Unearthed Arcana New Unearthed Arcana: Rune Knight, Swarmkeeper, The Revived

Another new Unearthed Arcana! "In today’s Unearthed Arcana, three classes each receive a playtest option. The fighter gets a Martial Archetype option: the Rune Knight. The ranger gains a Ranger Archetype option: the Swarmkeeper. And the rogue acquires a Roguish Archetype option: the Revived."

 

[Parmandur]

Actually, to me the Rune Knight feels like a refugee from the Artificer Class, indeed sort of a "multiclass" Subclass to get an Artificer-like Fighter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rune Mage Artificer proper at some point.

 

[Parmandur]

They threw a few curve balls in there. But this batch of UAs in general was harder to hide what they were going for.

I'm still uncertain what they are going for: this is a pretty wild set of 13 Subclasses (including the Archivist).

My main bet is still a Setting book of some sort (still feeling the Magic vibes), but a XGtE or all-new format seem viable.

 

[Salthorae]

I really hope it's not another MtG setting book. With so many other settings in their catalog and Ravnica already published, I'd rather they did something else.

Personally I'm hoping for a XGtE style book.

 

[Xenonnonex]

I'm still uncertain what they are going for: this is a pretty wild set of 13 Subclasses (including the Archivist).

My main bet is still a Setting book of some sort (still feeling the Magic vibes), but a XGtE or all-new format seem viable.

I am hoping for a XGtE and Planes/Magic setting book. It will be wild.

 

[Parmandur]

I am hoping for a XGtE and Planes/Magic setting book. It will be wild.

They are really letting their hair down loose and having fun here, whatever it is.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Not to be pendantic. But.

There were already Scandinavians in Scandinavia BEFORE Bronze-Age Indo-Europeans invaded. The genetic population shows much of the population (such as yDNA I1) was Non-Indo-European (R1a, R1b).

These aboriginal cultures continue to shape Scandinavia today.


Scandinavia persisted as its own cultural zone across various archeological periods.



To confuse the Scandinavians with ‘Germans’ is exactly the same crimes as the N*zis did in the previous century.

Dont do it.

The irony of repeating an implicitly nativist/nationalistic historical myth in the same breath that you condemn Nazi historiography appears to be entirely lost on you.

 

[cbwjm]

I'll definitely be making use of the Rune Knight in my games, might be more NPCs when I do, just because my world had a whole mythic age in which dragons, elementals, and giants fought each other before the arrival of the gods. The rune knight and the giant soul sorcerer can easily be giant knowledge left over from the mythic age just as draconic sorcerers are for dragons.

 

[Mistwell]

I love love love that Rune Knight. I can see a Rune Knight 3, Enchanter X build that would work superbly. A variant human (bonus feat, no darkvision) with Stone Rune (darkvision and enchant at range) and Storm Rune (adv on Arcana, no surprise, and can give disadvantage on a foes save). And of course you're getting all the other goodies of a fighter (armor and shield proficiency, defensive, a self-heal, action surge). And you can become large!

Of course you're way behind on spells for a primary wizard. Still, i think it works well. I want to play that PC.

 

[Yaarel]

Sorry, you're just not correct. I use the term "germanic paganism" because this is an English speaking forum, and that's the English word we use to describe that culture. Also, I never said Scandinavia was part of Germany. Not sure where you're getting that from.

What I am saying, is that those myths that you are saying are being culturally appropriate from Norse mythology came from what we call northern Germany now. Here's a map

View attachment 114942

That's where the original myths of Odin, Thor, etc all originally came from. Magna Germania. As much as the Nazis were bad, they couldn't have stolen the myths of Odin et al because those myths started in northern Germany before the Norse did. Norse paganism branched off of germanic paganism.

Seriously, this isn't that hard to look up.

It is the other way around.



The German scholars of the previous two centuries fantasized about a ‘master race’. Scientifically, the existence of such a ‘race’ turns out to be complete and utter nonsense, and the notion that this ‘master race’ had a singular monolithic religion likewise turns out to be complete and utter nonsense. Today, German scholars reject the concepts of Germanic uniformity, and are far more cautious about the meager evidence for what Germany looked like.

One fact is certain. At that time, what is today Germany comprised many completely unrelated ethnic groups, tribes, and cultures. These Nongermanic tribes adopted a Germanic language for complex cultural reasons.



Moreover, the misnomered ‘Proto-Germanic’ language probably originated in Scandinavia, in the complex multicultural matrix in Scandinavia, when Proto-Russian migrants entered Scandinavia via Sweden.

 

[ZeshinX]

Oh yeah, that too. It'd be cool if the active effects changed depending on if it was on a weapon (when hitting), armor (when being hit) or shield (others). Now it's basically just an equipment slot problem and offers no real interesting choices.

That's what I mean. Runes on weapons would be mostly attack/offence oriented, armour mostly personal or shareable buff style effects and shields mostly defensive type effects. Obviously some overlap would likely occur (or need to occur), but it would offer a little variety and nuance both in combat and non-combat scenarios.