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Message: <blockquote data-quote="darjr" data-source="post: 8735306" data-attributes="member: 52905">For the first playtest talks. Character Origins.[MEDIA=youtube]mOQ_Exh0DmY[/MEDIA]Get the playtest here.[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.dndbeyond.com/claim/source/one-dnd[/URL]See the spoiler block for the transcript[spoiler] Do0:12We Begin we we begin with Origins right appropriately enough we begin at the0:18beginning and so this under tarkana is the first and what's going to be a0:25series of Unearthed Arcana articles that come out every month or so over the0:30course of not only the next year but probably the next year and a half or so where we're0:36going to present different pieces of the player's handbook but with brand new0:43content then also familiar content but with new elements0:49updates and this is the chance for DND fans to let us know what they think to0:57really lend their voice to the chorus of DnD fans that will be really letting us1:04know where they want us to go next with this game that many of us have been1:09playing for decades and so many people have been playing since the 5th edition1:15players handbook came out in 2014. and so with this first one we thought1:22why not start at the start and that is uh figuring out where your character in1:31d d where did they come from and so when we say your character origin that's what1:36we're talking about what in your back story helped shape who you are and was1:43formative for you before you became an adventurer your adventuring life is largely1:51expressed by your character class and so character classes we'll get to in some1:57upcoming anarch Arcana articles in this one we're going to be looking at2:03three main elements that together Express who you were in the earliest2:11stages of your life and that is your character's race your character's background as well as whatever feat that2:20you get as part of that background because yes one of the new things here2:25which some of our recent d d books have already signaled was coming and many fans have already guessed coming that2:33everyone's background will now give them a first level feat but we'll talk more2:38about Feats I think a little later in the video so to begin since this is about Origins2:44let's start with race so your character's race in d d represents your ancestry in many ways2:53when you make your character you decide are is your character a member of the human race or one of the game's2:59Fantastical races various race options have appeared in many of our books over the last eight3:06years now is our time in this under turkana to revisit our old friends the races that3:14are in the player's handbook and so here we're going to be able to look at all of us together as d d fans the latest3:21versions of humans elves dwarves and others3:26many familiar aspects of those races are still here many of the traits that3:34people have been using for the last eight years they're right here on the page3:39but then there are also new traits and some of those traits that we've been all using in our characters have new options3:47great example of this in the dwarf you still have stone cunning3:52but now a dwarf as long as they're in contact with stone in some way whether3:59they're standing on it touching it dwarves now a certain number of times per day can give themselves Tremor sense4:06meaning they can sense through the Earth itself if there are creatures nearby4:12moving objects we're really leaning into4:17the Mythic stories of each of the race options in the game and looking for ways4:24to make them sort of the version truest to themselves like some something that4:30we would talk about while working on them is we want this dwarf to be the dwarfiest dwarf right right we want the4:37elf to be the elfiest elf and so we've been looking at ways of not only4:42maintaining continuity with with what sort of the general silhouette of that4:48race option is in the 2014 Players handbook but again bring some new elements to the foreground give you some4:56more fun things that you'll be able to do during play so that's another element5:02people are going to see in the races that ones that maybe in the past didn't5:07have an active ability something they could do during play now there they5:12might have one and so the dwarf's Tremor sense is an example of this now the dwarf has something that there they can5:19use that makes them feel dwarfy and will have usefulness and Adventures uh while5:26also having some of the familiar traits that they had before the resistance to5:31poison for instance right still here I love the narrative hook of that just because if you're a minor if you are a5:38tunnel Digger like in a war you are extremely sensitive to vibrations yes5:44you're just Ultra aware all the time so that's that's perfect for that uh playable race exactly and uh you will5:53get to see things like that uh in all of them where we took something that was5:59there before and often it's just we turned up the volume what can we do to this to make it even more fun uh give a6:07new dimension of play for people as they play their dwarf they're halfling their6:12gnome what have you uh in some cases6:18there are also options where before there were none one example I'm really6:23excited about is uh if you play a tiefling you now have several really6:30interesting choices choices that we began exploring years ago in modern canaan's Tome of foes and6:38now lean into here in the the this UA for the Player's handbook and that is6:44when you create a tiefling you decide what your infernal Legacy is I'm sorry6:49your fiendish legacy and one of those options is infernal but your legacy also6:55might be Abyssal or a a new third option which we're calling cathonic which has7:02to do each of these options has to do with different lower planes and so7:08infernal means you come your your legacy is connected to lawful evil planes if7:16you pick cathonic it's neutral evil planes and if you pick up Bissell chaotic evil planes now of course the7:23tiefling's moral Outlook is is not connected to this sort of origin of7:29their mystical powers which are shaped those Powers by this7:35choice so if you want the tiefling you have already in the 2014 player's7:41handbook choose the infernal Legacy and you're going to see you have the7:47familiar abilities although you have a little more now because now in addition to the magical abilities you had before7:54you now also have the Firebolt can't trip because you're going to be able to7:59hurl fire thanks to the Legacy that you have because that's very much