New Evil-Adjacent Character Classes Unveiled in D&D Update
Sophia Koch
Published May 17, 2026
By Published Apr 27, 2026, 3:31 PM EDT Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Three new edgy subclasses for have just been released for free, and players looking for more evil-adjacent character options may find solace in the update. It’s been a busy year for the popular TTRPG, with several new books arriving soon. Wizards of the Coast announced the , which includes the soon-to-be-released Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, as well as two new sourcebooks that compose the Arcana Unleashed collection.
In addition to the upcoming products that will soon hit the market, the company has also been releasing playtest materials for what may become new content in the future. Recently, Wizards of the Coast released three new subclasses for Dungeons and Dragons as part of the Unearthed Arcana playtests, revealed via a post on . These new subclases offer players villainous options to build their characters, deviating from the traditional heroic path that the TTRPG so often stumbles upon.
Available via a playtest document on , the three new subclasses are an expansion to the that entered the playtest period earlier in April. This batch is officially called Villainous Options 2, a complement to the previous group of subclasses. The three new subclasses are: Path of Lament (Barbarian), Warrior of Venom (Monk), and Primordial Patron (Warlock).
The Path of Lament subclass sees the Barbarian’s Rage fueled by some sort of grief, chosen by the player, giving them access to mechanics that cause Psychic damage and impose Fear. At higher levels, they can even become Undead. The Warrior of Venom Monk becomes a master in the use of Poisons, while the Primordial Patron gains elemental proficiencies with their spells, possibly dealing Thunder, Lightning, Acid, Fire, and Cold damage.
Of course, there is a lot more to these three new free subclasses that players should check out. These new character options are pretty great and give more space for the TTRPG to be molded into a plethora of ways. The first batch of Villainous Options also brought forth , allowing players to transform their characters into Liches or Death Knights. Being evil-adjacent isn’t too common in the game, so at least having the option to become the villain is great.
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This comes on top of several other possibilities. For instance, there’s a that is part of the Villainous Options that could instead be used for a traditionally heroic campaign. There are endless possibilities, and even if these subclasses are never truly released with official books, players can use them entirely for free in their own Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.
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Like Follow Followed Franchise Original Release Date 1974 Publisher TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast Designer E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson Player Count 2-7 Players
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