Having a section for unearthed arcana stuff is definitely something that has to happen, the while purpose of the unearthed arcana is to get players to test new ideas and then fine tune them into the game, what faster way to get feedback for these unearthed arcana classes then on this site.
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"To deny ones own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human." - Mouse from Matrix
A lot of the DM's in my area don't allow UA stuff in their games because they say it isn't official material, I encourage the use of it because the UA stuff adds so much more customization and has some really great ideas.
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"To deny ones own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human." - Mouse from Matrix
The Unearthed Arcana series is a means to playtest new material, to judge its popularity, to get people to try it out, and to generate feedback on its strengths and weaknesses. Some items have already made it into publication after further revision by the game's designers. The Swashbuckler Rogue & the Storm Sorcerer archetype both originated in the Waterborne Adventures article (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/UA_Waterborne_v3.pdf) and were published in the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, for example.
However, not all material will see eventual publication. Some of it may be unpopular or unworkable in its current state, and need discarding or complete redesign. There have been numerous tries at improving/offering alternate options for the Ranger class, for instance. Mearls had some really interesting insights into the design process, especially as it pertains to Unearthed Arcana, in a series of tweets you should be able to follow here: https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/842475909546295296
This is why there is no book called "Unearthed Arcana", although larger chunks of the series may make it into the next supplement or even adventure book.
The reason why there is no official compendium of Unearthed Arcana material is that WotC tracks the number of downloads from their website to judge the popularity of each article - they really have no other way to do so. Surveys tend only to be answered by the most passionate - either negatively or positively - readers and playtesters, but may not reflect overall interest in the subject matter dealt with. A couple of unofficial compendiums were circulating recently, but that hurts all of us - players and fans, as well as WotC. As you can read in the tweets linked above, the D&D team goes by numbers to see whether material lives or dies in play testing.
Hope sharing what I've learned over the last two-and-a-half years about it has been helpful!
It updates a bit too often to start thinking about a physical book but I am sure during phase 2 it will have UA bundled in
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Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves, I will protect even those I hate so long as it is right.
I was too presumptuous to say they should put it into a book your right it changes to often and updates with new content all the time but maybe a PDF that can be downloaded that has all of the UA content and gets updated when new content comes out instead of downloading individual articles maybe someone has already done it, I dont know I havent really search around a lot for it.
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Any chance of a compendium for Unearthed Arcana?? Would love too see it happen kinda suprised they havent made it into a book yet.
Having a section for unearthed arcana stuff is definitely something that has to happen, the while purpose of the unearthed arcana is to get players to test new ideas and then fine tune them into the game, what faster way to get feedback for these unearthed arcana classes then on this site.
"To deny ones own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human." - Mouse from Matrix
I agree that UA would be a great asset to this. UA has been what has gotten me re-interested in getting under the hood of 5e.
"I'm saying we should remove the carrot and walk forward with our eyes open!” -Raistlin
A lot of the DM's in my area don't allow UA stuff in their games because they say it isn't official material, I encourage the use of it because the UA stuff adds so much more customization and has some really great ideas.
"To deny ones own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human." - Mouse from Matrix
The Unearthed Arcana series is a means to playtest new material, to judge its popularity, to get people to try it out, and to generate feedback on its strengths and weaknesses. Some items have already made it into publication after further revision by the game's designers. The Swashbuckler Rogue & the Storm Sorcerer archetype both originated in the Waterborne Adventures article (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/UA_Waterborne_v3.pdf) and were published in the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, for example.
However, not all material will see eventual publication. Some of it may be unpopular or unworkable in its current state, and need discarding or complete redesign. There have been numerous tries at improving/offering alternate options for the Ranger class, for instance. Mearls had some really interesting insights into the design process, especially as it pertains to Unearthed Arcana, in a series of tweets you should be able to follow here: https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/842475909546295296
This is why there is no book called "Unearthed Arcana", although larger chunks of the series may make it into the next supplement or even adventure book.
The reason why there is no official compendium of Unearthed Arcana material is that WotC tracks the number of downloads from their website to judge the popularity of each article - they really have no other way to do so. Surveys tend only to be answered by the most passionate - either negatively or positively - readers and playtesters, but may not reflect overall interest in the subject matter dealt with. A couple of unofficial compendiums were circulating recently, but that hurts all of us - players and fans, as well as WotC. As you can read in the tweets linked above, the D&D team goes by numbers to see whether material lives or dies in play testing.
Hope sharing what I've learned over the last two-and-a-half years about it has been helpful!
It updates a bit too often to start thinking about a physical book but I am sure during phase 2 it will have UA bundled in
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves, I will protect even those I hate so long as it is right.
I was too presumptuous to say they should put it into a book your right it changes to often and updates with new content all the time but maybe a PDF that can be downloaded that has all of the UA content and gets updated when new content comes out instead of downloading individual articles maybe someone has already done it, I dont know I havent really search around a lot for it.