UNEARTHED ARCANA - EVEN MORE VILLAINOUS OPTIONS: Evil Gets a Second Draft

We return to Wizards of the Coast’s Villainous Options, now revised after the first round was lovingly pushed down the stairs by public feedback. Some subclasses survived untouched. Some got a makeover. Some were taken behind the shed, especially the Primordial Patron, which had one great idea and the mechanical confidence of a wet napkin. Good news, though: the demon sorcerer finally feels demonic, the Titan Druid is now a proper kaiju tank, and the Hell Knight has upgraded from flaming disappointment to legally playable infernal gambling problem.

Show Notes

This episode revisits Wizards of the Coast’s latest Unearthed Arcana update for Villainous Options, which means the crew returns to the scene of the crime to see what survived the feedback cycle, what got rewritten, and what was quietly removed from the suspect board. The earlier Villainous Options episodes gave us some strong concepts with mixed execution: villainous path feats like the Death Knight and Lich, subclasses like the Titan Druid and Hell Knight, and later options like the Path of Lament Barbarian, Pestilence Cleric, Venom Monk, and the now-defenestrated Primordial Patron Warlock. Some of those were apparently well-liked enough to move forward with little public revision. Others came back covered in red ink and shame.

The episode opens by sorting out what is not in the new UA. Path of Lament, Pestilence Cleric, and Venom Monk appear to have landed well enough that they did not need another public pass, though the hosts still have a few lingering concerns about capstones, wording, and whether weaponized sadness is legally distinct from being a barbarian with theater kid energy. The Death Knight and Lich villain paths also seem likely to continue, though Ash remains skeptical that the Lich is as ready as WotC apparently thinks it is. The Primordial Patron, meanwhile, is gone for now, which hurts because the concept rules, but the subclass itself never really delivered on the fantasy of making a pact with an ancient elemental apocalypse.

Then the real revisions begin with Circle of the Titan Druid, which gets a much-needed identity check. The old version wanted to be a giant monster but had all the durability of a parade float in a hailstorm. The new version leans harder into tanking: better AC, more temporary hit points, stronger damage scaling, a shorter but more practical Titan form duration, and a capstone swallow ability that finally feels like being eaten by a kaiju instead of being mildly inconvenienced by one. Behemoth and Insectoid both look more playable, with Insectoid getting a strong healing identity, while Leviathan still mostly answers the question, “What if your subclass feature was swimming?”

Hell Knight also gets a major facelift, mostly by reducing its dependence on rolling exactly the right number before anything interesting happens. The infernal wounds now feel more like a real subclass engine, with rider effects that happen more consistently and Devil’s Luck upgrades when the dice cooperate. It is much better than before, but the table still finds it a little too constrained by resources and a little too enamored with gambling mechanics. It is no longer borderline unplayable, which is progress, but it may still need another pass before it becomes the infernal fighter fantasy everyone clearly wants.

The big winner is Demonic Sorcery. The previous version felt like a melee sorcerer with terrible life choices, a bad spell list, and an aura table that made everyone remember why random subclass tables are rarely fun. The revision gives it Abyssal Rupture, a movable sphere of demonic problems that pulls enemies around, creates battlefield control, scales into difficult terrain, and eventually supports summon fiend in a way that finally screams Abyss instead of discount Hexblade with a concussion. The spell list is also dramatically better, replacing nonsense like Hallow and overused Misty Step with options that fit the theme and support the playstyle. It still needs damage scaling on the rupture, but this is the rare UA glow-up where the hosts go from roasting the thing to wanting to play it.

The episode also touches on the new feats and epic boons, which range from charming people by picking their pockets to setting better hunting traps to becoming weirdly hard to fool, possess, or kill with necrotic damage. The hosts speculate about what book this material is actually building toward, with possibilities ranging from a renamed Book of Vile Darkness to an evil campaign supplement, a fiendish planar guide, or something tied to the Abyss and Nine Hells. Whatever it becomes, the consensus is cautiously positive: WotC seems to be listening, the revisions are mostly moving in the right direction, and the demon sorcerer finally has enough flavor to stop apologizing for itself.

Key Takeaways

• This UA is a feedback-driven revision of the previous Villainous Options material, not a totally new batch of evil toys.
• Path of Lament Barbarian, Pestilence Cleric, and Venom Monk appear to have been received well enough that they did not return for major public revision.
• The Death Knight and Lich villain paths seem likely to continue, though the hosts still think Lich needs more work and Death Knight may get broadened for more martial builds.
• The Primordial Patron Warlock is gone for now, which is sad because the idea is excellent, but the original execution did not feel like a pact with an elemental world-ending horror.
• Circle of the Titan Druid is much stronger now and has a clearer role as the tanky kaiju druid.
• Titan Druid’s improved AC, temporary hit points, damage scaling, and better swallow feature make the subclass feel much closer to its fantasy.
• Behemoth looks solid, Insectoid now has a meaningful healer/tank angle, and Leviathan still feels like the one you pick because the campaign has too much water.
• Hell Knight is much better because infernal wounds now do interesting things more consistently instead of asking players to roll a six before the subclass becomes fun.
• Hell Knight still feels too resource-limited and may need another pass, especially if the goal is to make infernal wounds feel like the subclass’s real engine.
• Demonic Sorcery is the standout winner of the revision.
• The new Abyssal Rupture gives Demonic Sorcery a strong identity built around battlefield control, forced movement, difficult terrain, and demon-flavored chaos.
• The Demonic Sorcery spell list is dramatically improved and now actually supports the theme instead of asking why a demon sorcerer has Hallow.
• The hosts like the revised Demonic Sorcery enough that it went from “why would I play this?” to “I would play this immediately.”
• The new feats and epic boons are more mechanically interesting than expected, with a few strong options for social manipulation, traps, protection, and high-level anti-undead or anti-illusion play.
• The likely future product may be an evil campaign book, a spiritual successor to Book of Vile Darkness, or a broader fiendish/planar supplement.
• Overall verdict: WotC appears to be listening, the revisions are mostly better, and the villains are finally getting options that do more than look cool while failing their own saving throw.

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Meet the Hosts

• Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix.

• Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme.

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