This week's Unearthed Arcana is jam-packed with new playtest options. In the video below, @ToddKenreck and I chat about the new goodies …

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– You come out with a

new Unearthed Arcana.

This is very unique and

changes a lot about the game.

So tell me how this came about,

what is this is new Unearthed Arcana?

– A few years ago, I publicly brought up

that we were going to start exploring

the possibility of introducing

variant class features

for the classes in the player’s handbook.

At the time there was a

lot of interest in that,

also curiosity, what might that look like.

Well this most recent Unearthed

Arcana is exactly that.

That is that thing I

brought up several years ago

that we were going to

explore, and now we finally

have been able to reveal the

fruit of that exploration.

Technically, these variants don’t change

anything about the game because first off,

like all Unearthed Arcana

material it’s play test,

it’s not officially part of the game.

But even if we were to make

these a part of the game.

Let’s say everyone

loves them and we decide

to take them to the next step.

Like the options we

introduced in our other books,

there are subclasses in Guild

Master’s Guide to Ravnica,

there are options in Sword

Coast Adventurer’s Guide,

there are options in

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything,

races in Volo’s Guide, in

Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes.

All of those things are

optional, and that fact

of being optional is true

about these variants as well.

We state right up front a DM decides

if these variants are going to be used

in a particular campaign,

and a DM might decide

to say yes to some of the

variants and no to others.

This is a tool that we

would love to see groups

having the option of

implementing in their games

and deciding how much of

this tool they want to use.

This is really meant to

be in a way a buffet.

For people to come to and look and see

is there something here that’s going

to help enhance their enjoyment

of the classes that they’ve been playing

potentially for the last five years.

So really at the heart of it this is

all about hey, you like this thing?

Here’s a way for you to

see a new side to it.

Here’s a way to maybe smooth away

a piece of this thing that

you liked, smooth away

a piece of it that was

maybe a pain point for you.

So a lot of our work when coming up

with these class features, and this work

was done by Dan Dillon,

Ben Petrisor, and myself,

then getting some editorial

support from Wes Schneider.

Our goal was where there

are pain points, how can we

address those, and then

also where are there

some chances for just some fun new spice?

Where is there a feature in a class

that maybe is really

just there for flavor,

it’s not a load-bearing

element of the class,

where we can provide an

alternative, or an enhancement,

that would give people a new experience?

It’s why I also now just touched on

another important aspect

of this Unearthed Arcana.

That is some of these variants

replace features, and

some of them enhance.

When we first started this project,

all of the variants were

going to be about replacement.

But we realized that our classes

actually have very few features

that we would want to replace.

Now that’s more true for some classes

and less true for others.

The ranger, because of

feedback we’ve received

over the years, we knew

had a number of features

where people would love

to see some alternatives.

– [Todd] Right.

– So that’s why when

you look at this article

you’ll see there are a lot

of replacement options.

But we have other classes

where the core of the class,

the rogue is a fine

example of this, is solid.

– [Todd] Yeah.

– And each of the pieces

of the core class has

an important purpose in

how that class functions

not only mechanically,

but also narratively.

So as we did this exploration we realized

for some classes we don’t

have any replacements

necessarily that we want to offer,

but we do have some enhancements

we want to make available to people.

Now an enhancement basically snaps into

a feature you already

have and gives it a twist.

– [Todd] Right.

– And it’s important

when a person is reading

these enhancements and replacements

to realize that unless the enhancement

explicitly turns something

off in the feature

it’s enhancing, the feature it’s enhancing

continues to work exactly

the way it’s written

in the player’s handbook, but again,

now with a little extra.

– Hence enhancement.

– [Jeremy] Exactly.

– (laughs) It’s taking something

that exists and making it better.

– [Jeremy] Exactly.

– If it’s better for you.

You don’t have to do it.

– You don’t have to do it.

And again, it is each group’s choice

whether they want to

engage with these or not.

Now some people might think

well if these things enhance,

why wouldn’t every group do it?

And here’s why.

There are some groups that love

the simplicity of we just play

with what’s in the player’s handbook.

Which is one of the reasons why we’re not

gonna take these and suddenly say

everyone must apply them to their game.

– [Todd] Right.

– Because a big part of our game is people

getting to calibrate it

to their group’s taste.

So these enhancements

and these replacements,

again it’s a buffet,

and the group can decide

how many of these things they

would like to engage with.

Many of these things,

especially when it comes

to the enhancements, are also ultimately

about providing greater versatility.

