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

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Not quite.

There is no kender "giving" mechanic, but the kender in the stories give and take with equal ease. A kender will gladly give you anything it has in their possession, unless they think you might use it to hurt someone.

okay in what story has some non kender found an item that a kender put there they didn't know of?

The kender don't lie about stealing . . . . they don't see what they do as stealing a

bull
they can't understand 'taking something without permission is seen as theft in other societies?

nd get offended when accused of thieving. When Tasslehoff angrily defends himself, "I didn't steal your thing, I just picked it up somewhere, I'm not a thief!" He's not lying, he just sees the situation differently.

no he is telling something untrue... do we have a word for saying something that is untrue?

In the real world, we are more apt to notice when people do things that harm us, truly or in perception, than notice when they do things to help us. It's no different on Krynn. Folks focus on kender thieving more than they focus on the kindness and generosity of the average kender.

again, show your work... when did a member of the party find that tasselhoff had slipped something of his into there bag by mistake?

 

[Faolyn]

Do they lie? Or do they just truly not remember where they got stuff from. I mean, they're basically ADHD kids. ADHD is something I've had all of my life and sometimes I can't remember what I went into a room to get, because something distracted me. I can totally see a Kender saying, "Ooh, that's neat looking" and stuffing something in his pouch, then getting distracted and forgetting he ever took it.

I've also had really severe ADHD all my life, although I was only diagnosed relatively recently (pro tip: don't be a girl with ADHD in the 80s; you will not be diagnosed), and I can't be medicated for it because of other health reasons. It's not an excuse. And honestly, a race of ADHD people isn't any cooler than a race of intellectually disabled people like the gully dwarfs.

And yes, they lie. The article "All About the Kender" from Dragon #101 says they will lie even if caught in the act of stealing because of an innate defense mechanism (which is stupid, because they're fearless). So it's not just them forgetting that they picked up the thing.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

a race of ADHD people isn't any cooler than a race of intellectually disabled people like the gully dwarfs.

yes as much as once apon a time I didn't know anybetter I am VERY upset with the amout of ist in dragonlance lore. I assume the writers didn't mean to but there is ALOT of prejudice stuff mixed inl.

And yes, they lie. The article "All About the Kender" from Dragon #101 says they will lie even if caught in the act of stealing because of an innate defense mechanism (which is stupid, because they're fearless). So it's not just them forgetting that they picked up the thing.

and that is the end of it... they LIE

 

[Faolyn]

Not quite.

There is no kender "giving" mechanic, but the kender in the stories give and take with equal ease. A kender will gladly give you anything it has in their possession, unless they think you might use it to hurt someone.

Not going by the gaming material.

The kender don't lie about stealing . . . . they don't see what they do as stealing and get offended when accused of thieving. When Tasslehoff angrily defends himself, "I didn't steal your thing, I just picked it up somewhere, I'm not a thief!" He's not lying, he just sees the situation differently.

Again, not going by the gaming material, which specifically states they will lie even if caught.

In the real world, we are more apt to notice when people do things that harm us, truly or in perception, than notice when they do things to help us. It's no different on Krynn. Folks focus on kender thieving more than they focus on the kindness and generosity of the average kender.

"He was a great guy, except for all the stealing and maddening insults!" Yeah, doesn't work.

 

[Faolyn]

bull
they can't understand 'taking something without permission is seen as theft in other societies?

The article I cited from Dragon Mag? Specifically states that the reason they're so good at taunting is because they have strong, if shallow, "insights into character and nature of other people" that is acute enough "for a kender to is forge an idea of another persons character flaws, giving the kender the ability to create the most stinging insults that can be imagined. Full-scale riots have been reportedly started by irritated kender who opened up on someone with their verbal guns."

And yet they somehow can't grok the idea that other people don't like it when their stuff is taken?

As you say, bull. They are not a race that makes any sense.

For the record, this article was written my Roger Moore, and Hickman (according to Wikipedia) said that Moore was primarily responsible for what the kender ended up as.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

The article I cited from Dragon Mag? Specifically states that the reason they're so good at taunting is because they have strong, if shallow, "insights into character and nature of other people" that is acute enough "for a kender to is forge an idea of another persons character flaws, giving the kender the ability to create the most stinging insults that can be imagined. Full-scale riots have been reportedly started by irritated kender who opened up on someone with their verbal guns."

this gets worse for them not better... how could Wiess and Hickman not see the problem with this? Even before the internet and the outrage being sent everywhere someone must have told them...

And yet they somehow can't grok the idea that other people don't like it when their stuff is taken?

As you say, bull. They are not a race that makes any sense.

yeah a race that is the perfect troll to insult and get under your skin AND happens to be beloved AND forgets/lies about stealing... AND can't possible understand it is stealing...

was it Wiess and Hickman trolling?

For the record, this article was written my Roger Moore, and Hickman (according to Wikipedia) said that Moore was primarily responsible for what the kender ended up as.

so just FYI it isn't a misunderstanding... these are the creators.

 

[Maxperson]

I've also had really severe ADHD all my life, although I was only diagnosed relatively recently (pro tip: don't be a girl with ADHD in the 80s; you will not be diagnosed), and I can't be medicated for it because of other health reasons. It's not an excuse. And honestly, a race of ADHD people isn't any cooler than a race of intellectually disabled people like the gully dwarfs.

I wasn't diagnosed until 10 years ago and didn't seek out medication until this month.

And yes, they lie. The article "All About the Kender" from Dragon #101 says they will lie even if caught in the act of stealing because of an innate defense mechanism (which is stupid, because they're fearless). So it's not just them forgetting that they picked up the thing.

I didn't read a lot of Dragons, but I don't consider anything written in one to be canon.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I didn't read a lot of Dragons, but I don't consider anything written in one to be canon.

even when written by the main writers?
edit: and if you say you don't that's cool if you think what ed writes about FR and what Gary wrote about GH and what Baker writes about ebberon is all just fan work even in published WotC/TSR books that is cool I am really just asking

 

[Maxperson]

even when written by the main writers?

Yeah. D&D doesn't follow their wishes exactly when it comes to Dragonlance. I would give it very strong weight, but if it didn't make sense to me(and it sounds like that Dragon article doesn't) I'd toss it and go with what the D&D books say.

 

[DarkCrisis]

yeah funny how you never hear of the kender giving his items away at random... not in story or in games

oh don't forget that "I forgot" is the legal way to avoid charges of lying under oath... since even if you are found to have done it, you can't prove they REMEMBER doing it... not only liers but practiced smart liers

Yes you do. Kender sit down, dump out their pouches and start sorting between themselves. It's written down.

and while some things they find they are surprised about other things they justify to themselves "Well obviously this was misplaced, I should hold onto it to keep it safe until I can find the owner." It's all very innocent.

But dont take my word for it, its in the novels.