The Tool Desk
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What Arcana Unleashed changes
Arcana Unleashed is labeled a New 5.5e product. Its official source page is dated September 1, 2026, and its material is organized around character options, spells, magical worlds, factions, magic items and creatures. It is therefore best treated as a current-rules rebuild with an arcane theme, not as a conversion patch that you apply line by line to a 2014 sheet.
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| Arcana Unleashed content | Published count | How it can help a converted character |
|---|---|---|
| Subclasses | 8 | Recreate a magical version of a cleric, fighter, monk, warlock or wizard concept. |
| Arcane factions | 9 | Give an existing bond, mentor, enemy or organization a rules-supported home. |
| Backgrounds | 10 | Replace or reshape a 2014 background while retaining its story. |
| New and revised spells | 33 | Restore a signature effect or update a spell whose current wording differs. |
| Feats | 20+ | Preserve a defining tactic, talent or magical theme. |
| Magic items | 45+ | Replace, retune or evolve a signature item. |
| Magical creatures | 19 | Support encounters, familiars, summons or faction stories. |
| Introductory adventure | Tomb of the Shadow Serpents, level 1, one to two sessions | Provide a starting point for a new or rebuilt character. |
The eight named subclasses are Arcana Domain (Cleric), Arcane Archer (Fighter), Warrior of the Mystic Arts (Monk), Vestige Patron (Warlock), and the Wizard subclasses Conjurer, Enchanter, Necromancer and Transmuter. If none matches your character, keep the closest current subclass and use Arcana Unleashed spells, feats, factions or items as the thematic layer.
Decide the campaign assumptions before rebuilding
A conversion can be balanced at one table and unsuitable at another. Have the DM answer these questions before you alter the sheet:
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- Does the character begin at the same level, at a new campaign level, or at the level appropriate for an Arcana Unleashed adventure?
- Which 5.5e core rules and legacy supplements are legal?
- Are all Arcana Unleashed options available, or only those the DM approves?
- How will 2014 magic items be handled: retained, replaced, converted individually or retired?
- Is the campaign in the Forgotten Realms or another setting, and which Arcana Unleashed factions exist there?
- Will the whole party use current 5.5e rules, or will some characters remain on 2014 rules?
Wizards’ conversion guidance leaves the starting level to the DM and explicitly states that the DM is the final arbiter. Write the answers at the top of your conversion worksheet so later rulings do not drift.
Step 1: Freeze and inventory the 2014 character
Make a read-only copy of the original character sheet. Do not overwrite it while experimenting. Record the following, including the character’s intended role in the party:
- Level, class, subclass and proficiency bonus.
- Species (race), six ability scores, saving-throw proficiencies, skill proficiencies, languages and tools.
- Maximum and current hit points, Hit Dice, Armor Class, initiative and movement.
- Every attack, damage formula, weapon property and action used to make it.
- Spells known or prepared, spell slots, spellcasting ability, spell attack bonus and spell save DC.
- Feats, class features, species traits and limited-use abilities.
- Armor, weapons, adventuring gear, magic items, rarity and attunement.
- Personality, ideals, bonds, flaws, allies, enemies, mentors and unresolved goals.
- The play pattern you want to keep: for example, “mobile archer who controls a chokepoint” or “reckless front-line healer.”
The 2014 Basic Rules define the ability, background, equipment, Armor Class, attack and advancement fields that belong in this inventory. Capturing them first separates a character’s identity from rules text that may no longer exist in the same form.
Step 2: Set a conversion target
Write a one-sentence target before selecting options: “At level 7, this character is a stealthy elven archer tied to a forbidden academy, opens fights from range and protects an ally with a reaction.” This sentence is your test whenever two current options compete.
Preserve four things unless the DM agrees otherwise:
- Concept: the fantasy and job the character performs.
- Level and power budget: the agreed starting level and expected equipment.
- Relationships: organizations, rivals, family and obligations.
- Signature gear: the item or visual detail that makes the character recognizable.
Rules elements are replaceable. These four anchors are what make the rebuilt character still feel like the same person.
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Step 3: Rebuild species and ability scores
Use the old species as a description, not as a block of text to paste into the new sheet. Choose the current species that best preserves the character’s identity and apply its current traits. If the old species granted a proficiency, movement mode or once-per-rest feature that no longer exists, replace it with a comparable target-edition trait or proficiency rather than stacking both versions.
Keep the six 2014 ability scores in your worksheet as a reference. Then apply the target rules’ ability-score and proficiency procedures and recalculate every dependent value. Do not assume that an old racial increase, background increase or feat can be copied unchanged. If two species are close, compare:
- Whether the movement, senses and defensive traits support the original play pattern.
