D&D 5E New Unearthed Arcana Today: Giant Themed Class Options and Feats

A new Unearthed Arcana dropped today, focusing on giant-themed player options. "In today’s Unearthed Arcana, we explore character options related to the magic and majesty of giants. This playtest document presents the Path of the Giant barbarian subclass, the Circle of the Primeval druid subclass, the Runecrafter wizard subclass, and a collection of new feats, all for use in Dungeons & Dragons."

Giant Options | Unearthed Arcana | Dungeons & Dragons

Explore character options related to the magic and majesty of giants! This playtest document presents new subclasses for the barbarian, druid, and wizard, and a collection of new feats, all for use in Dungeons & Dragons.

dnd.wizards.com

New Class options:

• Barbarian: Path of the Giant
• Druid: Circle of the Primeval
• Wizard: Runecrafter Tradition

New Feats:

• Elemental Touched
• Ember of the Fire Giant
• Fury of the Frost Giant
• Guile of the Cloud Giant
• Keeness of the Stone Giant
• Outsized Might
• Rune Carver Apprentice
• Rune Carvwr Adept
• Soul of the Storm Giant
• Vigor of the Hill Giant

WotC's Jeremy Crawford talks Barbarian Path of the Giant here:

 

[Remathilis]

Yes, it looks like Fizban's Giant material, mixing 4E and 2E mythology, from James Wyatt.

I'm thinking more of an "Object of Everything" style expansion with a bunch of subclasses for each class rather than a monster supplement like Fizban.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

The main reason to think that WotC thinks a Giant centered Monster book is a good ideas is that they just put out a slew of Giant related options, as theybdid with Fizban's. Druids in 4E were all, amd I emphasize all, Giant related through the Primal Power source, along with Barbarians, Shamans and Warden. And, hey, look...a "Primeval" version of Barbarians and Druids. This is Wyatt bringing his 4E lore back and weaving it into the new framework.

I think you might be conflating "Primal" and "Primordial", when in 4e they meant different things.

4e Primordials were Elemental entities - many new creations of "mixed" elements, because the Elemental Chaos was a thing they were pushing, but also your standard "archomentals" like Imix, Cryonax, Yan-C-Bin, etc. 4e giants (and their titan ancestors) were also considered Elemental creatures, leaning heavily into their Elemental theming.

But "Primal" in 4e referred to things of the natural world - "wild gods" and the like tied intrinsically to the Material plane, rather than the Astral or the Elemental.

 

[Parmandur]

I think you might be conflating "Primal" and "Primordial", when in 4e they meant different things.

4e Primordials were Elemental entities - many new creations of "mixed" elements, because the Elemental Chaos was a thing they were pushing, but also your standard "archomentals" like Imix, Cryonax, Yan-C-Bin, etc. 4e giants (and their titan ancestors) were also considered Elemental creatures, leaning heavily into their Elemental theming.

But "Primal" in 4e referred to things of the natural world - "wild gods" and the like tied intrinsically to the Material plane, rather than the Astral or the Elemental.

The natural, material world which is tied intimately to the Elemental Planes.

Yes, the Giants are Epwmental creatures, which the options in this UA seem to emphasize, which makes it seem clear they are porting some of that Elemental energy into 5E.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm thinking more of an "Object of Everything" style expansion with a bunch of subclasses for each class rather than a monster supplement like Fizban.

Eeeeehhh, doesn't seem that probable: this isn't organized like the Xanathar's/Tasha's test, but it is organized like the Fizban's tests.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

The natural, material world which is tied intimately to the Elemental Planes.

I mean, yes, but only as much as it is also tied to the Astral. The Material plane is where the Elemental and the Astral overlap. My 4e lore is admittedly rusty, but the point of Primal entities and power sources was to give the "natural world" defenders distinct from the Gods of the Astral or the Primordials of the Elemental.

The imagery of giants riding/herding mammoths and the like is solid, but outside of "being big" and possibly "living relics of an ancient time", I don't see much of the kind of thematic connection between giants and dinosaurs or other megafauna that you seem to be implying, especially from a 4e "giants as elementals" perspective.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

After Werewolf: the Apocalypse I can't see the D&D fomorian giants without the pseudonatural template. These setting could add some Lovecraftian cult. If we want kaijus to be hunted, then planar portals to the Far Realm could be "source of preys". (Have you eaten any time "fried squids"?)

And what about the linnorms? these could fund their own Lovecraftian version of dragon cults. They are perfect in a setting with vikings, giants and dinosaurs. Maybe they are like the spiritual brothers of the sorcerer-kings from Athas/Dark Sun.

* Sometimes I tried to imagine an elementalist class, with the game mechanic of 3.5 shadowcaster and the mysteries, but not only with shadow magic (my version is "shadow" element is the dark mattery and the dark energy from quantic physics) but all elements (even plant and metal).

* A 5ed of Hollow World is possible, but I guess it would be something like "Ghosts of Samarath". But a lot of details could be retconected, for example about the banned list of spells. Maybe the Hollow World is the "Thornhedge", the "brother" of the Feywild, with its "floating continents".

 

[Jer]

Anyway, I could see them doing a primeval/neolithic/lost world-type setting, since that's something they really haven't done before, or at least not in a long while. Heck, it could be a rewrite of the Hollow World

Darn you - now you've put that idea into my head and I'm inevitably going to be disappointed by whatever they actually decide to make no matter if it's cool or not.

 

[Minigiant]

Sure, but I don't see why that a would be a problem. It makes the subclass more generally useful if it also works for a grizzy bear companion.

But we won't have a very Primeval Primeval druid tho.

You can make that character with a druid of the land

Not really. Druids don't have the proficiency now class features for full weapons combat. And buff spells are restricted by concentration.

Theros has a major rules variant. Actually, it has three: piety, supernatural gifts, and no core races apart from human.

Artificers, on the other hand, are not a rules variant. You do not have to be in Eberron to play an artificer, I've seen plenty running around in the Forgotten Realms and in the Feywild

Theros does have a rules variant to make hoplites over other styles, core demigod rules, and other everapperant Greeco or Mythic rules. Piety and supernatural gifts are not guaranteed.it was variants but not ones that warp the many assumptions of the game beside race choice.

5e doesn't add new rules system to shift the main game heavily towards a theme to play the way the theme works rather than the base game's preferences.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Positivity can be just as pointless, if more pleasant.

I don’t really agree, but that’s fine.

Fair point though. I'll try to keep it to a dull roar.

I appreciate it. Other than that recent tendency I enjoy reading what you post.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

5e doesn't add new rules system to shift the main game heavily towards a theme to play the way the theme works rather than the base game's preferences.

No, it expands on rules from the core books to do that. And does so very well.