D&D’s Latest Playtest Adds Brawling Fighters & Tree Magic Barbarians

07.09.2023 - 18:37 / gamepur.com

The warrior classes of Dungeons & Dragons 5E can welcome some new additions to their ranks, as the latest Unearthed Arcana playtest document has introduced the Brawler subclass for Fighters and the Path of the World Tree subclass for Barbarians. These subclasses are currently being tested for inclusion in the next iteration of D&D, which is set to launch in 2024.

The melee classes have received a lot of extra powers in the D&D 5E playtesting documents to give them a boost that will help them keep up with spellcasters. The biggest of these is D&D 5E’s new Weapon Mastery system, which allows new effects to be added to weapon attacks used in combat. These extra buffs go a long way to making the melee characters more interesting to use so that they’re not just waving their swords every round.

Related: DnD Announces Big Changes For Warlock, Wizard, Sorcerer, Barbarian, & Fighter Classes

The Brawler Fighter & Path Of The World Tree Barbarian Are Now Part Of D&D 5E

The latest Unearthed Arcana article is available on D&D Beyond, and it tweaks the Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard classes. The playtest document adds the Brawler subclass for Fighters and the Path of the World Tree subclass for Barbarians, both of which can be selected when the player hits level 3.

The Brawler is like a mixture of a Kung-Fu drunken master and an MMA fighter, as they are the masters of using improvised weapons in combat and can take foes down via grappling. This turns them into the D&D equivalent of Bullseye from the Daredevil comics, as anything becomes a deadly weapon in their hands.

The Path of the World Tree are Barbarians who tap into the power of Yggdrasil the World Tree, giving them access to the might of the multiverse. These nature warriors can conjure massive tree roots to crush their foes and will eventually gain the ability to teleport across the planes, thanks to their connection to the tree that binds all worlds.

Related: DnD 5E: New Player Guide to Warlocks

The Brawler and the Path of the World Tree both fill roles that are currently open in the D&D character class roster, with the former specializing in dirty fighting, while the latter acts as the Barbarian/Druid multiclass character with more of a magical edge than the Ranger. These subclasses will likely be tweaked before they are published in the next iteration of the Player’s Handbook, so make sure to try them out and send feedback to Wizards of the Coast in the future.

About the author

Scott Baird

Scott has been writing for Gamepur since 2023, having been a former contributor to websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, Screen Rant, The Gamer, and TopTenz. A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started as a film