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.

 

[Remathilis]

Changing the baseline kind is a big change to the lore of Athas. Mechanically, it is a sound and simple switch, but it definitely is a shift in tone.

Maybe so, but it's thematically more satisfying to say, "I'm trying to preserve, but the temptation to get extra power via defiling is tempting" than it is to say, "I have to intentionally tie one arm behind my back in order to be a good person". Maybe it's my Star Wars addled brain, but I find it easier to understand "the Force is primarily the Light Side, but the temptation to quicker power lies in the Dark Side" than it is to say "The Force is primarily Dark, so I have to hold back to avoid being corrupted"

 

[occam]

Sorcerer is … conditionally good? I like what they’ve done, but I’m wary that this might be the only mechanical nod to defiling. The defiling choice needs to be a decision and temptation that every caster faces with every spell they cast, not something reserved for one eeeEEeevil subclass. If there are separate defiling rules that apply to everyone and this class represents a sorcerer who consciously focuses on defiling, then it’s good. If this is the only defiling mechanic in the book, then it’s projectile vomiting time, and sadly I strongly suspect this is how it will be.

This was exactly the situation in the original Dark Sun boxed set: only members of the Defiler wizard subclass used defiling magic.

Making whether to defile a choice when casting a spell is something that 4e Dark Sun introduced. So I assume that you were a fan of 4e Dark Sun, and would projectile vomit at the idea of something like 2e Dark Sun?

 

[occam]

Basically Mages had to choose to defile or not. This increased or decreased the casting time.

This has never been how defiling worked.

 

[Eubani]

This has never been how defiling worked.

I corrected myself afterwards

 

[occam]

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.

It's exactly the same as the original Dark Sun. You had to CHOOSE, when creating a character, whether to be a Defiler. The ONLY way to cast Defiling magic was to be a Defiler Wizard.

The narrative of Dark Sun has been that Defiling is the normal way that Arcane magic works. But the mechanics have ALWAYS been the reverse: Preserving is the default, Defiling is a CHOICE. A choice of subclass (OG and E&R DS), a choice when prepping spells (E&R DS), or a choice when casting a daily spell (4e DS). If you don't make that mechanical choice, the baseline is Preserving magic.

 

[Alzrius]

Making whether to defile a choice when casting a spell is something that 4e Dark Sun introduced.

Untrue, see pages 29-32 of Defilers and Preservers: The Wizards of Athas (affiliate link), which was an AD&D 2E Dark Sun supplement (1996).

 

[Eubani]

 

[occam]

Changing the baseline kind is a big change to the lore of Athas. Mechanically, it is a sound and simple switch, but it definitely is a shift in tone.

No; it's the same tone. The baseline mechanics for Arcane spellcasting in every edition/revision of Dark Sun have been Preserving magic. Defiling magic has always been the mechanical outlier in some way. If 5e Dark Sun operates similarly, it'll be exactly in keeping with every previous incarnation.

 

[Eubani]

 

[occam]

Untrue, see pages 29-32 of Defilers and Preservers: The Wizards of Athas (affiliate link), which was an AD&D 2E Dark Sun supplement (1996).

No, that isn't describing a choice made when casting a spell, it's made when preparing spells for the day. The choice to defile at the time of spellcasting was novel to 4e, unless there's something I missed.