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.

 

[bedir than]

Would it be Dark Sun if it wasn't op as hell?

Wasn't 5d6 drop 2 the default at one point?

 

[GarrettKP]

So for the Dark Sun book, what species are we thinking they bring back?

Thri-Kreen and Mul seem obvious, but are there any other that need to show up?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My opinion is WotC doesn't want to sell the building but the bricks, not the pizza but the ingredients. The intention is you will choose the way it was done.

It will be focused mainly into the crunch, and the lore almost untouched. We could see some pages about the region of Tyr, the name of the city-states and the stats for the sorcerer-kings but nothing will be said about the slavery or the cleasing war.

Maybe the sourcebook will be generic post-apocaliptic and not only about DS, and they could introduce a variant of Gamma World, or at least some creatures.

At least the setting will be unlocked in DMGuild and this should be enough for lots of players. I bet the special "fashion style" of DS could be a serious challenge for artists.

We will see the return of DS but this will be not the same, like Ravenloft from 5e, or the different James Bond movies played by different actors. The DS from 2025 can't be the same from the 90s even when the creators were the same, because experience has tought some lessons. For example to send an army from a city-state toward the neighbour crossing the dry dessert is a serious challenge for military logistic.

DS may be very cool but it is a too small "sandbox" if you want stories without links to the sorcerer-kings.

I guess some "lost" species could reappear thanks "failed" reincarnation spells.

In DS psiforged (psionic warforged), autognomes, glitchlings, shardminds or other living constructs don't need food and water and this could break the power balance.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm not sure how I feel about this UA. I'm glad they're considering Dark Sun material, but it doesn't feel particularly thematic. Also, odd that two of the subclasses are "Bad Guy" leaning.

I'm guessing that if they do use this for Dark Sun it will be assumed PCs are Preserver spellcasters by default, unless they take the Defiler subclass?

Also, if remember correctly, Athas's gods didn't die/leave - they never existed. What gods are mentioned from later ages were merely powerful Halfings from the Blue Age if I am remembering correctly.

 

[Scribe]

Mul seem obvious

The slave race deliberately bred?

Yeah, seems like a slam dunk inclusion.

Muls are half-dwarves, a cross between a male Dwarf and female Human. Because of their large bone structures, the pregnancy is hard on both the mother and Mul, usually resulting in the child having to be cut from his/her dying mother's body.

Mul

"Until you learn otherwise, it's best to assume that everyone you meet intends to rob you, enslave you, or eat you" -- Zandar, mul mercenary. A Mul is an incredibly tough crossbreed of a human and dwarf (a half-dwarf). They retain the stature, agility, and mental flexibility of humankind...

darksun.fandom.com

lol

 

[Ruin Explorer]

So for the Dark Sun book, what species are we thinking they bring back?

Thri-Kreen and Mul seem obvious, but are there any other that need to show up?

I don't think they need any others. Muls need to be 4E-style, not "slave-breeding" style (ugh).

Goliaths fit the half-giant role so they can do that.

Give us a subrace for elves, dwarves and halflings, bish bash bosh, jobs a good 'un. Maybe some subraces for dragonborn, tieflings, etc. too. We don't the Pteranodon people lol.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The slave race deliberately bred?

Yeah, seems like a slam dunk inclusion.

< sigh >

4E changed their backstory over 15 years ago.

So the only person you "gotcha'd" there was yourself. They're obviously not going to revert to the 2E backstory, they probably won't even use the 4E one and instead make them have mysterious origins and breed true or something.

 

[Steampunkette]

I mean, you can look at it that way, I guess. Personally, I see them as simply two different ways to mechanically represent what amounts to essentially the same thing in the world's fiction - some people use a type of magic that harms the world. They do it because it offers them power and they ignore the consequences.

That important aspect of the fiction remains intact, and I would personally lean into it. And, I would think that there are NPCs who do it to a whole 'nuther level. In particular Sorcerer-Kings, of course.

No. The important aspect of the fiction is GONE.

The fiction is: Divine and Nature Magic do not harm the world. Arcane Magic harms the world, inherently, and must be used in specific and careful ways to avoid doing that harm.

Wizards will not defile by default and have to work to preserve. Nor will Sorcerers. Or Arcane Knights. The message of "You have to be careful with arcane magic" is gone.

Instead you must CHOOSE to Defile. You must make the active choice to BE a Defiler. And ONLY Sorcerers can ever CHOOSE to Defile.

It's a very different message. It has trappings, but the underlying narrative, that Arcane Magic is inherently destructive, is gone.

And then slapping Preserving onto Druids just goes to show a complete misunderstanding of the message. Because Druids cannot Preserve with Nature Magic. They don't have to. It doesn't Defile by default.

I hear you. But consider.

What if as you say, baseline arcane doesnt harm the world, and defiling does, giving more power.

Kinda telling statement that they ruined their world anyway.

See above.

It changes the underlying message. It's RoboCop (2014)

If Defiling is the default assumption for Arcane Magic and the Sorcerer Kings chose to keep Defiling, it shows that the power itself is evil and they are evil for wielding it.

If Defiling is the default assumption for Arcane Magic and the Player Character choose to Preserve it shows that the power itself is evil, but that you can use evil to do good by being careful and cognizant of what you're wielding.

It's being a Warlock in 2e. Dark Power, wielded for good, minimizing harm.

 

[Scribe]

< sigh >

4E changed their backstory over 15 years ago.

So the only person you "gotcha'd" there was yourself. They're obviously not going to revert to the 2E backstory, they probably won't even use the 4E one and instead make them have mysterious origins and breed true or something.

Yeah I expected it would have been, 4e doesnt exist in my head, but the wiki didnt seem to make that clear even if it had obvious 4e art.

/shrug

So whats the coles notes version of the 4e Mul (to be fair I have found most 4e lore pretty edgelord/grim)?

 

[mamba]

It removes the exclusivity of that aspect, sure. I don't think I ever suggested otherwise. Are we meant to think of three bullet points as an exhaustive list of what something is and isn't?

the less things there are to go by, the less that thing has an identity.

If I call a car ‘car’, but call a bus, plane, and boat ‘car’ as well, I lost meaning and ‘car’ is now basically just ‘vehicle’

If you removed ‘snake hair’ instead of ‘female’, a female basilisk would now be a medusa