2024 Player's Handbook Fireside Chat

[Theodoxus]

We should call it Advanced Player's Essential Options Unchained.

You forgot Complete II

"Advanced Player's Complete Essential Options Unchained II, electric boogaloo!"

I think their better option is to go in reverse:

"Here's a Fighter subclass that's so good at inspiring people it can actually heal and buff them, we'll call it Banneret. And in Faerun, there's a faction of warriors called Purple Dragon Knights that pretty heavily if not entirely consists of Banneret Fighters." For something to be worth the design and iteration time that a whole subclass requires, it shouldn't be designed to only work with a single setting.

A million % agree. Like, I'm a little shocked that (was it Green Ronin)? The 3PP that put out SCAG didn't think along these lines... though I suppose WotC might have been micromanagers about it and said 'this book is specific to FR, any mention of other realms need to be 'in the margins' at best."

As for Battlerager - honestly that was just a bad idea from the concept stage. (Did it even exist before?)

The artwork and armor design definitely did... I don't recall the Barbarian specific aspect being done in D&D prior - but it might have also been in the Complete Barbarian or Complete Dwarf or something. /shrug