Unearthed Arcana WotC Removes Latest Unearthed Arcana

WotC has removed this week's Unearthed Arcana from its website. Not only has the article's web page itself been removed, the actual PDF has been replaced with last month's "Subclasses, Part 1" PDF (although it's URL still reads... /UA2020-Subclasses02.pdf).

The article included three new subclasses, the bardic College of Creation, the cleric's Love Domain, and the sorcerer's Clockwork Soul.

[NOTE - NSFW language follows].

I don't know if it's linked, but WotC came under criticism on Twitter for its treatment of the Love Domain. The main argument isn't that mind-control magic has no place in the game, but rather that coercive powers should not be described as "love", and that the domain might be poorly named.

People like game designer Emmy Allen commented: "It seems WotC have tried to create a 'Love' domain for clerics in 5e. By some sheer coincidence they seem to have accidentally created a 'roofie' domain instead. Nothing says 'love' like overriding your target's free will to bring them under your power."


That domain was introduced as follows: "Love exists in many forms—compassion, infatuation, friendly affection, and passionate love as a few facets. Whatever form these feelings take, the gods of love deepen the bonds between individuals."

The powers were Eboldening Bond, Impulsive Infatuation ("Overwhelm a creature with a flash of short-lived by intense admiration for you, driving them to rash action in your defense”), Protective Bond, and Enduring Unity.

Whether the criticism was a factor in the article's withdrawal, I don't know. It might be that it just wasn't ready for prime-time yet. It seems the domain itself would be better named a "control" or "charm" domain than a "love" domain, which seems to be the main thrust of the criticism on Twitter.

WotC's Jeremy Crawford commented: "The official version of the Unearthed Arcana article “Subclasses, Part 2” is still ahead of us, later this week or sometime next week. Our team will hold off on answering questions until you’ve seen the real deal!"

 

[NotAYakk]

It wasn't "removed", someone guessed the URL of unreleased, possibly unfinished content before it was released. So they took it down.

 

[Weiley31]

Sailor Moon fights for love and justice.

That's how I pictured a love Cleric: sailor moon.

 

[Morrus]

It wasn't "removed", someone guessed the URL of unreleased, possibly unfinished content before it was released. So they took it down.

I'm struggling to understand the distinction between taking something down and removing it.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Eh. It's a near-miss. Most of the domain abilities are pretty decent, though the Impulsive Infatuation thing is ... a little creepy (at least potentially. I can see why one might not want to conflate Love with Mind Control, though. I'm ambivalent about adding Love as a domain in my setting, anyway, but I'm willing to consider it (without actual mind control in the domain spells, by preference).

Yeah a beauty domain would be a better fit, anyway, or desire.

 

[NotAYakk]

It was never provided on purpose in the first place.

This wasn't "oh, here is some content; oh no a backlash. Let us remove that content." It was someone "hacking" their server and finding a file for future release and sharing the URL. (really tame hacking, but they didn't follow a public link to find it).

It wasn't really "the latest Unearthed Arcana", it was a leaked pre-release of it.

 

[Panda-s1]

I get the backlash, but I also get why it was in the domain from a trope perspective.
How often in literature and other media do we see people seeking "love" potions to get so-and-so to fall in love with them? And the village witch/apothecary obliges. Usually this ends badly for our protagonist and they learn a life lesson. Huzzah. But... maybe this one is ... awkward.

And I agree with @lowkey13, I'm not sure there is an easy answer to this either.

yeah this whole trope has become largely frowned upon in recent times. even if the protagonist "learns a lesson" it's still at the expense of someone else. hell even Rick and Morty threw their hat into the ring and called love potions "rapey".

Wow, people are really easily offended these days. Imagine if the book of vile darkness or the book of erotic fantasies were realeased today.
Granted, they were labeled for mature audiences only, but still...

can't make blazing saddles today either, amirite?

It was never provided on purpose in the first place.

This wasn't "oh, here is some content; oh no a backlash. Let us remove that content." It was someone "hacking" their server and finding a file for future release and sharing the URL. (really tame hacking, but they didn't follow a public link to find it).

It wasn't really "the latest Unearthed Arcana", it was a leaked pre-release of it.

so basically someone timeshifted this event a week or two back.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Might as well get rid of all the Charm spells now or any mind altering ability. Illusions. Fear.

Or just brand them appropriately and not pretend that mind control/mental manipulation is a virtue that's inspired poetry and music.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What else can a "Love Domain" do but use charm effects?

View a Goddess of Love through a non-adventuring lens: They're probably involved in marriages, fertility, maybe peacemaking. Most of that is not something adventurers would care about. I'm not sure it merits a domain.

I'm all in favor of WotC expanding beyond adventuring-focused deities, but if you're creating a domain that can reasonably be called the Roofies Domain, you didn't have enough people involved in the development process.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly, I am unsure how it's different than typical charm and domination spells in the PHB. Why don't we get rid of the Enchanter, too?

It's about branding. If you called the enchanter the Love Wizard, people would object. An "enchanter" doesn't include an implicit value judgement in their name. Heck, in comics, the multiple characters named the Enchantress are all villains.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

Just switch out any mind control spells and the channel divinity power to something more in keeping with mutual protection and I think the critics will be OK with the Love Cleric.

Maybe keep the mind control spells in mind for some sort of Psionic themed cleric later down the line that won't have the same baggage as trying to stick those spells in the Love domain.