D&D 5E Running Eberron in 5E

[Vael]

While I do agree that Eberron deserves its own cosmology, I think it did an okay job of navigating the changes of 4e, just matching new planes to old names. Actually, the introduction of the Eladrin and the Feyspires was, IMO, one of the neatest additions to the setting, and I'd rather not see it retconned out.

While last I heard, Warforged are expected to be in the DMG, have we heard about the other Eberron races? Changelings, Shifters and Kalashtar?

... And I'm still not a fan of subraces ... *grumble grumble* Eberron did it better *grumble grumble*

 

[Hellcow]

Actually, the introduction of the Eladrin and the Feyspires was, IMO, one of the neatest additions to the setting, and I'd rather not see it retconned out.

I agree. I came up with the backstory of the Feyspires, and hey, one of my novels revolves around them. But I don't think they rely on the 4E cosmology. The Feyspires are part of Thelanis; as long as Thelanis exists, there's a place for them.

 

[Wrathamon]

The Magic Item idea is a really interesting concept ... simple and 5e has a great mechanic for balance.

attunement

A dragonmark takes up one of your attunement slots.

 

[Goemoe]

Eberron is by far the best setting ever. I love the story arcs, the ability for players to be immersed in a world with very little background info... players just get it in every way. I also really like the way technology is handled and the setting makes the players feel like action stars. The Eberron adventure paths were by far some of the best from WOTC.

I cant wait to revisit Eberron in an official way in 5E, and as soon as I can revisit the world in my own campaigns.

Truth being told. I will start Eyes of the Lich Queen next week in 5E. Somehow we will get this to work

 

[collin]

I know this is an old thread, but I am looking for some help with Eberron in 5th edition. I am trying my darndest to come up with 5th edition versions of Eberron-specific things. I think the races will be fairly easy to transpose. But the one thing I am having a problem with is the Artificer. In 3.x, Crafting was a big deal and the Artificer was basically a master/magical craftsman. In 5th edition, it appears (I have not seen the DM guide yet) that crafting is something done off-stage, during downtime, outside of game-play. Therefore, I am having trouble coming up with some things that will make the Artificer both helpful and unique. It appears magic items will be in shorter supply in 5th edition. If 5th edition is meant to downgrade magic a bit, then that fits with Eberron being a plentiful low-magic world. However, the bread-and-butter of the artificer involves infusing things with magic AND creating magical items. I think the infusions could be translated fairly well, or some new ones made up. The main problem I am having is without feats, and without a Craft skill, the special abilities that would be unique to advancing as an Artificer seem lost. I expect at some point WotC will have an Eberron player's guide, but I would rather not wait a year or 2 to find out how they plan to handle this, since Eberron is my favorite DnD setting and my group has some characters that are kind of in limbo at this point, including one who is a multi-classed artificer/sorcerer. Thanks in advance for any ideas you can send my way.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Check out my gaming blog.

 

[gweinel]

I know this is an old thread, but I am looking for some help with Eberron in 5th edition. I am trying my darndest to come up with 5th edition versions of Eberron-specific things. I think the races will be fairly easy to transpose. But the one thing I am having a problem with is the Artificer. In 3.x, Crafting was a big deal and the Artificer was basically a master/magical craftsman. In 5th edition, it appears (I have not seen the DM guide yet) that crafting is something done off-stage, during downtime, outside of game-play. Therefore, I am having trouble coming up with some things that will make the Artificer both helpful and unique. It appears magic items will be in shorter supply in 5th edition. If 5th edition is meant to downgrade magic a bit, then that fits with Eberron being a plentiful low-magic world. However, the bread-and-butter of the artificer involves infusing things with magic AND creating magical items. I think the infusions could be translated fairly well, or some new ones made up. The main problem I am having is without feats, and without a Craft skill, the special abilities that would be unique to advancing as an Artificer seem lost. I expect at some point WotC will have an Eberron player's guide, but I would rather not wait a year or 2 to find out how they plan to handle this, since Eberron is my favorite DnD setting and my group has some characters that are kind of in limbo at this point, including one who is a multi-classed artificer/sorcerer. Thanks in advance for any ideas you can send my way.