If you look at the UA,

the word versatility

in fact shows up over and over again.

– [Todd] Quite often.

(laughs)

– And one of the reasons for that

is I wanted us to provide

an official answer

to the desire in many

groups, which we have

observed over the last

five years, to be able

to have a bit more flexibility

with their character.

For when they make a choice,

not be trapped by that choice.

– [Todd] Right.

– Because we have provided

in the player’s handbook

various ways to, say if you’re a sorcerer,

when you level up, swap out a spell.

– [Todd] Yes, that is

remarkable by the way.

– But that’s in the player’s handbook.

– [Todd] Yeah.

– In this, we provide you the ability

to swap out a spell at

the end of the long rest.

– [Todd] Yeah.

– The reason for that is we actually

have no control over, as game designers,

over how long a level lasts.

And in some groups it has become clear

as we’ve observed different patterns

of play over the last five years,

having to wait ’til that next level

to swap out a spell you

decide you don’t like.

In one group that might just

be a session or two from now.

– [Todd] Right.

– Another group, if another group likes

to just stay the same

level for a long time,

that could be six to 12 months.

– [Todd] Yes.

– Which was not a part

of our original design.

So in a way, us providing this versatility

is signaling to people the game can handle

a sorcerer for instance swapping out

one spell at the end of a short rest.

I mean I’m sorry, a long rest.

Because also ultimately we want people

to be happy with their characters.

To me there is no merit in

the design to make people

eat their vegetables with their character.

– [Todd] Yeah, it’s a game.

– It’s a game.

(Todd laughs)

Now someone might then

ask Jeremy, why don’t you

just let people change

everything all the time?

Now the reason why the rules don’t–

– [Todd] Identity is an important thing.

– Exactly.

The reason why the rules don’t

do that, it’s really twofold.

One, it’s a narrative reason.

We want there to be at least some stable

identity to a person’s character.

But also B, we don’t want the potential

slowdown of reconsidering everything

in your character all the time.

Now there are a few characters where,

like the wizard for

instance, where actually

a deep consideration

daily of their spells,

and all their spells, is a

core part of their identity.

But with wizards we address

that by it’s a spell book,

so the spell book

doesn’t have every single

wizard spell in existence,

it’s a curated list

and then you’re choosing

from that curated list.

– [Todd] And that’s kinda

the charm of being a wizard.

– Yes, yeah, I mean that is

a big part of their identity.

And they still have that identity.

Even now, let’s say a group decides

to use some of these versatility options

in the sorcerer, the bard, the ranger.

They get to swap out one spell every day.

The cleric, the druid, and

the wizard still get to,

if they want to, prepare an entirely

different list of spells every day.

– [Todd] Right.

– So their identity, their versatility,

is still unmatched in the game.

I’m saying this because sometimes

there’s anxiety among players about

one class encroaching upon

another class’s identity.

I’m bringing this up to let people

know the identity is intact.

– [Todd] Not even close.

(Todd laughs)

– One spell versus an entire list

is a very different play experience.

Because you’re still also

going to see stability.

This also, some of these

enhancements, let us…

Bring not only that versatility

that I’m mentioning,

but also address indirectly

pain points in some subclasses.

Here’s a great example of this.

In the monk, some people

might be a little puzzled

by the chi-fueled strike enhancement.

– [Todd] Right.

– Because they’ll realize wait a second,

this enhancement allows a monk,

if in the campaign this enhancement

is basically turned on,

to use their bonus action

to make an unarmed strike

if they used their action,

and as a part of that

action they spent chi.

And people will think

well the monk can already

make unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

What this is doing is this is making it

so that subclasses like the Way of Shadow

and the Way of the Four Elements,

which have certain features that consume

their entire action, spending chi

and often casting a spell, this feature

now allows subclasses like that

to still get their unarmed strike in.

Addressing a piece of

feedback we’ve gotten

about those subclasses sometimes feeling

like they’re falling behind.

So this was also a chance for us to do

some fun rules options that in many cases

killed multiple birds with one stone.

#DnD https://t.co/vOBZ4G4KxH

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 7, 2019

@ToddKenreck will the new UA be making its way to @DnDBeyond?

