The youngest Dungeon Master’s Guide to Dungeons and Dragons it leaves out a certain aspect for those who want to play evil characters. With a lot of content reformulated in the last revision of D&D rules, there would certainly be details that would be completely discarded for the future of the game. While this change doesn’t make playing these evil characters completely impossible, the new 2024 rules don’t directly include these opportunities that players have enjoyed experiencing in the past.
Evil, anti-heroes or even morally ambiguous characters are intriguing features in media and can be an interesting way to liven up a campaign. They were always around Dungeons and Dragons through the alignment chart and can create compelling interactions and story arcs. A recent example of a popular ambiguous character is Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3where he deeply intrigued players and inspired some to try his characters’ darker morals. However, certain evil characters have been excluded from the 2024 rules, possibly upsetting those who wish to go in a corrupt direction.
D&D 2024 DM’s Guide Cuts Villain Subclasses
Oathbreaker paladins and deathdomain clerics are not in the 2024 rules
2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide excludes the Oathbreaker paladin subclass and the Death Domain cleric subclassboth are clear in the sense that they should be played as morally evil characters, giving players opportunities to experience paths of corruption and destruction. With its exclusion from the last Dungeon Master’s Guidethere are no direct opportunities to play like them.
The Oathbreaker paladin is described as containing only darkness after breaking his oath, whether in pursuit of an evil desire or to serve under a higher evil power. The Death Domain cleric is similar, where he focuses on the magic of necromancy and is associated with a deity surrounding the nature of death. Although Dominion can be played in either direction, depending generally on the deity and what the player wants their character to be. For both subclasses, It is strongly implied that they are to be interpreted as evil characters.
Evil clerics and paladins can be a lot of fun in D&D
Playing an evil character can challenge players’ own morals
Majority D&D players will naturally gravitate toward wanting to play more morally good characters, but changing things up can create more interesting campaigns. Creating and playing a more villainous character can be something players may have never done before, but they should definitely try at least once. It can also present a challenge, where players may feel emotionally conflicted about what their character is doing but they need to carry out their decisions and dramatizations for the campaign. The story aspects that come with playing evil characters are one of the most fun aspects for a player trying it out.
Oathbreaker Paladins revolves around the betrayal caused by their actions, so playing that aspect into a character and their story could be intriguing. For a Death Domain cleric, having him worship a morally questionable deity can anger a group against the cleric and can provide interesting interactions and stories. From a technical point of view, playing with necromancy spells and dark ways to advance through combat and obstacles is another aspect that should persuade players to want to give these subclasses a try..
Backward compatibility is not a complete solution
Updates for Oathbreaker and Death Domain should have been included
While it is an option to simply incorporate the old Oathbreaker or Death Domain subclasses while playing the game with the new rules, Overall, it should have been included in 2024 DM Guide. With all the reformulation of classes for 2024 Player Handbookincluding changes to subclasses, like fixing the worst ranger subclass (Beastmaster), one would expect that the inclusion of these great subclasses would have returned in 2024. Updates to Oathbreaker and Death Domain should have been included this time, and should make a return for the future Dungeons and Dragons.
Playing these subclasses isn’t impossible, as replaying things with the party and Dungeon Master is completely possible for any campaign. There can be solutions to incorporate anything players might want for their characters, whether it follows the rules exactly or not. There are also ways to play with necromancy and more evil spells through other classes or subclasses if that is your desired goal. As the return of Death Domain and Oatherbreaker is still unknown, but for now non-existent, there is nothing stopping players from using them in 2024.
The removal of these two subclasses in the latest edition of the rules of Dungeons and Dragons misses the opportunity to bring them back better than ever. The chance they created to play evil characters in campaigns, allowing for interesting stories and combat interactions, could have easily been executed by Death Domain clerics and Oathbreaker paladins. There may still be hope for these subclasses, and they can still be incorporated into a modern campaign with the newer ruleset.