Unearthed Arcana? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Unearthed Arcana? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 12:58 PM Wow, never figured I'd post on the DnD boards. Anyway on to buisness. What exactly lies in this book? I know its basically a big book of variants, but thats it. Could somebody give me a detailed rundown on it? Thanks.
Koga:The ninja trick
01-09-06, 01:05 PM It's bassicaly a book of bad ideas. There are some decent varaints that are good for games, like Thug, Battle-Sorcerer, Totem Barbarian, and Specialist Wizards revamped. But mostly they're overpowerd tweaks with little drawback. A druid is horrible as is, he doesn't need to have rage like a barbarian.

Though the book has inspired The Koga to make tweaks of his own, normaly to nerf classes rather then esculate them.. Also if you enjoy having a soul, never speak of gestalt..
Crunchy Frog
01-09-06, 01:08 PM There's no grand theme to Unearthed Arcana. It's just a whole bunch of optional rules crammed into one book. Some of them take up lots of pages, some only take one. Most of the book is Open Content. You can find the open content at d20srd.org (http://d20srd.org); just look at the "Variant Rules" section.
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 01:16 PM Ugh. Im not willing to look through basically the entire book on some site. Let me state my intentions. Im not going use it for DnD. Im going(if I buy it) to rip and port whatever thats feasible into my list of expanding Variant SWRPG rules. So could anybody give me a basic list of the variants?(kinda like, what variants exist on health, what variants exist on magic. what variants exist on combat. Not a description on them, just their names. I could probably infer what they do from their names.)
elven warriorXX
01-09-06, 01:33 PM Looky here (http://www.d20srd.org/) oh Dark Master. All you need is under Variant Rules.
CzarGarrett
01-09-06, 01:34 PM Lets see what I can remember.

Racial variants based on environment
Bloodlines
Taint
Reputation/Infamy
Class variants
larry_the_titan
01-09-06, 02:10 PM You want to know what is in Unearthed Arcana but you dont want to buy the book or even look at it shame on you. Buy since you asked I will give you a couple of Names to look up if you ever look at the book. Racial Variants, Paragons and Bloodlines. Good luck gaining anything without looking at the book. Though if you buy it you might gain more then you lost.
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 02:39 PM Wow didnt know the DnD boards could be so cynical. FYI if I saw the book in a store(which I havent seen it a store) I'd look at it then. And I've got projects that Im working on for SW so Im not gonna spend 2 or 3 hours poring over some site(especially when its got everything broken down into tiny sections. I find it much easier to thumb through a book than to keep clicking links and waiting for stuff to load then pressing back and clicking another link etc). Lastly, the very reason I started this thread is to give me a reason to or not to buy the book(ie I do want to buy the book but dont want to waste money on something that may not be what I want). Geez I ask a question and get WMDs thrown at me!
Koga:The ninja trick
01-09-06, 02:48 PM They're just trying to help, you're not exactly being friendly with our support.

You asked what the book was about, we told you, we linked you to the srd, what more can we do?

Well, The Koga could do more, but by more he means invoke The Old Ones and have nazis riding dinosaurs...
q'afuu
01-09-06, 02:50 PM Considering a detailed rundown might well take over an hour to type up, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take those 2, 3 hours to go over what you can find on the Internet yourself anyway. ;) That's not being cynical, just practical.
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 03:57 PM I guess I've turned the tide against myself, but here's an example of what I was looking for. I give a very rough breakdown(this example is just out of my head, and Im not trying to imitate UA, just a generic source book).

Chapter One: Intro
Chapter 2: Skills and Feats. New uses for old stuff and new stuff altogether.
Chapter 3: PrCs(self explantory)
Chapter 4: Archetypes. Combine certain levels of certain classes and gain a few variant abiltites that didnt exist in either class(but variants that are fit in with the archetype such as a Scoundrelous Ranger, or a Spellwarrior)
Chapter 5: Combat. New options such as critical hit charts, aiming for specific body parts, new maneuvers and new uses for old ones, etc
Chapter 6: Equipment. New gadgets to play with, Item creation tables, etc
Chapter 7: Magic. New metamagic feats. New ways to limit magic usage. Spellbuilding guide.
Chapter 8: Whatever else you can think of.

