Eberron: Forge of the Artificer to Be Priced at $29.99

Dungeons & Dragons is returning to the splatbook era. Today, Wizards of the Coast announced pre-orders for Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, a new "rules expansion" focused on Eberron. Buried in the pre-order announcement is that the physical version of the book will cost just $29.99, suggesting a much thinner page count and the lowest price point for a Fifth Edition book released by Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards previously teased that the new Eberron book would be different from other D&D sourcebooks, but the $29.99 price point is about half of the current $50-$60 price point for current D&D rules manuals. No page count has been confirmed for the new Eberron book, so we'll have to see just how much of a splatbook Eberron: Forge of the Artificer ends up being.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

No-evil gnolls are possible in Eberron because the setting was designed like this.

Will we see the return of the half-quori PC specie?

 

[Charlaquin]

Are those playable Gnolls?! Was it @Charlaquin that was asking for these?

 

[tetrasodium]

They look like various villain groups.

That's probably a good guess given the apparent boromir halfling(s) and whoever those are on the far right bNot quite villains with eberron's znir pact gnolls though. They are pretty much a culture semi fiendish private military mercenaries. Their lore is that they broke away from one of the demon overlords and learned to overcome the base demonic instincts gnolls are known for in every other setting. They could be local law enforcement or they could be the bbeg's rather powerful leg breaker military goons.

That doesn't make them not scary & uncomfortable, in some ways it's worse because they aren't quite "noble savage" types either but they aren't type:humanoid or extraplanar for spell targeting purposes either.

 

[dave2008]

They look like various villain groups.

You could be correct. However, those are at least not the blood thirsty savage gnolls of the MM. Those look like they could be PCs.

 

[Weiley31]

When you click on the WoTC pre order link, the one image of the cover states that this is a "Rules Expansion" book.

I wonder if that means if they do similar books like this, they are gonna be part of a "Rules Expansion" line and such product line will be priced at $29.99.

 

[Kurotowa]

When you click on the WoTC pre order link, the one image of the cover states that this is a "Rules Expansion" book.

I wonder if that means if they do similar books like this, they are gonna be part of a "Rules Expansion" line and such product line will be priced at $29.99.

That's interesting. Thus far, they've really avoiding doing dependency books. That is to say, a book that directly follows another book, such that it's of very limited value if you don't have the first. It's been a major design thrust for keeping every book appealing to the largest swath of players. If they're introducing Rules Expansion books, that are expressly dependent on another but come in at a slimmer page count and cheaper price, that's a major change in direction.

As someone who devotes a lot of time to thinking about D&D, I personally welcome this. I wouldn't be getting an update book to Eberron otherwise. But I know I'm not the primary market audience, so I'm a little worried how it will go. So we'll have to see if it becomes a new ongoing thing of if this a trial balloon that gets shot down.

 

[tetrasodium]

When you click on the WoTC pre order link, the one image of the cover states that this is a "Rules Expansion" book.

I wonder if that means if they do similar books like this, they are gonna be part of a "Rules Expansion" line and such product line will be priced at $29.99.

Interesting. I hope to see some hype about the rules part being expanded

 

[darjr]

This is a paper back isn’t it?

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

not the blood thirsty savage gnolls of the MM. Those look like they could be PCs.

PCs are the worst bloodthirsty group of most campaigns and yet they are left out of the MM.

 

[whimsychris123]

Could this be a paperback?