the the8:06fire and the the pits and the Flames are basically what evokes that type of uh uh8:13setting for anything of infernal exactly whereas if you pick Abyssal you have a8:19completely different set of spells that you that you have in you innately and8:26then also your damage resistance is different so infernal tieflings have the8:31resistance to fire that tieflings have in the 2014 Players handbook whereas Abyssal and cathonic teeth links have8:39other damage resistances this sort of structure of giving you8:45choices that maybe you didn't have before is something you'll see in a variety of places not only in this under8:53tarkana but in future ones as well now there's another fun choice that8:59tieflings will have that they didn't have before and it's also a choice that humans have in this unarth Arcana and9:05that is their size if you are a human or a tiefling you're now going to be able9:10to decide whether you are medium as they are in the 2014 player's handbook or9:16small because first off in the real world there are humans who are small and so we9:22want to make sure that's now an option in the game as well and when it comes to9:28tieflings we added that option because some of the games iconic fiends are9:34actually quite little yeah and and so we thought how fun would it be to see more9:39height variants in tieflings a theme then that we carry over into a brand new9:46race that is also in this on our tarkana would you like to talk about that yes I9:53would love to so these are very unique week yes so in this on Earth Arcana we introduce a race10:01that we're calling the ardlings ardlings are also a people of the outer Plains10:08like tieflings and like asamar who appear in Monsters of the Multiverse10:14and ardlings are associated with three different groups of upper planes10:21you'll see there's a parallelism here tieflings are associated with sort of10:27three through the three main segments of the lower planes ardlings are associated with the three main segments of the10:34upper planes they can be smaller medium just like tieflings and all of their10:40abilities are themed around you know the heavens and whatnot but also visually10:47they are really going to stand out because one thing that sets ardlings10:53apart from say their asamar cousins is they all have the the face of an animal11:02and what we're doing here is we're really leaning into the fact that going all the way back to first edition many11:09of the game's celestials don't actually look like Angels many of the game celestials from The Game's long history11:17and I'm thinking here of cardinals Hound archons many of the avatars of specific11:23Gods many gods themselves in not only dnds pantheons but General mythology yes11:30but also in in human mythology have the visages of animals and so that that is11:37true of the ardlings where when you make one of these folk who can trace their11:43lineages to the upper planes you also decide uh what animal appearance you11:49have whether you know you're a bear or a lion or a cat or an eagle uh that that11:58is going to make it so that when when you're walking down the street people are going to know there's something12:04special about you especially when you then also temporarily Sprout your spectral Wings To Go on short short12:12little bouts of flight so this will also be the first time that we have introduced a a race with limited flight12:19in the player's handbook right and we saw that in a previous UA as well but12:26yeah this limited flight because flight can flight is an interesting thing yes and and this flight definitely is just12:33for little bouts because uh the ardlings do not have physical Wings all the time12:39but they can Channel their connection to the upper Plains to temporarily have these12:45luminous wings that they use to you know maybe reach a heart a a hard to reach12:51place I I like to imagine that you know some of them especially with their their animal features might sometimes just use12:58this ability to get that cat stranded up there in the tree uh yeah nothing nefarious13:05although although just as tieflings determine their own moral compasses this13:12is true of artlings as well so uh just because you know Grandma might have been13:18from Mount Celestia doesn't mean you're ardling shares the moral Outlook of that plane13:24so you could play a Sinister ardling and I think it would be quite interesting to13:31see that in in people's games in the years ahead oh yeah I'm already going to I'm playing a bat ardling a hundred13:38percent you have Unleashed my my bat humanoid bat fantasy already unknowingly13:44so I'm very excited for this and and I can't wait to find out if your bat artling is uh from the uh exalted13:53Heavenly or idyllic oh wow interesting yeah no that that will require some13:59thought yeah and because because just as in the tiefling that choice then uh14:05gives your character different magical abilities themed to14:10the the sort of group of planes that your character's Legacy is connected to so one of the races that is included14:17right from the get is in the player's handbook for 2024 presumably is the orc14:25so the orc is another new race for the14:30Player's handbook that appears here and people who have monsters of the Multiverse will see this orc is the orc14:38from that book and we've decided that because for many many years the orc has14:44been playable it's long past time for the orc to graduate to the player's14:50handbook right and so many people play them yes and and you know take take14:57their place uh next to uh this other cast of characters so I'm excited that15:03uh Orcs are are now going to be there in the games core rulebook but man15:09tiefling's got there first I know we also have15:15backgrounds and backgrounds have become so much more important than they were15:20before yes uh and not only more important but also more customizable15:28than they've ever been before and more narrative weight yes this is this is an important fact it's super important15:34about your character exactly um and this this emphasis on narrative15:40is something that people will also see uh glimmers of also back in the race15:48section of the same UA because uh something that we offer to players now15:55officially this is something people have been doing in their you know their games for many years uh16:01in a sort of story space between your race choice and your background choice16:06we encourage you to consider the possibility that your character16:12might have parents of different humanoid kinds your one parent might be a dwarf16:18the other one might be a halfling one parent might be a