D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Travelers of the Multiverse

New free content from WotC - the latest 4-page Unearthed Arcana introduces six new races: astral elf, autognome, giff, hadozee, plasmoid, and thri-kreen.

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dnd.wizards.com

Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

 

[Bolares]

That's an incredibly narrow definition of what makes the races unique.

-My race can choose to have a head, can slip through cracks, hugs really well...

-Okay, but how much do they wheight?

-Basically the same as a human.

-Well, then it's a human with a hat!

 

[Bolares]

According to the lifespan and height and weight rules presented in Witchlight and this UA, yes it is.

This UA gives examples of races with different life spans, different sizes, heights and weights.... the rules are the norm, not how all races work as it was stated...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I kinda love Autognomes.

Whatever is coming, it certainly looks like it's going to be weird.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Folks of the Feywild UA had races for Witchlight (Fairy & Harengon), Strixhaven (Owlin) and ML: MotM (probably Hobgoblins). Draconic Races had races for Fizban's (Metallic Dragonborn, Gem Dragonborn, Chromatic Dragonborn) & probably MP: MotM Kobolds). So what makes folks so certain that just because all the races in this UA could fit Spelljammer, that they ARE for Spelljammer?

Like Autognomes, Astral Elves, and Thrikreen could be for other stuff, like the Owlin were for Strixhaven not Witchlight, but still fits the flavor of Witchlight.l

Because (a) some, like the giff, are unequivocally Spelljammer races, and (b), those that aren't unequivocally Spelljammer races are races that still appeared in Spelljammer. The only even slightly odd one is the Astral Elves, and they are presumably are just the Imperial Elves from Spelljammer. Beyond that, these are the races you'd expect to see in a Spelljammer product. Basically, the fit is just to neat and tidy for it not to be Spelljammer...

 

[Henadic Theologian]

According to the lifespan and height and weight rules presented in Witchlight and this UA, yes it is.

If any of those deviate for human norms in height, weight, lifespan, I think they not it in the info, like Astral Elves who aren't living on the Astral Plane live 750 years on average, noted in the race lore part.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The Folks of the Feywild UA had races for Witchlight (Fairy & Harengon), Strixhaven (Owlin) and ML: MotM (probably Hobgoblins). Draconic Races had races for Fizban's (Metallic Dragonborn, Gem Dragonborn, Chromatic Dragonborn) & probably MP: MotM Kobolds). So what makes folks so certain that just because all the races in this UA could fit Spelljammer, that they ARE for Spelljammer?

Like Autognomes, Astral Elves, and Thrikreen could be for other stuff, like the Owlin were for Strixhaven not Witchlight, but still fits the flavor of Witchlight.l

Well, at minimum, Giff, Hadozee and Plasmoid are really Spelljammer. As in they fit better there than anywhere else, by a lot.

Thri-keen obviously fit Dark Sun... but there are no other Dark Sun races here, like the Mul. So unlikely to be placed for Dark Sun right now.

Astral Elves... I guess they can go other places, but their naming suggests they're a racial fit for members of the Imperial Elven Armada.

Autognomes could fit a couple other places. But on its own?

Right now, these all fit Spelljammer really well. Sure some can go in other places, but the narrative for how and where is less tidy than it is for Spelljammer.

 

[Mort]

Basically all races are now human size, human weight, and human lifespan. Races like the thri keen which were hundreds of pounds, and lives only a tiny amount of time were defined by aspects like that. It's removing what makes the differnt playable species unique.

I don't care about the flexible asi (though i wish there was a given 'typical asi' for each species). It's the removal of lore and other defining aspects which are frustrating me.

Except, even in the UA, they expressly state otherwise. For ex. the Astral Elves are stated to live around 750 years if they are off the Astral. Thri-Kreen get an extra set of arms (so can potentially wield bigger and more weapons together)! They've always been a bit careful about size for balance reasons - but otherwise? They've never shown ANY compunctions to deviate from any kind of norm. The changes in evidence here certainly don't alter that.

 

[Bitbrain]

News Archive | Dungeons and Dragons

Read the full archives of Dungeons & Dragons news, Sage Advice, Unearthed Arcana, and D&D Studio Blogs.

dnd.wizards.com

Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

Astral Elf. Meh.

Autognomes look like they’d be a lot of fun to play.

Giff feel like something is missing. Probably it’s just because their racial traits are so few in number compared to the Autognomes.

Hadozee and Plasmoids are both quite flavorful. Me likey.

Thri-Kreen. I doubt I need to say anything about this, other than HELL YES! More Dark Sun races please!

 

[Charlaquin]

My hot take is that the intent is unless you specifically build for a nudist Plasmoid, Amorphous is an outside of combat trick. Because it's not just weapons and armor, it's all your bags and pouches and plot tokens and unsold loot. And note that you still have advantage on grapples and all the functionality of Shape Shift at your disposal. You just have to pour yourself out of your armor to slip under a door, which I think is a fair compromise.

Though a way to fast-don armor again wouldn't be a bad thing to have. Hmm, Armor Artificer Plasmoid?

Hmm… Alright, I’m sold. The ability to don or doff any armor or clothing as an action would be a much more thematic solution than natural armor.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

-My race can choose to have a head, can slip through cracks, hugs really well...

-Okay, but how much do they wheight?

-Basically the same as a human.

-Well, then it's a human with a hat!

Things such as lifespan have a massive effect on worldbuilding, and how a species sees the word and interacts with it. A creature like a thri-keen which struggles to make it to 30 will have a completely alien worldview and society even compared to humans, let alone longer lived species.

Their size and weight also chance how a species lives and interacts with the world. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Sure, maybe as the player you only care about which fancy ability they get and nothing else. But some of us want more detail than which quick gimmick a PC gets.