Sorry if I came off wrong. Im used to the SW boards where if a question is asked, descriptive yet not so big answers are given.
q'afuu
01-09-06, 04:55 PM Sorry if I came off wrong. Im used to the SW boards where if a question is asked, descriptive yet not so big answers are given. The thing is, any answer that is not elaborate will be largely useless to you. I mean, look at the hypothetical example you gave: what info does that give that's actually going to allow you to make a decent variant/houserule?

For 90% of the items we could list, we'd need to give a basic explanation of what and how as well. Not only is that a truckload of typing to be done, for the parts that are not open content it wouldn't really be correct either.

FWIW, I doubt even half of the rules in UA would make for workable ideas for a SW campaign.
Carmath The Pure
01-09-06, 05:18 PM I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but wouldn't it be more prudent to head to the Unearthed Arcana forum? You could look around at topic headings alone to see what's in UA (and what people are having issues with). A quick sampling here & there should give you the information you're looking for.

And q'afuu and Koga are right--it's not a book you can easily explain in a paragraph. That's kinda the whole point of it. The races section details variant subraces, Skills & Feats talks about using current skills in different ways, etc.

Unearthed Arcana is a book to buy if you have extra money and are looking for some ideas. No one will be able to use everything in it (some of the variants introduced are at least slightly contradictory) but if you're looking for ways to shake up the status quo then you're almost guaranteed to find something to spark a new concept.
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 05:26 PM FWIW, I doubt even half of the rules in UA would make for workable ideas for a SW campaign.I dont know about that, Im a good rules and mechanics lawyer, I bet I could twist 'em to the Dark Side.
I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but wouldn't it be more prudent to head to the Unearthed Arcana forum?Huh? I must have missed that.... geez I must be blind :mymy:

Again sorry if my attitude or tone seem bad, malfunctional or whatever. I guess I shouldnt have posted such a grand, broad reaching question.
Koga:The ninja trick
01-09-06, 05:31 PM Also for a Star Wars D&D campaign magick might not be the best option to go, The Force is better expressed in the disciplines.

LIGHTSIDE:
Psychometabloism.
Clairestance.

DARKSIDE:
Metacreativity.
Telekinisis.

NEUTRAL:
Telepathy.
Psychoporation.

Also the psionics system is generaly cooler, funner, and more balanced then the spellcasting system by a longshot..
larry_the_titan
01-09-06, 06:14 PM Sorry I dont know the StarWars RPG but the only thing you might really use is the Sanity, Taint, and Honor systems that are in the book. I dont think you can use the Item Familiars but a talking lightsaber might be funny.
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 06:17 PM Who says I have to use Magic system X verbatim? When I look at rules and mechanics I apply the Lego Model Concept: "Hey that piece looks cool. Oh that hinge is just perfect!, etc, etc, etc". I disect things, splice, test, lather, rinse, repeat. The thing is there are no real major "Crunch" books for SW. No alterante rules this or Combat system that. So when I was told about Unearthed arcana I figured it was this gigantic book of variant mechanics(and besides I could always use the "Races this, Bloodlines that" as Dark Side abominations :schemes: ...).
AT-AT Assault
01-09-06, 06:22 PM ... a talking lightsaber might be funny.Yes it would, and I already can do it I think. In the darkside sourcebook there's a force power called "transfer spirit" or something to that nature. When a darksider is about to die they can possess something to continue, including a Death Star, Droid, Lightsaber, etc... The Dark side spirit could then do a broadcast telepathy to "talk" and make people go mad... "Gah! My lightsaber's telling me to hunt down the Jedi!!".
Wolfen Fenrison
01-09-06, 10:18 PM sorry bout the poor responses you've been getting, not everyone on these boards are so rude.

as for what variant rules in UA you might like I have the book with and since its is OGL I can give you as info as you want.

chapter 1 has a system for reducing level adjustment and a instreting bloodline system,
chapter 2 the generic classes are truly generic enough ot be used in any setting,
chapter 3 has character traits and flaws that are both neat and easy to convert to SW
chapter 4 has the info on vitality and wound points (the important part is the notes on converting hit point based creatues to the VP/WP system),
also in this chapter is the action point systme for making more cinematic games,
chapter 5 has an intresting spell point system if you dont care for vancien spellcasting,
chapter 6 has numeric systems for calculating a persons reputation, honor, taint of evil, sanity, and availability of contacts.