human and the other one might be an orc some of these16:25pairings the game has embraced in the past we're now opening it up so to16:32encourage people to realize many pairings are possible and when you do it what you do is you choose one of those16:40basically you choose the parent that gives your character your game traits right but then you can mix together the16:48visual qualities of the two to determine how your character looks and so you're you're kind of you have you have two16:55options to draw from for the aesthetic of your character and then again you choose which one is giving you your17:02special traits your characters size and speed that sort of thing and like17:08you said players have been doing this so for so long like my own wife plays a17:13gnome half Goblin a noblin right like this is very common you just17:20have to choose the the stats that you want to go with right yeah and and so again another example of us providing uh17:29new ways of experiencing the game we're all already playing17:35so now let's go from that to then the background yeah let's get into the17:41backgrounds and backgrounds are really exciting for me because of how we17:49essentially deconstructed them into their component parts examined each part and then reassembled17:56them and so the first thing that people are going to see is that the default option18:04now for your background is to build your own18:09in the 2014 Players handbook we had a bunch of backgrounds you could choose18:14from and then we had a rule that said if you want to customize a background here's how you do it we've essentially kind of18:22reversed the priority order where Now the default18:28is build your own background and we tell you exactly how18:34or choose one of the sample backgrounds that we provide that were built using18:40the rules that we just gave you for building a background and so what those18:47rules include are some choices for your character that can be very meaningful18:54for you not only in terms of your character's story but also in terms of18:59your character's abilities because first off speaking of abilities19:04one of your choices in background is where you're going to put a floating19:10plus two and a plus one to your ability scores people are already familiar19:17who've been playing d d with Tasha's cauldron of everything as well as some of our other recent books like Monsters19:23of the Multiverse that allow you to have a plus two and a plus one that you19:29decide where they go in your characters so this is going to feel familiar but19:35what's different is now that we're working on revising the player's handbook itself where those bonuses now19:42live in this play test material is in the background section and it makes19:48sense because you've been doing this this is your background this is like the life that you have led this is why you19:53are more dexterous this is why you have you're stronger because you lifted great19:59sword like you were a soldier you know this this kind of equates exactly because background is all about what20:06have you been doing yeah for all for all the years before you became an adventurer it it it has a meaningful20:14effect on your character's stats and now if you choose one of the pre-made20:21backgrounds people will see we've we have chosen what those ability score bonuses are connected to the story of20:28the background but if you use the default option which is building your own just as you can in20:35Tasha's cauldron of everything you can put that plus two in that plus one or20:40three plus ones wherever you want just as you can with tashas but and the20:47reason why we're doing it sort of both ways where if you do build your own you decide where they go or if you choose a20:52pre-made background we decide where they go because we also know there are many players who don't want to have to decide20:58and so if you just like I pick soldier soldier tells me to increase these two21:05stats in this way and then they're good to go it's sort of The Best of Both Worlds well and it illustrates the point21:10very well yes and that and really many of the backgrounds uh that we provide21:15are really just illustrations of how people can use the new background21:22building system so ability scores are a part of it you21:27just as you do now you uh in the 2014 Players handbook you'll also get two21:32skill proficiencies uh you get a tool proficiency you get a language uh you21:39also get a starting package of equipment and uh Even in our deconstruction and21:45rebuilding process even all those equipment packages uh have been examined because we're embracing uh this build21:53your own approach one of the things we needed to do was make it so that all the backgrounds have equipment packages of22:01the same value yeah because in the 2014 Players handbook they didn't and so now22:07if people like add up how you know the cost they'll see oh all the backgrounds22:12have equipment packages worth exactly 50 gold pieces instead of just going for22:18criminal or Noble right right and uh22:24one of the main reasons why we've done that is to empower this build your own22:30approach yeah so then the other thing you get in your22:35background and we touched on it earlier in our talk and it is in my mind the22:41most exciting new piece of background and that is you also get a first level feat22:47so in that statement there are a few things for me to unpack first off I just talked about a feat and gave it a level22:56that's critical because people are going to see not only in this under tarkana but in the upcoming Unearthed arcanas23:02over the next year plus they're going to see Feats appearing and23:07every feet will have a level on it the way to think of a feat is a feat is23:13essentially a class feature that doesn't belong to a single class and Justice23:18class features have levels Feats are now going to have levels that makes a lot of sense and and so there's a there are23:26several reasons for this one because we're really embracing Feats23:31in certain parts of this play test process backgrounds being23:38one of one of the main parts of the game where we're doing that we want to make sure that feat selection23:45is not overwhelming and one way for us to make it so that it's not overwhelming is to break Feats23:52up into smaller groups and one of those ways that we're doing that is with levels so for instance if23:59something in the game tells you go pick a first level feat then you know immediately well then I can ignore all24:05the Feats in this book that are for fourth level that are for 20th level or any other level that might be on the24:12feets