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]

Personally I would have had it be an option to empower spells by sucking the life from the land, killing every plant and non-hostile tiny beast in a 15 foot radius or something. Let the DMs figure out what the consequences of PCs going around causing circles of wasteland and let the Players figure out goofy ways to make sucking the life out of plants and/or a random squirrel somehow work for their schemes. Keep it simple and evocative, with invitations to creativity.

I wager there will be feats that factor in too, especially for other types of casters other than sorcerer. This is the "my identity is defiler" and can draw from creatures and not just the environment..

 

[GarrettKP]

I wager there will be feats that factor in too, especially for other types of casters other than sorcerer. This is the "my identity is defiler" and can draw from creatures and not just the environment..

There will for sure be feats.

We’ve got confirmation on numerous Spellfire feats for FR, literally three tiers of Dragonmark feats for Eberron, so Defiler feats for Dark Sun feel like a no-brainer.

Also nice to know where the Wild Talent feats are going to be coming.

 

[Zaukrie]

With the understanding that all damage and status effects are temporary and the victim recovers in time, there are all kinds of mechanics that represent the draining of energy/life or enervation. It broadens the design space, and I like that. Examples include:

Hit Point loss due to damage
Hit Point Dice loss
Exhaustion
Death penalties
Lowering HP maximum
Unable to regain HP
Disadvantage and Status effects that make you worse/weaker.

As for your final point, it's not added because it isn't mechanical. I do miss ribbons for story and flavor, even if they took up space. Maybe they add a ribbon that non-creature plant life is destroyed in a radius that expands based on spell level?

Almost none of that applies to enemies who will be dead in four rounds.

For themselves? I like the option of damaging yourself, that's cool. I can live with that as a start. Or course, it doesn't start until level three....I understand the design reasons why, doesn't mean I like it.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Right. It's almost like they want it to tank.

Well, it's not a surprise to me, as it is widely known that all Unearthed Arcana articles get a survey that opens the week after the article is released. That survey is open for 2 weeks.

Some may say that is not long enough, but that is how it worked leading up to the 2024 PHB subclasses too.

If people care, they will provide their feedback.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Damn. These subclasses are trash.

At least they're going to open Dark Sun up to the DM's Guild so the fans can do it right.

I'd play a bunch of these Subclasses. They look good.

The duality of humanity at work...

 

[Kilimanjaro]

Gladiator Warrior - I'm not sure this really stacks up well against most Fighter subclasses, because it caused MAD and due to the low number of limited uses and the 1/round way it works, Brutality seems to be objectively hugely worse than (like gigantically worse) than Battlemaster abilities. Indeed basically all their abilities seem to be just kinda-rubbish compared to a Battlemaster who can pretty much do all of that with a ton more bonus damage and can do more of it and isn't locked to 1/round usage. The parry is 1/long rest? For, on a good day, +3 or +4 AC - so like a really Shield spell, something an EK can do a hell of a lot more than 1/long rest, and that also a Battlemaster can do multiple times per short rest with Evasive Footwork giving +Battlemaster die to AC - which even at low levels averages +4.5 AC, and that just goes up, that scales, unlike this (that's not reactive but unlike this it applies to every attack and also gives a free Disengage, and Shield also applies to every attack after it's cast, unlike this). Even the L15 ability is rubbish next to the (very similar) BM equivalent - a BM every single turn (not even round, turn!), they a "free" use of a 1d8 BM die. But these guys just get 2 extra Brutality per short rest by having 1 each be restored by Action Surge and Second Wind.

I'm sorry anyone thinks this is good or even okay really needs to go look at Battlemaster. This is very similar to a BM, but objectively worse in almost every way. I am confident you could set up a Battlemaster, trivially, to be essentially better at everything this guy can do and have more flexibility by some margin. If I'm wrong, please tell me how!

It's so underpowered and so profoundly mechanically similar to a Battlemaster I had to check Battlemaster didn't get nerfed in 2024. But they didn't. They got buffed! Weird man. They need to buff this a lot, not just a little bit unless I totally ADHD'd my way past some important and powerful clause.

You can Flourish Parry as much as you want. You can only Flourish Counter once per long rest (recharge by spending a use of Second Wind)

 

[Demetrios1453]

Survey goes live August 28? Wow, nice to know that they are really committed to giving people time to absorb the information and provide thoughtful feedback, based on actual playtesting, rather than just a hot take!

That's how every UA has been recently. Almost all of which have passed and gone on to be published with at most fairly minimal changes (other than the PDK).

 

[Corinnguard]

All this said, the art is interesting because that ain't Athas. Pine trees? A normal sky? Metal armour? Does anyone know if this is just WotC art from another product?

Maybe we're looking at a pic of Athas during its' Green Age? Back when it resembled every other world on the Material Plane. Before the dark times...

 

[Mistwell]

Right. It's almost like they want it to tank.

I think this time frame for opening the first survey date (it then goes on for weeks) is standard for UAs for a while now.

 

[DarkCrisis]

As someone else mentioned, it’s not going to be a setting book. It will be an (half-arsed) adventure book with probably less than minimal lore.

The real gold will be in the DMs guild.