D&D 5E New Unearthed Arcana: Heroes of Krynn Revisited

WotC's Jeremy Crawford has announced a new Unearthed Arcana article today with redesigns from the prior Heroes of Krynn UA based on feedback, and in the following video he discusses that feedback and what's in the article:

• New iteration of Kender based on feedback survey, due to mixed response. This time is a back to basics, aiming to capture 1E AD&D fearlessness, curiosity and taunting skills. Delve into their origins from Gnomes in deep history.
• Kender are no longer fey creatures who grab objects from the Feywild
• Tweaked Feats from prior article
• Tweaked Backgrounds from prior article
• Brand new rule giving a list of free Feats for ANY Background
• Free Feat rule for Level 4 for all characters that doesn't take the ASI away, based on a curated list
• Reveals that in the Adventure, healing magic is already back.

Heroes of Krynn Revisited | Unearthed Arcana | Dungeons & Dragons

Explore updated character options from the Dragonlance setting! This playtest document presents revised races, subclasses, backgrounds, and feats.

dnd.wizards.com

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

What the heck?! They took away the Mage Order alignment requirements!?

Alignment is a legacy of D&D that never should be messed with. EVER! Ugh. Hate this so much. So now you can have a Lawful Evil White Robe?! Actually, it's just more proof they're phasing Alignment out the game entirely, we won't have it in 6e for sure.

The heck is wrong with this world? If I had a wish, it'd definitely be me owning this company and fixing everything back to pre-4E.

Alignment is an awful system for defining morality, and it never should have determined mechanics in-game. A ton of people hate alignment. You should be happy that it's even still in the game at all, because, with how bad it is at actually describing characters, it has no real place in the hobby anymore. IMO, tying the mage orders to more concrete and objective concepts like "personal ambition" and "helping the world" is a good thing. No, it's not how the original setting worked . . . but that's not always a bad thing.

 

[Scribe]

Glad to see the robe wizards reassigned their traditional spell schools. Black robes are back to being creepy a-holes who specialize in desecrating bodies and stripping people of their agency.

Sounds non-evil to me.

 

[Scribe]

You should be happy that it's even still in the game at all, because, with how bad it is at actually describing characters, it has no real place in the hobby anymore.

Super nice to be told what I should be happy with.

 

[whimsychris123]

WotC puts out some playtest material and asks people what they think. People respond, "Cowards," mad face, "how could they?" Remind me never to ask these people if my shirt goes with my pants. Sheesh.

 

[Scribe]

WotC puts out some playtest material and asks people what they think. People respond, "Cowards," mad face, "how could they?" Remind me never to ask these people if my shirt goes with my pants. Sheesh.

I said what I said.

 

[JEB]

The kender vs lightfoot halfling

ASI and languages are not factored.

25 move vs 30 move.
Advantage on saves be fear vs immunity to fear
Reroll natural 1s vs cause a foe disadvantage on all attacks but against you
Free proficiency from a limited list of skills vs stealth when hiding in a medium or larger creatures shadow.

Kender's speed and fearless vs bravery are straight wins. Free proficiency vs situational hiding is arguably better, and taunt pales to lucky. They seem fairly balanced.

Pretty confident the 2024 halfling will also be 30 move, based on MOTM. But otherwise, yup.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Super nice to be told what I should be happy with.

Alignment is one of the few things that I'm genuinely happy is dying. It deserves it. The fact that it makes a bunch of older gamers that regularly call for things that I enjoy to be excluded from D&D angry is just the icing on the cake. (Edit: I wasn't specifically talking about you, I meant the ones that specifically have attacked me for my view on alignment. Apologies if this was taken in the wrong way.)

Alignment is just as bad as zodiac symbols and buzzfeed personality tests. If either of those ever died, I would be ecstatic. I'll have the same reaction when this stupid sacred cow is finally slaughtered.

So, yeah. You should be happy that WotC is even choosing to compromise on this. Because if they weren't, it would be gone already.

 

[Scribe]

Alignment is one of the few things that I'm genuinely happy is dying. It deserves it. The fact that it makes a bunch of older gamers that regularly call for things that I enjoy to be excluded from D&D angry is just the icing on the cake.

Alignment is just as bad as zodiac symbols and buzzfeed personality tests. If either of those ever died, I would be ecstatic. I'll have the same reaction when this stupid sacred cow is finally slaughtered.

So, yeah. You should be happy that WotC is even choosing to compromise on this. Because if they weren't, it would be gone already.

You are free to feel that way, but considering the whole 'yuck my yum' line you've pulled, its ironic.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Alignment is fine in it's current form I think. It has very little mechanical influence, and creatures are marked best as typically being that alignment (Excluding named creatures as they are solidly that thing)

 

[Benjamin Olson]

No, it's not how the original setting worked . . . but that's not always a bad thing.

Indeed. It's one thing to be a traditionalist when the thing being defended at least basically worked in its day but is just "out of fashion" in some way. But if the thing being defended was always an obvious mistake that's a different matter.

The idea that all the evil mages in the setting where so committed to evil for evil's sake that they would join an evil club together, and willingly go around wearing the club colors because evil, or that the good mages would cooperate with them on maintaining this order of things, or that the remainder of the mages would be not just rather indifferent to good or evil but have a firm commitment to some sort of balance of the two, is one of the goofiest ideas in the history of fantasy fiction (hardly a genre unfamiliar with goofy ideas). It is the alignment system adhered to ad absurdum and the limitations of alignments as a useful storytelling concept made manifest. Be rid of it, oh devotees of Krynn. The Dragonlance setting and the alignment system will both be on firmer ground without this nonsense.