Dungeons & Dragons Releases New Unearthed Arcana Subclasses, Strongly Hinting at Dark Sun

Wizards of the Coast has released four new D&D subclasses for playtesting, all of which have heavy thematic ties to the post-apocalyptic Dark Sun setting. The four subclasses, released as "Apocalyptic Subclasses," include the Circle of Preservation Druid, the Gladiator Fighter, the Defiled Sorcerer, and the Sorcerer-King Patron Warlock. Although not stated outright, the Gladiator and Sorcerer-King Patron are explicit nods to the Dark Sun setting, set in a ruined world ruled by Sorcerer-Kings where gladiatorial fights were common.

The Circle of Preservation Druid creates areas of preserved land that grants buffs to those who stand upon it. The Gladiator adds secondary Weapon Mastery properties to their attacks, with bonus abilities. Notably, the Gladiator uses Charisma as its secondary stat. The Defiled Sorcerer can expend its hit dice to amp up damage to its attacks and can also steal the life of its targets to deal additional damage. The Sorcerer-King Patron gains a number of abilities tying into tyranny and oppression, with the ability to cast Command as a Bonus Action without expending a spell slot, causing targets to gain the Frightened Condition, and forcing those who attack them to re-roll successful attacks.

The survey for the subclasses goes live on August 28th.

 

[Michael Blackett]

My take..

Having only known AD&D 2e version of the product, having some concerns in how "if" there is going to be a 2024e iteration how will they approach some of the core themes from 2e > 4e >2024e.

Slavery being a hot topic which back in 2e if using the packed adventure module clipboard the PCs automatically are slaves of Tyr and fight for their freedom. No doubt given 2024e stance this will be a Taboo subject, next to the ravages of defiler magic on the environment.

Saying that, what I would like to see is possibly the rapid changes that occurred in the O.G. 2e edition handled in a sensible fashion so newcomers don't feel as though they are getting whiplash in reading and digesting.

I felt the short stories within the adventures went long way to maintain the flavour, which should be retained. Particularly in a world such as Athas where a lot has been lost due to the actions of a powerful few.