Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing material that expanded upon other rules.
Full Answer
What is Unearthed Arcana and how do I use it?
Unearthed Arcana is where ideas from older editions like class kits get a redesign for 5th Edition, for example. If you want to use these ideas on D&D Beyond, you have to make sure you have Playtest Content enabled in the Character Creation preferences, on the home tab of the character builder.
Does D&D Beyond support Unearthed Arcana playtest content?
D&D Beyond, the official digital companion toolset for Dungeons and Dragons, will no longer support Unearthed Arcana playtest content.
Who wrote the original Unearthed Arcana?
The original Unearthed Arcana was written primarily by Gary Gygax, and published by game publisher TSR in 1985 for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition rules. The book consisted mostly of material previously published in magazines, and included new races, classes, and other material to expand...
What classes are in Unearthed Arcana?
Unearthed Arcana includes the barbarian (found in Dragon #63), cavalier (found in Dragon #72), and thief-acrobat (found in Dragon #69) character classes, and also includes expansions and revisions of the druid and ranger classes. The book presents a large addition to the range of character races, including the drow and svirfneblin.
Are Unearthed Arcanas legal?
These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your D&D campaign but not refined by final game development. They are not officially part of the game. For these reasons, material in this column is not legal in D&D Adventurers League events.
Is Unearthed Arcana official DND?
The material in Unearthed Arcana is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. These game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by final game design and editing. They are not officially part of the game.
Is Unearthed Arcana legal in 5e?
Just be aware that since this is playtest content it won't be allowed in official D&D organized play like the Adventurer's Guild, and it's not required of your DM to allow any of it. But there's no reason you can't use it in your games at home, if your DM is amenable.
Is Unearthed Arcana a cannon?
No, unearthed Arcana is more like a beta test for dnd content, it only becomes Canon when it is officially published in a dnd book or some other form.
Why is Unearthed Arcana not on DND beyond?
D&D Beyond will no longer be supporting Unearthed Arcana material. We love Unearthed Arcana on the team, but our ability to present the material as intended, in a timely manner, without diverting other resources, is limited.
Do Rangers count as spellcasters?
As rangers are not a spellcasting class, their spellcasting ability is derived directly from their wisdom ability score rather than a spellcasting ability score as it is with wizards, sorcerers, and the like.
What does UA stand for DND?
Unearthed Arcana (abbreviated UA) is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Is Artificer better than wizard?
Since the Artificer gains proficiency in light and medium armor and shields, this character will be much more durable than a standard Wizard.
Can a Tabaxi be an Artificer?
Artificer. The Tabaxi makes a passable artificer, but the things that make the Tabaxi interesting stop mattering when you can infuse Winged Boots.
Is there a DND canon?
EVERY EXPRESSION OF D&D HAS ITS OWN CANON. The current edition of the D&D roleplaying game has its own canon, as does every other expression of D&D. For example, what is canonical in fifth edition is not necessarily canonical in a novel, video game, movie, or comic book, and vice versa.
Is Tasha's cauldron of everything Unearthed Arcana?
Much of the information in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything was developed through the public Unearthed Arcana playtest – of the playtest subclasses, Crawford said "almost every single one made it into the game".
Does DND beyond use Unearthed Arcana?
There is no UA material available to you on D&D Beyond unless you created a character using UA during the window in which the UA was supported.
Does DND beyond have Unearthed Arcana?
There is no UA material available to you on D&D Beyond unless you created a character using UA during the window in which the UA was supported.
Do tarot cards exist in DND?
Use Tarot Cards to Draw for Random Loot Players will draw a card and receive items based on that card. Dungeon Masters could also look up the interpretation of a card draw and correlate a magic item based on that description.
What book is Unearthed Arcana in?
Xanathar's Guide to Everything (Dungeons & Dragons)
When did Unearthed Arcana come out?
1985The original Unearthed Arcana was written primarily by Gary Gygax, and published by game publisher TSR in 1985 for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition rules.
What is unearthed arcana?
Unearthed Arcana is a collection of content put out by the research and development of WotC that is in the playtest stage. Feats, subclasses, traps, and more make their way into this pre-published draft form that players and DMs are free to use, even if it’s not quite official content yet.
What does the mage of Witherbloom do?
Mage of Witherbloom– Witherbloom mages see the flow between life and death and draw upon that power. Druids and warlocks who take this subclass toe the line between dealing damage and healing with spells like Greater Restoration and Vampiric Touch both a part of the roster.
What are the lineages in Ravenloft?
This includes the dhampir, hexblood, and reborn lineages .
What does the Mage of Quandrix do?
Mage of Quandrix– Math is magic! That’s the motto of these mages who use formulas and equations to manipulate the capabilities of their foes. Abilities like Velocity Shift and Quantum Tunneling greatly affect movement, while Functions of Probability and Null Equations shift rolls as they’re happening through careful calculation.
What is a mage of Lorehold?
