Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana probably coming to D&D website (Reddit AMA)

[Greg K]

I respect your opinion, but how could third party or UA so drastically change the core classes as to shift them to usable? The template is identical, just different details.

For starters:
Redesign several classes to get Archetypes and similar at first level
Redesign the cleric to be much closer to 2e specialty priests

 

[DMZ2112]

He seems to be implying that the "sourcebook" is linked to the adventure, but not the adventure.

D&D4 did a pretty good job of separating player information from campaign information as I recall. I own the D&D4 players companions for some settings and the campaign books for others and in general I feel like I got what I paid for. Hopefully this will continue to be the case.

I'm not upset about this revelation -- I actually think it is a great idea, if it is managed properly -- but I will agree that if these "sourcebooks" are loaded with setting-specific material that requires adaptation I'll be kind of put out.

 

[Zaukrie]

I hate adventure paths.....if this is the model, I will save a ton of money.

 

[SkidAce]

I hate adventure paths.....if this is the model, I will save a ton of money in 15 minutes or less*.

Everybody knows this.










*added...for humor

 

[Greg K]

I hate adventure paths.....if this is the model, I will save a ton of money.

Aargh! I saw SkidAce's post and thought it was a direct quote so I hit laugh thinking I could also XP. Turns out I should have read your post more closely.

 

[Nebulous]

6. Many class abilities (e.g., destroy undead) as mandatory class abilities. Personally, as a DM, I would rather have more choice options rather than a hard coded ability to help tailor the classes to better fit my campaign and the player's concept (if it fits within my campaign).

Well, this I like too. I wish the PHB had the ability to add that much optional content, but i think it was against their core concept of simplicity. I'm confident that as 5e evolves those kinds of class options will become available and can be swapped out.

 

[Hannerdyn]

I'm very much in the 'wait and see' camp on this. I hope the additional rules supplements are such that the adventure-laden information is equivalent to say a player's guide for a Pathfinder AP, the rest should be flavorful but still useful in a separate game. The core books don't necessarily assume a specific world, hopefully they use that angle throughout the player's guides.

 

[Remathilis]

This is something that has been asked, and explained, and asked, and explained, but I thought this explanation was a good one:

"I'll give you an example of a theoretical expansion.

Let's say we wanted to do psionics. We'd tie that to a campaign you can play, maybe one centered on mind flayers or a similar foe.
The psionic sourcebook would be the player's companion to the DM's mind flayer campaign. The sourcebook would have all the info for creating psionic characters, along with world material for players who are creating characters for the mind flayer campaign. The player's book might also have a chapter written from an in-world perspective on psionics and psionic monsters, the kind of information that a character might have access to or have heard.

You can expect us to do one or two such products a year, to give people enough time to play through a campaign without overwhelming them with new options."

OR...

You introduce a Campaign Setting in three stages: a GM world guide, a sourcebook/adventure guide for the world, and then an AP/module line. You could do this for Eberron, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, etc. One book gives you the world-down info, one book gives you the PC options and the "what the world is like" info, and the modules give you an ongoing storyline.

I don't expect ALL APs to be like this, but I can wager a few of them will be.

 

[Nellisir]

He seems to be implying that the "sourcebook" is linked to the adventure, but not the adventure.

I'm reading it as the psionic "sourcebook" is the player's companion book (with an accompanying chunk of dedicated material) and the adventure is the "DM's sourcebook", with monsters, treasure, DM options, and etc.

 

[Wolfskin]

What I glean from Mearls' statements about future supplements is that they'll thematically fit with the "Adventure Path" being published in the same quarter, (e.g. the "Elemental Evil" adventure path will be published close to the supplement with Genasi Races, Elemental-powered Classes, and so on) but other than that the books can just be used as stand-alone character options and fluff books, with no connection to the story arc at all.