I like that they changed the breath weapon damage dice to be d8s, although I wonder if giving the dragonborn more uses tips it too far to being unbalanced.
I think Gem Dragonborns are super cool, but I feel like their damage type options blow the other two out of the water. Also, I'm not a huge fan of free psionic messaging, but thats just me. I am glad they at least restrict it so that you cant respond and have a full conversation.
All the spells and feats seem super fun, but DANG is psychic lance a powerful 4th level spell. Int saving throw, homing, and 10d6 psychic damage on a failed save. Jeez
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I like that they changed the breath weapon damage dice to be d8s, although I wonder if giving the dragonborn more uses tips it too far to being unbalanced.
I think Gem Dragonborns are super cool, but I feel like their damage type options blow the other two out of the water. Also, I'm not a huge fan of free psionic messaging, but thats just me. I am glad they at least restrict it so that you cant respond and have a full conversation.
All the spells and feats seem super fun, but DANG is psychic lance a powerful 4th level spell. Int saving throw, homing, and 10d6 psychic damage on a failed save. Jeez
I like the flavor of the psychic lance requiring you know the target's name for seeking, because it's specific enough to come in really cool and clutch in certain circumstances, while not so many that it's completely broken. Kind of like salvaging the coolest bit from Onomancy.
1. Hard no to racial immunity even if its 10 mins once per day. I hated poison immunity on Yuan-Ti and this is in the same boat to me.
2. Metallic Breath Weapon- right now you can use your normal breath to replace an attack, then your metallic breath with extra attack, then action surge/flurry of blows or whatever for attacks. I would make it so you can only use one or the other per turn.
The new dragonborn variants are an 'about time' deal. Their breath weapon has been hot weaksauce for forever, and one of the most common homebrew fixes for dragonborn has been putting their breath weapon on a recharge because nobody decides to be a seven-foot dragon man so they can not breathe lightning on their enemies. A proficiency usage counter is a workable alternative, and being able to mix the BW into an Attack action is a cool option. Very cinematic, especially for dragonborn paladins (i.e. forty percent of all dragonborn PCs). I like the idea of emphasizing chromatics as elemental destruction and chaos, while metallics are more disciplined and versatile. Your chromatic dragonborn can just no-sell their native element at will (once a day), which is ******* cool. And your metallic gets a second "I'm warning you, ****er" less-lethal breath weapon, which is very cool. The gem dragons are a little confusing, and also potentially overtuned a bit, but honestly? Their better damage types/resistances balanced out by their Psycho-Durgan traits being less useful than the chromatic or metallic. I like this execution of dragonborn much better.
Kobolds...why? And why roaring? They're kobolds. At best they might meow loudly. I do kinda dig the whole variable draconic trait thing, kobolds have always been genetically unstable to a degree. That fits. But the roar thing is just odd. I'm not actually sure if this is a better idea than regular kobolds, even with sunlight sensitivity. Perhaps as a separate population/subspecies of the more typical critters, or as a rare mutation amongst more typical populations. The stat block does seem to fit an individual who's markedly, fundamentally different from other kobolds, which could make for interesting stories.
Dragon-touched feats are...a thing. Metallic references a half-ASI it doesn't actually give you, which is fun. Go Go Gadget UA Quality Control. Chromatic-Touched is honestly fun. I feel like it would work better if it also offered a half-ASI, but then locked you into your choice of element when you took the feat, like Elemental Adept. Unless Tiamat's the one touching you, most chromatics aren't gonna be able to give you the whole range like that. The metallic feat is actually broken, as written. Not "imbalanced" broken, but "not functional" broken, since it requires a half-ASI it doesn't give you. Will be interesting to see where it comes down when Wizards clarifies that feat. The Gem-Touched feat doesn't really feel draconic, to me. It's just a TK reaction blast that could come from any number of sources, draconic or otherwise. It's perfectly functional, just...not very durgany.
The spells are, for the most part, fantastic. Draconic Transformation is a little thin for a seventh-level spell, and the Mischief spell is jank, but the rest of them range from Great to Phenomenal. Flame Stride makes my bits tingle, and Raulothim's Psychic Lance is the brutal, focused mind blast psychic characters have needed for forever. Even if it is a filthy spell and not a proper psychic power. The spells are the highlight of the document, really. Those are excellent, and provide fertile ground for a lot of character ideas and a swath of new homebrew.
Overall? Not bad. Little hit or miss, but where they hit, they hit. Here's hoping it doesn't get brutalized in the transition to live whenever the Dragonlance/Draconomicon book drops.
These seem like nice replacements for the vanilla dragonborn, but I still think they should all have darkvision. Seems like a very bizarre omission to me.
Gem dragonborns will probably be pretty popular I think... Amethyst in particular because Force damage resistance/immunity is super rare.
