Dungeons & Dragons testing out even more Underdark subclasses and species

Another new Unearthed Arcana featuring Underdark options was just released, this time highlighted by three new subclasses and several interesting new species options. The new Underdark Options 2 PDF was just released, featuring three new subclasses – a Freedom Domain Cleric, a Circle of Spores Druid, and a Faerzress Sorcerer. Additionally, five new species were presented for playtesting: the Deep Imaskari, Drider, Illithidkin (creatures experimented on by illithid), kuo-toa, and myconid.

The Freedom Domain cleric is a high-Dexterity Cleric with a spell list full of movement related spells. The Freedom Domain Cleric’s Channel Divinity ends various conditions on all allied creatures within 30 feet and additionally allows those creatures to move up to their Speed by using their Reaction without provoking Opportunity Attacks. The Circle of Spores Druid is reworked from 5th Edition and includes buffs to the Halo of Spores, Fungal Infestation, and Fungal Body abilities, as well as a new feature called Explosive Burst, which causes the fungal zombies the player animates to blow up when they die. The Faerzress Sorcerer is a sorcerer mutated by faerzress, a radiation created by Lolth to shape the Underdark. These sorcerers can create Faerzress zones and can eventually laces their spells with faerzress, which prevents targets from teleporting and prevents them from casting Divination spells.

Of the five new species, the most interesting are the drider (which drew heavy inspiration from the Centaur species) and the Myconid. The drider is a Lolth-associated monster that’s a combination of a drow and a spider, while the Myconid is a sentient mushroom person. The Myconid, notably, is the first Plant species playable in 5.5E, while this marks the first time that a drider has been a player character race in official D&D books (at least from my cursory research.)

You can check out the full playtest here.

 

[Keith Langley]

“Large” is double “medium” in all dimensions, which means it should be around 11 ft. Tall and have a mass of around 600 kg.

Double height and area but 8x volume and weight.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Double height and area but 8x volume and weight.

Indeed - human is 80 kg, times 8 is 640. It’s an estimate, so one significant figure is 600 kg. Which, more by luck than good management, is the mass of a large horse.

 

[saviirkad]

Just saw what species the Kobold Press book has in it, which are a different group of critters. So it's fortuitous timing, but not a UA for what Kobold Press is self-publishing.

I think a couple possible scenarios are either this is UA for something Kobold Press is designing and WotC is publishing, and Kobold Press is self-publishing additional content designed to be used in conjunction, or this is UA for something WotC is doing on their own and Kobold Press is using their access to their advantage by self-publishing additional content that can be used alongside it, separate from the project they're designing for WotC.

I don't think there's any chance at all that this UA is for content that Kobold Press is self-publishing. We've never got UA for third party content before anyway.

 

[WhatTheEyeSees]

R.A. Salvatore is also working on an icons release and this feels Drizzt adjacent.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The "underdark" halflings were canon. They were "deep halflings" in 3.5 and in 2nd Ed they were the stouts. Let's say they were like halflings with a touch of dwarves.

I miss the gloamings as PC specie but they can't be only shadow planetouched with black wings. What if they are the mixture of shadow planetouched and glimmerfolk(Dragon magazine #321)? (I suspect somebody read too many romantic stories about impossible loves). Or maybe they were created by the shadow dragons. Maybe they have got a complicated love-hate relation with the light. They miss and need it but soon are sick.

* Chitines aren't yet an official PC specie in 5e.

* I think racial feats are necessary because these help each PC specie to reach its own style or identity.

* I can't imagine all kuo-toas in 5e with their own and personal Lovecraftian pokemon. What if a player wants to create new familiars working as simbiontic living-grafts for their kuo-toa PCs? Or a living weapon like the amphystaffs (by Yuuzhan Vong in Star Wars legends).

 

[mamba]

Just saw what species the Kobold Press book has in it, which are a different group of critters. So it's fortuitous timing, but not a UA for what Kobold Press is self-publishing.

at most it would be for what KP is creating for the Forgotten Realms, and then there being no overlap would probably be intentional

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

R.A. Salvatore is also working on an icons release and this feels Drizzt adjacent.

I don't think the Underdark should always default to being a Drizzt thing, but this definitely includes content for the Forgotten Realms Underdark (and without anything specifically for the Oerth one, for instance), so there's a good chance you're right.

 

[Michael Blackett]

Um, tinkering with Faerzress sorcery...for an AD&D 2e session, using the sorcerer class in BGEE in the Greyhawk setting in and around Ereihei-Cinlu...

The Drider may be doable, having previously seen a 3.5e supplement on Drow involving the Drow as a playable race. Interesting concept, though most drider are lvl6...

 

[TravDoc42]

If we do get an Underdark book, it would be cool to get more of a role for aboleths! I'd love an aboleth savant stat block!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Different kinds of aboleths appeared in Dragon magazine #131, and rewritten or retconected in the module "Night Below" but these would be better for a 5.5 version of "Lords of Madness: Book of aberrations", with crunch about "biopunk grafts".

In 3e new aberrations appeared and they would deserver an update.

Could a nerfed version of draegloths become a playable specie?