— Kyle Newman (@kyle_newman) November 5, 2019

While Todd won't be able to confirm on that, I can share that it will. With the complexity it brings, we will not be able to have it available immediately. We'll get it in place as soon as possible and keep everyone posted! #DDBStaff

— Adam Bradford (@BadEyeAdam) November 5, 2019

HEROEs!
Another Unearthed Arcana with three magnificent subcalsses!
DOWNLOAD:
https://media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downloads/UA-RuneSwarmRevived.pdf

In Unearthed Arcana today, three new subclasses march forward for playtesting: the Rune Knight for the fighter, the Swarmkeeper for the ranger, and the Revived for the rogue. Read them here: https://t.co/06hTg3BusW #DnD pic.twitter.com/nuf9LbLpLN

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) October 17, 2019

Want to blaze with creative fire? 🔥

Then check out this video about the Circle of Wildfire, a new playtest option for the D&D druid: one of the other new subclasses in ua is
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also not a departure for druids but it’s

very fascinating you’ve turned a

wildfire into a function of being a

druid which it very much is part of

nature in that cycle so tell me about

this subclass and the story that this

tells the druids magic is about every

aspect of nature this includes the

obvious stuff plants and animals whether

in guild masters guide to Ravnica we

explored so the natural forces of death

and fungus in the form of the circle of

spores here we wanted to explore this

natural phenomenon of fire and

destruction actually being an important

part of the cycle of life

fire is has always been associated with

the druid actually the druid is the

class that has you know the produce

flame spell the the druid has been able

to wield the fiery scimitar so going all

the way back to first edition there have

been fire spells in the druid now i

think part of this and this is

speculation on my part part of it is I

think because in Irish mythology and

other Celtic myth druids are depicted

sometimes as wielding fire in fact in in

a massive battle that they’re involved

and they’re even described as calling

down a rain of fire on the Florian’s

that they are going up against oh yes

so fire being associated with the druid

is very traditional in a way but this

presentation is not traditional where

you have this druid who has who has

connected themselves in a deep mystical

way with this nature spirit that is a

force of destruction end of life and

because of that connection the druid is

able to marshal the same destruct

and also nurturing powers that that

spirit has and so it’s a it’s a fun take

I think for the druid because not only

because of the themes that it delves

into but then also in terms of the play

experience the druid is able to have

this fiery spirit present and it also is

doing something that we experimented

with in the circle of spores and that is

giving the druid something else to do

with their wild shape other than turn

into a beast granted the circle of the

moon also does this by at high enough

level you have the ability to turn into

an elemental and so we like we like

using sometimes wild shape as a currency

and so in this case if the druid wants

to instead of turning into a beast they

can manifest this wild fire spirit which

can you know launch fire as you would

expect would be a Miss on our part if we

say here’s a fire spirit they can’t

shoot fire yeah so yes it shows up and

can shoot fire but you can also use it

to explosively teleport because the one

of the abilities of this spirit is a

fiery teleportation that can move your

whole group from one place to another or

whatever you know that the creatures you

decide to move this spirit also gives

you the ability to do things actually

with bodies on the battlefield we’ve got

something we’re exploring because again

we wanted to show how destruction or

death can give rise to a new phase of

life so again there are these themes

throughout the subclass and I think

people are going to have fun playing

with it another subclass actually that

influenced some of our work on this and

I and I think some fans have noticed it

is how we design the wildfire spirit is

influenced by what we did with the pet

in the battle Smith in the artificer

yeah where we we built this pet with its

stat block

right into the subclass really with the

goal on our part of making it easy to

use this companion rather than having

you go look in the monster manual or

another text for the stats it’s right

there doing that also allows us to give

you a lot of control because we know

exactly what that companion is capable

of doing this is in contrast to regular

wild shape and also how the Beastmaster

Ranger works where those abilities give

you the liberty of essentially looting

the Monster Manual right other books for

any beast that we publish that is of an

eligible challenge rating because we

give you that Liberty that Liberty comes

with a lot of limitations because in a

way we needed to build safeguards in

because there are so many different

variations with so many different

abilities and we could not predict you

know five six years ago when we were

writing the core books what we might be

designing today yeah five years later

but if we design the stat block in the

subclass because we have total certainty

about what that thing can do it means we

can actually be a bit more generous in

how you control that pet what it’s

capable of doing so I’m very interested

to see what people think overall in the

battle Smith people loved it and we’ll

see if people enjoy this very different

kind of companion because the Wildfire

spirit is not at all like the iron

defender that was in the battle Smith

though iron defender now called the

steel defender in a bar on rising from

boots war why the name change the name

changed because in the bestiary section

there is also an iron defender and we

actually needed to distinguish we needed

to distinguish

between the two different creatures am I

allowed to ask is its form always going

to be a hound so the battle Smith is

able to determine what the steel

defender looks like okay just curious

what I very much love just as the circle

of wildfire druid is able to determine

what that spirit looks like we give we

give some suggestions we have Phoenix

you could you could make it look like a

Phoenix you know we say it could really

look like any animal reads and fire it

might also look like you know a vague

humanoid form you know with flames on it

really it’s up to you we always love it

when we can give players the ability to

customize the appearance of something

like this especially when it’s not

crucial to the game that it look a

particular way right and we know that

