D&D Gets Even More Villainous With New Unearthed Arcana Playtest

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Something wicked this way comes from Wizards of the Coast, with the publisher releasing yet another Unearthed Arcana D&D leaning into the Chaotic Evil side of things. Entitled Villainous Options 2, this latest playtest is a follow-up to the first Villainous Options which was released on April 2nd, 2026 and featured four new subclasses along with the Path of the Lich and Path of the Death Knight options. This new playtest pack contains three additional new subclasses that skew towards the sinister and which have not appeared in any previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons.

As with the first Villainous Options UA, it’s not clear clear what upcoming D&D sourcebook the materials will be appearing in (although our bet is that it will be a new version of The Book of Vile Darkness). Below, we take a closer look at all the demented details.

What’s included in the new Villainous Options playtest?

The new UA contains three new subclasses as follows:

• Path of Lament (Barbarian): Barbarians of this Path channel deep emotional trauma and haunting memories into a supernatural fury, often gaining gifts from beyond the grave. The Banshee’s Wail feature for example, allows you to emit a doleful cry while Raging that inflicts psychic damage and the Deafened condition on nearby enemies. At higher levels, you can use Horrifying Strike to frighten foes or utilize Otherworldly Anguish to instantly drop low-health targets to 0 Hit Points. Finally, the Sorrow Form feature transforms you into an Undead being immune to exhaustion, allowing you to drain the life from those you strike to heal yourself.
• Warrior of Venom (Monk): These strange monks can harness their own internal toxicity to poison enemies through touch or blood. A key feature is Envenom Weapon, which allows you to expend Focus Points to coat weapons in toxins that slow enemies or deal extra poison damage. TheToxic Touch feature further expands your arsenal, allowing you to inflict conditions like Unconscious, Charmed or even force a creature to tell the truth via magical toxins. Upon reaching higher levels, you also gain immunity to poison and access to the Toxic Blood feature that harms those who strike you in melee, while Hallucinogenic Breath allows you to send enemies fleeing in terror.
• Primordial Patron (Warlock): Drawing power from the Inner Planes, these Warlocks act as heralds for ancient forces such as the dreaded Elemental Princes. A core mechanic is Elemental Node, a sphere of magic that deals element-specific damage and can be moved across the battlefield as a Bonus Action. At higher levels, you can access the Elemental Haven feature, which grants you an AC bonus and the ability to teleport into your node. Finally, the Elemental Harbinger feature allows you to pull enemies into your node’s vortex and summon powerful Patrons using the Planar Ally spell without expending a spell slot.

Final Thoughts

In recent years we’ve seen some unusual Unearthed Arcana playtests, but none that have offered the kind of evil player-facing options as these latest. two packages. Between the two Villainous Options UAs, we now have seven subclasses (covering the Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Sorcerer and Warlock) so chances are we’ll see at least one more packet that includes the Artificer, Bard, Paladin Ranger and Wizard.

In the meantime, you can check out the three new subclasses via the Unearthed Arcana page or download the PDF directly. Player feedback opens on April 30th, 2026.

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