- Whether the species supplies a proficiency the character actually uses.
- Whether the replacement changes action economy or introduces a resource the player must track.
- Whether the choice still makes sense in the campaign’s setting.
Wizards’ guidance recommends the closest match, replacing old racial traits with target-edition traits and swapping like-kind proficiencies when that better represents the character. Record any deliberate departure, such as changing a dwarf to another hardy species because the old resistance has no direct equivalent.
Step 4: Rebuild class and subclass
Start with the class that reproduces the character’s party function and fictional identity, not necessarily the 2014 class name. A 2014 fighter whose defining feature is supernatural marksmanship may be a Fighter with Arcane Archer; a wizard whose story revolves around a pact-bound relic may fit Warlock with Vestige Patron better than a wizard subclass. Wizards specifically says not to feel constrained by the original class and gives narrative alternatives as examples.
| Arcana Unleashed option | Best fit for a 2014 concept | Questions to test |
|---|---|---|
| Arcana Domain (Cleric) | Priest, scholar or temple agent whose magic is explicitly arcane. | Does the character’s support and armor role remain intact? Is the divine-to-arcane change acceptable in the fiction? |
| Arcane Archer (Fighter) | Ranged martial character whose signature attacks carry magical effects. | Does the subclass preserve the number of meaningful attacks and the character’s position on the battlefield? |
| Warrior of the Mystic Arts (Monk) | Martial artist using supernatural techniques rather than conventional weapons. | Can the character afford the subclass’s resource demands while still making the old defensive and mobility plays? |
| Vestige Patron (Warlock) | Character empowered by a relic, spirit, heirloom or other persistent magical entity. | Does the pact relationship improve the story without erasing the old mentor or patron? |
| Conjurer (Wizard) | Summoner, portal-maker or battlefield arranger. | Are the character’s actions spent creating, moving or empowering allies? |
| Enchanter (Wizard) | Manipulator, negotiator or controller of minds and emotions. | Will the campaign’s consent and social boundaries support this style of play? |
| Necromancer (Wizard) | Death scholar, spirit binder or commander of undead. | How do the setting and party handle undead allies and their consequences? |
| Transmuter (Wizard) | Alchemist, shapeshifter or body-and-matter specialist. | Does transformation replace the old character’s damage, utility or defense rather than merely adding options? |
If an Arcana Unleashed subclass is close but not exact, keep the closest current subclass and move the arcane identity into spells, feats, faction membership and equipment. Avoid homebrewing a hybrid until you have tested the published options; every exception increases the DM’s balance workload.
Step 5: Rebuild the background and faction connection
Keep the character’s history, personality, bonds, ideals and flaws unless the player wants a story change. Select a target background that supplies comparable skills and tools, then rewrite its narrative feature to describe the existing history. The 2014 background model consists of a feature, two skill proficiencies and possibly languages or tools; Arcana Unleashed’s ten backgrounds give you additional starting points, especially when a faction tie matters.
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Arcana Unleashed includes nine arcane factions. Use one when it clarifies who trained the character, who funds the party, why an enemy is pursuing them or what obligation follows from a magic item. A faction should add story and usable contacts, not grant an unapproved second subclass. If no published background has the exact skill combination, choose the closest one and ask the DM to swap like-kind proficiencies rather than adding extras.
Step 6: Audit spells, feats and magic items
Make a three-column audit for every rules element: keep unchanged, replace with a current equivalent, or re-theme or retire. For each spell, feat or item, compare the mechanical details before deciding.
| Element | Check | Typical conversion decision |
|---|---|---|
| Spell | Action type, range, duration, concentration, damage, saving throw, level and class-list access. | Use the current version when wording changed; choose one of the 33 new or revised spells when it restores the same function. |
| Feat | Prerequisite, ability-score increase, frequency and action economy. | Keep the tactic, but use a current feat or one of Arcana Unleashed’s 20-plus feats if the old prerequisite no longer exists. |
| Magic item | Rarity, attunement, charges, recharge, activation and interaction with current spells. | Retain the story, then keep, replace or redesign the mechanics. Arcana Unleashed has 45-plus magic items, including evolving items. |
| Weapon or armor | Proficiency, properties, damage, armor category and current limits. | Use a legal current item and describe it as the old gear unless a property changes the character’s power materially. |
Do not paste 2014 wording into a current sheet when the named rule has changed. An evolving Arcana Unleashed item can preserve a relic’s growth narrative without granting every future benefit at level one. If an old item has no direct equivalent, preserve its appearance and story, then give it a current item’s mechanics with the DM’s approval.