people love deciding how something you

know sounds and looks and etc when it’s

a part of their character yeah it’s a

very easy thing and I certainly get

caught up in it myself with like the

form that is suggested and you know

sometimes you’ll forget like the indie

is yours you can reflate things any way

you want right it certainly helps when

the creator’s tell you so yes yeah and

we in more recent books we’ve done that

more and more yes with the core books

partly we focused on like the core D&D

aesthetic and so we don’t spend as much

time in those books telling you you know

you can actually make this stuff look

however you want but one of the things

actually we’ve learned over the last

five years looking at play test feedback

is beginning players in particular often

look to us to give them permission to

customize things so in newer material

that’s why we do more often say things

like you get to decide what this looks

like right you know if I if I were to

you know go back in time and and put

some a extra

about spell-casting in the players

handbook for instance I would put a note

in there for all the brand new players

like if you’re casting magic missle you

get to decide what it looks like you’re

not bound by the little bit of flavor

text that’s in the spell because if you

decide you know your your magic missiles

look like a bunch of flying pumpkins and

someone else decides there’s they’re

shooting butterflies that’s great it it

has no effect on what the spell does and

it’s a way for you to express the

personality and history of your

character I’d be I would always throw up

a jack-o’-lantern and have it explode

you know Legend of Sleepy Hollow yeah

this is also very restoration very

healing yes so this is both sides of the

spectrum this is doing some fire damage

but also healing your party at the same

time and that that dichotomy of

destruction and restoration is not only

a big part of the circle of wildfire

it’s actually a core theme of the druid

itself the druid has many of the healing

spells of the cleric there’s some that

the cleric has that the druid lacks but

the grew it also has a larger kit of

destructive magic than the cleric does

and that is also intentional the druid

has always occupied a space that we

imagine as being somewhere in between

the cleric and the wizard that if you

want really if you want to play a

character who is a mix of the two and

you don’t want to multi class and you

also enjoy the sort of ancient primal

feel the druid is the way to go I bring

this up because often people rightly

will be so excited by wild shape the

ability to turn into an animal that it

can be easy to forget the amazing other

abilities that the druid has and that

the druid is this full-fledged spell

caster absolutely with you know able to

hold their own neck

to a cleric and a wizard and also able

to actually fill roles similar to what

the wizard fills ended the cleric fills

so often so often if a glutton filled

the role of it fighter yes tank yeah

like in fact in fact we recently here at

work had a game day had been a while

since we just sat down and all play D&D

together and on that game day I played

druid and my and we were all playing

first level characters and my first

level druid was essentially the

frontline warrior without wild shape it

was just simply because of my ability to

heal myself yeah and have some armor on

and wield the scimitar I was up there

battling it away while many of the other

characters were were in the back and so

the druid has amazing versatility not

just with magic but even with some of

their weapon and armor choices I since

since the beginning I was always so

fascinated by druids I thought they’re

the coolest thing in D&D and I wish they

had more love out there I wish more

people would try play druids because

they are so cool and again primordial

and there’s just something about them

kind of which you know obviously very

druidic yeah yeah cuz they’re druids but

yeah it’s that sense of like there’s

something older than time mm-hmm and

that’s where your magic comes from

that’s both scary or it can be very

inviting at the same time it’s a totally

different flavor from being a wizard or

a cleric yeah and and we’re really

trying to show with subclasses like

circle of wildfire just how interesting

the druid story space is and that you

can again you can dive into that space

even if you have no interest in you know

spending session after session as a bear

or or a panther or whatever your

favorite animal is to turn into I mean

the druid is also fantastic for the

person who wants to play an animal but

again there’s so much more well she is

so evocative

it does have override your brain we have

it although again what’s funny is

historically wild shape was not the

signature feature of the druid back in

first edition now it it yes the Drude

could transform yeah but that was just

sort of one of several of its abilities

and it’s spell casting was was more

formidable than its wild shape abilities

in in real world folklore the druids

ability to transform was actually a kind

of minor almost like party trick yeah

and was and was usually used for

reconnaissance like turned into a little

or travel turn into a bird to cover a

large distance but when the druid really

wanted to throw down like again in Irish

mythology it was with like calling fire

down from the heavens and I might have

mentioned this before in an interview

what’s fascinating is when you look at

old folklore and find out what was

called the druid gift it was not shape

changing it was actually foresight that

you knew that one of the most

distinguishing features of ADRA’s was

that their ability to see the future

because the word druid and means it if

you sort of disentangle it it means wise

right

they were the Wise Ones they were in a

way wizards and that’s kind of what they

are it’s just you can almost almost

imagine them as as as Wizards of a

tradition far older yeah then proto was

yeah then then the the form of academic

wizardry that you know Wizards practice

yeah and also druids in a way they’re

their magic and their practice of it

feels even more ancient than what

clerics practice yeah I love it I I’m

convinced there won’t play through it

[Laughter]

you

https://t.co/aLHGmj1NGe via @YouTube #DnD @Wizards_DnD @ToddKenreck

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) October 8, 2019

Love walks lit by starlight? Want to help your friends get over a fear of the dark?

Then you might be interested in the Twilight Domain, the latest playtest option for the D&D cleric! Learn more in this video: there’s another unearthed Arcana for the
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cleric that focuses on a very different