Dragon-touched feats are...a thing. Metallic references a half-ASI it doesn't actually give you, which is fun. Go Go Gadget UA Quality Control. Chromatic-Touched is honestly fun. I feel like it would work better if it also offered a half-ASI, but then locked you into your choice of element when you took the feat, like Elemental Adept. Unless Tiamat's the one touching you, most chromatics aren't gonna be able to give you the whole range like that. The metallic feat is actually broken, as written. Not "imbalanced" broken, but "not functional" broken, since it requires a half-ASI it doesn't give you. Will be interesting to see where it comes down when Wizards clarifies that feat. The Gem-Touched feat doesn't really feel draconic, to me. It's just a TK reaction blast that could come from any number of sources, draconic or otherwise. It's perfectly functional, just...not very durgany.
Overall? Not bad. Little hit or miss, but where they hit, they hit. Here's hoping it doesn't get brutalized in the transition to live whenever the Dragonlance/Draconomicon book drops.
Historically, Gem Dragons have had a connection to Psionic powers, so the feat is actually in-character for them.
So Dragonlance is being teased. Time to prepare the background of my Kender. I haven't given my DM's enough hart problems in a while.
Did Dragonlance have dragonborn outside of the evil Draconians who turned to stone when they died? I never made it all the way through those books.
Combined with the draconic ranger and monk subclasses though, this makes me think of more of a Draconomicon type of book. I wouldn't mind something like that that's more setting-neutral.
All in all I like this UA. The PHB Dragonborn have always been lack luster in my opinion and really need a change like this. I love the spells and don't immediately see a problem with any of the at this point. I don't care for the Kobold though. Roar is really out of place and should be dropped in favor of keeping pact tactics as that make way more sense.
I know gem dragons are supposed to be psychic. But they're psychic dragons. A feat that gives you a generic reaction psyblast doesn't feel particularly draconic unless you go out of your way to make it so. Which is fine, means the feat can be used as a generic "Psy-Touched" thing, but I don't know if I'd bill it as a draconic feat in that case.
EDIT: Also, any time anyone plays a kender in an actual, for-real game of D&D, an entire litter of puppies spontaneously explodes in a little girl's bedroom somewhere and scars her for life.
Is it just me, or does it seem odd that the gem associated with radiant damage is just "crystal" Its not really a specific gem, just a general term. Im not sure how deep the lore is on different types of gems associated with dragons up until now, but it maybe could be better if replaced with something more specific, like maybe quartz or citrine. Idk. Not a big gemstone guy
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Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Is it just me, or does it seem odd that the gem associated with radiant damage is just "crystal" Its not really a specific gem, just a general term. Im not sure how deep the lore is on different types of gems associated with dragons up until now, but it maybe could be better if replaced with something more specific, like maybe quartz or citrine. Idk. Not a big gemstone guy
Crystal Dragons have always been one of the main 5 types for Gem Dragons. Should it have been something else, probably, but I don't really want them to change it now.
Is it just me, or does it seem odd that the gem associated with radiant damage is just "crystal" Its not really a specific gem, just a general term. Im not sure how deep the lore is on different types of gems associated with dragons up until now, but it maybe could be better if replaced with something more specific, like maybe quartz or citrine. Idk. Not a big gemstone guy
Crystal Dragons have always been one of the main 5 types for Gem Dragons. Should it have been something else, probably, but I don't really want them to change it now.
Yeah, at my table, Crystal Dragons are Diamond Dragons. Crystal is too big of a category.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
More draconic Kobolds were already a thing in previous editions. They were known as Dragonwrought kobold. They were a rarer subrace of Kobolds that were born from eggs that took on the color of the dragon the Kobold shared an ancestry with and were known to be larger, stronger, and longer lived then their smaller kin.
They should honestly just call these new Kobolds Dragonwrought Kobolds to separate them from normal Kobolds.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Is it just me, or does it seem odd that the gem associated with radiant damage is just "crystal" Its not really a specific gem, just a general term. Im not sure how deep the lore is on different types of gems associated with dragons up until now, but it maybe could be better if replaced with something more specific, like maybe quartz or citrine. Idk. Not a big gemstone guy
Crystal Dragons have always been one of the main 5 types for Gem Dragons. Should it have been something else, probably, but I don't really want them to change it now.
Yeah, at my table, Crystal Dragons are Diamond Dragons. Crystal is too big of a category.
They could maybe do a soft reboot of terminology if they wanted to and just change the term Gem Dragons to Crystal Dragons, with each gem being a different type of crystal dragon. Again, not a big gem, stone, or mineral guy, but don't most gemstones have a crystalline structure anyway?
That being said, it really won't bother me that much if they stick with it to stay true to the lore.
