D&D 5E New Unearthed Arcana: Heroes of Krynn Revisited

WotC's Jeremy Crawford has announced a new Unearthed Arcana article today with redesigns from the prior Heroes of Krynn UA based on feedback, and in the following video he discusses that feedback and what's in the article:

• New iteration of Kender based on feedback survey, due to mixed response. This time is a back to basics, aiming to capture 1E AD&D fearlessness, curiosity and taunting skills. Delve into their origins from Gnomes in deep history.
• Kender are no longer fey creatures who grab objects from the Feywild
• Tweaked Feats from prior article
• Tweaked Backgrounds from prior article
• Brand new rule giving a list of free Feats for ANY Background
• Free Feat rule for Level 4 for all characters that doesn't take the ASI away, based on a curated list
• Reveals that in the Adventure, healing magic is already back.

Heroes of Krynn Revisited | Unearthed Arcana | Dungeons & Dragons

Explore updated character options from the Dragonlance setting! This playtest document presents revised races, subclasses, backgrounds, and feats.

dnd.wizards.com

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think that backgrounds giving out multiple bonus feats could be a fine... if every background worked that way. Right now, I think they need to turn off the free-stuff faucet until the edition gets a refresh and all of the backgrounds get boosted in the same way. It feels super lazy and grimy to give new backgrounds way more than classic ones.

They don't get more than classic ones though?

Literally it says all backgrounds get a free Feat at L1 and L4. That's like, the rule. It's just Knights of Solamnia and Mages of High Sorcery have their L1 Feat chosen for them.

 

[Parmandur]

I think that backgrounds giving out multiple bonus feats could be a fine... if every background worked that way. Right now, I think they need to turn off the free-stuff faucet until the edition gets a refresh and all of the backgrounds get boosted in the same way. It feels super lazy and grimy to give new backgrounds way more than classic ones.

In the article, all Backgrounds are.

 

[NaturalZero]

In the article, all Backgrounds are.

I guess i missed it saying "whatever background" as a skimmed it over. Certainly an interesting power bump that I can imagine every player I have looking for.

 

[Parmandur]

I guess i missed it saying "whatever background" as a skimmed it over. Certainly an interesting power bump that I can imagine every player I have looking for.

Definitely a trial balloon to see if people like souped up Backgrounds.

 

[The Perechon]

I'm curious to see if the "You gain two superiority dice, which you add to the dice you have from the Squire of Solamnia feat" language was meant to stack each time you take a different KoS feat. They wrote that you keep your previous feats, but I imagine it's quite possible they don't mean to add 6 SD to the two from SoS (if a character takes all three feats), but instead just meant that the character could benefit from choosing any of the maneuvers, but still max out at 4 d8 SD.

Also, as far as the extra feats are concerned, to me Dragonlance has always been a bit more "low magic" than, say, the Forgotten Realms. If they mean to keep a darker, (slightly) grittier feel, perhaps the feats are a way to make up for a party that's not loaded down with Holy Avengers, flying carpets and Staffs of the Magi at level 7. More capabilities for the characters without relying on items fits in more with theme IMHO. A Knight of Solamnia battlemaster is still a beast at level 12 even if he doesn't have a magic item to his name.

 

[Parmandur]

Feat at L1 and a Feat at L4. Interesting, definitely a change of direction from the "Yo Feats are totally optional" of 5E initial. I get that this is campaign-specific but unless it's unpopular I daresay DND2024 will make not having Feats be the weird optional state.

A la cart Feats might still be an option, or even gone entirely from Core: souped up Backgrounds are better, and easier to make narratives gronded expansions in future products.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

A la cart Feats might still be an option, or even gone entirely from Core: souped up Backgrounds are better, and easier to make narratives gronded expansions in future products.

A la carte is an interesting compromise, that forces people to still work for it if they want a particularly powerful feat (though I actively frown at WotC for putting Tough - arguably a trap Feat in even 5E - on that "carte") whilst still providing people a bit more mechanical choice. I'd have picked Knight of Solamnia so quick I wouldn't even have read the other options though

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Which shows that these feats are very strong...arguably almost too strong.

I will wait to see how they revise/finalize it. But I don't think these are balanced well...my opinion, of course.

Edit: Case in point. The Martial Adept feat...are these feats stronger than Martial Adept?

I think that martials need the love. It is mostly combat utility and really nothing purely martial breaks the game in my opinion.

 

[ko6ux]

I am fine with each background getting a free feat at 1st and 4th level. It's just that this implementation is kind of bad at modeling membership in an organization like in the KoS and MoHS. It's fine if you start out wanting to be a part of the organization at 1st level, but it's bad if you want to join beyond that.

Sturm Brightblade, the prototypical KoS of the fiction, did not become a Knight until 10th level.

What about renegade mages who join the conclave only after leveling for a while (and possibly being hunted and forced to join)?

These characters don't get any of the mechanical benefits afforded by the feat chains.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I am fine with each background getting a free feat at 1st and 4th level. It's just that this implementation is kind of bad at modeling membership in an organization like in the KoS and MoHS. It's fine if you start out wanting to be a part of the organization at 1st level, but it's bad if you want to join beyond that.

Sturm Brightblade, the prototypical KoS of the fiction, did not become a Knight until 10th level.

What about renegade mages who join the conclave only after leveling for a while (and possibly being hunted and forced to join)?

These characters don't get any of the mechanical benefits afforded by the feat chains.

The feat trees don't seem to require the associated backgrounds. You won't get them for free, but you can still pick them up as long as you meet the pre-requisites.