Unearthed Arcana Light, Dark, Underdark - November's Unearthed Arcana

Interesting stuff.

 

[jgsugden]

If a DM has all monsters disengage and advance to avoid the OAs, they're not attacking.... and youi can disengage and step back 10 feet.... while your allies attack.... you might not get the OAs, but you're amazingly effective when you force enemies to disengage and move forward.

Strength of the Grave also looks a bit strong to me when applied to a melee character with a good con save. My dwarf barbarian might just have to add one level of sorcerer. If he has 1 hp and takes 20 damage (reduced to 10 from the rage) while raging, a DC 15 save means he takes no damage. If you specialize in making con saves, you can be one heck of a punching bag....

 

[jodyjohnson]

.... and you can disengage and step back 10 feet....

Puts on evil DM hat: "Sentinel!!"

Just kidding.

 

[Benji]

Agreed 110‰, I'll add calling the patron undying light makes it confusing, change it to Celestial Pact, also Xag-ya, ravids could also make cool patrons. Or the souls of babies waiting to be born.

I'm stealing the hell out of that last sentance as an idea for something.

Also on a 'High Price' note , could you play it like the patron hold you to an impossibly high or 'holy war' standard? Like you eventually have to do things like forsaken all material wealth or exist on sunlight alone instead of air somedays, or hate on a racial group that's connected to darkness but not actually bad? That might be how I did it.

 

[Jester David]

Well, not if your build includes Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert: then the standard archery fighting style avoids duplication and nets you a +2 instead of just a +1.

But sure, if you can do without the +10 to damage and extra attack on your bonus action, this style is a much cheaper option.

If your build includes two feats, it could also include two Dex boosts, which is another +2 attk & dmg. More damage and higher accuracy.

 

[Louis Brenton]

I'm pretty impressed. This is either my favorite or second-favorite UA article since 5E launched.

I think the close-quarters shooter is decently close to balanced. I think the +1 rather than +2 is an appropriate balance for its advantages. However, I might suggest that the cover-nullification ability be limited to 20ish feet, rather than 30.

Tunnel Fighter stand-in-the-gap defensive style is great.

I like how the Deep Stalker Underdark Ranger archetype is handled. The mix of thematic material & mechanics is excellent.

Shadow Sorcerer adds another flavored option to a group of already-interesting options.

I particularly like the Undying Light Warlock option. It takes the Faustian deal-with-the-devil concept Warlock & flips it on its head in some very interesting ways. I'm inclined to agree with some of the other posters above that think it might be better to dial the patron in to a specific good deity, rather than a "generic positivity."

I'm also loving the Shadow Sorcerer quirks & Undying Light Warlock flaws. I love seeing things come to the UA conversation that are supplementing role-playing opportunities, rather than just adding crunch. More please.

 

[Li Shenron]

Actually, I think a Fighter, Paladin or Ranger having to give up their Bonus action every round to remain in the defensive stance is potentially a rather big deal.

Yes but it's only the first round, not each round.

 

[kalani]

Yes but it's only the first round, not each round.

Not true, as the stance only lasts until the start of your next turn. As such, you would need to spend a bonus action each turn in order to keep the benefits from round to round.

 

[Benji]

My initial impression is neutral. Another UA with more class options....? I thought UA was supposed to be for general optional rule variants for the game too?

I am realising that UA is probably never gponna be about Monsters at any point, which sadens me. Also Underdark options now most of us are way past the character creation part of a satoryline SET IN THE UNDERDARK? Clap Clap for the timing.

Having said that I do like all of the material provided.

 

[CapnZapp]

If your build includes two feats, it could also include two Dex boosts, which is another +2 attk & dmg. More damage and higher accuracy.

Yes. What's your point? To tell me that there is an alternate cost to taking a feat?

 

[FowlJ]

These look interesting, but I have the same issue with the 'Strength of the Grave' ability that I have with Concentration saves, which is that enemy damage starts high and increases way, way faster than CON saves. Like, a CR 3 Githyanki Warrior does 16 damage in total with their greatsword and attacks twice. That's two DC 21 saves at CR 3, and it only gets higher as enemies get more powerful. The sorcerer isn't supposed to be unkillable, of course, and the ability is pretty good against really weak enemies, but anything greater than CR 1 basically ignores it entirely.

Like, Concentration in particular isn't a huge deal because it's half damage or ten and only the big recharge or x/day attacks normally deal much more than 20 or so, even pretty high up there, but making it the same math as those would make it too good I think, so I don't know what the ideal balance would be.