Exploring Unearthed Arcana Content in D&D 4th Edition

Sometimes the process for making a title for Spirits of Eden in itself is more grueling than writing the actual article.

There’s a lot of things to consider when writing a title for the network. If it does not grab your eyes immediately you are probably not going to read it. It would be like a Beer ad saying “Beer; drink it.” It is honest but not effective, not in this complex world that we live in. A beer ad must create a fantasy around beer, a drama. Rena’s evil twin sister is after her boyfriend Mani, and only through a Bud Light can this problem be solved. It just isn’t as simple as “it doesn’t taste like toilet water, seriously” anymore.

But sometimes, even I, font of creativity that I am, cannot muster a clever hook to trick you into reading a mundane subject.

On to the actual post. Through certain dealings I have had in the past few weeks I’ve been again coming into contact with D&D 3.5, which is not contact I exactly resent, as it is contact I partook in willingly.

My contact with it is academical. It is not playing. I don’t think I can ever play D&D 3.5 again. But I have been reading, partially out of boredom, partially for research and curiosity. During my dealings with D&D 3.5 I tend to find things in it that make me chuckle once or twice. This is a post about one of those things.

A lot of people credit the Tome of Battle for creating the backbone of the 4e rules. Whether this credit is good or bad is up to the individual. I wouldn’t play D&D 3.5, back when I did play it, unless ToB was allowed. But some of the littler things in D&D 4e, even before the Tome of Battle, had representation in 3.5. They were obviously not the same, but you can see, in the concepts and even in some of the mechanics, the roots of their fully-developed, fully-integrated brethren in 4e.

The Unearthed Arcana was basically a huge book of houserules for D&D 3.5. It is also one of the few reasons why I actually played D&D 3.5 since I picked it up and all the way to its end, rather than giving up after a year or two. Unearthed Arcana was a great decision with loads of interesting options for people who didn’t like the way D&D 3.5 did certain things. I think a 4e Unearthed Arcana would be quite interesting to see. Why, just look at the 3.5 one is STILL interesting even when you’ve abandoned the system entirely.

For starters, we have Reserve Points. The concept of Reserve Points is like Fast Healing only Slow and its purpose is the same as that of a healing surge, to recover HP without magic. It is less readily available as you have to wait a lot more with reserve points than you do with healing surges, and they also heal less.

But the concept of Reserve Points is pretty interesting. It’s sort of a backwards form of healing surge. Rather than impose a limitation on healing while allowing you to heal more than normal, the Reserve Pool heals you slower than normal but has no limitation, other than running out of Reserve Points. And if you do that, you can replenish them with magic!

For another topic, 4e Defenses! Does this remind you of anything? Not readily, but if you look down…

Saving Throws And Save Scores

With this variant, NPCs and other opponents no longer make saving throws to avoid special attacks of player characters. Instead, each creature has a Fortitude, Reflex, and Will score. These scores are equal to 11 + the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save modifiers.

Any time you cast a spell or use a special attack that forces an opponent to make a saving throw, instead make a magic check to determine your success. To make a magic check, roll 1d20 and add all the normal modifiers to any DC required by the spell or special attack (including the appropriate ability modifier, the spell’s level if casting a spell, the adjustment for Spell Focus, and so on).

If the result of the magic check equals or exceeds the appropriate save score (Fortitude, Reflex or Will, depending on the special ability), the creature is affected by the spell or special attack as if it had failed its save. If the result is lower than the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex or Will score (as appropriate to the spell or special attack used), the creature is affected as if it had succeeded on its save.

Magic Check:	1d20 + spell level + ability modifer + other modifiers
Fortitude Score:	11 + enemy’s Fortitude save modifier
Reflex Score:	11 + enemy’s Reflex save modifier
Will Score:	11 + enemy’s Will save modifier

If a player rolls a natural 20 on a magic check, the creature’s equipment may take damage (just as if it had rolled a natural 1 on its save; see Items Surviving after a Saving Throw).

I’m sure you remember now! This was taken much farther in 4e than suggested in 3.5. Rather than the players rolling all the dice, as the variant therein wants, the players and the DM roll the same amount of dice. They just hit static defenses while doing so, both of them, instead of just the players like here. Add to this the concept of Class Defenses, which was also in D&D 3.5, and you have yourself some 4e.

Action Points are also big in D&D 4e, but those are easy to remember. Eberron popularized them in D&D 3.5. Unearthed Arcana, however, had something to say on the matter as well.

Like rituals in 4e, Incantations can be cast by anyone who can bother to acquire them, read the stat block and put them to use. And like Rituals in 4e, Incantations can cost you an arm, a leg and your unborn child to use. These come with steep, steep costs. At least 4e only jacked your money. Incantations want your frickin’ body and soul as payment for their effects.

This variant skill system reminds me a bit of the way 4e does it. It doesn’t have the underlying backbone of the 1/2 level bonus that 4e does, which simplifies things a lot, but if it did, it would basically skill training.

Weapon Groups were included in 4e and are a very important part of a martial character’s choices for advancement. Almost every martial character picks a type of weapon and improves it as much as possible. They were also in 3.5!

Hybrid classing, meet your older, mentally ill brother who launches fireworks at trees with the intent to kill the squirrels in them. Gestalt was completely insane, and threw the system for a loop when used. So 4e players, look at this thing when you hear the comparisons to Hybrid, so you understand them. But rest assured that Hybrid is nowhere near this insane.

I don’t particularly sympathize with the question of “what can I learn from 4e to apply in D&D 3.5?” and I didn’t set out to answer that question here either. This is just for my own curiosity and for interested 4e gamers. But if you are asking yourself that question, I think there’s some wisdom to be had in looking in your own backyard, as opposed to going one continent over, to look for your answers.

As always, all edition wars comments will be swiftly terminated~! – Love, Wyatt nee-chan