domain what was the inspiration for this

we have long wanted to have a cleric

essentially of shadow in our early 5th

edition work that cleric of shadow

actually turned into the trickery domain

that’s in the players handbook but this

notion of shadow or darkness as the

opposite of the light domain that is

also in the players handbook and that

notion is stuck with us and so we’ve

been tinkering with this idea the sort

of the shadow cleric and the more we

tinkered with it the more it evolved

into what has become the Twilight domain

where we wanted something not about

total darkness partly because we feel

that we’ve gone to that that design well

several times elsewhere in our class

design and to the source really yeah and

and so rather than going all in on

shadow again which we’ve done before we

wanted to explore a space sort of

in-between and that’s where we ended up

with Twilight that this is a cleric who

might walk in darkness but who also

walks in light and who also walks in the

border territory I also really wanted us

to delve into an aspect of the night of

nighttime that often gets ignored in

fantasy storytelling and that is night

does also when we rest not just when

we’re afraid and often in fantasy

storytelling darkness and night is

associated with terrible dark scary

things and then that’s great I mean we

will continue to do so Indiana fight yes

yes there are there are terrors in the

night but night is also when we rest

night is also especially when we are in

our homes we feel safe night is off in a

quieter time for us and

so I wanted us to again explore that

liminal space between light and darkness

that Twilight Realm where things might

be scary but it also might be a place of

comfort it might be that place that

because the the light isn’t shining on

you harshly you feel safer you feel

calmer and I hope this resonates with

people it anytime we do a more kind of

nuanced archetype like this I’m always

fascinated to find out what my fellow

fans think of it because it doesn’t it

doesn’t have the same broad swing of

light or darkness yeah or the raves

domain yes you know yeah it it there’s a

there is appropriate to a Twilight

domain there’s sort of a quietness about

it but I think there can be a great

power not only in storytelling but also

in life of the quiet places where the

light is softer where things dim a bit

now that all sort of you know sort of

high-level talk aside I think the

subclass just has some neat stuff in it

where we explore for instance the

ability for a character to be able to

see clearly in darkness at any distance

this feature that the subclass gets

right away of being able to see at any

distance in the darkness I’m suspecting

and we’d the team that worked on this

myself Dan Dylan Ben Petrus or and West

Nider

thought people might actually read it so

fast they might they might miss what

makes it special forgetting the DND dark

vision almost always has a range yes

typically 60 feet occasionally a hundred

120 feet but usually it’s only about out

to 60 feet and then beyond that you

can’t see yeah

the Twilight domain gives the cleric the

ability to see in darkness no matter the

distance so already that’s something

special

then they have the ability to give that

ability a limited number of times to

their friends so imagine you’re in you

know the Underdark

or you know you’re trapped in some other

subterranean location you have no light

source this is the cleric who can say

suddenly everyone we can see but still

maintain the darkness because maybe we

want to get the jump on people and we

don’t want to cast the light spell or

use some other means of generating

illumination no now it’s less ethereal

to me now it’s almost like a black ops

team yes so so again and that’s we want

again that that liminal space where this

could be used to you can imagine rid

people of their fear of the dark you

know this could be the cleric who is a

source of comfort to people you know or

you can’t see and we have no source of

light but we can make darkness our

friend but this ability also could be

used to sneak into a place and pull off

an amazing ambush because you are moving

in darkness and all of you able to see

as if you were in the daylight so again

really neat I think in terms of how this

could play out it’s insanely valuable

guide as well in a very weird aside I

think of like Riddick he’s the only

person the Hansie in the darkness and to

have that power like you become you can

become such an instrumental part of the

party and to survive you see that dragon

before the dragon sees you and that and

that was something we talked about being

of use to the group we talked about in

our design because typically when a

person chooses to play the cleric the

cleric so many of his abilities are

about helping other people and the Clerc

certainly has a number of abilities that

are just fun for the cleric but I always

try to make sure there’s something in

the cleric whether it was you know back

then when we were working on the base

