Dragonlance DRAGONLANCE LIVES! Unearthed Arcana Explores Heroes of Krynn!

The latest Unearthed Arcana has arrived and the 6-page document contains rules for kender, lunar magic, Knights of Solamnia, and Mages of High Sorcery.

In today’s Unearthed Arcana, we explore character options from the Dragonlance setting. This playtest document presents the kender race, the Lunar Magic sorcerer subclass, the Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery backgrounds, and a collection of new feats, all for use in Dungeons & Dragons.

Kender have a (surprisingly magical) ability to pull things out of a bag, and a supernatural taunt feature. This magical ability appears to replace the older 'kleptomania' description -- "Unknown to most mortals, a magical phenomenon surrounds a kender. Spurred by their curiosity and love for trinkets, curios, and keepsakes, a kender’s pouches or pockets will be magically filled with these objects. No one knows where these objects come from, not even the kender. This has led many kender to be mislabeled as thieves when they fish these items out of their pockets."

Lunar Magic is a sorcerer subclass which draws power from the moon(s); there are notes for using it in Eberron.

Also included are feats such as Adepts of the Black, White, and Red Robes, and Knights of the Sword, Rose, and Crown.

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[Shadowedeyes]

Zone of Truth doesn't prevent the subject from remaining silent. It would be useless by itself against a hostile witness.

Zone of Truth is particularly awful, since by not forcing them to speak, the next logical step is just starting the waterboarding since they can't lie to you anyway, that's usually the practical problem with torture.

I'm actually not a fan of Zone of Truth in the game anyway, but as it works per the rules it's pretty good at what it does, which is confirm or deny what someone is saying. The other options are Detect Thoughts, which is invasive as hell, and using Suggestion/Domination spells, which can be twisted to force people to admit something they didn't actually do. Ethically speaking, Zone of Truth is probably the most moral option.

Now, could it end up being used with torture? Sure, but that isn't a base part of the morality of the spell in question.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think they might go that radical with the 2024 revision: as long as you can still show up with a 2014 PHB built character and play at the table with 2024 Monsters and such or a 2024 PHB character in Princes of the Apocalypse or whatever, I think they are on poitn with being compatible. The Classes are modular gameplay elements, and retweaking them to have a unified progression would just make sense.

I think what they have to get right is that 2014 and 2024 PCs can also be in the same party.

To me it seems like they're trying to add what is, in effect, prestige classes to the game without actually making them prestige classes.

If so, great. This is better than 3e style prestige classes.

 

[Parmandur]

I think what they have to get right is that 2014 and 2024 PCs can also be in the same party.

Yeah, or even mix and match, like a 2024 Class with a 2014 Race, without breaking anything. As long as they stick in the same mathematical framework, which works, they can get pretty funky with the modular parts.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah, or even mix and match, like a 2024 Class with a 2014 Race, without breaking anything. As long as they stick in the same mathematical framework, which works, they can get pretty funky with the modular parts.

Yep. Changing how subclasses work would definitely eliminate the ability to use 2014 class with 2024 subclass, though, which is the one thing that makes me skeptical.

 

[Parmandur]

Yep. Changing how subclasses work would definitely eliminate the ability to use 2014 class with 2024 subclass, though, which is the one thing that makes me skeptical.

That would be a bit of an edgy step...but it may be worth it if they can improve the character creation process, as right now people have tonwork around not being their actual character until Level 2 or 3, unless you are a Cleric, Sorcerer or Warlock. Regularizing thst might be an improved experience. Which might justify some disjuncture. And if they can make cross-Class Archetypes...like an Arcane Archer that can be a Fighter, Paladin, Ranger Rogues, etc...that has possiblities.

 

[Hussar]

That would be a bit of an edgy step...but it may be worth it if they can improve the character creation process, as right now people have tonwork around not being their actual character until Level 2 or 3, unless you are a Cleric, Sorcerer or Warlock. Regularizing thst might be an improved experience. Which might justify some disjuncture. And if they can make cross-Class Archetypes...like an Arcane Archer that can be a Fighter, Paladin, Ranger Rogues, etc...that has possiblities.

To be fair though - that's typically only a couple of sessions. It's not like it's a huge investment. Also, a lot of the things that the 3rd level subclass characters get don't impact the character quite as much. The difference between a 2nd level fighter and a 3rd level Champion isn't exactly huge. Not like the differences you get with wild sorcerer and draconic bloodline.

I do agree though, that it would have been FAR better for everyone to get their subclass at 3rd level. Or, everyone gets it at 1st level. My personal take is 3rd is better and use 1st and 2nd as sort of "background " levels. What the old Zero Level was for. A great way for new players to get into the game without being shunted into "newbie" classes as well.

 

[Yaarel]

Too many character concepts need the subclass at level 1 for character creation.

 

[JEB]

I do agree though, that it would have been FAR better for everyone to get their subclass at 3rd level. Or, everyone gets it at 1st level. My personal take is 3rd is better and use 1st and 2nd as sort of "background " levels. What the old Zero Level was for. A great way for new players to get into the game without being shunted into "newbie" classes as well.

Initially agreed with this, but...

Too many character concepts need the subclass at level 1 for character creation.

This is also true. A tricky problem. Heck, certain classes that get the subclass after level 1 seem odd for it - paladins, most notably.

 

[Parmandur]

To be fair though - that's typically only a couple of sessions. It's not like it's a huge investment. Also, a lot of the things that the 3rd level subclass characters get don't impact the character quite as much. The difference between a 2nd level fighter and a 3rd level Champion isn't exactly huge. Not like the differences you get with wild sorcerer and draconic bloodline.

I do agree though, that it would have been FAR better for everyone to get their subclass at 3rd level. Or, everyone gets it at 1st level. My personal take is 3rd is better and use 1st and 2nd as sort of "background " levels. What the old Zero Level was for. A great way for new players to get into the game without being shunted into "newbie" classes as well.

I don't mind that the first two levels are a breeze: but the game would flow better if the Subclass choice is Baked in from the start.

 

[JEB]

Out of curiosity, can anyone elaborate on why the UA Strixhaven floating subclass model didn't work? Went back and looked at it, and it seemed sound to me - they only worked with certain classes, and you become eligible for the subclass features after certain minimum levels are reached (allowing the features to fill in the right slots at different levels).

Does anyone think this might work better for Solamnic Knights and High Sorcery Mages than it did for Strixhaven schools?