Plane Shift: Kaladesh - More MAGIC THE GATHERING For Your D&D Game!

WotC has just posted another "Plane Shift" document, detailing a world from Magic: the Gathering as a D&D setting. The 33-page PDF contains new races, monsters and more. "If the optimism, innovation, and spirit of creativity pervading the world of Kaladesh kindled your drive for adventure, we have what you're looking for. If The Art of Magic: The Gathering—Kaladesh made you long to experience the aether-swept landscapes and brilliant inventions of Magic's latest plane for yourself, these pages have what you need. Like a renegade inventor tinkering in a secluded workshop, author James Wyatt has crafted a set of rules to bring your Dungeons & Dragonsadventures to life on Kaladesh, including new races, new monsters, and a distinctly aether-flavored take on crafting the marvelous and ingenious magic items that define this plane."

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[Gardens & Goblins]

As someone who loves mechnomagical artifacts, and happens to be now living in a hot dusty land, aaaand who may have a few Kaladesh boosters too many..

Joy

 

[Dausuul]

Still waiting for them to do Innistrad...

Edit: Never mind, they already did and I somehow missed it.

 

[oknazevad]

That socerous origin is fantastic. It's a better fire-based one than the one in UA a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Michael Linke]

Anyone have a link for the Innistrad one? I can't find it on the Wizards site.

 

[robus]

Anyone have a link for the Innistrad one? I can't find it on the Wizards site.

Here you go

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'm going to assume it was an accident that while the fluff remembered to mention that Aetherborn don't eat, drink, breathe or sleep, the actual racial stats don't actually spell it out.

As a DM, I'd just give them an ability similar to what the warforged from the Ebberon UA and the revenants from the Gothic UA have.

Edit:

I can't believe that I missed it on my first read through, but the document completely skips over the fact that Aetherborn are empaths. That's actually a major part of the race. As a DM, I think I'm going to drop the intimidation proficiency and replace it with Insight.

Yeah, I think they messed that race writeup pretty badly. I'd definitely switch intimidate to insight, and I'd dtop one of their +1's in favor of more features. Maybe add Insight rather than swapping it in place of Intimidation, and give them a chance to automatically replenish 1d4 Aether "charges" in any object they use that uses Aether (ie, has charges).


I like most of the crunch that is included in this article. The Servo feat is junk, however. Because the Servo is junk. A crow is superior in every way, and would actually be able to use the ability to make attacks. For a feat, the benefit of a very nerfed version of a single spell is just...not worth it. Even if it increased a stat, it would be weaker than nearly every other feat that does so.

 

[jedijon]

So we've read the document now, discussed its meta-implications, and tried to reflect on in-game options presented. Is anyone interested in crafting a campaign using the setting?

What caught my eye were comments like: this is an optimistic world with a lack of conflict - or - everything changed 60 years ago when Aether stopped being just a pretty face and started being harnessed.

Hopefully somebody who is very familiar with the source material can come in here and school the pants offa me! Cuz I'm a touch confused on where one would start - using the provided 'givens' and extrapolating from there.

Here, I'll start:
•No conflicts & everybody is happy = go home now, nothing to see here
•Optimism + crazy invention = you want story hooks...read any China Mieville ('specially the Bas Lag books)? Tons 'o ideas. 'Course the them there is that the gov't is repressing the cool people.
•Monumental change in the last 60 years = a conflict with the stated idealism...old humans would be crusty...ya think the Elves are going to take this lying down?? Tolkien's elves left in the third age because they were fed up. Gotta assume they are at the breaking point here!

TLDR; the real hooks are that a) in an age of peace & idealism...nothing is ever that peaceful...or ideal & b) progressivists and conservatives have opposite agendas. So - does that merely make me a cynic? Am hoping for thoughts!

 

[Charles Rampant]

Maybe you could treat it like Star Trek - the utopia is real, and it needs protecting, not to mention that not everyone is in that utopia.

 

[mflayermonk]

TLDR; the real hooks are that a) in an age of peace & idealism...nothing is ever that peaceful...or ideal & b) progressivists and conservatives have opposite agendas. So - does that merely make me a cynic? Am hoping for thoughts!

The pastoral is secretly deadly.

 

[robus]

The pastoral is secretly deadly.

Yeah - that's really the campaign. Everyone has "forgotten" the great war that brought peace to the land (the aether is not only a source of endless power but it also delivers a powerful mindcontrol drug!). But lurking somewhere is something that wants to bring the old chaos back. Bad things start to happen.

I dunno. There's a nugget of an idea there.

The PCs must figure it out and restore the land to peace.