I hope this proves useful.
Millennium
01-10-06, 07:31 AM Wow didnt know the DnD boards could be so cynical. FYI if I saw the book in a store(which I havent seen it a store) I'd look at it then. And I've got projects that Im working on for SW so Im not gonna spend 2 or 3 hours poring over some site(especially when its got everything broken down into tiny sections. I find it much easier to thumb through a book than to keep clicking links and waiting for stuff to load then pressing back and clicking another link etc).
So let me get this straight: you don't want to look through the book on a Website, so you came to a Website to get the book's contents?

We're pointing you at d20srd.org because it does the job much better than any of us could. The entire book is Open Game Content, and so d20srd.org has put it up. It's not quite verbatim, but it's pretty close. In particular, the format is exactly the same, including the sections. The site will, therefore, be no easier or harder to navigate than the book will be.
Gold Katana
01-10-06, 09:38 AM I don't find the responses rude. AT asked us to do his work. People gave links and briefs. He took offense. Why doesn't he go to a review site - ENWorld comes to mind.
Ranger REG
01-10-06, 09:13 PM Download Variant Rules Checklist (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/Unearthed_Arcana_WE.zip)
Crimson_Concerto
01-10-06, 10:26 PM The only variants in that book I like are the Defense Bonus variant (I hate having to wear armor. It's so lame.) and the Specialist Wizard Veriants.

Other than that, I suuupose you have the Armor as DR that everybody likes for some reason, and you have a few new things like Sanity (which is VERY cool for Call of Cthulhu, but very out of place in a fantasy setting).

Other than the few I've listed, I didn't dig the book very much...

Wow, that's a terrible pun:
"I didn't dig Unearthed Arcana"...
I'm just going to shut up now...
MasterOfPsychic
01-12-06, 04:28 AM The biggest problem for the SWRPG user reading UA is that a LOT of the rules is already used for SWRPG alread :P

