In the Druid and Paladin One D&D playtest UA, we got new versions of the Find Steed and Find Familiar spells (as in Tasha's, Druids can now temporarily get a familiar with one of their class features). Much like the model from Tasha's "Summon X" spells, these no longer have you dig out a stat block from the Monster Manual, but instead having scaling stat blocks that come with the spell.
So, let's look at the familiar and steed options. Notably, Clerics will now be able to cast Find Steed, though Paladins get it prepared for free and can cast it for free as an action once a day, while Clerics will be forced to spend the spell slot and the 10 minutes.
So, let's look at these two spells.
Find Familiar has the same cast time and components. The one major nerf that appears here is that you can't harmlessly dismiss them into an extraplanar space for easy storage (the stat block has some of this functionality, but it's less flexible). However, one buff is that the familiar can now attack if you spend your reaction on its turn to command it to (it shares initiative with you but acts immediately after you do). There is also no longer any distance limit on being able to view things through the Familiar's eyes. The familiar also now scales up as you cast it with higher-level spell slots, which we'll see when we look at the stat block. When you cast the spell, you choose to conjure a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend, and you also choose whether it's an Air, Land, or Water creature.
Let's look at its stats:
The creature is a Tiny Celestial, Fey, or Fiend with a Neutral alignment. (You choose the type when you conjure it).
Its AC is 10 + 1 per spell level, and an additional 2 if it's a Land beast (so at base level, we're looking at AC 11 or 13 - but if you wanted to spend a 9th level slot, you could get an AC of 19 or 21. Considering that the Familiar remains indefinitely, a tier 4 character could cast this right before they go to bed on an uneventful day to have a super powerful familiar.
Its HP is 2 + 2 per spell level, so 4 at 1st level up to 20 at 9th level.
The Familiar has a 30 ft movement speed, gaining an equal Climb speed if it's a Land familiar, Swim speed if it's a Water familiar, and Fly speed if it's an Air familiar.
The familiar has 60-ft darkvision and a passive Perception of 12. It also has 120 foot telepathy, but only with you.
Water familiars, unsurprisingly, are amphibious.
Extradimensional Escape is a feature they get that recharges on a long rest. If the familiar would drop to 0 hit points, it instead drops to 1 and vanishes into an extradimensional space for 1 hour or until you summon it as a Magic action.
It has the following attack: Otherworldly Scratch, which uses your spell attack modifier to hit and deals 1 + the level of the spell's damage, doing radiant damage if it's a celestial, psychic if it's fey, or necrotic if it's a fiend.
As before, it can use its reaction to serve as the source of a touch-range spell you cast if it's within 120 feet of you.
So, you're never going to be able to do a ton of damage with the familiar, but it can serve as a decent scout. Notably, it seems Pact of the Chain Warlocks will have further ways to customize the familiar, though we of course don't know the full extent of it.
To a large extent, this seems to work pretty much like most creatures you'd pick as a familiar, though it doesn't have the perception of a Raven that I might prefer. But I like how these stat blocks allow for a lot of creative customization. Right now my Wizard has a Wallaby familiar, where I'm using the Hare stat block, but I think the "Familiar of the Land" might be better for it.
Find Steed previously had the problem that the Warhorse stat block was just too obviously better than any other option. Now, thanks to the flexibility of the "Otherworldly Steed" stat block, you can come up with all manner of crazy concepts (frankly, I still want to have a Paladin who summons up a motorcycle, which might be a little outside this realm, but maybe a kind DM would allow it). Again, of note, Clerics can now cast this spell, though they don't get the bonuses that basically take away any reason a Paladin wouldn't cast it.
The steed shares your initiative, functioning as a controlled mount, though if you're incapacitated, it takes its turn immediately after yours and acts independently, focused on protecting you. (There's no new definition for mounted combat, so in this case it won't be making attacks - we'll look at some of the special abilities it can use in combat). Like the Familiar, the steed can scale up if you upcast the spell.
Let's look at this stat block:
The Steed is a Large Celestial, Fey, or Fiend. It has an AC equal to 10 + 1 per spell level, meaning a minimum of 12, maxing out at 15 for Paladins or 19 for Clerics.
The Steed has HP equal to 5 + 10 per spell level, so minimum of 25, maxing out at 55 for Paladins or 95 for Clerics.
The steed has a speed of 60 feet, and if cast at 4th level or higher, it also gets a flying speed of 60 feet. (Essentially, Find Greater Steed has been rolled into this spell).
The Steed gets Life Bond, which means if you ever regain hit points from a spell of 1st level or higher, the Steed regains equal HP if it's within 5 feet of you.
It has one attack, which is Otherworldly Maul, which uses your spell attack modifier to hit and deals 1d8 + the spell's level of radiant, psychic, or necrotic damage, depending on if it's a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend, respectively. As a reminder, as a controlled mount, unless this changes, the steed won't make these attacks unless you're unconscious.
The Steed also has the following bonus actions. Here, I'm really curious to see if the rules for mounted combat change, though each of these could potentially be useful in helping the Steed defend you should you go unconscious. Each of these bonus actions recharges on a long rest, and the ability you get depends on the steed's creature type.
Fey Steeds get Fey Step, which allows them to teleport, along with their rider, up to 60 feet away. (Useful in any scenario, but definitely useful if you remain in the saddle after going unconscious - the Steed can teleport you to the Cleric).
Fiend Steeds get Fell Glare, which forces a targeted creature within 60 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened until the end of your next turn.
Celestial Steeds get Healing Touch, allowing them to touch another creature and restore 2d8+ the spell's level hit points to the target. Again, useful any time, but especially when you're unconscious.
So, if we compare this to the Warhorse, generally the "standard" choice for Find Steed, we're looking at, when cast at 2nd level, slightly higher AC (12 rather than 11) and more HP (25 versus 19). The Warhorse hits harder with 2d6+4, compared to 1d8+2, but these attacks are only rarely going to matter. Now, on one hand, you can buy Barding for a Warhorse, which could potentially give it much higher AC, though at DM's discretion, you could do the same for this.
I think overall we can consider this a buff.
The "Summon X" spells found in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything have made conjuring minions a lot simpler than it used to be, and looking at these spells, along with the new Wild Shape, I have to imagine that this will be the model for conjuration in general moving forward.
What's the ultimate takeaway here, though? I know that in the past I've seen some clever plays where, for example, someone used Conjure Fey to get a Sea Hag, who can wipe out creatures that fail their saves with ease. Likewise, there's the classic "conjure a bunch of sprites which then all cast polymorph."
So, I think the simplification of a lot of these abilities is going to upset a lot of the mix-maxers and theorycrafters, but on the other hand, I think that the game becomes a lot smoother to run using these versions.
The one thing I'll be monitoring very closely, though, is whether we get any Conjuration or Necromancy spells that summon multiple creatures. This can, yes, slow things down, but sometimes the real benefit of these spells is the ability to put a lot of bodies on the floor - I remember using Danse Macabre on a fight against Yeenoghu and while none of my zombies could actually hurt the demon lord (doing only nonmagical bludgeoning damage,) they were able to form an impassable wall behind which the ranged characters could hide and chuck Eldritch Blasts and the like at our foe.
Still, I'm overall a big fan of this change in direction for these sorts of spells. Again, while I'm waiting on the outcry over the nerf to Wild Shape (that comes with a lot of buffs) I'm still overall very positive on the changes coming in One D&D.
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