instead you can just focus in on the first level ones and this allows24:18those Universal traits that don't belong to any specific class to have a variance24:25of power that fails like more in tune with your leveling up exactly like it24:31allows you not to like I'm just picking from the same pool of Feats as I've always done like no that you can get a24:38feat that is much more uh strong yeah well not only that but also something24:44people are going to see is that when you examine the first level Feats in this Unearthed Arcana if you're familiar with24:51the Feats that have been in the game in the last eight years some of them have in addition to including some sort of24:57special benefit have often also included a plus one to one of your ability scores25:02right you'll notice reading this document none of these Feats have a plus one to an ability score and that's25:10intentional because that is actually one of the signs that you're looking at a first level feat because when you see25:16some of the higher level feeds in our upcoming on Earth arcanas some of those25:22Feats will still have a plus one to a particular ability score but again one25:27of the signs of a first level feed is they don't include that and because first level feeds are not25:34meant to change your ability score because when you're building your25:40character there are already other things that are manipulating your ability scores right that those initial factors25:46whereas when you move forward and you start hitting other levels you are faced with the do I increase my ability stats25:53or do I go with feet right this kind of softens that as well of like well you're25:59still getting a benefit with some of these feeds well you're not only getting a benefit but it's a benefit your character didn't have before right this26:05is this is a pure addition that we're providing now for everybody and we have26:12that in mind as we decide what qualifies as a first level feed and what doesn't uh basically anything that's going to26:20dramatically increase uh character power in some way people are not going to see26:26as a first level feat uh that that is the domain of higher level Feats where26:31uh the game's math can handle adjustments to raw power most first26:38level Feats are about increasing a character's versatility and speaking to26:44different key backstories and you'll see that these Feats are you know26:52they all are featured in at least one of the sample backgrounds in this document26:58so you can also see looking at the sample backgrounds how to match27:03first level feeds with background if you decide to build your own background and27:10again if you don't want to you just grab one of these pre-made backgrounds and the background just feeds you a27:16particular feat for instance if you if you pick the Sailor you're gonna get27:22Tavern brawler and and the reason for that is because in the little story that we provide for the Sailor it's because27:29on your on your long Journeys you have spent a whole lot of time in taverns you27:35know in different ports of call and uh and in the process you've gotten really27:40good at participating in brawls whereas like criminal you get alert I believe27:46yes because that makes sense yes because you want to be very alert yeah look out27:51for the the soldiers of the crown or whatever exactly exactly and uh27:57people are going to see that alert which is a returning feat has new functionality uh yeah and uh I'm super28:06excited about this whole approach that we're taking with backgrounds of it's all about28:12building character your character's story and making certain meaningful game mechanic28:20choices that reflect the story you have in mind for your character and each of the sample backgrounds that28:28we provide are really there to inspire you to show you the kinds of backstories that you28:35can have for your character so that's why you're going to see again not only some returning backgrounds uh like28:42Soldier like sailor uh uh acolyte but you're also going to see brand new ones28:48like cultist uh Pilgrim and a number of28:53others all meant to show a different aspect of of a character's life that29:01could have been formative in who they are yeah and it's such a good uh it helps for a point of inspiration how you29:08role play your character as well yeah yeah and add like the meaningfulness of the backgrounds like backgrounds were29:15always cool before but now it's like okay this is this has a lot of them it has it has a lot of29:21oomph because its background is also where you can express your character's29:29culture where your character is from some of those elements that used to29:35exist in some of our character races those elements now exist in background29:43that migration of sort of cultural culturally encoded elements migrating to29:50background is a philosophy that informs29:55a number of the design decisions in this particular UA it's why for instance to30:01go back to one of our race options if you look at the dwarf in this unarth Arcana the dwarf does not have uh30:10Mountain dwarf and Hill dwarf as sub options anymore30:15and there's a reason for that it's because those options were only cultural for dwarves30:22in our DND worlds those are really cultural designations that different30:28dwarf communities have taken on and also in some DND worlds those names don't30:34appear at all right yeah and unlike say elves who actually have30:40different mystical abilities based on their connections with different environments you know whether it's wood30:46elves who have particular magical abilities because of their connection to primeval forests or drow who have you30:55know their magical abilities because of the Millennia they've spent in the magic saturated underdark31:02dwarves don't have those associations and so instead of having a choice which31:09was again cultural and culture now is reflected by background we focused in on31:14let's make the dwarf the dwarfiest dwarf and so in a few cases where maybe before there was an there's an option that's31:21not there anymore really often the option is just moved someplace else and so any of the31:28cultural cues that a person before was searching for in say their dwarf character they can now31:36replicate those and often with more oomph in the background system for31:42instance if you want to really Lean Into You know the the fairy tale dwarf who31:49not only has all the characteristics we expect of a dwarf but you know also is like a minor and some and you know this31:56sort of thing that I encourage people to go pick the laborer background where you're going to get all the