D&D Launches New Eberron-Themed Playtest With Dragonmarked Feats

The D&D design team has launched a new Unearthed Arcana playtest focused on the upcoming Eberron: Forge of the Artificer book, featuring Dragonmarked feats and a new Artificer subclass. The new packet contains rules for a Cartographer subclass for the Artificer, along with a handful of new magic item options and over 25 Dragonmarked feats. The Artificer base class rules also received a few tweaks to some of its features, with an eye towards more general versatility.

The other big feature is the new Dragonmarked feats, most of which are considered either Dragonmarked Feats or General Feats. The Dragonmarked Feats are specifically limited to Eberron campaigns and allow only one Dragonmark per character (thus preventing Warlocks from accumulating Dragonmarks). The General Feats are Greater Marks and specifically upgrade existing Dragonmarks as a requirement. It's interesting that D&D is keeping with campaign setting specific feats and feat trees, as both of these design traits were found in the Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen book.

You can check out the full playtest on D&D Beyond.

 

[Parmandur]

The Cartographer confuses me. I'm not sure what it's supposed to do. It's got mobility, but no additional weapon skills to use with it. Only if it's supposed to be using cantrips, it's got no extra damage bumps like Alchemist and Artillerist. Instead it mostly seems to be about group buffs? Which I suppose is a niche, but it seems an odd fit for the subclass theme.

They have all sorts of magic tricks,ovimg themselves and alloes around so aggressively is a fun niche.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC has posted a video summary:

 

[Yaarel]

Who knows, thinking more on it. And looking at the dragonlance book, they have done this before, as in, the Dragonlance feats have a dragonlance prerequisite. As for the realms, I kinda doubt it but what do I know.

For me, the most distinctive aspect about Forgotten Realms is its polytheism and how it operates.

Where each deity militates a 'faction' (sometimes several factions), there could be backgrounds that gain 'blessings' magical feats from the deities, and be available to any worshiper, not just Clerics and Paladins.

Hopefully, these religious cultural feats will be genuinely unique to the specific religious community culture − and avoid locking down something generic (such as turning invisible or whatever) to such a hyperspecific prereq.

 

[Charlaquin]

Dragonmark feats, this is new: "(Prerequisite: Eberron Campaign)". The options for the Eberron setting are officially locked into the Eberron setting. In other words, as if, one cannot have a dragonmarked character in Forgotten Realms. One typically wouldnt, but it is odd to make a point about it. Meanwhile, the Spelljammer setting would have characters that intermingle various settings.

Possibly the thinking is, the flavor of the feats is highly dependent on the specific cultures in Eberron. Thus to remove the option from the setting would neutralize its intended flavor.

Still, all around odd.

Makes sense to me. The feats aren’t appropriate for all settings.

 

[mellored]

Creating mundane looks perfect now, Int items until you take a long rest (i.e. bed rolls work). Also Mending.

All my artificers will be taking manifold tool. Not always creating it, but crafting is useful now. And having access to all crafting is great.

Being able to swap between goggles of night and helm of water breathing (or manifold tool) mid day is quite useful. Though I expect most days it will swap an empty wand for a full one.

Level 11 still seems like a huge power spike.

I'm not sure why you would use multiple items on Soul of Artifice. Flash of Genius boost is nice.


Cartograph is thematic and unique. I really like every feature except unshakeable mind. It's a good feature, but It has nothing to do with maps. Won't complain too much if it makes it in.

 

[Parmandur]

Cartograph is thematic and unique. I really like every feature except unshakeable mind. It's a good feature, but It has nothing to do with maps. Won't complain too much if it makes it in.

Being well-oriented and aware?

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The Cartographer is an interesting idea, glad to see them embracing the tool using object oriented magic idea, instead of keeping them in a psuedo-steampunk ghetto.

The dragonmark feats are trash. They need a species prerequisite, and "pay walling" some of the abilities behind taking a spellcasting class is bad design I hate to see carried over.

 

[Yaarel]

Makes sense to me. The feats aren’t appropriate for all settings.

I am watching the video right now. Crawford makes clear the intention of these feats is to immerse in the Eberron world and become part of the history of each of the Dragonmark Houses. Each dragonmark emerged in a certain family in each of the species. A dragonmarked character might be a descendant of a founding family and part of its enterprises. But it is also possible for someone outside the family to have it suddenly appear, whence a relationship between the outlier and the dynasty. All of this is important aspects of the cultures in Eberron.

 

[Gradine]

The Cartographer is an interesting idea, glad to see them embracing the tool using object oriented magic idea, instead of keeping them in a psuedo-steampunk ghetto.

The dragonmark feats are trash. They need a species prerequisite, and "pay walling" some of the abilities behind taking a spellcasting class is bad design I hate to see carried over.

I'm fine with the species prerequisite going away, honestly. Sure it's a huge change but one that I think, overall, has the potential to make the setting more interesting.

The spells though, yeah, you should get even if your class doesn't have spellcasting. In lore a lot of the top-level Dragonmarked people don't even have levels in any adventuring classes. PCs without spellcasting/pact magic but with the Mark should still get to cast those spells, at least once per long rest if nothing else.

 

[Remathilis]

The Cartographer is an interesting idea, glad to see them embracing the tool using object oriented magic idea, instead of keeping them in a psuedo-steampunk ghetto.

The dragonmark feats are trash. They need a species prerequisite, and "pay walling" some of the abilities behind taking a spellcasting class is bad design I hate to see carried over.

They are moving away from Mark's being species-locked and towards "most of the time X mark manifests on Y species. But sometimes it manifests on a different species". Even Keith has moved to this in his latest Eberron book.