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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[LuisCarlos17f]

Today even Friends, one of the first sitcom that showed a wedding of a same-gender couple, it is not enough "politically correct" now.

And lot of D&D characters do a lot of horrible things, for example some dark lords were cursed because violence against their wives.

 

[James Gasik]

You know, another spell that seems to me to be just as problematic as a love potion is modify memory. Gaslighting somebody and altering their reality is pretty nasty stuff.

 

[Mind of tempest]

You know, another spell that seems to me to be just as problematic as a love potion is modify memory. Gaslighting somebody and altering their reality is pretty nasty stuff.

I can see grey and even good uses for it but your right it is dangerous.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As far as I can tell the author herself would have been vetoed too, so it's way past time for the "spirit of the age" to change to the Age of Kobra Kai, aka counter cultural to this age, with freer speech.

Transphobia isn’t protected speech, it’s hate speech. She would be “vetoed” because of a disposable behavior.

The spirit of the age is heading in absolutely the right direction.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

But there are also much more mundane/morally good uses of Enchantment magic. You can use Suggestion to force your child to eat their vegetables. You can use Geas on a villain to keep them from doing evil. You can prevent a criminal from getting away with Command. Dominate Person can be used to force a murderer to confess their guilt.

Not all Mind Control magic is inherently bad. Enchantment spells can be used for good. However, Love Potions are inherently evil. It gets rid of consent, which is evil in literally any circumstance that it can be used in. There are circumstances where temporarily controlling the mind of someone else can achieve good. A love potion can not be used in a way that is good. They're just inherently evil.

All mind control is rape.

 

[Hussar]

All mind control is rape.

Really, when you get down to it, you're not wrong. Depriving someone of their free will to force them to do something is pretty much the definition of rape really. I wonder, when the revised 5e comes down the pipe, if we're going to see a major reworking of the enchantment school.

Like I said, something like Hypnotic Pattern is not really any more evil than any other combat spell. It's effectively a stun grenade. But Suggestion? Charm? Dominate? These are pretty awful when you start to think about them.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Really, when you get down to it, you're not wrong. Depriving someone of their free will to force them to do something is pretty much the definition of rape really. I wonder, when the revised 5e comes down the pipe, if we're going to see a major reworking of the enchantment school.

Like I said, something like Hypnotic Pattern is not really any more evil than any other combat spell. It's effectively a stun grenade. But Suggestion? Charm? Dominate? These are pretty awful when you start to think about them.

I think the difference here is that - for most people - mind control isn't a real fear one has to keep in mind when going about one's life, and rape very much is for a significant portion of the populace. There are, of course, exceptions where behavior modification really does happen: cults, abusive relationships, etc. But literal <snap> now your thought process has been altered isn't really a thing outside of traumatic head injuries. So I don't really have a problem with mind control the same way I do mind control in the specific field of love and sex. I wouldn't want to see changes to the game as a result of those sorts of concerns.

Now in-book examinations of enchantment and where that school fits in with notions and perceptions of heroism? Worth exploring. At the very least, I think it might be interesting to highlight magic societies that paint enchantment with the same exclusionary brush as necromancy.

 

[Remathilis]

Part of the issue I think is that outside a handful of protection, utility and healing spells, most magic is very gray morally.

Enchantment can rob a person of free will.
Transmutation can affect a person's body autonomy and identity.
Divination can invade a person's privacy and thoughts.
Illusion can manipulate a person's senses and gaslight them.
Necromancy can affect both the physical body and immortal soul.
Evocation can injure, kill, or otherwise harm other living beings.
Conjuration can rip creatures from other places and force them to fight for you.

Now, that might not be true of all situations or spells, but generally trends in each school is toward some form of violence against others, be it physical or mental. Not to say love potions are harmless, but perhaps they aren't much more harmful than some other PHB magic.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Really, when you get down to it, you're not wrong. Depriving someone of their free will to force them to do something is pretty much the definition of rape really. I wonder, when the revised 5e comes down the pipe, if we're going to see a major reworking of the enchantment school.

Like I said, something like Hypnotic Pattern is not really any more evil than any other combat spell. It's effectively a stun grenade. But Suggestion? Charm? Dominate? These are pretty awful when you start to think about them.

I really wish we could just straight up relegate most enchantment to "monster stuff", frankly. Charm Person can be seen as closer to illussion than mind control, and worded in a way that supports that usage, but beyond that..."I heroically take control of his mind and make him murder his best friend" is not a statement with any sensible usage.

I think the difference here is that - for most people - mind control isn't a real fear one has to keep in mind when going about one's life, and rape very much is for a significant portion of the populace. There are, of course, exceptions where behavior modification really does happen: cults, abusive relationships, etc. But literal <snap> now your thought process has been altered isn't really a thing outside of traumatic head injuries. So I don't really have a problem with mind control the same way I do mind control in the specific field of love and sex. I wouldn't want to see changes to the game as a result of those sorts of concerns.

I know too many people who have been abused and who are uncomfortable with fantasy mind control for that reason, to agree.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah, magic is problematic, it can be very easily abused, and we give it to Wizards, who generally have no sense of right or wrong "hey, what would happen if I magically spliced an owl and a bear?" "I don't know, dude, try it out!".

Joking aside, if a player was triggered by abuses of Enchantment, I would take it seriously, but I'd have to (gently) point out that this is a game, and bad things happen sometimes in this one. Like the time I accidentally triggered a player's phobia by having an Imp take the form of a centipede.

I'm not going to go out of my way to attack you with zombies if you have necrophobia, but it's D&D. Zombies happen.