UA: Transmuter

 We come now to the last of the subclasses in the Arcane Subclasses UA, and the last of the non-republished Wizard subclasses first seen (well, at least for 5E) in the 2014 PHB.

The Transmuter (or, as it was previously called, School of Transmutation) Wizard is, I'd argue, a better representation of an Alchemist than the Alchemist Artificer. I'll be honest, between Elden Ring and Lies of P lore, and research into my own novel, I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole on Alchemy, and it's a really fascinating and complex tradition - while we mostly know it as the kind of proto-chemistry that gave rise to modern science, and its depiction in a lot of fantasy RPGs is the "potion-maker" or "magical chemist," it's actually far broader than that, and encompasses nearly every western mystical tradition as well as several from elsewhere in the world. (Fun fact, Alchemy is derived from an Arabic word referring to "Khemi," which is another word for Egypt, which is, of course, one of the world's oldest civilizations.)

While the Alchemist Artificer focuses largely on the sort of "magical physical sciences" aspect of Alchemy (and that was certainly a big part of it historically,) I think that the Transmuter Wizard can push further into the philosophical and symbolic elements of the practice. To be frank, just about any kind of magic in a fantasy story could be interpreted through an Alchemical lens - it was partially an attempt to explain, understand, and produce the power of the divine through human research and practice, so I could even see a Cleric as an Alchemist.

But the Transmuter also makes some oblique references to Alchemy - the Transmuter Stone is a clear reference to the Philosopher's Stone, a fabled creation that would serve some crucial function in Alchemy's Magnum Opus, though what, exactly, it was or how it worked, was pretty vague (much as the Magnum Opus' ultimate goal varied - from turning lead into gold to creating an elixir that would imbue someone with immortality, to creating the panacea that cures all diseases).

Wizards are often characterized as profoundly ambitious people, and the Transmuter really fits into the archetype of someone working on completing the Magnum Opus. Let's see how the mechanics of the subclass have changed in this revision.

Level 3:

Trasmutation Savant works the same as the other re-designed "Savant" features, giving you a free Transmutation spell for your spellbook each time you gain a new level of spell slot.

Transmuter's Stone lets you create a magical pebble when you finish a long rest that lasts until you use the feature again. A creature with the stone in their possession gains one of the following benefits, which you can swap out when you cast a Transmutation spell using a spell slot:

Darkvision: grants Darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, or increases the range of their existing Darkvision by 60 feet.

Speed: their speed increases by 10 feet.

Durability: they gain proficiency in Constitution saving throws.

Resistance: They gain resistance to your choice of Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder damage (chosen when you choose the benefit).

    This feature has been bumped up to level 3 from level 6, and is largely unchanged with a few minor buffs (like benefiting someone who already has darkvision). But other than these subtle changes and the earlier level, this is more or less unchanged.

    Obviously, this is a pretty versatile feature. I'd guess that Durability would be the default option, though if you don't have Darkvision, that's also a solid one. As before, it's nice to be able to change it when you cast any leveled transmutation spell, so if you get ambushed by a black dragon, you can cast Longstrider on yourself and also give yourself acid resistance at the same time.

Wondrous Enhancement gives you Enhance Ability, which is always prepared for you, and you can cast it once per long rest without expending a spell slot (which does mean it won't let you change your transmuter stone when you do so, but it's still a clear positive).

Moreover, Enhance Ability (regardless of whether this is your free casting or using a spell slot) gain advantage on saving throws of the chosen ability.

    Enhance Ability is a solid spell, and this adds some pretty good functionality to it, making it more helpful in combat.

    We do wind up losing Minor Alchemy from 2014 (yeah, I wasn't imagining this as the alchemist sublcass). That feature could theoretically be really good, though I haven't seen a ton of use of it. I'd love to see something like it replicated in a spell.

Level 6:

Split Transmutation allows you to effectively upcast any transmutation spell that can target an additional target when cast at a higher level, increasing its effective level by 1. You can do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier per long rest.

    So, similar to what we got with Enchantment, we can effectively get the new Twinned Spell functionality on many of our transmutation spells (such as Fly), though in this case it is limited to a certain number of times per day. That being said, we'll be getting probably 3-5 uses, which isn't that bad.

Level 10:

Potent Stone increases the power of your Transmuter's Stone, allowing you to choose two of its options, rather than just one, when you create it or change its functionality. You can choose each option only once, except the resistance option, as long as you choose different damage types (though given that resistance doesn't stack, why wouldn't you?)

    This replaces Shapechanger, which gave you Polymorph for free and let you cast it once per short rest for free but only to make someone into a 1st level beast. You're likely to take Polymorph anyway, and that will benefit from Split Transmutation, so I think this is probably nicer, giving you a little more flexibility and power.

Level 14:

Master Transmuter allows you to consume your Transmuter's Stone as an action to gain a big benefit, from the following options. The stone is destroyed with this use, so you'll need to wait for your next long rest to get a new one.

Panacea: The bearer of the stone regains HP equal to twice your Wizard level, and ends a curse, including attunement to a cursed magic item.

    The old version healed the target for all their HP and cured all curses, diseases, and poisons. So I think we have to call this a nerf. It's not a terrible use, healing for at least 28 HP, but it's not as profound.

Restore Life: You cast Raise Dead without a spell slot, using the stone in place of the normally required diamond material component.

    Curiously, the old version was perhaps ambiguous - given that you were sort of casting this via a magic item, in theory did it not require the diamond? This is less ambiguous, and either a buff or the same.

Restore Youth: The bearer permanently appears 3d10 years younger, to a minimum of young adulthood.

    As I approach 40, I find myself wishing I had this in real life. This is kind of notable in that it's a rare post-2024 class feature that's really just cosmetic, but also ties into the Magnum Opus vibes of the class. Also, interestingly that its change from the old version has a higher minimum, as the old one could make you look 13. There's no rider saying it doesn't extend the character's lifespan, though it also only says that it affects your appearance.

    What we lose here is Major Transformation, which allowed you to turn one nonmagical object into another nonmagical object of similar mass and size and of equal or lesser value. I actually think that's a shame given that that feels like a feature that would really encourage some creative, outside-the-box thinking. It could also be a little too powerful - perhaps making a spell that does something similar, much as I suggested for Minor Alchemy, would be appropriate.

Overall Thoughts:

Once again, I think we have a decent subclass that doesn't particularly appeal to my sensibilities. I loved Caleb Widowgast from Critical Role's second campaign, perhaps the highest-profile Transmuter Wizard out there. I think you'll be perfectly fine if you choose this, but I also don't know that it'll make you significantly more powerful than another wizard.

And that concludes our look at the latest Unearthed Arcana. We've been getting a pretty steady stream of them, with quite a lot to go through in each. We don't yet really know what's on the docket for D&D's 2026 releases, but presumably we'll be getting a few books with lots of player options in them.