Dungeons & Dragons has confirmed that the 2024 Player’s Handbook will use standardized subclasses, meaning that every class will gain access to a subclass at 3rd Level. In yesterday’s video about the revamped Warlock class, D&D game designer Jeremy Crawford confirmed that the upcoming rules revisions would feature a standardization across all class progressions, with every class gaining access to their subclass at 3rd Level. While this isn’t a surprise to anyone who had looked at the various playtest material related to the rules revisions (several playtest drafts featured the standardization of subclasses at 3rd Level), it does mark a notable shift in the rules and also could majorly impact how players plan their characters.
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In the current 5th edition ruleset, five of Dungeons & Dragons 13 classes gain access to their subclass at either 1st or 2nd Level. A large reason for this is how those classes are presented in the lore. The Cleric gains access to their subclass at 1st Level because they assumably know which god they worship. Likewise, the Warlock gains access to their subclass at 1st Level because their magic is tied to a pact they made with an otherworldly patron. Under the new rules, the Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard will all now gain their subclass at 3rd level, along with other shifts as to when players gain subclass features at higher levels.
While subclass standardization might make sense from a rules and balance perspective, it does unfortunately rob some Dungeons & Dragons of some roleplaying flavor. Almost all of the spellcasting classes feel a bit homogenized at lower levels with this change, although assumably the different spell lists and the 1st and 2nd level abilities can make up some of this difference.
Of course, for veteran D&D players, this change might not make much of a difference. In a different video, Crawford noted that longtime D&D players familiar with the rules should start their campaigns at 3rd level so they have access to both core class abilities and subclass abilities.
The Player’s Handbook comes out on September 17th. You can find our full coverage on all the rules changes here. Pre-orders are available here on Amazon.