class but now in the subclass that

benefits your buddies

and so initially when we did this see in

the dark it actually only benefitted the

cleric but honestly we could do a

feature like that in any class I mean in

fact you know in Zanna thar’s guy we

have the ranger who can you know who is

also a friend to the darkness but here

to really distinguish this subclass from

a similar theme elsewhere we wanted to

make it so that you could help your

friends because that’s again a very

cleric thing to be able to do that’s

also why this cleric is able to give

advantage to themselves or someone else

on their next initiative role this idea

that you can bring vigilance to your

group this cleric is such a friend to

the knight that they eventually gain the

ability to essentially walk on darkness

I really loved when Dan Dylan put that

in the initial draft this idea again of

of this cleric to sort of striding upon

the knight it’s again there’s kind of a

witchy quality to it which also makes it

possible I think to make some cleric

concepts that maybe some of our other

subclasses don’t fully realize you know

if you if you want to make you know a

cleric of the moon you could certainly

do that with some of our other

subclasses you know because the the moon

is associated in myth with many

different things you could associate the

moon with the knowledge domain the life

domain the grave domain yeah

where’s but this this domain lets you

focus more on nighttime itself and your

relationship with darkness and Twilight

and light so I think it’s again it’s a

very rich area not only in terms of what

the subclass can do but also in terms of

the types of clerics you can make with

it it’s such a transitive moment to like

and particularly for kids for some

reason in my mind like you’re waiting

for Halloween and the Sun begins to set

it is a transition

somehow mentally for all of us always

like you know whether you’re going out

and you’re going to party or go see the

movies or go trick-or-treating for candy

there is something about Twilight as the

border of all of that from like the

moment you work even growing up on a

farm you know the moment you are working

to the moment where you can’t work

anymore

and then things are fun yeah you know

there is something I think just kinda

like ingrained in all of us walking on

shadows is always cool yeah can you not

want to do that yeah how does this work

for a lake so that makes a lot of sense

like if you’re a cleric that worships

the moon or moon deity how would you do

this for like a philosophy that’s a

toughy so if if your cleric follows a

philosophy or a force instead of a god

or a pantheon you could imagine a

philosophy of transition or a change or

or a concept of mystery because not only

does this domain give you the ability to

pierce darkness with your sight and

stride upon darkness but this also

allows you to create darkness so in a

way it’s like you have this two-sided

relationship with darkness you can use

it or defang it yeah or you can use it

against others you can conjure up

darkness and then eventually at a high

enough level in the subclass you can

make it so that with the darkness spell

you and your friends can see through it

which again is one of those things where

a person might read it and say yeah big

deal but remember the d’arnaud the

darkness spell the note the darkness

spell cannot be seen through even by

normal dark vision it’s so to have a

group specular walk around in in the

area of a darkness spell yes and keep in

mind when other people can’t see you and

they try to attack you they have

disadvantage on all their attacker all

and if you can see them and they can’t

see you you have advantage on your

attack rolls oh boy could this hold

devastating in certain circumstances so

it’s terrifying my wife and I use

darkness together when we get a chance

to play together

that’s our like go-to we drop some

darkness like show source were warlock

with double sight and it’s just like

one-two punch right again disadvantage

against us advantage for us against them

and then things get really dark if you

get like The Sentinel feet or you have

elderts blast slows people down yeah so

now you have three subclasses that can

all fall in the entire class here but

you know you can have three different

characters up all about the darkness and

and treading that line and that’s very

exciting and very advantageous because

before doing that that trick with

darkness it’s a very alienating effect

mm-hmm

because this is you in the dark all

right the party watching you do this can

you grant that ability to other people

yes yeah and again that is that is the

cleric twist yeah we’re this the

Twilight cleric is able to share this

ability which again might be scary for

your foes but can also then be

comforting for your friends and again

that’s it goes back to the two sided

nature of the Twilight domain

https://t.co/oJ0YMj8FkE via @YouTube #DnD @ToddKenreck @Wizards_DnD

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) October 7, 2019

Names have power.