Check out Keith's Baker (the creator of Eberron) blog. He has made versions of the warforge and the Artificer and maybe more. http://keith-baker.com/extra-life-hacking-the-artificer/

 

[fuindordm]

There are a couple of other versions of the artificer in the House Rules forum, including mine (I tried it as a wizard archetype).

I agree that crafting is a big part of the class. Based on what I've heard so far about item crafting rules in the DMG (which are fairly lax), I think some version of the 3E craft reserve should be possible. For example, you could consider giving the class a power that doubles the rate of progress on a magic item to 50gp/day, and allow them to automatically learn one magic item formula per level.

I'm still inclined to treat them more as a wizard subclass than a cleric variant. I think artificers should be able to learn the theory behind any spell, and cast some spells as a ritual that don't normally have the tag, using their spell slots. Give them one "Discovery" per level that can be either a ritual version of a spell from any class list (longer casting time and no preparation needed, but it still uses up a spell slot to cast), a magic item formula, or a spell from another class list added to their book as a normal spell (they researched the wizard version).

 

[Hellcow]

I'm still inclined to treat them more as a wizard subclass than a cleric variant.

I don't think they should be either; the artificer should definitely be its own class. The reason I chose Cleric as a base for Extra Life was because I was trying to quickly emulate the artificer I played in 3.5 - who was the primary melee combatant for our group. Once you set aside permanent item creation, for me one of the major defining elements of the artificer is the temporary enhancement of armor and weapons... and the cleric base allowed me to play that sort of character.

But it's NOT a long-term solution by any means. Now that the DMG is out I'll take a pass at a full class artificer when I have some time, but at the moment I'm in crunch mode on two projects.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I don't think they should be either; the artificer should definitely be its own class.

Really! Can you go into a little more depth on this? They give out a "wizard subclass" vibe to me ("I contribute to a party primarily by using arcane magic via items and equipment"), though they feel like a better fit proficiency/HP wise with bards (or, as you did, clerics). I feel like they'd need a big unique hook to draw me in as a unique class, and that's something that the artificer hasn't had in previous iterations. 3e's Artificer identity was primarily "I make items and cast arcane spells," 4e's Artificer identity was primarily "I heal people and cast arcane spells," and I would need some distinct story reason for them to not just be a wizard whose specialized knowledge was applied to stuff rather than books and words and wiggling your fingers about. Like, what would define their subclasses, narratively speaking?

I feel like the experience of playing an artificer in 5e -- with its looser, more chaotic magic items -- has a lot of potential to be distinct, regardless of its mechanical chassis. Lots of potential there to ditch the overly detailed accounting of 3e and embrace "The DM Gets To Screw With You" as a condition for making elaborate magic items. But artificers should probably have more reliable construction rules for their "basic items" (ie, class features, spell slots, whatnot) than currently exist.

Hmm...that could get a big mechanical distinction down. Rather than "casting spells," artificers do something rare to find in classes in 5e: they lay down lasting buffs. You have an artificer in your party, everyone gets their weapons on fire all day long, or gets to regenerate for the whole encounter, or whatever. In fiction, this is the artificer enhancing your equipment (making your weapons flaming and turning your armor into regenerating gear) -- doesn't last forever, but it gets the job done. Maybe they can use various "potions" as their daily spell equivalents (throwing alchemists' fire = fire bolt!; healing potion = cure light wounds!). Again, doesn't last forever, but it's sharable, which means the artificer can give the party rogue a potion of darkvision for when they go scouting, and can give everyone a healing potion before they set out for the day...

...still not sure what I'd see as "subclasses" of artificers, but that might be a bit enough mechanical fob to hang a class off of.