D&D 5E (2014) Running Eberron in 5e

[Plaguescarred]

Anyway, that's my 5e Eberron. What's yours like?

Thanks for sharing i currently run a campaign in GREYHAWK but my next campaign will be in EBERRON for sure.

 

[fuindordm]

Some alternate ideas for the warforged racial abilities, in case you want to split it into subraces.

* Fortified body. The warforged gets +1 AC in addition to any bonded armor, and is resistant to piercing damage.
* Inorganic mind. The warforged has advantage on saving throws against spells targeting Wis.
* Living wood. If the warforged can bury its feet or hands in earth while taking a short rest, it gets the benefit of a long rest instead.

Thanks for all the work you put into this!

Ben

 

[Hawk Diesel]

I got a start on making one of the backgrounds for Eberron: The Cyran Avenger. Only thing I need help with is the Background Feature. Any assistance or suggestions would be welcome.

Cyran Avenger
Every Cyran still alive remembers where they were on the Day of Mourning. Most were out of the country. A rare few managed to be awake that early fall morning and outran the fog that killed a nation. But, regardless of where they were or what they were doing, every Cyran feels the deep loss of a grand, beautiful kingdom.... an entire people.... snuffed out in a single event. Most fall into depression. Others seek to remake themselves in some other identity. But there are those that remember... those who know someone, somewhere is responsible... and they will make them pay. Their nation has been ravaged, but the fighting spirit of Cyre lives within them. They are Cyran Avengers.

Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from Insight, Investigate, and Survival
Tool Proficiencies: One gaming set or one musical instrument, vehicles (land)
Equipment: A memento from Cyre (your child’s doll, a letter from your loved ones, a vial of Cyran soil, a tattered Cyran flag), a gaming set or musical instrument, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10gp.

Suggested Characteristics
The loss of a homeland and so many loved ones takes their toll on Cyran Avengers, but it also drives them to seek answers. The surviving Cyrans stick together and look out for their own.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I’m haunted by dreams of the Day of Mourning and the horrors within those grey mists.
2 I’m optimistic that one day the mists will disperse and Cyre will rise again.
3 I make it a point to celebrate the holidays and customs unique to Cyran culture.
4 I am utterly driven to find those responsible for the Day of Mourning and making them pay.
5 I never stay in one place too long as I tend to wear out my welcome.
6 I am slow to trust non-Cyrans and tend to be suspicious and on edge around strangers.
7 I use humor and wit to hide my pain and insecurity.
8 I donate as much as I can to build up New Cyre and help my countrymen.

d6 Ideal
1 Vigilantism. Those that wrong me and my people will pay dearly.
2 Cyran Pride. Cyre and the survivors are all that matter.
3 Survival. After the Day of Mourning, we must adapt or perish.
4 Power. I will use the tragedy of the Day of Mourning to further my own agenda.
5 Honor. If I dishonor myself, I dishonor Cyre.
6 Community. By living well and embodying the values of Cyre, the nation will live on.

d6 Bond
1 I have a lead on the cause of the Day of Mourning, and I must see it through.
2 I watched helpless as the Day of Mourning swallowed someone close to me. I will die before I let it happen again.
3 I only recognize the authority of Prince Oargev ir’Wynern, the rightful ruler of the Five Kingdoms.
4 After I was swallowed by the grey mist, a dark creature saved my life in exchange for my soul. I must find a way to win it back.
5 It was not by chance, but divine will that I escaped the Day of Mourning, and I shall devote the rest of my life in their service.
6 After losing everyone I ever loved, I have found a new family in those that fight next to me.

d6 Flaw
1 I criticize everything and use it as an excuse to talk about how the Cyran version was superior.
2 I spend every cent on an addiction (or several) to dull the pain of my loss from the Day of Mourning.
3 I have little patience for anything that does not further my quest for answers.
4 I will immediately fight any that besmirch Cyre or its people.
5 I have no problem stepping on my friends to further my need for answers.
6 I pretend to be a war hero from Cyre, but in a fight I am a total coward.

 

[Rocksome]

I'm a big 5e fan, but when I decided to run an Eberron game I went back to 3.5/PF simply because of the better rule support. I made it all of 4 levels before I got frustrated and switched us back to 5e.

It was fortunate that the very day I decide to do it, the new UA Artificer was released, which sealed the deal. I didn't like the fluff of an alchemical specialty artificer. I always considered artificers to be builders and forgers, not mixing alchemy. However we re-fluffed the alchemists bag as a "glob-lobber", basically a magical steampunkesque version of the fusion backpacks from ghostbusters that can be fiddled with to fire all kinds of magical effects.

I also had a aberrant dragonmarked gunslinger working his way toward the 3.5 Child of Khyber prestige class. We basically just refluffed an Oath of Vengeance paladin to have his powers come from mark. Smites were altered to work against adjacent opponents but with non-melee weapons. It works out beautifully.

I guess, my point is that I haven't bothered doing a conversion or coming up with classes, I find that taking an existing concept and re-fluffing it has managed to give us an Eberron flavour without much rule tweaking.

