D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Travelers of the Multiverse

New free content from WotC - the latest 4-page Unearthed Arcana introduces six new races: astral elf, autognome, giff, hadozee, plasmoid, and thri-kreen.

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Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

This Astral Elf cements the fact that WotC is moving away from subraces as a design tool.

Sort of, I mean they are still Elves, just the subrace mechanic approach appears to be ditched for some reason.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Yes, that makes sense as well I think, as subrace will have implications some won't like.

Like what?

 

[Parmandur]

What about the Astral Elf?

The Imperial Elven Navy, and a test for redesigning Elves entirely for 6E/50th Anniversary Edition.

 

[Bolares]

Sort of, I mean they are still Elves, just the subrace mechanic approach appears to be ditched for some reason.

That's what I mean by "design tool"

 

[Parmandur]

Sort of, I mean they are still Elves, just the subrace mechanic approach appears to be ditched for some reason.

I think Subrace is gone, with the new ASI rules and just introducing options for variants, like the Astral Elf Cantrip and Trance Proficiencies.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

It's funny how folks are thinking Planescape or Magic the Gathering, when the obvious answer is Star Frontiers!

To be clear, I'm pretty certain this is just Spelljammer.

 

[Bolares]

I really like the Autognome design. It feels like a setp up from the Warforged, and can be used to update and upgrade the warforged racial abilities.

 

[Weiley31]

It's funny how folks are thinking Planescape or Magic the Gathering, when the obvious answer is Star Frontiers!

View attachment 145027

To be clear, I'm pretty certain this is just Spelljammer.

Damn, the only one we're missing there is the Autognome.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Well well well well: This is most certainly an interesting one indeed. Simply for the fact that WoTC is actually taking a chance/dipping their feet into the water in regards to Player Character creature types. We have a Construct(Autognome), Monstrosity(Thri-keen), and the Slime Gir-I uh mean-an Ooze(Plasmoid).

lol I too have watched some monster girl anime

In regards to the Construct and it's "potential issue" in regards to healing, they pretty much gave you a back door/"legal" loophole to make sure you are able to be healed. Ironically for future Construct pc races, this technically makes the Mending Cantrip 5E's "there's no way they would ever do a Healing Cantrip" first ever Healing Cantrip. (Which also opens up the door for a future Healing Cantrip, perhaps, for non-Constructs.) True it has a step you have to do to trigger it, but its there and honestly makes sense.

Yeah this works okay. I like the idea of a healing cantrip that requires you to burn your hit dice. I'd just errata spare the dying to do that, tbh.

Now with the Ooze: Everything on there seems pretty much inline with what would be expected with a playable Ooze. I don't know if an Ooze has to worry about "breathing" so the holding breath part seems a bit weird to me, unless there are some Oozes in DND that actually breath. Natural Resilience, with what it can resist, seems similar to other such Resilience's we've seen some races have. (Although I think the Acid is new, unless I'm forgetting bout Green Dragonborn.) I'm pretty much at this rate seeing this/accepting this as the new "Dark Vision/Powerful Build/Etc, etc, etc."

Maybe after an hour they get waterlogged and it's effectively the same as drowning, and can kill them, if they don't have part of their body above the water to level out?

With the Thri-Keen and its method of implementing the Extra Limbs for 5E, is it exactly possible for them to use their secondary arms to support the main arm, thereby allowing a Thri-Keen to wield a Great Sword in one hand? I get the secondary arms can only use a Light weapon (which would pretty much allow Quad Weapon fighting in a way, just minus the attribute modifier added to damage? Hmmm, getting sidetracked here) but can they help support other limbs in holding?

I hope not, tbh. I can't see any way for that to actually make sense.

Speaking of Powerful Build: Hippo Build is pretty much an upgraded version of Powerful Build. Most of the complaints about Powerful Build is how it's pretty much at this point a "fluff/ribbon" ability. Especially when it comes to players/dm's, like me, who don't even bother with Encumbrance at all. Hippo Build allows you to have Advantage on Strength Checks and Strength Saving Throws. Which makes it better than regular Powerful Build and actually makes it more useful than its initial Ribbon Ability status. Which brings me to Giff Barbarians: Barbarians, when they Rage, get Advantage on Strength Checks and Strength Saving Throws. A Hippo Barbarian has that with and WITHOUT going into a Rage as well thanks to Hippo Build. PLUS, if they somehow get Greater Weapon Fighting Style, they can reroll a 1 TWICE thanks to the fighting style and Damage Dealer. Honestly, a Giff Barbarian is sounding pretty hardcore right about now. (Heck, keep Hippo Build for all races that has Powerful Build from now on and just change/refluff the name to something else for everything else that isn't a Giff.)

Yeah in my games powerful build is a little different for every race that has it. Goliath double the range of thrown weapons, bugbears are treated as large for grappling and can jump as if with a running start without actually moving first, orcs can use a bonus action to treat a versatile weapon as if they were using it two-handed for the rest of the turn, and have advantage on athletics checks to trip, shove, or overrun.

The Astral Elves are okay I guess. I'm legit surprised they are still Humanoid and not Fey. But I'll be shocked if Elves, especially Eladrin, are NOT retyped to Fey at some point.

Overall, I'm REALLY excited for future race options thanks to this UA. And I honestly cannot wait until we finally get an Aberration race. Even if I can already see them getting the same exact Natural Resilience to poison and diseases and probably immune/resistant to Psychic damage.

I really hope we never see an aberration playable race, tbh. I think it kinda kills the point of them, which is to be an anti-natural blight on the world that cannot truly be understood by any natural creature.

 

[Bolares]

@doctorbadwolf Weren't we talking about giving the warforged a similar feature as the autognome's?