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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Honestly the main addition I made running Dark Sun was Shardminds. The idea was that a fragment of the Living Gate fell to Athas millions of years ago, before it was cut off from the rest of the multiverse, and getting burried deep underground. Though, a lot of it was blasted into fine dust and spread over the planet. Nearly everything on Athas has tiny fragments of the Living Gate in it, which is why Psionics and strange mutations are so prevalent.

And of course some larger fragments have awakened as Shardminds.

I have mixed feelings about Shardminds. They were extremely unpopular in 4e, and I think that it was because of the design. People like their characters to look cool and this, I think many would agree, is not great:

Perhaps if they looked a little more like a person, say something like this (though, you know, by a human artist):

 

[Chaltab]

I have mixed feelings about Shardminds. They were extremely unpopular in 4e, and I think that it was because of the design. People like their characters to look cool and this, I think many would agree, is not great:
View attachment 415969
Perhaps if they looked a little more like a person, say something like this (though, you know, by a human artist):
View attachment 415972

I had never known they were unpopular, TBH. They were at least popular enough to get multiple 5E homebrew conversions.

I always thought they looked neat and I think the AI one there looks pretty generic by comparison.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I’m not familiar with them, but I’m thinking Tholian.

I don’t have an issue with very alien PCs, we already have thri-kreen.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I have mixed feelings about Shardminds. They were extremely unpopular in 4e, and I think that it was because of the design. People like their characters to look cool and this, I think many would agree, is not great:
View attachment 415969
Perhaps if they looked a little more like a person, say something like this (though, you know, by a human artist):
View attachment 415972

I think they're about as (un)popular as Wildren that were also in 4e.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think they're about as (un)popular as Wildren that were also in 4e.

Less popular than most races outside the top 12 or so. Those being PHB, Gith and Genasi iirc.

 

[pemerton]

I've always been a fan of more than one way to skin a concept, so the Legions of Templars could contain scheming magicians who swore pacts to the SK and your fanatical warriors who swore an oath to them.

I’m a big fan of in-world groups that lie across class lines, and vice versa. This sounds very pleasing.

That is how 4e Dark Sun handled it (and also gladiators): templar is a theme, not a class. From p 34:

A theme embraces characters of almost any class. For example, many templar characters are warlocks, but a templar who serves chiefly as a commander of the sorcerer-king’s troops might be better described by the warlord class, whereas a templar who is part of the sorcerer-king’s secret police could easily be a rogue. Similarly, gladiator characters are often fighters - but barbarians, battleminds, rangers, rogues, and warlords can be just as successful in the arena as a fighter can be. “Templar” and “gladiator” are therefore themes that extend beyond the warlock and fighter classes, even though they’re particularly appropriate for warlocks and fighters respectively.​

Page 94, where the Sorcerer-King warlock pact is introduced, adds this:

On Athas, many templars swear an oath to a sorcerer king in exchange for arcane power. The sorcerer-king pact reflects the training and magical transformations that a sorcerer-king might provide to an individual whom he or she deems worthy. A warlock who has this pact can draw on the reserves of power that a sorcerer-king commands.

Most warlocks of this pact are templars in a sorcerer-king’s service. They are often trusted members of the templar hierarchy who are expected to command the soldiers, the agents, or the underlings
of a sorcerer-king. Thus, the powers of the sorcerer-king pact aid allies and work well in melee. A sorcerer-king sometimes imparts his or her power to a promising protégé or a privileged noble without making the recipient into a templar, although such instances are unusual.​

There's also a Human Templar of Tyr stat block in the Dark Sun Creature Catalogue - a 10th level controller with single-target forced movement and multi-target restraint (via an "Eldritch Cage").

 

[Chaltab]

Less popular than most races outside the top 12 or so. Those being PHB, Gith and Genasi iirc.

I mean yeah, they only appeared as PCs in one book in a relatively unpopular edition. But I'd never heard of them being actively disliked due to their appearance.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean yeah, they only appeared as PCs in one book in a relatively unpopular edition. But I'd never heard of them being actively disliked due to their appearance.

The Year 3 products of 4E were unpopular compared to the first two hears: that's why WotC pivoted hard on their product line at that time.

 

[Autumnal]

It’s like we’re all geniuses! Genii. Genuses.

 

[Zardnaar]

I mean yeah, they only appeared as PCs in one book in a relatively unpopular edition. But I'd never heard of them being actively disliked due to their appearance.

Obscurity helps.

I think there's 50 odd rates in Mordenkainens. Most you'll never see.