a magical quill that speeds up spell copying and can write without ink. This subclass also gains an awakened spellbook that can be used a spellcasting focus. This book also allows you to alter the type of damage your spells do and shorten the amount of time to cast rituals.
At level 6, you can conjure the awakened mind of your spellbook. It can float near you and serve as the focus of your spells. this unusual archetype also allows you to create spell scrolls, gain advantage on arcana checks, and sacrifice spell slots to avoid damage.
Reprinted Subclasses
In addition to these brand new subclass options, the book also reprints some other archetypes. These options include subclasses originally found in Mythic Odysseys of Theros, Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica, and Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. You can read our review of each of them below!
The book also reprints the original three artificer subclasses from Eberron as well.
Wrapping Up Our Tashas Cauldron of Everything New Subclasses Guide
That’s it for our Tashas Cauldron of Everything New Subclasses list. There are a lot of fun options here, and some have years of balancing feedback through the Unearthed Arcana process. Let us know what you think of them all in the comments below!
Be the first to comment