Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Cleric, Druid, Wizard Options

In another new Unearthed Arcana (these things are coming out fast right now!) the cleric receives a new Divine Domain option: the Twilight Domain; the druid gains a new Druid Circle option: the Circle of Wildfire; and the wizard gains a new Arcane Tradition feature: Onomancy, the magic of true names.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I do like the flavor for all three subclasses - they all fill previously-open niches. I particularly like the Twilight Cleric, which is great for moon and non-evil darkness deities. We do still need a flat-out evil Darkness domain though...

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Why not both? Planescape seems like the perfect vehicle for WotC to tie their two biggest IPs together in a mutually lore-friendly way.

I find that unlikely solely because both Planescape and MTG Planes are so diverse in concepts, to combine the two would mean that they would be going very wide, but also not very deep.

 

[Charlaquin]

I find that unlikely solely because both Planescape and MTG Planes are so diverse in concepts, to combine the two would mean that they would be going very wide, but also not very deep.

Fair

 

[Larrin]

It kind of undercuts the importance and secret-ness of a true name if a can be sucked out of your head by a level 2 wizard.

Drakoth, Demon Lord: "I failed a DC 13 save, now the most secret aspect of my very nature and the one true path to ultimate power over me is known by a guy with 8 hp"

I'm all for words of power and naming I guess, but I feel like this either really cheapens the meaning of a true name, or else it REALLY makes it too easy to learn the most import secret of someone's existence. (Is Onomancy a commentary on Identity Theft in the information age?)

It also has some implications for people in disguise, shapeshifting, possessions by ghosts, etc.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The wording of "If a false name comes to be the best expression of who you are, it becomes your true name." implies that you could simply say "Batman" when used on Batman to use true name magic on, but saying "Bruce Wayne" wouldn't necessarily work on him though.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The wording of "If a false name comes to be the best expression of who you are, it becomes your true name." implies that you could simply say "Batman" when used on Batman to use true name magic on, but saying "Bruce Wayne" wouldn't necessarily work on him though.

True, but it also implies most villains would assume Batman's true name isn't Batman, inadvertently reverse-phsychologing them into hunting for his secret identity when they don't need to.

 

[Salthorae]

CIRCLE OF WILDFIRE
Druids with Fireball!

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Relentless Naming shouldn’t do force damage in my opinion.

Druid's with Fireball was my first thought too! Love it.

I kind of also agree with you on the Relentless naming thing. I think it was an effort to ensure that it had some effect. There are many things out there that grant resistance to Psychic damage. Nothing does that really for Force.

Twilight cleric's Channel Divinity power is extremely powerful. For a fun minute (so, basically an entire encounter), everyone within 30 feet of you gains a d8 temp HP every round? WOW. That's HUGE. That stands people up from negative HP, doesn't it? But, the fact that every single round, every single PC is getting bonus HP is a big, big advantage. Plus, at the end, everyone is going to have a d8 temp HP to take into their next encounter.

Recharges on a short rest? That's a big deal.

It helps give Cleric back some of that healing power that they've been losing to Druids steadily in 5e outside of the Life domain, that's for sure.

Balance wise though? I mean it's 4.5 hp per round on average. Depending on what you're fighting, that might barely make a difference in a combat.

It is situationaly bad because it imposes dim-light on your party as well as enemies. So many people depending on party mix will be at disadvantage on sight-based Perception checks.

It kind of undercuts the importance and secret-ness of a true name if a can be sucked out of your head by a level 2 wizard.

Drakoth, Demon Lord: "I failed a DC 13 save, now the most secret aspect of my very nature and the one true path to ultimate power over me is known by a guy with 8 hp"

I'm all for words of power and naming I guess, but I feel like this either really cheapens the meaning of a true name, or else it REALLY makes it too easy to learn the most import secret of someone's existence. (Is Onomancy a commentary on Identity Theft in the information age?)

It also has some implications for people in disguise, shapeshifting, possessions by ghosts, etc.

I mean... I guess maybe it's possible for some high CR fiends to fail that check, but all the Demon lords I looked at have both legendary resistances AND the lowest Wis save I saw was +10. So... they probably aren't going to fail it

Even at the top end with max stats, etc. most of the Demon lords would only need an 8 or higher to make the save.

It would just give them another reason to hate and hunt the party too. Fun RP

I love the implications it has on the disguise/shifting/etc portion of things. Every Royal should have an Onomancer on their staff at the front door for important meetings and such.

It's also pretty limited 1-5 times per long rest isn't that many, and it burns a bonus action. If something has Legendary Resistances, it might be a good way to burn through some of those before casting other more powerful spells.

 

[Xenonnonex]

The wording of "If a false name comes to be the best expression of who you are, it becomes your true name." implies that you could simply say "Batman" when used on Batman to use true name magic on, but saying "Bruce Wayne" wouldn't necessarily work on him though.

True, but it also implies most villains would assume Batman's true name isn't Batman, inadvertently reverse-phsychologing them into hunting for his secret identity when they don't need to.

You have the true namer in this. The faceless in BGDiA.
Things are ripe for a Joker v Batman confrontation in Gotham I mean Baldur's Gate.

 

[Salthorae]

Interesting point though, I wonder how the Faceless and True Naming would go?

Ugh, that kind of sounds like it could be a frustrating point of DM adjudication.

Or maybe unlike others, the Faceless is not in danger of losing their Truename to the "public persona" that they put out there like the sidebar suggests?

 

[gyor]

It's an intentional marketing strategy to never talk about a product until a few months in advance, and it has worked for them very well.

Actually I disagree because not having important Intel undermines the value of the feed back we give them in these playtests, because context matters and can change ratings.