D&D 5E Eberron Aberrant dragonmark idea

[WBruce]

Hi, I am trying to create an aberrant mark for a player and I would like some advice of any willingly creative mind.
She is a 16 years old bard kalshtar that want to play in a support role and she wants her power to have something to do with dreams. She will find out about her power during the adventure and to this point I gave her a tiger pet that she dreamt about. Did she puled the tiger out of her dreams? Did she attracted an existing baby tiger to approach her? I don't know yet, but it fitted the end of a chapter and so here we are.

I am fully aware of kalashatr "not-dreaming" condition, the fact that they are severed from the realm and such, but I want to mess with that and allow her to either dream and build something around it later or let her enter dreams of others including her companions. I come to you people for some ideas that would fit in this descripion but wouldn't be too overpowered but could still be fun. It is her first D&D game with very experienced players and she is playing for the last one year and a half and enjoying greatly.

Any brainstorm elemental step up?
Thanks.

 

[Deekin]

Why does this need to be an aberrant dragonmark? Why can't this be an expression of a deeper connection to her quori spirit?

The thing about aberrant dragonmarks is that they are inherently unpleasant to use and destructive.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Why does this need to be an aberrant dragonmark? Why can't this be an expression of a deeper connection to her quori spirit?

The thing about aberrant dragonmarks is that they are inherently unpleasant to use and destructive.

As someone who likes Eberron but mostly from the outside: Is it not possible for a truly new dragonmark to appear? There had to be a time when nobody had marks, right?

Perhaps this lady is the first flowering of the Mark of Dreams--because the Kalashtar represent something new entering the Dragon Prophecy. A new piece on the board, an echo of the fundamental rewrite of the cosmology that occurred when Dal Quor was forcibly made remote from Eberron. That sounds like an awesome campaign element to me.

Dragonmark of Dreams​

Prerequisite: Kalashtar
You have the magical mark of Dreams, the dragonmark of a new, unnamed House--perhaps you are even the first member thereof.
You gain the ability to innately cast spells and cantrips, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability. You cast each spell at its lowest level. Once you cast a given spell this way, you must finish a long rest before you can cast it innately again. You must still expend any material components. Your dragonmark confers the following benefits:
Least Dragonmark. When you first take this feat, you gain the least dragonmark. You learn the following spells: mind sliver, sleep.
Lesser Dragonmark. At 5th level and higher, your mark becomes more potent, improving to lesser dragonmark. You learn the following spell: mirror image.
Greater Dragonmark. At 9th level and higher, your mark's power increases again, becoming a greater dragonmark. You learn the following spell: catnap.
Siberys Dragonmark. The creation of a new Dragonmarked house is unprecedented, and will almost surely entail great peril, both from those who would kill you, and those who would control you. If you survive the ordeals to become the first bearer of a new Siberys mark in living memory, great power will be yours. You learn the following spells: banishment, dream. Further, you can now cast each of the spells of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level provided by this feat twice before you must complete a long rest to cast them again.

As noted, this feat is a HUGE carte blanche for the DM to do all sorts of potentially-nasty things to the PC in question. It should not be taken lightly. If the player simply wants to have dream powers, without all of the (extremely significant!) setting implications of a brand-new non-Aberrant dragonmark, then a more flavorful choice would be to lean into the Quori spirit thing. And the Aberrant Dragonmark feat is of course always an option, albeit kind of a crappy one IMO.

 

[TwoSix]

I worry that adding an aberrant dragonmark is going to be a bit too much concept drift for an already busy character, especially for a player that's (per your description) pretty new.

Kalashtar is a rare (in-setting) race that has quite a bit of storyline already attached. Bard is already a concept-heavy, complex class with tons of RP hooks. And the connection to dreams is a nice diegetic hook which you've already flavored with its own mechanical expression (the animal companion tiger).

Not saying you can't add an aberrant dragonmark on top, but it definitely feels like the character needs to breathe a bit and establish all those already existing concepts into the storyline.

 

[Von Corellon]

As someone who likes Eberron but mostly from the outside: Is it not possible for a truly new dragonmark to appear? There had to be a time when nobody had marks, right?

Perhaps this lady is the first flowering of the Mark of Dreams--because the Kalashtar represent something new entering the Dragon Prophecy.

If you’re going to try it, try it this way. Kalashtar aren’t a race that manifest dragonmarks so it should be a new event, candidly, one that would be campaign defining.

 

[Stormonu]

How about a Mark of Dreams?

Cantrip: Message ("Talking in your sleep"), Mind Sliver or Minor Illusion (a "daydream")
1st: Sleep

Overall, I would think any sort of Illusions or Enchantments would be appropriate, as they all affect the state of mind of individuals and their perceptions of reality. A fairly interesting take could be this individual's waking world is actual a dream (or has markers that point to such), and they are a dream-construct that has become sentient/lucid and is affecting the "dream" around them. Shades of multi-level deep dream state like in Inception, Dreamscapes, Matrix 4 and other "dream with a dream" or "are you really awake?" sort of vibes.

 

[Deekin]

I would reccomend against adding a Dragonmark, cuz that's a major setting shaking event.

Instead, I'd focus on developing the connection between the kalashtar and their Quori. After all, what differentiates a kalashtar and a human is that shard of powerful nightmare spirit bound to them.

I am fully aware of kalashatr "not-dreaming" condition, the fact that they are severed from the realm and such, but I want to mess with that and allow her to either dream and build something around it later or let her enter dreams of others including her companions.

Well, kalashtar may not dream, but they do have experiences while asleep. When you sleep, you don’t dream, but the bond grows stronger. Your quori may even give visions to guide you. With time and training, you can strengthen this connection, learning to hear its psychic voice more clearly, and tap into it's psychic powers. She might be able to start forming a smaller dream palace with the help of her quori, or sneak into the realm of dreams using it's powers.

As for powers, perhaps her quori spirit can teach her dream magic, like the Dream spell, or the ancient quori art of Thoughtsong.

Thoughtsinger
Prerequisite: Kalashtar
You have honed your telepathic abilities, allowing you to link to and guide your companions as a united group. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Wisdom or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When using your Mind Link trait, you can maintain links to up to 6 creatures at a time. When you establish a link, you decide whether the linked creature can telepathically communicate only with you, or if they can telepathically communicate with all of the creatures you are linked to at once. Likewise, you can communicate with one specific creature, or you can communicate with all creatures you’re currently linked to.
• If you can speak telepathically to an ally using your Mind Link trait, you can use the Help action to aid them, even if you are more than 5 feet away from them.

 

[WBruce]

Interesting visions and ideas.
Thanks.