Unearthed Arcana is the official D&D playtest system. Not every playtest makes it into production, but it can certainly give us many clues for the direction Wizards of the Coast want to go. That direction may well be Spelljammer.
The latest Unearthed Arcana, out today, is about Travelers of the Multiverse.
There are six new races, called races. They are;
- Astral Elf: An elf denizen of the Astral Plane who is likely thousands of years old
- Autognome: A mechanical gnome gifted with free will
- Giff: A hippo-headed being of impressive size
- Hadozee: A highly adaptive simian being who uses winglike membranes to glide
- Plasmoid: An amoeba-like being
- Thri-kreen: A six-limbed, telepathic insectoid
Astral Elf
These elves ventured from the Feywild long ago, reaching the Astral Plane closer to their gods.
Autognome
Mechanical beings made by rock gnomes but have the “True Life” trait, and so are Constructs that can be affected by spells like “Cure Wounds”.
Autognomes, like other races in this update, hark back to the Spelljammer setting.
Giff
Large and memorable, Giffs are hippo-like storytellings who… wait for it… are divided into two comps on how you pronounce Giff. Is it Jif, or gif? Wizards did that joke.
Giffs originally appeared in D&D 2e’s Monstrous Manual.
Hadozee
Simians from the trees, climbers with membranes of flesh between their limbs that allow them to glide. Originally, Hadozee’s were a Spelljammer monster, rather than PC race.
Plasmoid
Amorphous beings that eat through osmosis and lack internal organs, becoming puddles or lumps when they sleep. Plasmoids previously appeared in Spelljammer.
Thri-Kreen
Insect-like people with two pairs of arms and protective chitin don’t sleep and speak with clacking mandibles and waving antennae. Thri-Kreen date back to D&D 4e and were a player race in that edition.
Wizards of the Coast have the Feywild in there and Astral, which suggests the usual realms, but the mention of “planet” for the Hadozee is interesting. That may be another Spelljammer connection.
Quick Links
- Unearthed Arcana’s Travelers of the Multiverse
Creative Commons art credit: Thri-Kreen by Mewisemagic.
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