Unearthed Arcana 12/11/2017

[Rogerdodger557]

It's the second Monday of the month. Let the speculation begin.

Edit: There will be no UA this month. Link to why below.

[Malaketh]

SANTA CLAWS!!!!! a new cantrip....maybe it could be a Bard subclass? 🤔

[Naanomi]

Sadly, the gnomes made a strong case for time off this month. There will be no Unearthed Arcana or Sage Advice articles published this December. We'll be back with full #DnD technomancer support in January! @mikemearls @JeremyECrawford

[DivisibleByZero]

Speculation over.
No UA this month.

edit: ninja'd

[Regitnui]

Why is there no UA? WotC going on holiday?

[DivisibleByZero]

Why is there no UA? WotC going on holiday?

Santa stole all of the elves gnomes to do his grunt work.

[Crusher]

SANTA CLAWS!!!!! a new cantrip....maybe it could be a Bard subclass? 🤔

I'm going to be playing just such a character in my next campaign. Sandy Claws, a rogue/warlock from a tribe of vicious desert gnomes who ride deer or moose-pulled chariots into battle. They wear coats made from the fur of the beasts they've slain, and coat it in the blood of their enemies (so its bright red). Any part of the coat not covered in blood (such as the lining at the wrists, and hats), along with their long beards, tend to get bleached white by the sun. He looks down on elves as good for only menial labor, as his people subjugated a local tribe of elves, forcing them to make knick-knacks and trinkets.

He's an adventurer because he was tasked with guarding the children of the tribe, and failed in some horrible, unspecified way and he's trying to redeem himself. So he's kinda scary, but he loves children, enjoys giving them gifts (which he does secretly so as not to scare them), and would die to save virtually any child.

[jaappleton]

September: "We've moved UA to the 2nd Monday of the month because it fits better into our schedules."

December: "No UA this month, we couldn't fit it into our schedules."

[Mith]

I'm going to be playing just such a character in my next campaign. Sandy Claws, a rogue/warlock from a tribe of vicious desert gnomes who ride deer or moose-pulled chariots into battle. They wear coats made from the fur of the beasts they've slain, and coat it in the blood of their enemies (so its bright red). Any part of the coat not covered in blood (such as the lining at the wrists, and hats), along with their long beards, tend to get bleached white by the sun. He looks down on elves as good for only menial labor, as his people subjugated a local tribe of elves, forcing them to make knick-knacks and trinkets.

He's an adventurer because he was tasked with guarding the children of the tribe, and failed in some horrible, unspecified way and he's trying to redeem himself. So he's kinda scary, but he loves children, enjoys giving them gifts (which he does secretly so as not to scare them), and would die to save virtually any child.

This works perfectly for your current sig.

[Dudewithknives]

September: "We've moved UA to the 2nd Monday of the month because it fits better into our schedules."

December: "No UA this month, we couldn't fit it into our schedules."

Just face it, UA has not mattered to the people at WOTC much since they had the last round of reworked subclasses with Ancients Barbarian and such in it.

Almost all of them since then have been like 1 page or 2 page things they threw together in once afternoon.

[jaappleton]

Just face it, UA has not mattered to the people at WOTC much since they had the last round of reworked subclasses with Ancients Barbarian and such in it.

There's been tons of times where it's seemed like an afterthought.

And plenty of times when they've dropped something substantial, like Aritificer, Mystic, etc.

Yet there's been times where it has felt like a kick to the groin, like Mass Combat and Greyhawk Initiative.

[Temperjoke]

Holidays are busy for everyone. It's not like I was hoping for something Holiday-themed or anything. *sniffs sadly*

[Dudewithknives]

Holidays are busy for everyone. It's not like I was hoping for something Holiday-themed or anything. *sniffs sadly*

I was at least expecting a one page side item.

List of new weapons, new armors, new tools, or something.

I guess I should just give up on new weapons and armor, no love for martials out there.

I want my revamped Weapon Feats.

[jaappleton]

Holidays are busy for everyone. It's not like I was hoping for something Holiday-themed or anything. *sniffs sadly*

That's really zero excuse.

They know the schedule. It's once a month.

What, am I not going to do payroll this week because the holidays are keeping me busy?

[Dudewithknives]

That's really zero excuse.

They know the schedule. It's once a month.

What, am I not going to do payroll this week because the holidays are keeping me busy?

More Importantly it would make more sense for them to not have it in January if it was a holiday thing.

That is unless they just throw these things together without any actual in-house play testing beforehand...

[Temperjoke]

That's really zero excuse.

They know the schedule. It's once a month.

What, am I not going to do payroll this week because the holidays are keeping me busy?

Well, when I said "holidays are busy for everyone" that actually also includes business activities, since year-end stuff can tie up scarce resources like time. Especially since a number of people take time off during the holidays when possible. While Crawford and Mearls may not have to do payroll, they probably have to finish up a number of things, like employee reviews for example, before people start disappearing.

If I had to guess, the next UA might be another class revisit of other UA classes that didn't make it into XGtE, which means it'll be a big one, so it might be taking more time to prep.

[Auramis]

Well, when I said "holidays are busy for everyone" that actually also includes business activities, since year-end stuff can tie up scarce resources like time. Especially since a number of people take time off during the holidays when possible. While Crawford and Mearls may not have to do payroll, they probably have to finish up a number of things, like employee reviews for example, before people start disappearing.

If I had to guess, the next UA might be another class revisit of other UA classes that didn't make it into XGtE, which means it'll be a big one, so it might be taking more time to prep.

This is what I'm thinking. It helps I've been browsing the DM's guild and started writing my own things too. I feel less reliant on UA. It's fun to see when they come out, and I do love them, but I'm not upset when it doesn't roll around.