We recently introduced a new playtest option for the wizard: Onomancy, the magic of names. Learn more about it in this video: – You have a lot of
THIS IS A AN AUTOMATIC CAPTION TEXT from YouTube, so it’s not “perfect”.
My advice is to use it just to help people like me that are not english speaking, to understand the Video/Podcast
Unearthed Arcana coming out

and there’s a lot of interesting ones.

One of them is there’s

a new wizard subclass

that feels very

much the stuff of legends, correct?

Tell me about this.

– So this week in Unearthed Arcana,

we unveiled

Onomancy,

a tradition of wizardry

that focuses on the magic of true names.

Now, true names, of course are a big deal

in real-world folklore,

this idea that you can gain

special power over someone

or something by knowing its true name.

This motif appears in many folktales,

in many fantasy stories;

it’s even something

that already is in D&D.

There is some commentary about true names

in the monster manual.

Demons

don’t like their true names being used.

And so we thought, as has been done before

in D&D’s past, we would explore

Onomancy as a form of magic.

And in this case,

specifically for the wizard.

And so what we did is

we created the subclass

that allows the wizard to gain advantages

over particular targets by

knowing their true name.

Now, one of those advantages

is literally having advantage,

I mean, rather them having disadvantage

on some of their roles

because you have uttered their true name.

– Which is already so mean (laughs)

– Oh, yes. Yeah.

– Yeah, it’s very power…

I mean

of course is what you want

and that’s like second level.

– Yeah.

– [Todd] Yeah.

– And we’ve also given this wizard

a suite of different abilities

that they can choose from

to modify the effects of a spell,

again, all relying on the

wizard knowing the true name

of the person they’re targeting.

These are things like

causing it to do more damage.

Again, making it harder for

them to save against the spell.

One of my favorites is

the one where we allow you

to target somebody who

you can’t see and is even

behind total cover as long as

you uttered their true name

and they’re within range of the spell.

Situational, but in particular situations,

that would be horrifying.

Just suddenly magic is happening to you

because somewhere nearby,

your true name was uttered.

– I love that.

That almost makes you the

Archaean archer of wizardry,

in a sense.

But, yeah, because I know your name.

You cannot hide from my magic.

That’s such a primordial

idea of magic,

right?

– And this wizard,

with that primordial power,

is also able to bolster allies

and curse foes by using

the bless and bane spells,

which is unusual for a wizard.

Those spells are typically associated

with a class like the cleric,

but this wizard, thanks again to the power

of knowing someone’s true name,

can utter an ally’s true name

and use that magic

to bless a group of

people or the opposite,

utter a foe’s true name and then cast bane

on a group of foes.

And we were, kind of,

imagining that the creature

whose name is being uttered,

they’re serving as a

conduit for those spells

and this wizard has both of

those spells always prepared.

They’re always ready to bless

people and also to curse them.

– I like it because, and how it’s worded,

the name of someone becomes the component.

– Yes.

And we also, in the subclass,

talk about what, in fact,

is a true name.

It could be your given name.

It could be a name you’ve chosen.

It could be a name you’ve earned.

If you’re worried about people

using your name in magic,

well then you might use a

pseudonym in everyday life.

There are many folktales that

involve people who use names

that are not actually their real name.

But then we even have a note saying

if you use a false name long enough,

it might actually become your

true name if it is the name

that you associate with yourself.

When you think of yourself,

if you have enough

mornings where you wake up

and the name that you

associate with yourself

is your false one,

well then that false name

might become your true name

and then could be used

against you by an necromancer.

– It’s a good example of…

Well, strangely, in my

family for some reason,

all the men go by their middle

name and I have no idea why.

– [Jeremy] Maybe so that a wizard

can’t use your true name against you.

– Hmm.

But also when you think of Batman,

or

Bruce Wayne, who is he really?

– [Jeremy] Right.