Mage of Lorehold– These mages focus on history, but make it cool. They get access to ancient companions, long-dead spirits that help them on their homework or on the battlefield, along with some excellent subclass specific spells like Spirit Guardians and Legend Lore.
What is the Mage of Prismari?
Mage of Prismari– The artistic Prismari students express themselves through a command of the elements. These mages focus on either cold, fire, or lightning damage and use their artistry to really bring them to life.
How to use Unearthed Arcana?
To use Unearthed Arcana content with your characters, you must have the Playtest Content toggle turned on in your character preferences in the Home section during character creation (the same way you toggle Homebrew content on and off). We will improve your source management options in the near future (full whitelisting/ blacklisting by source), but this is the starting point.
What is the third subclass in Unearthed Arcana?
The third subclass in this month's Unearthed Arcana is the brute. The brute is a chance for us to tool around with a new simple fighter. We know going all the way back to the D&D Next Playtest that in each class, our very diverse range of players like to have subclass options that are complex and also subclass options that are simple and options that are somewhere in between. In the Player's Handbook for the fighter, the simple option is the champion and the complex option is the battle master. We decided, because we've come out with a number of other fighter subclasses since the Player's Handbook came out, it was time for us to try out another simple one. This time, what if we did one that really leans into the fighter shtick and that is fighting and just made it about dealing bucket loads of damage? That's what the brute is all about. The brute is about dealing a lot of damage and also taking a lot of damage. Just standing there and soaking it up and doing so without a whole lot of complexity.
Why didn't the War Magic subclass make it into Xanathar's Guide?
That subclass had a mixed response, which was one of the reasons why it didn't make it into Xanathar's Guide. Instead, we ended up with the war magic subclass for wizards. We still thought there's something in lore mastery that a number of our players responded positively to, this idea of magical experimentation, different again from the sorcerer, whose our innate spell caster, whose able to shape spells because of an inborn connection to magic itself. The wizard is the scholar, but in this case with the School of Invention, we're leaving also into another side of the wizard that sometimes comes up in wizardly storytelling and that is almost wizard as scientist, wizard as inventor, or wizard as alchemist because often the alchemist archetype is associated with the wizard.
Why do druids want to destroy undead?
Most druids want to destroy undead because they are against the natural cycle whereas these druids view undeath as actually a legitimate step in the natural cycle.
What happens if you make D&D material official?
If this material is made official, it will be refined based on your feedback, and then it will appear in a D&D product that you can unlock on DDB.
What is the unearthed arcana?
Unearthed Arcana is the playtest material produced by publisher Wizards of the Coast, used to test new D&D mechanics and rule alterations before they may be officially integrated into the game. Past documents have tested gothic lineages to replace player races – which were eventually integrated into Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft – as well as Mages of Strixhaven class options, which were recently announced to have been cut from the upcoming Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos book due to negative fan feedback.
Is D&D Beyond a good resource?
We reckon D&D Beyond is a nifty digital resource for players and DMs. If you don’t dig it, however, read our guide to the best D&D character creator, or have a gander at our pick of the best D&D character sheets around.
Can you use Unearthed Arcana material in D&D Beyond?
Anyone currently using Unearthed Arcana material for a D&D beyond character will be able to continue to do so. However, from August 12, the material will no longer be available to add to characters that aren’t already using the content, and you won’t be able to add the material back to your character should you remove it.
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Overview
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
The original Unearthed Arcana was written by Gary Gygax with design and editing contributions by Jeff Grubb and Kim Mohan, respectively, and published by TSR in 1985. Gygax reportedly produced the book to raise money as TSR was deeply in debt at the time. He announced in the March 1985 issue of Dragon magazine that Unearthed Arcana would be released in the summer of that yea…
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition
The second book to use the name Unearthed Arcana was written by Andy Collins, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, and Rich Redman, and published in February 2004 by Wizards of the Coast, for use with the Dungeons & Dragons third edition rules. Cover art was by Matt Cavotta, with interior art by Steven Belledin, Ed Cox, Wayne England, Emily Fiegenschuh, David Hudnut, Jeremy Jarvis, Doug Kovacs, John and Laura Lakey, David Martin, Dennis Crabapple McClain, Mark Nelson, Jam…
Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition
The Unearthed Arcana title has been used for an approximately monthly column at the official D&D website that began in February 2015 and presents new, work-in-progress content such as class archetypes, playable races, and rule variants, similar to the playtest that preceded the release of 5th edition. Much of the information in Xanathar's Guide to Everything (2017) and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020) was developed through the public Unearthed Arcana play…
Reception
Reaction to Unearthed Arcana was often critical. According to Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, "Many players regard the new character classes introduced in this volume as overly powerful and out of line with those in the Player's Handbook."
Paul Cockburn reviewed the original Unearthed Arcana in issue 73 of White Dwarf magazine (January 1986), rating it 4 out of 10 overall. He summed up the book's contents by calling them "…