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https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/draconic-options
Looks like we're getting new dragonborn variants (GEM DRAGONS CONFIRMED!), spells, and feats!
I like that they changed the breath weapon damage dice to be d8s, although I wonder if giving the dragonborn more uses tips it too far to being unbalanced.
I think Gem Dragonborns are super cool, but I feel like their damage type options blow the other two out of the water. Also, I'm not a huge fan of free psionic messaging, but thats just me. I am glad they at least restrict it so that you cant respond and have a full conversation.
All the spells and feats seem super fun, but DANG is psychic lance a powerful 4th level spell. Int saving throw, homing, and 10d6 psychic damage on a failed save. Jeez
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I like the flavor of the psychic lance requiring you know the target's name for seeking, because it's specific enough to come in really cool and clutch in certain circumstances, while not so many that it's completely broken. Kind of like salvaging the coolest bit from Onomancy.
So Dragonlance is being teased. Time to prepare the background of my Kender. I haven't given my DM's enough hart problems in a while.
Oh yes please, I’m very excited about this!
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Love the Gem Dragonborn.
Psychic Lance is interesting. Icingdeath's Frost is so good. SummonDragon is also great.
My favorite thing about this UA is Flame Stride tho.
I love most of this.
Changes I would suggest:
1. Hard no to racial immunity even if its 10 mins once per day. I hated poison immunity on Yuan-Ti and this is in the same boat to me.
2. Metallic Breath Weapon- right now you can use your normal breath to replace an attack, then your metallic breath with extra attack, then action surge/flurry of blows or whatever for attacks. I would make it so you can only use one or the other per turn.
Thats about it though.
First blush gut reactions:
Overall? Not bad. Little hit or miss, but where they hit, they hit. Here's hoping it doesn't get brutalized in the transition to live whenever the Dragonlance/Draconomicon book drops.
Please do not contact or message me.
These seem like nice replacements for the vanilla dragonborn, but I still think they should all have darkvision. Seems like a very bizarre omission to me.
Gem dragonborns will probably be pretty popular I think... Amethyst in particular because Force damage resistance/immunity is super rare.
Kobold seems a bit too strong...
Historically, Gem Dragons have had a connection to Psionic powers, so the feat is actually in-character for them.
Did Dragonlance have dragonborn outside of the evil Draconians who turned to stone when they died? I never made it all the way through those books.
Combined with the draconic ranger and monk subclasses though, this makes me think of more of a Draconomicon type of book. I wouldn't mind something like that that's more setting-neutral.
All in all I like this UA. The PHB Dragonborn have always been lack luster in my opinion and really need a change like this. I love the spells and don't immediately see a problem with any of the at this point. I don't care for the Kobold though. Roar is really out of place and should be dropped in favor of keeping pact tactics as that make way more sense.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Also
I WANT GEM DRAGONS!!!!
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I know gem dragons are supposed to be psychic. But they're psychic dragons. A feat that gives you a generic reaction psyblast doesn't feel particularly draconic unless you go out of your way to make it so. Which is fine, means the feat can be used as a generic "Psy-Touched" thing, but I don't know if I'd bill it as a draconic feat in that case.
EDIT: Also, any time anyone plays a kender in an actual, for-real game of D&D, an entire litter of puppies spontaneously explodes in a little girl's bedroom somewhere and scars her for life.
Think of the little girls.
Think of the puppies.
And don't play goddamned kender.
Please do not contact or message me.
Is it just me, or does it seem odd that the gem associated with radiant damage is just "crystal" Its not really a specific gem, just a general term. Im not sure how deep the lore is on different types of gems associated with dragons up until now, but it maybe could be better if replaced with something more specific, like maybe quartz or citrine. Idk. Not a big gemstone guy
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Crystal Dragons have always been one of the main 5 types for Gem Dragons. Should it have been something else, probably, but I don't really want them to change it now.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Is this a replacement for the current Kobold or a variant?
If its a variant, neat. If it's a replacement, I'll pass on that.
Everything else seems neat
Yeah, at my table, Crystal Dragons are Diamond Dragons. Crystal is too big of a category.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
More draconic Kobolds were already a thing in previous editions. They were known as Dragonwrought kobold. They were a rarer subrace of Kobolds that were born from eggs that took on the color of the dragon the Kobold shared an ancestry with and were known to be larger, stronger, and longer lived then their smaller kin.
They should honestly just call these new Kobolds Dragonwrought Kobolds to separate them from normal Kobolds.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
They could maybe do a soft reboot of terminology if they wanted to and just change the term Gem Dragons to Crystal Dragons, with each gem being a different type of crystal dragon. Again, not a big gem, stone, or mineral guy, but don't most gemstones have a crystalline structure anyway?
That being said, it really won't bother me that much if they stick with it to stay true to the lore.
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!