In case you had any doubts about a big Underdark sourcebook based on the recent UAs, we're also getting a healthy 5 species options. Three of these are straight-up creatures from the Monster Manual. One is almost but not quite one of the classic, iconic D&D monsters, and the last (well, first) is I believe a new concept. Let's take a look:
Deep Imaskari:
The Deep Imaskari are the descendants of humans who once had a powerful magical empire, but fled its ruin into the Underdark. Using the Great Seal, their false underground sun, to provide them with Unlight to nourish crops and get some Vitamin D, they've been mutated and warped by its power, with colorless glowing crystals that protrude from their skin.
They're humanoid, and like normal humans, can be Small or Medium with a speed of 30 feet.
Photoresistant gives them resistance to radiant damage.
Resourceful, like with humans, gives them Heroic Inspiration when they finish a long rest.
Unluminescent lets you do the following: an action, you can cause your crystals to glow, shedding bright light in a 5 foot radius until you take an action to stop the effect. They also stop glowing if you die or are unconscious.
Aura of Unlight: At level 3, you can use a bonus action to shine bright light in a 10 foot emanation. This aura lasts 1 minute or until you choose to end it. When you use this, you choose an option from the following:
Abjuring Unlight gives you and your allies in the aura a bonus to their AC equal to half you proficiency bonus (rounded down).
Brilliant Unlight causes creatures other than your allies that start their turn in the emanation to have to make a Con save (DC based on your Charisma modifier) or be blinded until the end of your next turn.
Corrupting Unlight lets you change the damage when you hit with an attack to Radiant. Also, you can roll one of your unexpended hit dice and deal extra radiant damage equal to the number rolled, expending the die.
Big note here, and I don't know if this is intentional: There is no limit on the uses of Aura of Unlight. Now, it does take an action and only lass a minute, so it's unlikely you can use this before combat breaks out, meaning it's a round of set-up. But getting a +1 to AC for you and any nearby allies, and eventually growing that to a +3, is not too bad. Because the DC for Brilliant Unlight is Charisma-based, you'll probably want to play a Charisma-focused character or a Paladin, but that is, also, actually a very strong option.
Honestly, some pretty strong features here, and while we don't get the Human's bonus origin feat, which is tough to beat, we get a little connection to them with the free Heroic Inspiration feature.
Drider:
Yes, it's everyone's favorite drow spider centaurs. Despite the fact that they take on a form similar to the preferred form of the evil demon goddess Lolth, this is apparently a punishment for Drow, which is sort of odd. Could be kind of fun to play as an outcast of Lolth-worshipping society.
You're a Medium monstrosity with a speed of 30 feet.
Real quick, I know that WotC never makes species that aren't Medium or Small, which I find to be a bit of a shame. Let us have a Large species! Let Fairies be Tiny (as they've flavored Thimble in Critical Role Campaign 4)! Still, good to have another playable Monstrosity like the Thri-Kreen.
Arachnid Build: This is basically Powerful build, letting you carry more.
Darkvision: 120 feet of Darkvision, pretty standard for subterranean species.
Spells of the Spider Queen: You get Dancing Lights, and then Faerie Fire at 3rd level and Web at 5th level. You can cast each for free once per long rest without a spell slot, or use your spell slots to cast them again, and you pick Int, Wis, or Cha as your spellcasting stat.
These are good spells. Dancing Lights is maybe not game-changing, but Faerie Fire is a fantastic debuff and Web can be very powerful when used well.
Spider Climb: You have a climb speed equal to your speed. At level 3, you can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and along ceilings while leaving your hands free.
So, just like the Dhampir. Good stuff, and could be very fun as a sneaky infiltrator.
Web Walker: You ignore movement restrictions caused by webs, and you know the location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
This is obviously very niche except that we can make our own webs with the Web spell.
Overall, I think this Drider, with the exception of being shrunk down to Medium size, delivers on the fantasy of being a Drider, and seems like a perfectly solid, even pretty good species option. Thumbs up.
Illithidkin:
Hey, do you want to play as an Illithid? Well, there are those feats that they presented in the last UA that let you become one. But do you want to just go for the aesthetic of being a Mind Flayer without actually being one? The Illithidkin are evidently the result of weird Mind Flayer experiments to create a kind of middle-ground of ceremorphosis, where you have the tentacles and purple skin and psionics of a Mind Flayer but retain some of your old features.