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Step 7: Recalculate every derived number
After choices are final, calculate from the target rules rather than editing old totals. Recompute:
- Proficiency bonus and all proficient saving throws and skills.
- Hit points, Hit Dice, Armor Class, initiative and movement.
- Weapon and spell attack bonuses, damage, critical effects and ammunition.
- Spellcasting ability, spell save DC, prepared or known spells and available slots.
- Limited-use features, reaction options, concentration requirements and inventory limits.
Check one ordinary attack, one signature ability, one defensive reaction and one typical spell. Compare the character’s action economy and durability with the rest of the party at the same level. This is a table balance check, not a claim of mathematical equivalence; the official guidance treats conversion as judgment rather than exact replication.
Step 8: Run a practical table test
Before the first session, play a short mock encounter or have the DM review four turns on paper:
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- Opening turn: What does the character do with its action, bonus action and movement?
- Pressure turn: What happens when the main resource is unavailable or concentration is threatened?
- Defense turn: Which reaction, resistance, mobility feature or healing option keeps the character alive?
- Recovery turn: What can the character contribute after signature abilities are spent?
Look for mismatches rather than perfect parity. A character that has lost its defining tactic needs a different option; a character that combines several superior defenses may need a DM-imposed item or feat adjustment. Test against the actual party’s level and equipment assumptions, not an abstract optimization benchmark.
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Attach a short ledger to the final sheet. It gives the DM an audit trail and makes later level-ups consistent.
| Original element | Target element | Reason | DM ruling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 half-elf traits | Current species with comparable mobility and senses | Preserves identity without importing obsolete trait text | Approved / revise |
| Original subclass | Arcana Unleashed or current subclass | Preserves party function and signature action | Approved / revise |
| Signature spell | Current wording or revised equivalent | Maintains range, control or damage role | Approved / revise |
| Named relic | Current or evolving magic item | Preserves story while fitting rarity and attunement | Approved / revise |
Flag anything with no direct equivalent. A visible “no equivalent; DM ruling” note is safer than silently carrying an obsolete interaction into future levels.
Common conversion mistakes and fixes
Copying every 2014 feature
Problem: The character gains both a legacy trait and its current replacement. Fix: Choose one target-edition implementation and record the replaced text in the ledger.
Choosing by name instead of function
Problem: A familiar class label preserves a title but loses the character’s actual job. Fix: Test party function, fictional identity and action economy first; change class if that is the closest honest fit.
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Problem: A new subclass consumes bonus actions, concentration or a limited pool that the old character never tracked. Fix: Run the four-turn table test and remove a redundant option if the character cannot perform its defining routine.
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Granting too many replacement benefits
Problem: Every lost 2014 feature is replaced with a feat, item and spell. Fix: Replace the function once. Use the smallest number of target options that restores the play pattern.
Changing the story accidentally
Problem: A new faction or patron overwrites the character’s bonds. Fix: Treat factions as explanations for existing relationships unless the player deliberately wants a new story.
What the books cost and how to access them
The official US marketplace lists the Arcana Unleashed rulebook at $59.99 in digital, physical and digital-plus-physical formats. The official FAQ lists the Arcana Unleashed Ultimate Bundle at $129.99; it includes the core expansion, Deadfall, a map pack and digital preorder bonuses. These prices and availability were checked October 19, 2026 and can change.
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For online play, Arcana Unleashed is also listed through a Roll20 compendium marketplace path. Confirm the current listing, content scope and account requirements before buying; marketplace availability and partner-program status can change.
When to stop converting and make a new character
A rebuild is usually worthwhile when the character’s concept, relationships or signature tactic still excites you. Start over when the old mechanics were the concept—for example, when removing a particular subclass leaves no recognizable role—or when preserving the old combination would require several exceptions. A new character can still inherit the old hero’s name, faction, rival or relic as an NPC, contact or story reward.
Final conversion checklist
- Original sheet copied and locked.
- Target level, legal books, setting and item policy written down.
- Concept, party role, relationships and signature gear identified.
- Species and ability-score package rebuilt under current rules.
- Class and subclass tested against function and fiction.
- Background and faction connection approved.
- Spells, feats and items audited for current wording, prerequisites, rarity and attunement.
- All derived numbers recalculated.
- Four-turn table test completed with the actual party assumptions.
- Conversion ledger attached and unresolved items marked for a DM ruling.
This process keeps what made the 2014 character yours while allowing Arcana Unleashed and the current 5.5e rules to determine how that character works at the table.
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