stuff you32:03would expect for a character who's really leaning32:08into that archetype this all connects to Monsters of the Multiverse as well absolutely so32:16anything that you're seeing here is designed to play side by side with32:23books you have already and that includes recent books like Monsters of the Multiverse so the dwarf for instance32:32that you see in this on Earth Arcana is meant to exist in the game side by side32:37with the dwargar that appears in Monsters of the Multiverse the elf in32:43this UA is designed to stand side by side with the sea elf aladrin and Shadow32:50Kai who are in Monsters of the Multiverse same with gnomes where we32:55have we have the sort of the player's handbook gnome that we're looking at here and then we have the additional33:01gnome option of the deep gnome in Monsters of the Multiverse so really33:07when you look at the player's handbook version of something it is that is the33:13most sort of like archetypal Universal version the most common33:18version that you're going to see all of those other versions that we have33:23particularly in a book like Monsters of the Multiverse which we designed to be a big collection of options that would33:31then be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the options in the new33:36core Rule books you then when you put them all together have this amazing family of options and33:45these new options don't take away those but instead in many ways33:52create some when you look at one and look at the other it really then33:57highlights even more what's special about each of the options this pipe test34:02material is meant to work and the future product that future players handbook very nicely with the books that already34:09exist exactly now there's a lot we could say about the Feats that you're getting34:15from those backgrounds correct and uh I'm really excited for people to read34:22through all of them to see what's going on in these feats rather than going through each one of34:29them uh as much as I would love to because there's so many people there's a lot to look at there's so many fun34:36things in these new Feats really what I'd love to do is talk briefly about some of the philosophy behind the34:42decision making here I've already talked a bit about some of the things that34:47distinguish a first level feat from higher level feeds uh there's another thing uh that informs34:54some of the decisions we made about the Feats here and that is first I'll talk about35:02Feats we revised and then I'll also talk about brand new Feats so35:08whenever we were revising a feat that already existed in the 2014 Players35:14handbook and made the determination that it was going to become a first level feat we not only wanted to make sure it was35:21delivering something with very clear functionality and clear value35:28we also wanted to make sure that the feet is useful to the people who most35:34are typically would want to take it here's what I mean by that if you look at the Healer feet in the35:402014 player's handbook you read the title and you think hey I'm playing a life cleric I'm a Healer right35:48that's probably a feat I want to take but then if you read it not very beneficial no because that feat35:55was actually written for a person who maybe doesn't have any healing ability36:00right so we have kind of uh turn that on its head uh and we have now36:08made it so that this feat is beneficial to people who are already healers while36:13also providing a healing ability to somebody who lacks it so36:19that's the kind of the needle we're threading in a lot of these that maybe a feat that before36:25seemed to be calling to a particular type of character but then didn't connect with that character at all we36:31have now made it so that it is beneficial for that kind of character like many life clerics are now going to36:37want to take the Healer feet but then also many non-spell casting36:42characters I think might be drawn to the Healer feat because of their characters36:48back backstory because of the battle medic ability right that is now in the36:55Healer feet that allows you to actually heal somebody using a healer's kit and you'll see that37:03again and again in these Feats things that are either going to be beneficial37:09for the individual character who we expect would be attracted to the37:14feet or beneficial to the whole party here's an example of that in the alert37:20feet now first level feet that again the criminal has37:28not only do you get a bonus to your initiative role37:34but you also now have an ability when initiative is rolled you and another37:39member of your party can swap initiative which is amazing I love it and and this37:46that ability alone is going to make many groups like oh we are so happy if somebody has alert because we have all37:53playing d d been in that situation where like if only this particular character was able to go earlier exactly yeah and38:01and so now the character who is because this alert feed is designed to38:06mean this is the person who is exceptionally ready to jump into action and can help one of their buddies do so38:14and that's another yeah that's another example of like alert was a very like38:19for my character only feet like like I just want to be first right38:24now you have the option to like pass that on to someone else in your group and be a good party member exactly if38:29given the option but yeah like that's that's lovely that's that dual purpose for all these Feats yeah and then and38:36and then the brand new Feats are designed to38:42fill some character type gaps that existed before gaps that really came to38:49mind for us as we were designing the sample backgrounds what's an example of38:54one of the new Feats so musician right is one of the new Feats and with the39:01musician feat you can not only gain proficiency with three musical39:07instruments of your choice and sort of getting the three tool proficiencies used to be a function one of the39:14optional functions of the skill defeat but now you get a more flavorful version39:19of that not only in the musician feet but also elsewhere so you get to choose three musical39:25instruments that you're proficient with but then you also have the ability that39:30whenever you finish a short or long rest you can give inspiration to a number of39:37people who hear you play a song on one of your instruments and the number of people who can gain39:45inspiration is affected by your proficiency bonus so in other words the higher level you get it scales rather39:52obviously yeah and and so you know in any group we're like gosh39:57we'd really love to have sort of