In today’s Unearthed Arcana, we explore character options related to the magic and majesty of giants.
What is in the new Unearthed Arcana Giant Options?
Are you looking to harness your inner norse god? The new Wizards of the Coast Unearthed Arcana: Giant Options really slams this feeling home. In addition, we also get new subclasses for the Druid and the Wizard. As well as some new feats to introduce to our games and play around with. It’s worth noting, that Unearthed Arcana is just playtest material. But when they are well received, they get a few adjustments and end up in official content. So, lets delve into these new Dungeons and Dragons goodies.
What is the Barbarian: Path of the Giant?
Barbarians who walk the Path of the Giant draw strength from the primal forces that are the Giants and their elemental ilk. Their rages surge with elemental power and cause these barbarians to grow in size, transforming them into avatars of primordial might. During their rage, a barbarian may take after a legendary storm giant, hair turning white and eyes crackling with lightning. Others adopt the monstrous features of apocalyptic titans, rending the world around them so that it may be made anew.
Immediately out the gate, we are getting a really great Thor vibe with glowing hair and eyes with crackling lightning. Maybe even a bit of super sayian tossed in there. As typical with archetype features, WoTC gives us some nice flavor with access to druidcraft or thaumaturgy cantrips. I think this is a nice touch, as it allows us to enhance our primordial traits.
What Features does the Path of the Giant Get?
The first core feature you get is pretty nice. Giant’s havoc which turns transforms you into a giant, granting you the large size. Not only you, but also what you’re wearing! This totally increases your reach too. On top of that, you gain benefits from throwing weapons with Crushing Hurl. I love this and can’t wait to specialize in boulder tossing!
The elemental cleaver is pretty on point as a 6th-level mechanic. When you rage it lets you infuse your weapon with an element chosen from a list. Now, this is pretty cool, as it's another way to tie our rage and character into our giant ancestry. Oh, did we mention it grants the weapon the thrown property? Given its range of 20/60 feet. Now, I know what you’re thinking “What if I throw it, do I gotta pick it back up?” nope! Not at all. It automatically returns back in your hand. Now that is dope. It’s left vague enough to tie in the primordial flavor. For instance, if I’m playing a stone giant theme, the weapon melding into the ground after being thrown, and that rising from the ground in a stone pillar just sounds dope as hell!
Save time and effort by jumping into the game with already fleshed out locations, encounters, maps, abilities, and stat blocks. Being a DM is hard. Why not let us do the heavy lifting so you can have a great time at the table.
Honestly, though, it gets better! At the 10th level, the Mighty Impel really pushes for the team play. If you’ve ever been a comic book fan, we’ve always wanted a fastball special mechanic. Well, now you can hurl your allies into battle, or toss an enemy about with a thundering slam. I’m all about this! Totally want to play a goliath barbarian path of the giant. Would focus on stone giant flavor. His name…The Rock! Tossing people around like rock candy asses and giving them his signature move, the pebbles elbow. Sorry, got a bit ahead of myself there.
Lastly, the path of the giant grants you Demiurgic Colossus. Now, as if being large wasn’t dope enough. Now we get to go to HUGE! This further increases our reach to 15 feet. Now, as someone who loves to play grapplers, this is a thing of beauty. Think of it, with a reach like this, you can force enemies prone, while grappled. Why is this a big deal? Unless they have a long reach…no more attacks while you smash their face into cold hard rock. Grappling, throwing, slamming…all of it. The path of the giant is gonna unleash the smackdown at every table!
Man, now I wish they got access to prestidigitation to make their own theme music upon entering battle. Totally can take a feat to do that. Would be worth it!
I probably should cover some of the other content, but none of it got me quite as excited as the Barbarian Path of the Giant. So I will attempt to drop another blog covering the other two subclasses and feats when I get a chance.
What other subclasses are in Unearthed Arcana Giant Options?
The Circle of the Primeval teaches that, though the land may change over time, it never truly forgets. By tapping into the timeworn memory of the earth, these druids summon and bond with the spirit of a primeval behemoth—a hulking creature that once ruled the ancient world alongside the giants.
Yup, it's a pet class. Not sure why the druid didn't start with this. Hell, could have at least given them find familiar. I have to admit, being able to eventually summon a HUGE behemoth pet is certainly appealing.
The Wizard Arcane Tradition: Runecrafter, wizards enhance their spellcasting through the ancient power of runes. Though the tradition originated with the giant rune casters of old, runecraft magic has expanded to encompass countless languages and practitioners across different worlds.
This is certainly interesting. Using special glyphs to support your allies. I am a big fan of support builds, and this one fits nicely. Whether is granting temporary hit points or increasing chances to hit. This is certainly a fantastic concept. I think I like it better than the Abjuration tradition, which is one of my favorites.
If you can’t wait, you can get the full Unearthed Arcana Giant Options here
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