Torching the whole party with a dragon's breath weapon is one of the most fun moments as a Dungeon Master. How can we tweak this rule to have greater control over its power and establish ludonarrative harmony?
Breath Weapon Dice Pools
Category: Unearthed Arcana
Artificer Survey Results
Shortly after the release of The Artificer Returns, we ran a survey asking D&D fans some more general design questions than you get from the typical Unearthed Arcana survey. Here's the results!
Design Tips: Trap Features
We used to build characters a different way. Back in 3.x, the splat got so numerous that you were practically forced to "work backwards from 20." In other words, you would build your ultimate character concept and work backwards to see what you needed to take at each level. For example, failure to properly plan … Continue reading Design Tips: Trap Features
Artificer: Cantrips vs. Crossbows
Examining damage outputs of cantrips vs. crossbows for the new Unearthed Arcana Artificer. It seems crossbows can outscale cantrips, but at what cost?
Artificer Expanded Spell List
Buffing the Artificer spell list with spells that fit its casting themes of object manipulation, fabrication, healing, defensive fortifications, and personal buffs. 14 new Artificer spells from Xanathar's Guide to Everything are included on a handy chart to track your prepared spells.
Artificer Subclass Template
As a follow up to last week's Artificer teardown, we're taking a dive into the Artificer subclasses: Artillerist and Alchemist. We'll analyze the subclasses and develop a template for brewing your own subclasses. Structure The subclass features unlock at 3rd, 6th, and 14th levels. This mirrors the Bard progression, which is notoriously difficult to design … Continue reading Artificer Subclass Template
Artificer Teardown
It happened. On February 28, 2019, The Artificer Revisited was released to much fanfare. What did we get? Let's chew up the crunch. We'll start with the base class mechanics and move into the subclasses next week, when we build a template for how to homebrew an Artificer subclass. Base Class Hit Die (d8). A … Continue reading Artificer Teardown
Kitbashing the Warlord
Among new class options, the Warlord is highly coveted. Especially so among 4th Edition (4e) veterans. In fact, the Warlord is probably the most popular class concept that hasn’t been graced with a playtest treatment via Unearthed Arcana. With no expectations as to when we might see an official Warlord (sub)class, how close can we get with the current options in 5th Edition (5e)?
You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Weapon
Natural weapons are weapons that are "built in" to a player character race. We're taking a look at how the D&D designers have built natural weapons through the history of 5th Edition and making a template of our own.
Warforged AC
On July 23, 2018, along with the release of the Eberron setting for 5e, D&D released the Races of Eberron Unearthed Arcana, featuring updated versions of three races (Warforged, Shifter, Changeling) and one new race (Kalashtar). Today's focus is the Warforged. Integrated Protection The thematic highlight of the Warforged is its armored body. Great design … Continue reading Warforged AC
