Dungeons & Dragons Confirms Playtest Subclass Won't Appear in 2024 Rulebooks

Another new subclass is being cut from Dungeons & Dragons' 2024 rulebooks, having been cut during the playtest. Earlier this month, Wizards of the Coast released an update on the upcoming 2024 Core Rulebooks, which have actively been playtested over the past year. In the video, D&D lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford confirmed that the brawler fighter subclass hadn't tested well in the playtest, leading to it being cut from the upcoming rules update. "So part of the pain of this process is the brawler didn't make it," Crawford said, noting that the subclass tested under 70% approval. "What we found is the brawler's niche for people just wasn't clear enough. There was a sort of a lot of conceptual static for people between it and the monk and the barbarian. And so we're going to go in a different direction for that subclass slot in the fighter." 

The brawler fighter subclass was intended to act as an antithesis to the modern concept of the fighter, which was a "master of all weapons." Instead, the brawler fighter's strength was in unarmed attacks and improvised weapons, with the ability to deal increased damage with their fists and choose weapon masteries instantaneously, giving them a lot more versatility in battle. Unfortunately, it seems that playtesters felt that the subclass shared too much space with the monk, who specializes in unarmed combat, and the barbarian, who currently serves as the premier improvised melee attacker. 

This isn't the first major feature to get cut during the playtest process. Wizards previously revealed that the Aardling, a race of celestially-inspired beast people, were getting cut from the 2024 Core Rulebooks, along with significant changes to the Warlock class and spell list. 

The 2024 Core Rulebooks will be released next year in conjunction with Dungeons & Dragons' 50th anniversary.