I even managed to an Aerenal Wizard-priest of the Undying Court using the he UA Theurge spellcasting tradition that we think perfectly captures the Aerenal elf style.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Sure, it's not necessary to re-invent the wheel, but there are certain things about Eberron that are not easily translated using 5e rules. My interest in developing Eberron specific mechanics is:

1) I love tweaking mechanics. It's a neat puzzle/problem-solving dilemma to make balanced mechanics that more closely align with concepts and fluff.

2) I have one player that is new to D&D, and at least one other that is not very familiar with Eberron specifically. By making mechanics that emulate an Eberron flavor, it provides players character options that give them a feel for the setting and how the world works without expecting them to read the ECS and getting frustrated with how things worked in 3.5 and not knowing how to make it work in 5e.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

You might like to try out my Artificer design on the DMsGuild. It's designed for dynamic crafting of mechanical solutions on the fly, and it's a full caster; I actually designed new spells to go along with the class. The Runic Golemancer archetype will probably be considerably closer to the fit of Eberron than the UA artificer since my design's robotic companion is Medium-sized, can be made as a humanoid, has customizable parts, and has an intelligent soul (precursor to Warforged).

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/174669/THE-ARTIFICER-5e-Class-?

 

[Gradine]

Sure, it's not necessary to re-invent the wheel, but there are certain things about Eberron that are not easily translated using 5e rules. My interest in developing Eberron specific mechanics is:

1) I love tweaking mechanics. It's a neat puzzle/problem-solving dilemma to make balanced mechanics that more closely align with concepts and fluff.

2) I have one player that is new to D&D, and at least one other that is not very familiar with Eberron specifically. By making mechanics that emulate an Eberron flavor, it provides players character options that give them a feel for the setting and how the world works without expecting them to read the ECS and getting frustrated with how things worked in 3.5 and not knowing how to make it work in 5e.

I'm often torn between re-fluffing things that exist or creating or tweaking mechanics to create a perfect fit for setting-specific details. Prior to the UA Mystic (and really still afterwards) a lot of my psionic NPCs were just re-fluffed Monks with slight mechanical tweaks; Way of the Open Fist works pretty well for Soulknives; Way of Shadow is great for lurks and other psionic spies (especially with some telepathic abilities added); Way of the Four Elements gives you your Pyromancers if you make all things fire (Fire Whip!). But it certainly doesn't fulfill all the psionic archetypes (then, neither does the Mystic), so the question becomes: where and how do you fill in the gaps? Do you do the work yourself? See what other people are trying? Wait for something official?

Here's a question: in terms of new content for Eberron in 5e, are people more interested in crunch (player options & adventures) or fluff (mini-setting books and... well, adventures too, depending)? Yeah there's two campaign guides and quite a few fluff books from 3.5 but there's a lot to the setting that haven't really been explored in great detail (planes, undersea, etc.) Curious what people would most be looking forward to if official support (either WOTC-produced content or DM's Guild opening) ever materialized.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Personally, between the Eberron books (3.5 and 4e), the WOTC Eberron article archives (Found here), and Keith Baker's continued support of Eberron on his website (Found here), I'd say there is more than enough to work with in terms of content. What I'd really like to see are more crunchy bits. What stats might the Karnathi Undead have? How can we make dragonmarks work in the way they were meant to, rather than just giving spells per day? Where is the psionics support and the stats to do justice to the Quori and Daelkyr and all those other monsters to come out of Eberron? The concepts and fluff and adventure hooks are there, and it's often easy enough to make a module work in Eberron if you know the dynamics of the world. But the mechanics that are unique to Eberron, in my opinion, are pretty important.

For example, how would you implement that Talenta Halfling Dino Riders? Halfling Barbarians could work, but they are missing that thing that really implements or emphasizes that bond between themselves and their dinosaur companions. Halfling Beast Master Rangers might work, but the mechanics of the ranger don't necessarily fit with the concept. So I created a Barbarian archetype to better match that concept. I'd like to see more archetypes that can better align with the character concepts that have been presented in Eberron. Perhaps a Sorcerer Dragonmark Bloodline that could parallel the Dragonmark Heir and allow those rare Siberys marks to manifest. That would be cool! And other things like that.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

For example, how would you implement that Talenta Halfling Dino Riders? Halfling Barbarians could work, but they are missing that thing that really implements or emphasizes that bond between themselves and their dinosaur companions. Halfling Beast Master Rangers might work, but the mechanics of the ranger don't necessarily fit with the concept.

There are a high proportion of rangers amongst the Talenta. Not so many Barbarians though. Some of the dinosaurs will be companions of their beastmaster ranger riders. Most are just well-trained and devoted mounts.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

There are a high proportion of rangers amongst the Talenta. Not so many Barbarians though. Some of the dinosaurs will be companions of their beastmaster ranger riders. Most are just well-trained and devoted mounts.

Based on what I saw in Races of Eberron, a good number of the tribal halflings with class levels are rangers or rogues, so I can see where that might come from. But from reading the ECS, their culture seems more along the lines of barbarian halflings, especially since the leading of one of the largest nomadic tribes, Lathon Halpum, is a barbarian, that is the flavor I drew from for inspiration. Also, the idea of halfling barbarians (something not normally associated with the smaller races) appealed to me.