inspiration in our pocket ready to go and for anyone watching who doesn't know40:03what inspiration is because a lot of groups don't use it that's essentially having um advantage in your pocket ready40:10to use when you need it right uh and so a person with the musician feet using40:16this inspiring song can give people inspiration40:21so this brand new feat is not only filling a gap in our previous feat list40:28but it's also doing exactly what I was talking about earlier about the Healer feat and that is40:34it will be useful to also someone who's already a musician most most notably the40:39bar the bar because this ability to whenever you finish a rest to give40:45certain number of people of inspiration is not an ability that Barda has so this40:51combines really nicely with a Bard's kit so you can become the most Barty barred40:57or you can play a fighter who also on occasion takes out a loot yeah who41:04before battle placed this beautiful song and everyone is like now I'm ready to go41:09yeah that's perfect yeah and and and again that is the philosophy here41:15throughout is how can we make uh people who again want a taste of something they41:21don't have happy but then also make the people who already have the thing also happy magic initiate does this too magic41:29initiate like some of the Feats we've published in the past year or two now tells you hey not only do you get some41:37spells that you can cast for free but if you already have spell slots you41:42can use them to cast these spells too and we we saw this in the evolution of like tashas and other books where41:49that you you very key much keyed into the fact that like yeah I got this first level spell but like I can't upcast it41:56with magic initiatives right so it's a little like frustrating if that scale if that spell can scale up if you like use42:04a higher spell slot and now you can do that yeah if you want to hush rebuke someone right I love doing uh you can do42:12so now defeat also uh has been given broader42:19functionality because people are going to see uh in this feat a reference to42:26something that is new yeah let's talk about that let's talk about I assume42:31you're talking about spells and how they're defined yes so not only does the42:36magic initiate feat uh refer to what we're about to talk about but there there are references to it elsewhere in42:43the dock one of those being in the high elf and that is we now refer to three42:50new spell lists there is an Arcane spell list a Divine spell list and a primal42:56spell list in our work over the last few years as43:02we've been preparing start unveiling this material we realized that as the game expands as43:10there are new subclass options uh also with you know the introduction of a class like the artificer43:18with Feats with magic items with a variety of things that give you access43:24to spells there has been a growing need for us to have a new type of spell list43:31and that is a spell list that isn't tied to a particular class but is instead43:37tied to really the source of your magic right um and so in this case Arcane43:45spells are all about manipulating the background magic that's in the entire Multiverse Divine spells uh as people43:53would expect come from either gods or the Realms of the Gods and then Primal44:00spells are about drawing on the magic that is in not only sort of the elements44:07but also in the spirits of Nature and the way the way we sort of divided is44:12divine is really magic pulling from the Outer Planes Primal is pulling from the44:18inner planes and Arcane is pulling from sort of the Multiverse writ large44:24and so now rather than us directing you for certain Spell choices in particular44:31contexts like you know the previous magic initiate was like all right go44:36pick from the spell list of one of these particular classes which then suddenly44:42the moment we introduce a new class like artificer right then then we need a44:47whole new feat for that yeah this feat now grows with the future of the game44:54because now any time that we introduce a spell the spell itself will have for you45:03a tag that tells you if it's Arcane Divine or Primal or a mix because some45:09spells as people are going to see in some of our upcoming on our tarcana fall into multiple categories this is going45:16to have a tremendous payoff not only for like oh this later supplement added a new Arcane spell I have access to to the45:25Arcane spell list I can now have access to that spell without it having to route45:31through a particular class uh much more elegant solution yes and it45:39it also is another uh it has another purpose for us it's a way for us to take45:45this notion of these sources of magic which are mentioned at least Arcane and45:50divine are in the 2014 Players handbook but now we actually sort of give them45:55rules teeth rather than just sort of being a story rapper because Arcane and divine and then occasionally Primal when46:02it has been mentioned have really just been a flavor wrapper now they actually have substance in the game itself that46:09there is a list that you can go look at and go here are the sort of universal46:15Arcane spells here are the universal Divine spells and so on now people will46:21have to wait for upcoming under tarkanas to see how classes use those lists46:27because classes are going to use those lists but classes are also going to have access to spells that go beyond the46:35those Universal lists but again that's for that's for future us to talk about46:41uh and but again I think I think already this is super exciting being able to46:47reveal um these again these new types of spell lists that provide a tremendous amount46:54of flexibility for characters not only that will be able to be made with this series of unarth Arcana articles but47:02also that will be able to be made in the future yeah it is a very exciting time uh this47:09is a very weighty UA we're going to be doing this often this year uh47:16uh somewhat semi-monthly but yeah not not necessarily not necessarily strictly47:24defined yeah in terms of timing but we have a lot of uas coming out this year we need a lot of player feedback and47:33there is so much in this UA that we could talk about yes I know we do we47:39we everything and we could have made this a three hour video and and there are47:46before we sign off on this video yeah there are a couple other gems in this UA47:52I would love to go ahead go ahead yeah I uh I am I'm eager to hear so first I47:58encourage people in the rules glossary to look at not only the revised48:04definitions of a couple of our conditions they're also going to see