Illthidkin are, bafflingly, humanoids (surely if a Kalashtar is an Aberration, these would be, right?) and can be Medium or Small, and have a 30 foot movement speed.
Darkvision: you have 120 feet of darkvision.
Psionic Aptitude: You have Mage Hand, and can make the hand invisible. When you reach 3rd level you get Command, and at 5th level, you get Levitate. You can cast each for free once per long rest, or spend spell slots to cast them again. You pick Int, Wis, or Cha as your spellcasitng ability.
Command is fantastic - steal a creature's action without worrying about charm immunity, and potentially get them to do something that helps you. Levitate is a little less broadly useful.
Sharpened Mind: You have resistance to Psychic damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against the Charmed condition.
Telepathy: You have telepathy out to 30 feet.
Here's my one issue: where to the tentacles come in? Can I not make unarmed strikes with them? Can I not deal damage and grapple with them? We might not have a full-on Extract Brain feature, but I don't really see this as feeling all to different from one of the many creatures that the Illithid altered.
Kuo-Toa:
I adore the Kuo-Toa, though in part because I always imagine them as the D&D antecedents to Murlocs from World of Warcraft. Truly, they're more akin to the Deep Ones from The Shadow Over Innsmouth (though there are a few other monsters, like Sea Spawn or Deep Scions, that also kind of fit that niche).
Honest, the UA kind of nerfs their lore: it's supposed to be that the bizarre gods they make up actually manifest as very minor deities, whereas this one says that they are simply forgotten gods that no one agrees on. Boo!
Also boo to them being Humanoids, after getting upgraded to aberrations in the Monster Manual. While I get that in some cases the change from humanoid to other creature types was a perhaps overzealous attempt to avoid implying that any humanoid peoples are defined by their species, I actually thought that the change for Kuo-Toa felt appropriate (certainly more than Lizardfolk being elementals).
Anyway, they're Medium (not small?) humanoids with a 30 foot speed.
Amphibious: You can breathe both air and water, and have a swim speed equal to your speed.
Slippery: You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Grappled or Restrained conditions.
Note that thanks to a lot of monsters auto-grappling on a hit with attacks, this isn't quite as good as it would have been in 5.0.
Deific Manifestation: You get Find Familiar and can cast it without material components. You can cast it once per long rest without a spell slot. When you cast the spell, you can choose a normal form or you can pick the Homunculus or Myconid Sprout. The creature is a Celestial.
Additionally, the familiar is a mix of creatures, so when you cast the spell, you can choose a secondary form from your available choices, and the familiar gains one action, reaction, or trait from that second form.
I love this. Not only is Find Familiar a nice spell to have (even if in most games we mainly use it just for flavor and roleplay, or some scouting,) but this mix-and-match system could potentially create some really interesting options. Also, we save on gold by never having to have a brazier or incense.
Myconid:
Myconid are the mushroom people! The very weird, sometimes friendly, but deeply different fungal folk of the Underdark. Sadly, individuals rarely live past 25.
Gloriously, this is the first playable Plant species (yes, I'm aware that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants, but that's how D&D treats them). I hope this leads to more! You can be Medium or Small, and get a 30 foot speed.
Darkvision: 120 feet of darkvision, standard for underground.
Telepathy: You have telepathy out to 30 feet.
Rapport Spores: As an action, you can expel spores in a 30 foot emanation. Creatures in the area with an intelligence of 2 or higher that aren't constructs, elementals, or undead gain telepathy to a range of 30 feet for one hour. You can do this once per long rest.
It's not super-long-range telepathy, but this could come in handy, especially if you're about to go into some tight social situation so you can strategize with your party without speaking out loud.
Skill Meld: When you finish a long rest, you can choose up to six allies (you can include yourself) within 30 feet of you to take part in a ritual. Pick a skill that at least one participant has proficiency with. Every participant gains that proficiency until they finish a long rest.
This one's fun! The most obvious use I can think of is granting everyone Stealth if you need to sneak in somewhere, but this could be a way to grant Perception, Deception, Athletics - just any skill that you'll be making group checks with.
Yeah, I really like the Myconid!
So, overall, I think we have some cool and solid options. I think the Illithidkin is the only one I find truly disappointing.
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