'Dungeons & Dragons' to Revise Criticized "Beast Master" Subclass

Dungeons & Dragons will be including some revisions to one of its most criticized subclasses when it releases a new rules errata next month.

The popular tabletop role-playing game is releasing some revised rules to coincide with the release of its core rulebook gift set next month. While the D&D design plan isn't making any significant changes in the upcoming errata, they are making some much needed tweaks to the "Beast Master" subclass for rangers.

The Beast Master allows a ranger to adopt an animal companion as its primary means of attack. Players can adopt a low-level medium-sized beast and add their proficiency bonus to various attacks and saving throws. The Beast Master is probably one of the most criticized subclasses in D&D's Fifth Edition, mostly because how poorly the beast levels up and how it wastes a player's action economy. For instance, until a player reaches 5th level, a player has to use their action to command their beast to attack, and in later levels, the beast becomes all but useless against creatures with resistance to slashing, bludgeoning, or piercing damage.

In the most recent episode of the Dragon+ videocast, D&D lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford noted that they would be making some changes to the Beast Master to make its progression a little more in line with what was originally intended. Most notably, the Beast Master's beast's attack will eventually be considered magic for the sake of bypassing resistance to different kinds of damage. Crawford noted that this feature would be similar to how a monk's Unarmed Attack eventually gains the magic feature, which allows it to continue to do damage at higher levels.

The other tweak being made to the Beast Master involves what happens when a beast isn't given any sort of instructions. Under the current rules, many interpret that a beast basically stands helpless whenever it isn't given a command. A 2015 errata noted that "If you are incapacitated or absent, the beast acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself" but it's still pretty unclear as to what exactly the beast can do on its own.

The revised rules will clarify that a beast will always take the "Dodge" action when not given a specific command. This makes any attack directed at the beast have disadvantage and gives the beast advantage on dexterity saving throws. Not only does this allow the Beast Master to not spend all of its action focusing on its beast, it also gives a beast a chance to survive when its owner is unconscious or incapacitated.

While these tweaks won't fix all of the Beast Master's problems, it certainly makes the subclass a little bit more useful.

The new errata is due to be released in November.