– Really feels like he’s Batman,

to make a comic book reference to that.

– Yeah, or

Gandalf has

a whole bunch of names.

– [Todd] Yes, Gandalf

has so many names (laughs).

– And

those names are not the

name that he originally had

in the West when he was a

divine being before being sent

to Middle-earth.

But then you wonder with Gandalf,

has one of those names become

actually his true name?

I mean, we don’t know, but–

– And that transition

from Gandalf the Grey

to Gandalf the White,

but Mithrandir’s the Elvin name for him.

– But even that’s not

his original name.

– [Todd] That’s not

his real name.

– Yeah.

– I feel terrible, but I

forget his real name right now;

it’s driving me nuts.

– [Jeremy] You have to go

to the Silmarillion for that.

– [Todd] Yeah, I know, I know.

I have the Silmarillion (laughs).

– I don’t wanna utter it because if I did,

he might appear and–

– [Todd] Please utter it–

– and be very…

– Cause if Ian McKellen just pops in,

that’s fantastic.

– It wouldn’t be Ian McKellen,

it would be Gandalf.

(laughing)

– [Todd] I think Ian

McKellen is his true name

(laughing)

– No, if it would summon Ian McKellen,

I would say it.

I would say it as many times as necessary.

– [Todd] Until he got very cross with you.

– Yes.

(laughing)

He would say, “Please,

sir, stop summoning me.”

– What is the story that you’re

telling with this subclass?

– So

it’s not only tapping into

folklore about true names,

but it’s also tapping into this

story of the wizard itself.

The wizard is all about knowledge, texts,

and a big part of text

is the name of things.

So this is a natural fit for the wizard.

We, of course , could

have explored Onomancy

in maybe another spell-casting class,

perhaps the bard.

But

the wizard as

the spell-caster of texts,

I mean, this is the only

spell-caster we have

where so much of their

identity is about a book,

and libraries, and things

being written down;

These are the spell-casters,

I think, that would most

master the power of the name.

– It adds another dimension to

magic, in D&D as well for me.

Like you said,

demons not wanting their true names known

and that’s a touch of paranoia.

– Yeah, yeah.

And

if Onomancy was turned into,

not only something for the

wizard in a particular campaign,

but a bigger deal in

the campaign at large.

You could imagine entire cultures

where people have multiple names

and

it just would become in practice,

that any of us might

have three, four names.

And in fact, I our

world, there are actually

a number of cultures

where that is the case.

I mean, even many of us,

I have a middle name;

I never go by it,

but it’s kind of a

fascinating cultural relic.

Why do I have multiple names?

And, again, there are a

number of answers for why,

but even in our world,

there are actually many

well-established traditions

that we don’t even think about

’cause we’re so used to it,

of one person having multiple names.

– That’s very interesting.

– [Jeremy] Yeah.

– Yeah, I love this brand of magic

and being able to change out and swap out

the effect that you can

place on any spell is…

If you wanna be the most wizardy wizard,

right now that’s what

it feels like for me.

– [Jeremy] Right.

– I can really attune my

magic very specifically

for that great effect,

but I have to think

about it ahead of time.

I needed to decide what

kind of wizard I’m gonna be

using these names.

– And if you are meeting

somebody for the first time,

you could try to get their

true name out of them

using your extract name feature.

If that fails, it will never

work on that person again,

but that doesn’t mean you

can’t get their true name;

it just means,

basically, you’re shortcut got blocked,

but you can now still try

to get it out of them,

either by being persuasive,

by reading their mind,

by doing some research.

– [Todd] Talking to their

friends, their family, yeah.

– Yep, talking to people

who know them well.

You could imagine a campaign,

actually becoming a lot about this,

this hunt for people’s real names.

– Yeah, I love it.

And I would totally play in that campaign.

(laughing)

When a name becomes more

important than a artifact,

or a powerful spell,

or

feeding this great creature,

when you can make an entire campaign

about finding certain names.

That lends itself to a

whole new kind of campaign

and I think that’s very exciting.

– And I would love

to see this triggered in

a group of characters,

suddenly this awareness of,

“Really, what is my true name?”

– [Todd] Yeah.

– I mean, even us as players

in DMs could ponder this

in the real world.

(laughing)

Yeah, when we hear our name,

do we really associate ourselves with it?

https://t.co/d6qJ2oqV2S via @YouTube #DnD @ToddKenreck @Wizards_DnD @Dan_Dillon_1

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) October 7, 2019