there's a new condition that's in play48:10the slowed condition and people are going to see in the upcoming on Earth arcanas uh updates to a number of the48:18game's conditions so I'm excited to see what people think about that also I encourage people to take a look48:25at the new rules for inspiration because we've decided that rather than48:32inspiration being connected to essentially just the DM awarding people48:37for particular character choices instead inspiration is going to be48:44something you can reliably get whenever you roll a 20 on an ability check saving48:50throw or attack roll we wanted a way to feed people48:56inspiration through the system itself and we love this idea of when you have a49:02spectacular success you're inspired by it you bolstered by it and that can49:08start creating this sort of Snowball Effect yeah uh and that's what we're going for we've also uh tweaked the rule49:17on Inspirations so that it's still the same that you can only ever have one instant of of inspiration you don't get49:23the stockpile inspiration it's not you either have it or you don't but we've now made it so that if something in the49:30game gives you inspiration and you already have it you can then immediately give it to one of the other characters49:37in your group oh that's fantastic uh and it's likely that people are going to49:43have it because you get it by Rolling a 20 and one of the new traits of humans49:48in the game is humans whenever they finish a long rest have inspiration and so every human in your49:56group is going to start every adventuring day with inspiration and that means then if the human gets50:02inspiration and already has it they can then give inspiration to somebody else I think there's going to be a really fun50:08sort of you know inspiration flowing around yeah in the party50:14and what people are going to see as they actually experience this in play50:20what the system is intentionally doing is encouraging you to use the inspiration because there's more is50:27coming uh it's just like really yeah I don't know what I'm gonna need this exactly and it's we we often when we're50:35assessing different parts of the system uh if we see something that ends up getting hoarded so much that it actually50:42almost never sees use yeah that to us tells we need to change something so50:48that this actually becomes a fun part of play and not something that just gets marked during your character sheet and50:54then you forget about it is this the moment that I use it that that kind of almost anxiety like right like I've been50:59in Somalia you and I have been in so many one shots where it's like well I never used it yeah yeah exactly it's51:05gone forever whereas we want to make it easy for people to say yes yeah to say yes I'm going to use my inspiration uh51:13because it's likely more is coming right around the corner the gang of natural 20 thing is so exciting because like you51:19that's such a cinematic moment or like a great narrative moment of like I I've been very successful and now I have a51:26little bit left over and that could you could roll another 20 it could keep going and going and going and and to see51:33a game where like something like that happens I mean the odds are are51:39not high but they're higher now to see something like kind of amazing at the51:44table yeah yeah that's very very fun so critical hits have changed as well can you elaborate on on that51:51we are experimenting in this on Earth Arcana with a new take on the critical51:57hit so in addition to Rolling a 20 now feeding you inspiration whether it's an52:04ability check saving thrower attack roll we've now specified that if it's an52:10attacker and you roll a 20 it's also a critical hit as you would expect but what's different here is it's52:19only a critical hit if you were attacking with a weapon or an unarmed strike52:24now in most cases in our game that was already the case in actual play52:32because most spells in the game trigger saving throws rather than involving an52:38attack roll so spells scoring Critical Hits was a more sort of rare occurrence52:44than weapons scoring them but we're exploring this option and52:50again I really want to emphasize this is a great example of a play test giving us the chance to experiment with something52:56remember this is not set in stone right exactly uh we we want to see what does53:06the community think and how does this play out for them because what we're really trying to do is carve out a53:13clearer space for essentially Spell53:18operations on one side and weapon and unarmed strike operations on the other53:24and the critical hit was already confusing for a number of people because53:30I've actually lost count over the last eight years the number of times I've been asked by the community can spell53:38score a critical hit so funnily this this experiment in this UA will function for53:46many groups the way they were already playing because many groups had doubt that spells could actually critical even53:51though they could right and so now we're experimenting with well just what if they can't and this is a function of54:00weapon use and unarmed strike use which then also allows for us to do54:05greater Clarity because then it's there's not that fuzziness before of like take the dice that were involved in54:12the attack and roll them twice no now we Zoom way in it's take the weapon or the54:17unarmed strikes dice and roll them a second time now of54:22course people know that some people don't have dice for their unarmed strikes but monks and others absolutely54:28do and we wanted to make sure this critical hit option was available for them in addition to characters who rely54:35more on weapons now there's an additional Nuance here the way we have54:41worded this experimental rule it is only player characters who score Critical Hits54:48now I need to unpack that well it's kind so first54:55uh critical hits for Monsters often play out in55:02uh strange unsatisfying or terrifying ways and I'll55:09unpack I'll unpack those first they can be terrifying higher level terrifying is fine55:16first level terrifying can mean the character is gone uh so crits are extremely dangerous at55:23low levels for player characters you know that bug bear critting your first level character might mean that's55:30it your character is on on its on their way to the Grave yeah uh55:35and but then other times because of how a55:41monster's damage expression is built a monster critical hit can feel55:47unsatisfying uh and the DM might say there was a crit but the math doesn't55:53really deliver the punch that you you were expecting when the