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 12:58 PM	Wow, never figured I'd post on the DnD boards. Anyway on to buisness. What exactly lies in this book? I know its basically a big book of variants, but thats it. Could somebody give me a detailed rundown on it? Thanks.
Koga:The ninja trick 01-09-06, 01:05 PM	It's bassicaly a book of bad ideas. There are some decent varaints that are good for games, like Thug, Battle-Sorcerer, Totem Barbarian, and Specialist Wizards revamped. But mostly they're overpowerd tweaks with little drawback. A druid is horrible as is, he doesn't need to have rage like a barbarian. Though the book has inspired The Koga to make tweaks of his own, normaly to nerf classes rather then esculate them.. Also if you enjoy having a soul, never speak of gestalt..
Crunchy Frog 01-09-06, 01:08 PM	There's no grand theme to Unearthed Arcana. It's just a whole bunch of optional rules crammed into one book. Some of them take up lots of pages, some only take one. Most of the book is Open Content. You can find the open content at d20srd.org (http://d20srd.org); just look at the "Variant Rules" section.
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 01:16 PM	Ugh. Im not willing to look through basically the entire book on some site. Let me state my intentions. Im not going use it for DnD. Im going(if I buy it) to rip and port whatever thats feasible into my list of expanding Variant SWRPG rules. So could anybody give me a basic list of the variants?(kinda like, what variants exist on health, what variants exist on magic. what variants exist on combat. Not a description on them, just their names. I could probably infer what they do from their names.)
elven warriorXX 01-09-06, 01:33 PM	Looky here (http://www.d20srd.org/) oh Dark Master. All you need is under Variant Rules.
CzarGarrett 01-09-06, 01:34 PM	Lets see what I can remember. Racial variants based on environment Bloodlines Taint Reputation/Infamy Class variants
larry_the_titan 01-09-06, 02:10 PM	You want to know what is in Unearthed Arcana but you dont want to buy the book or even look at it shame on you. Buy since you asked I will give you a couple of Names to look up if you ever look at the book. Racial Variants, Paragons and Bloodlines. Good luck gaining anything without looking at the book. Though if you buy it you might gain more then you lost.
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 02:39 PM	Wow didnt know the DnD boards could be so cynical. FYI if I saw the book in a store(which I havent seen it a store) I'd look at it then. And I've got projects that Im working on for SW so Im not gonna spend 2 or 3 hours poring over some site(especially when its got everything broken down into tiny sections. I find it much easier to thumb through a book than to keep clicking links and waiting for stuff to load then pressing back and clicking another link etc). Lastly, the very reason I started this thread is to give me a reason to or not to buy the book(ie I do want to buy the book but dont want to waste money on something that may not be what I want). Geez I ask a question and get WMDs thrown at me!
Koga:The ninja trick 01-09-06, 02:48 PM	They're just trying to help, you're not exactly being friendly with our support. You asked what the book was about, we told you, we linked you to the srd, what more can we do? Well, The Koga could do more, but by more he means invoke The Old Ones and have nazis riding dinosaurs...
q'afuu 01-09-06, 02:50 PM	Considering a detailed rundown might well take over an hour to type up, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take those 2, 3 hours to go over what you can find on the Internet yourself anyway. ;) That's not being cynical, just practical.
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 03:57 PM	I guess I've turned the tide against myself, but here's an example of what I was looking for. I give a very rough breakdown(this example is just out of my head, and Im not trying to imitate UA, just a generic source book). Chapter One: Intro Chapter 2: Skills and Feats. New uses for old stuff and new stuff altogether. Chapter 3: PrCs(self explantory) Chapter 4: Archetypes. Combine certain levels of certain classes and gain a few variant abiltites that didnt exist in either class(but variants that are fit in with the archetype such as a Scoundrelous Ranger, or a Spellwarrior) Chapter 5: Combat. New options such as critical hit charts, aiming for specific body parts, new maneuvers and new uses for old ones, etc Chapter 6: Equipment. New gadgets to play with, Item creation tables, etc Chapter 7: Magic. New metamagic feats. New ways to limit magic usage. Spellbuilding guide. Chapter 8: Whatever else you can think of. Sorry if I came off wrong. Im used to the SW boards where if a question is asked, descriptive yet not so big answers are given.
q'afuu 01-09-06, 04:55 PM	Sorry if I came off wrong. Im used to the SW boards where if a question is asked, descriptive yet not so big answers are given. The thing is, any answer that is not elaborate will be largely useless to you. I mean, look at the hypothetical example you gave: what info does that give that's actually going to allow you to make a decent variant/houserule? For 90% of the items we could list, we'd need to give a basic explanation of what and how as well. Not only is that a truckload of typing to be done, for the parts that are not open content it wouldn't really be correct either. FWIW, I doubt even half of the rules in UA would make for workable ideas for a SW campaign.
