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)...

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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My prediction for the not-so-far future related to this UA:

Draconomicon as a hardcover book.

Dragonlance as a DMsGuild PDF (for starters like they did Eberron, to test the waters)

Maybe they'll double down and make them both release in the same month, since they're so thematically related. There could even be a DMsGuild spotlight on Dragon-themed products.
 

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Quartz

Hero
I'm immediately drawn to the Breath Weapon attack: it replaces only one of your attacks yet increases in power like a cantrip. And it's an area effect. Chromatic Warding seems a bit OP too. It should be immunity for 1 round.

I think the dragonborn races are very powerful.
 


They fixed the metallic dragon feat, the cure wounds section now reads:
You learn the cure wounds spell. You can cast this spell without expending a spell slot. Once you cast this spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast this spell using spell slots you have. The spell’s spellcasting ability is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma when you cast it with this feat (choose when you gain the feat).
 


Bitbrain

Lost in Dark Sun
Reply to OP.

Chromatic Dragonborn
You can use your breath weapon a few more times a day and it does more damage. That’s good, although it would have been better if they had just kept the original d6s of damage but let you use this trait as a bonus action.

Not a fan of damage immunity. That’s too strong in my personal opinion.


Metallic Dragonborn
Ooh! Magic KO gas! That’s really cool and flavorful.

Overall, I like this one much better than the Chromatic option.


Gem Dragonborn
Soo... looks like AJ Pickett was right about what happens when Bahamut and Tiamat fight each other. Wasn’t expecting that.

I think Chromatics should get the wings, and leave the Gems with the telepathy.


Kobold
I’m not sure what I think about this one.


Feats
I like all of them, especially the Chromatic and Metallic ones.


Spells
Flame Stride. Someone’s been reading Fire Force, I see.

Icingdeath’s Frost. Dumb name, awesome spell. My old sorcerer would have died happy if he could have used this spell.

Raulothim’s Psychic Lance. Reminds of the old ravage enemy priest spell from Exile: Escape from the Pit. Not the Avernum remake, mind you. I’m talking the original game.

Summon Draconic Spirit. A summoning spell? For sorcerers?! HECK YEAH!!!
 


Levistus's_Leviathan

5e Freelancer
Okay, "quick" review (warning, this is going to be a big post, as this is a big UA, and I'm going to go down everything individually).

Let's start with the 4 "new" races, the three dragonborn races (which should just be subraces of a larger base race, IMO) and the Draco-Kobolds. I'll be grouping together the three Dragonborn, as they're very similar with very few differences.

These Dragonborn are pretty much the same as PHB Dragonborn with the race/lineage changes from the Fey Folk UA, better breath weapons, and a powerful race/subrace specific ability. The breath weapon changes are very welcome, especially being capable of being used as part of the Attack action (extremely useful for melee Monks, Fighters, Barbarians, and Paladins). The only thing I'm not on board with here is the race-dependent breath weapon shape, which I feel should still be tied to the Draconic Ancestry. Chromatic Warding is bonkers useful, but I don't know if it's too powerful. I would probably limit it to one minute, and possibly make it concentration. Immunity to a very common damage type at 3rd level (even if it is temporary) seems too potent, IMO. Metallic Breath Weapon is very useful, and I love that you can use it for different ways when you need to. Both are useful in a variety of circumstances, and I don't think either are too potent. Gem Flight seems fine, if not a bit strange to have a dragon wing made of gems. So, yeah, these changes are very welcome.

The Kobold is . . . strange. I'm not against redoing Kobolds, as they're quite strange and unbalanced in terms of mechanics in the Volo's version, but I don't think this is the way to do it. I like having a variety of draconic traits that you can choose from, but this just seems like a strange way to do it. I'd give the free Sorcerer Cantrip to the base race, and then move the Roar to an option from Draconic Legacy. The tail seems like a strange choice of natural weapon, I would have guessed claws or even a bite before a tail-whip. Anyway, something about this isn't working for me. I'm not sure what it is, though.

Next, the Feats. I don't have any comments on Gift of the Chromatic Dragon, it seems very potent and fun, other than possibly allowing it to work with natural weapons/unarmed strikes. Gift of the Metallic Dragon is . . . strange. I know Metallic Dragons are supposed to be good, but not "cure wounds", protect others, goody-two-shoes good. I'm not sure how I would change this . . . but I would change it. Maybe some minor shape-shifting ability? Metallic Dragons do have a Change Shape ability, so something like innate Alter Self could work. Gift of the Gem Dragon seems too psionic and not draconic enough. Gem Dragons are psionic, but not just psionic. They're also dragons, and nothing in the feat (other than the name) screams dragon to me.

