D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Draconic Options

The latest Unearthed Arcana from WotC is called Draconic Options. It includes three variant Dragonborn races and a new kobold race, as well as a handful of new spells and feats. Dragonlance fans might do a double-take when they see Fizban's platinum shield (two Forgotten Realms dragons are referenced in the spells, too -- Icingdeath and Raulothim -- as is the FR god of fey dragons, Nathair).

Harness the power of dragons in this installment of Unearthed Arcana! This playtest document presents race, feat, and spell options related to dragons in Dungeons & Dragons.

First is a trio of draconic race options presented as an alternative to the dragonborn race in the Player’s Handbook, as well as a fresh look at the kobold race. Then comes a handful of feat options that reflect a connection to draconic power. Finally, an assortment of spells—many of them bearing the names of famous or infamous dragons—offer a variety of approaches to manifesting dragon magic.

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[Parmandur]

Is the survey back down? It's not showing for me.

Nope, it's there, hyperlinked in the phrase "We’ll release a playtest survey on this website soon."

 

[darjr]

Nope, it's there, hyperlinked in the phrase "We’ll release a playtest survey on this website soon."

Ugh. Thanks for the direct link. I’ll fix my post.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So, just noticed at this point that this article was written by Ben Petrisor, Taymoor Rehman, Dan Dillon, James Wyatt, and Jeremy Crawford. The Draconic Subclasses article was written by Dan Dillon, with Jeremy Crawford, Ben Petrisor, Taymoor Rehman, and James Wyatt.

On the other hand, Gothic Lineages was written by F. Wesley Schneider, Ben Petrisor, and Jeremy Crawford with input from the rest of the D&D design team, and Gothic Subclasses was written by Ben Petrisor, with Jeremy Crawford, Dan Dillon, and Taymoor Rehman. Folk of the Feywild was written by By Taymoor Rehman, Ari Levitch, and Jeremy Crawford with input from the rest of the D&D design team.

F. Wesley Scneider is one of the book leads now for the D&D Studio, and he worked on the Ravenloft options. James Wyatt worked on both of the Draconic options, but none of the others. Wyatt is one of the other book leads now. Ergo, I conclude that the Draconic options are meant for a book different than Folk of the Feywild, being overseen by James Wyatt, with Folk of the Feywild being...something else.

Now that you say that.... huh? I wonder if a review of what they’ve been saying, even tangentially or crypticly, on the inter webs would shed any clues?

Later in the year, Chris will return with our big summer adventure, James Wyatt will deliver a substantially improved version of a concept that I initiated myself [Ray Winniger], and Amanda Hamon will close us out with a project that was jointly conceived by herself and several other studio members. As usual, Jeremy Crawford is working with all of our leads, overseeing mechanical content and rules development

So the project James Wyatt is working on seems to be the dragon project and it is the book-after-next (Fall 2021).

Amanda Hamon's name does not show up in association with "Folk of the Feywild" so this remains a big mystery. NB This can't be taken as evidence that she is not working on that project in some other capacity. There are no names to connect FotFW to "the big summer adventure" either.

In addition to these five major products, look for a couple of additional surprises we’ll unveil in the months ahead."

Edit: One other titbit I found: Ari Levitch came from MtG before joining the D&D team, and worked on Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica.

 

[Parmandur]

So the project James Wyatt is working on seems to be the dragon project and it is the book-after-next (Fall 2021).

Amanda Hamon's name does not show up in association with "Folk of the Feywild" so this remains a big mystery. NB This can't be taken as evidence that she is not working on that project in some other capacity. There are no names to connect FotFW to "the big summer adventure" either.



Edit: One other titbit I found: Ari Levitch came from MtG before joining the D&D team, and worked on Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica.

Yeah, Ari was with Wyatt on the team that did Magic world building, and Ravnica was his transition to D&D world building. He was on Theros, too. (Both on Magic originally, and the D&D book).

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah, Ari was with Wyatt on the team that did Magic world building, and Ravnica was his transition to D&D world building. He was on Theros, too. (Both on Magic originally, and the D&D book).

Did James Wyatt ever work on previous editions' Draconomicons? Or Dragonlance books?

 

[Parmandur]

Did James Wyatt ever work on previous editions' Draconomicons? Or Dragonlance books?

Dragonlance, no, but most of the tested features do not fit in Dragonlance (Kobolds and Gem Dragons do not exist on Krynn). Wyatt was, however, one of the headline credited writers for the 3x Draconomicon. He also wrote the Setting Bible that forms the background for the Monster Manual and other 5E Lore, as well as being lead on the DMG.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Dragonlance hopefuls seem to have a pretty shaky case:

• The novels lawsuit was resolved
• Fizban is mentioned (as are a bunch of non-Krynn dragon-adjacent NPCs) in the spell names
• Dragon content must mean Dragonlance, except when it doesn't

A former Draconomicon writer working on this material, having a bunch of stuff that could work in any setting and not just Krynn, and non-Krynn material like gem dragons and kobolds seems to make the Draconomicon, whether under that name or another, much more likely than anything Dragonlance.

 

[Parmandur]

The Dragonlance hopefuls are seem to have a pretty shaky case:

• The novels lawsuit was resolved
• Fizban is mentioned (as are a bunch of non-Krynn dragon-adjacent NPCs) in the spell names
• Dragon content must mean Dragonlance, except when it doesn't

A former Draconomicon writer working on this material, having a bunch of stuff that could work in any setting and not just Krynn, and non-Krynn material like gem dragons and kobolds seems to make the Draconomicon, whether under that name or another, much more likely than anything Dragonlance.

The only explicit Dragonlance reference has universal cosmic significance in 5E anyways (based on the precise identity of Tiamat and Takhis presented repeatedly for years).

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Dragonlance, no, but most of the tested features do not fit in Dragonlance (Kobolds and Gem Dragons do not exist on Krynn). Wyatt was, however, one of the headline credited writers for the 3x Draconomicon. He also wrote the Setting Bible that forms the background for the Monster Manual and other 5E Lore, as well as being lead on the DMG.

Thanks for the info. This makes the Draconomicon seem even more likely as the "project that Wyatt started" for later this year, given that he has experience on working with Draconomicons and dragon-lore before.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think this is why some people find it so difficult to predict WotCs publications, and refuse to accept the word of those who can: they can't see past their own wishful thinking.


NB I don't think there is anyone currently at WotC who is old enough to have worked on the original Dragonlance. The authors credited with the 3rd edition book are: Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, Jamie Chambers and Christopher Coyle. I don't think any of them are at WotC now either.