Besides, it's the holidays. People are busy. Hanukkah starts tomorrow and goes on until the 20th, then Christmas comes a few days after, then Kwanza after that, and New Year's after that. Even without the religious aspects, people love taking time to spend with their friends and families to cap off the end of the year, not to mention how busy the end of the year is for any workplace. I refuse to be upset over something like this. They've given us plenty of UAs and Xanthar's this year. That's pretty awesome.

[Tectorman]

Sadly, the gnomes made a strong case for time off this month. There will be no Unearthed Arcana or Sage Advice articles published this December. We'll be back with full #DnD technomancer support in January! @mikemearls @JeremyECrawford

??? "Technomancer"? Is this supposed to be the next take on the Artificer class? Why change the name?

[Vaz]

September: "We've moved UA to the 2nd Monday of the month because it fits better into our schedules."

December: "No UA this month, we couldn't fit it into our schedules."

'I came up with these totally awesome (read pointless bumrag) rules while playing dnd, not really paying attention, and then had it edited into a book and we actually made money off that nonsense' was part of the sales pitch for Xanathars.

Don't expect better from them simply because most of us can come up with a better subclass concept while doing the school run/driving to work/walking to class/having a morning glory ****.

[Naanomi]

??? "Technomancer"? Is this supposed to be the next take on the Artificer class? Why change the name?

From the tweet “Oh, sorry to confuse, technomancer was just a random joke. It's got nothing to do with what's coming next.”

[Finlam]

From the tweet “Oh, sorry to confuse, technomancer was just a random joke. It's got nothing to do with what's coming next.”

Up next: Mike Mearl's introduces his cooking and eating variant.

Have you ever wondered: how bad does this ration taste to my character? Or will eating human-meat give my character a disease and what's the DC for that? With this new Unearthed Arcana you can get the answers to all these questions. I tested it with my group and it went over really well. Todd had to roll a new Barbarian!

[Theodoxus]

'I came up with these totally awesome (read pointless bumrag) rules while playing dnd, not really paying attention, and then had it edited into a book and we actually made money off that nonsense' was part of the sales pitch for Xanathars.

Don't expect better from them simply because most of us can come up with a better subclass concept while doing the school run/driving to work/walking to class/having a morning glory ****.

Don't forget the 10 or so filler content of "names easily generated on the internet". I mean thanks, that's what, $2 of the $50 retail price I could generate myself? /facepalm

[Dragolord]

There's been tons of times where it's seemed like an afterthought.

And plenty of times when they've dropped something substantial, like Aritificer, Mystic, etc.

Yet there's been times where it has felt like a kick to the groin, like Mass Combat and Greyhawk Initiative.

I'd class the "Artificer" amongst that last category, actually.

[Hrugner]

I completely missed the last one, elf variants 2, so it shouldn't bother me that they're missing this one.

[Saiga]

Post Xanathar's the UA have been really bland. Feels like they're really lacking in direction on what to do next after that.

[Regitnui]

Post Xanathar's the UA have been really bland. Feels like they're really lacking in direction on what to do next after that.

I have an idea, and I've said it at length, but I want to see if a summoning ritual I picked up works.

Eberron, Eberron, Eberron.
Best setting and WotC should do it next
Eberron, Eberron, Eberron

...waits...

[Arkhios]

I have an idea, and I've said it at length, but I want to see if a summoning ritual I picked up works.

Eberron, Eberron, Eberron.
Best setting and WotC should do it next
Eberron, Eberron, Eberron

...waits...

Works for me

[toapat]

I'd class the "Artificer" amongst that last category, actually.

thats because the artificer probably should be named a Rigger in 5E and because they probably should have at least made it a half caster.

i feel like the Artificer we got was sorta like, the itteration you do when you run out of ideas and give up on a project, and come back two weeks later without some brilliant paradime shift in focus of design that actually works, because the ideaa was still stewing in contempt and you forced yourself to work through that.

i dont really believe that theres enough inherent design space for like, individual 3.5 artificer, Alchemist, or gunslinger really, but i do think you could work up something that makes the class work without feeling like an idea you just shoved out last minute

[Arkhios]

I'd class the "Artificer" amongst that last category, actually.

thats because the artificer probably should be named a Rigger in 5E and because they probably should have at least made it a half caster.

i feel like the Artificer we got was sorta like, the itteration you do when you run out of ideas and give up on a project, and come back two weeks later without some brilliant paradime shift in focus of design that actually works, because the ideaa was still stewing in contempt and you forced yourself to work through that.

i dont really believe that theres enough inherent design space for like, individual 3.5 artificer, Alchemist, or gunslinger really, but i do think you could work up something that makes the class work without feeling like an idea you just shoved out last minute

Why people get so worked up about something that's not even in final form yet?

Cut them some slack! Many people out there have hoped to see Artificer brought into this edition, and they (wotc) are doing their best to iterate a best possible, most satisfying solution. Sure, current version might seem off for now, but that's why you got to keep the feedback coming! Unless you think artificer's not your thing, then don't bother. Shooting it down doesn't help the others who think the opposite. Just ignore the class(es) presented and be happy with whatever you think is fun, and let others have their own fun.

Despite the quotes, none of this is personal.

[Regitnui]

Works for me

Hmm. That's not what I was expecting. Did I do the spell wrong? *flips through ritual book* Perhaps a different incantation? If I can figure out what summons that one, I can keep them from discussions.

"I say Eberron is the best setting and anything other than that is horrible and should burn and nothing's wrong in Eberron".
-----
In more serious matters, I think the Artificer as presented is still going to see some fixes. After all, that sudden golem at level 6 really looked like a play test feature; something they tossed in to see how it worked and if it was worth expanding on later. I think that feature should be something like the druid's Wild Shape; any artificer can make a basic construct companion, but one subclass goes deeper and makes the companion their main feature.