Finally, the Spells. There are quite a lot of these, and I like that there's so many of them. I've been saying for quite awhile that we need more dragon-based spells. Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers are currently just elemental blasters with a touch of dragon theme, with barely any dragon-spells to choose from. This changes that a bit. I'm just going to touch on each spell a bit to keep this short and sweet.

Draconic Transformation seems too weak, especially when compared to Tasha's Otherworldly Guise. Both grant 40 feet flying speeds, are concentration (up to 1 minute), require 500 gp worth of material components that aren't consumed, and take a bonus action to cast. However, Draconic Transformation takes a 7th-level spell slot, instead of a 6th, doesn't grant any immunities or even resistances (while TOG grants 2), no condition immunities, no AC boost, no special magical weapon boost, or Extra Attack feature. In return for not having all of that stuff and requiring a higher level spell slot, this spell only gives the caster a mere 30 feet of Blindsight and a bit more powerful Dragon's Breath ability. This is just not enough for a concentration 7th-level spell. At the very least this spell should also let you add your Spellcasting Ability to your Armor Class in order to bump up its power and usefulness more, and maybe even give your resistance/immunity to some draconic damage types. I love the idea of this spell, it just needs more oomph in order to be worth taking.

Fizban's Platinum Shield, on the other hand, is probably too powerful. It gives you (and/or an ally) resistance to all the main draconic damage types, half-cover, and Evasion. That's really potent, even for a 6th level concentration spell. If you want to fight dragons/mages that force Dex Saves a lot, this is the spell to use. You will have a +2 to the saving throw, and take no damage on a success and half on a fail, and probably also have resistance to the damage that you do take. (This spell also perfectly demonstrates why I have banned the Order of the Scribes from my table. Being able to swap out those damage resistances for practically any others that you want is just way too crazy useful.) I'm not sure how I would change this, but it probably would involve making the spell be a higher level, or possibly add a reaction to either the resistances or Evasion feature.

Flame Stride is fun. Really fun. No real comments, other than maybe, possibly raising the damage a bit. 1d6 seems really low for a 3rd level spell, even if it affects anyone within 5 feet of you. Maybe change this to 2d6, or 1d10. This doesn't seem very draconic, but I don't really care. It's a cool, fun spell. Icingdeath's Frost is also fun. It's basically a more powerful Frost Fingers with a really potent debuff feature. We need more cold damaging spells in 5e, so this is also a welcome addition to the game.

Screw Fairie Dragons. Seriously. Screw Fairie Dragons. I hate those bastards. My Hexblade Warlock has an undying hatred for them, due to a particularly annoying encounter involving two of these rainbow cats with wings that almost annoyed him to death. Don't mistake their puny 1 damage bite attack for them being weak enemies. Trust me, if you throw a couple of these abominations at a low level party that can't see invisibility, you're going to give them the eternal hatred for them that I have for these glorified pseudodragons. Nathair's Mischief can go to the Nine Hells of Baator, for all I care. (In case you like fairie dragons, don't take offense. It's not your fault that they charmed you with their draco-feline behavior. Please seek help and recover as quickly as you can.)

Raulothim's Psychic Lance is really, really good. I would be concerned about how powerful it is, except for the fact that it is most potent when you know their name. I really like this spell, even if it is more psionic than draconic.

Summon Draconic Spirit is good. I don't have any real comments here. I would like a higher level spell that lets you summon a real dragon, though. It would probably have to be 8th or 9th level, but it would really be awesome to be a Draconic Sorcerer that summons a real adult/ancient dragon to aid them in combat instead of just a spirit of one. Otherwise, this looks good.

Overall, I like this UA. I really hope that this comes out in a Draconomicon, which seems likely at this point, as we really need more Dragon options in Dungeons & Dragons. I would love to see more subclasses, like a Draconic Warlock Patron, Dragonrage Barbarian, and Dragon Druid, but this is a step in the right direction. I also hope they make more spells than just these few, as Tasha's disappointed me with having less than 2 dozen spells in it (including the reprints).
 

Tales and Chronicles

Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
I seem to recall that each ancient dragons in FR had at least one unique named spell in one of the 2e or 3rd ed Faerun book. I wish they'll appear in this one. Icingdeath's stuff is great and all, but ''Horrible Corpse Melt of Gnawbone'' or ''Klauth's Burning Apotheosis'' or ''Ymrith's Gargoyles Storm'' would be even flashier (just inventing names like that, I dont remember the actual names).
 

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