Carmath The Pure 01-09-06, 05:18 PM	I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but wouldn't it be more prudent to head to the Unearthed Arcana forum? You could look around at topic headings alone to see what's in UA (and what people are having issues with). A quick sampling here & there should give you the information you're looking for. And q'afuu and Koga are right--it's not a book you can easily explain in a paragraph. That's kinda the whole point of it. The races section details variant subraces, Skills & Feats talks about using current skills in different ways, etc. Unearthed Arcana is a book to buy if you have extra money and are looking for some ideas. No one will be able to use everything in it (some of the variants introduced are at least slightly contradictory) but if you're looking for ways to shake up the status quo then you're almost guaranteed to find something to spark a new concept.
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 05:26 PM	FWIW, I doubt even half of the rules in UA would make for workable ideas for a SW campaign.I dont know about that, Im a good rules and mechanics lawyer, I bet I could twist 'em to the Dark Side. I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but wouldn't it be more prudent to head to the Unearthed Arcana forum?Huh? I must have missed that.... geez I must be blind :mymy: Again sorry if my attitude or tone seem bad, malfunctional or whatever. I guess I shouldnt have posted such a grand, broad reaching question.
Koga:The ninja trick 01-09-06, 05:31 PM	Also for a Star Wars D&D campaign magick might not be the best option to go, The Force is better expressed in the disciplines. LIGHTSIDE: Psychometabloism. Clairestance. DARKSIDE: Metacreativity. Telekinisis. NEUTRAL: Telepathy. Psychoporation. Also the psionics system is generaly cooler, funner, and more balanced then the spellcasting system by a longshot..
larry_the_titan 01-09-06, 06:14 PM	Sorry I dont know the StarWars RPG but the only thing you might really use is the Sanity, Taint, and Honor systems that are in the book. I dont think you can use the Item Familiars but a talking lightsaber might be funny.
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 06:17 PM	Who says I have to use Magic system X verbatim? When I look at rules and mechanics I apply the Lego Model Concept: "Hey that piece looks cool. Oh that hinge is just perfect!, etc, etc, etc". I disect things, splice, test, lather, rinse, repeat. The thing is there are no real major "Crunch" books for SW. No alterante rules this or Combat system that. So when I was told about Unearthed arcana I figured it was this gigantic book of variant mechanics(and besides I could always use the "Races this, Bloodlines that" as Dark Side abominations :schemes: ...).
AT-AT Assault 01-09-06, 06:22 PM	... a talking lightsaber might be funny.Yes it would, and I already can do it I think. In the darkside sourcebook there's a force power called "transfer spirit" or something to that nature. When a darksider is about to die they can possess something to continue, including a Death Star, Droid, Lightsaber, etc... The Dark side spirit could then do a broadcast telepathy to "talk" and make people go mad... "Gah! My lightsaber's telling me to hunt down the Jedi!!".
Wolfen Fenrison 01-09-06, 10:18 PM	sorry bout the poor responses you've been getting, not everyone on these boards are so rude. as for what variant rules in UA you might like I have the book with and since its is OGL I can give you as info as you want. chapter 1 has a system for reducing level adjustment and a instreting bloodline system, chapter 2 the generic classes are truly generic enough ot be used in any setting, chapter 3 has character traits and flaws that are both neat and easy to convert to SW chapter 4 has the info on vitality and wound points (the important part is the notes on converting hit point based creatues to the VP/WP system), also in this chapter is the action point systme for making more cinematic games, chapter 5 has an intresting spell point system if you dont care for vancien spellcasting, chapter 6 has numeric systems for calculating a persons reputation, honor, taint of evil, sanity, and availability of contacts. I hope this proves useful.
Millennium 01-10-06, 07:31 AM	Wow didnt know the DnD boards could be so cynical. FYI if I saw the book in a store(which I havent seen it a store) I'd look at it then. And I've got projects that Im working on for SW so Im not gonna spend 2 or 3 hours poring over some site(especially when its got everything broken down into tiny sections. I find it much easier to thumb through a book than to keep clicking links and waiting for stuff to load then pressing back and clicking another link etc). So let me get this straight: you don't want to look through the book on a Website, so you came to a Website to get the book's contents? We're pointing you at d20srd.org because it does the job much better than any of us could. The entire book is Open Game Content, and so d20srd.org has put it up. It's not quite verbatim, but it's pretty close. In particular, the format is exactly the same, including the sections. The site will, therefore, be no easier or harder to navigate than the book will be.
Gold Katana 01-10-06, 09:38 AM	I don't find the responses rude. AT asked us to do his work. People gave links and briefs. He took offense. Why doesn't he go to a review site - ENWorld comes to mind.
Ranger REG 01-10-06, 09:13 PM	Download Variant Rules Checklist (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/Unearthed_Arcana_WE.zip)
Crimson_Concerto 01-10-06, 10:26 PM	The only variants in that book I like are the Defense Bonus variant (I hate having to wear armor. It's so lame.) and the Specialist Wizard Veriants. Other than that, I suuupose you have the Armor as DR that everybody likes for some reason, and you have a few new things like Sanity (which is VERY cool for Call of Cthulhu, but very out of place in a fantasy setting). Other than the few I've listed, I didn't dig the book very much... Wow, that's a terrible pun: "I didn't dig Unearthed Arcana"... I'm just going to shut up now...
MasterOfPsychic 01-12-06, 04:28 AM	The biggest problem for the SWRPG user reading UA is that a LOT of the rules is already used for SWRPG alread :P