DM said that56:00also because a lot of DMS use static damage our crit role where you're56:05rolling a die a second time there's friction between that rule and how56:10monsters are actually designed and then there's a further reason that we're experimenting with this and that56:16is Monster's actually already have their own built-in crit like mechanic56:25and that is the recharge mechanic we use recharge abilities to deliver56:31those scary massive strikes right think56:37of the dragon's breath weapon when that happens everyone has put on notice and that is56:42the scary moment the DM decides when to use it so the DM56:48can make an informed decision when to crank up the difficulty in a battle the56:55DM has no control over a critical hit now uncertainty is also fun because we like57:00DMS being surprised but that's where the recharge role comes in because the DM wants the DM decides to essentially57:07press the things are going to get real big of the button back they're not sure57:14when they get the button back yeah yeah and so there is already this element of uncertainty purposefully built into the57:21recharge mechanic and so what we're exploring is this notion of really57:28monsters don't need crits because they have crits in another form and that is in recharge abilities and those the DM57:36has a bit more control over even though it's not total control because again once you use the DM doesn't know when57:42it's coming back uh that is that that modicum of control57:47is more in keeping with what we expect for a dungeon master and so we're exploring the crit as it's57:54essentially a special ability of player characters of occasionally they score58:01these surprisingly good hits that deal more damage than uh the weapon or58:07unarmed strike would normally deal uh this is this is a rule I I am very keen58:14to get feedback on and hope people will try it out in their game and58:21then we'll see where we go next Once once we get the feedback on it related to Rolling the D20 there's also another58:28significant thing in the rules glossary that uh I encourage people to take a58:34look at and that is we have decided to embrace how many58:40groups actually play and that is when you roll a 1 or a 20 for an ability58:46check saving thrower attack roll right a one is an automatic failure and a 20 is an automatic success58:53it will surprise some people watching that that's a change because I yeah I know because I've been doing it I don't58:59know for like 10 years yes uh because for yeah anyone who might not know previously a 20 meeting on59:06automatic success in a one meeting on automatic failure was only a function of the attack role right not of ability59:13checks and saving throws but what we have seen over the last eight years is59:18more and more groups use that rule for all of the D20 tests and we decided59:25rather than having the rules being in friction with how people actually play59:31the game let's update the rules so that the game plays the way people expect it to well59:38that's what's so much it was in this first play test material is much of that yes of how people59:45actually play or want to play because we over the last eight years through the59:52many uh surveys that people have filled out that have been valuable to our work59:57we've been listening we've been paying attention we watch streamed games we constantly play DND and all of that1:00:05feedback all of that play all of that observation has fed into what people are1:00:12seeing in this unearth Arcana and what they're going to see in the months ahead there there's two sides of the play test1:00:18material like this is a moment in time where like all of everyone's feedback has led to this play test material and1:00:25your feedback after this is going to lead to the final version so be sure to1:00:31play test absolutely because this is not the final version everything here is subject to change uh1:00:39this is really this UA in particular is our hello yeah hello we're listening yeah yeah and1:00:47the feedback that then the community provides in response will help determine1:00:55what parts of this make it into the new core books what parts do we set to the1:01:02side and what parts do we keep but change and so what everyone is going to1:01:07see just like with the DND Next process almost 10 years ago you're going to see an evolution1:01:14in these playtest materials in the game itself1:01:20also the exciting thing I think for everyone is you're going to be able to use all of these playtest stocks with1:01:27your existing core books we have designed these docs so that you can take1:01:32each one and other than the places where we tell you all right you know that thing in your book well here's here's an1:01:39update to it otherwise all this material works with the core books you already1:01:44have meaning the uas that are ahead will be very1:01:50targeted rather than it being like here is a cross-section of the of the entire game right instead we're going to drill1:01:57into one piece because that piece will now work with the books you have already1:02:04and so that's why you know in in coming ones we're going to drill deep on particular classes and then eventually1:02:10we'll drill deep on particular spells as we build this it's almost like we're1:02:17building a mosaic that in the end and you know once all the pieces are in1:02:22place you will get a glimpse of what the new core books are going to look like this has to be very exciting for you1:02:29like beyond the rules and the play test this is like a very exciting time to be a d d fan yeah and to be making DND yeah1:02:36yeah no it's it's wonderfully exciting uh because we're able to take something1:02:42that we love feed the passion that we in the community have had for it over the last1:02:48eight years feed all the conversations we've had internally that we've had with1:02:54fans out in the world and take all of that and let it flow into the game1:02:59itself so that it can move now into its its1:03:05next generation it's perfect I am excited for I'm very1:03:10excited for this video and for many more to come over the next few years yeah yeah excellent all right and uh1:03:17people will get access to this UA uh on D beyond.com yes that is also where you1:03:24get to play test and that will be coming out sometime after this video first1:03:30lands so for this particular one uh later today you should get access1:03:36to that I think that's it right yeah okay we're not going to be busy at all1:03:42thank you so much thank you[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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