D&D 5E Chronicles of Eberron Is Keith Baker's New D&D Book, out now!

After a few days of teasing, Eberron creator Keith Baker has announced his new book -- Chronicles of Eberron! By Keith and Imogen Gingell, the 200-page book will be available on DMs Guild in December.

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Hektula is the Scribe of Sul Khatesh, the Keeper of the Library of Ashtakala, and the Chronicler of the Lords of Dust. Her treasured tomes hold arcane secrets still hidden from human and dragon alike. What lies beneath the Barren Sea? What powers does Mordain the Fleshweaver wield within Blackroot? Who are the Grim Lords of the Bloodsail Principality? All these secrets and many more can be found in the Chronicles of Eberron…

• Chronicles of Eberron is a new 5E sourcebook from Eberron creator Keith Baker and designer Imogen Gingell.
• This book explores a diverse range of topics, including lore and advice for both players and DMs, along with new monsters, treasures, spells and character options.
• Chronicles of Eberron will be available on the DMs Guild as a PDF and print-on-demand.

But that's not all! There is a collaboration with Hero Forge and new T-Shirts!

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[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Whatever this is, I dont like it. Granted, fully my own opinion, but I am not sold on the Artificer.

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Fair enough - Eberron does have "wandslingers", though I think having wands designed with a sidearm-style grip is largely just artistic license for that specific character.

 

[Zaukrie]

Meh. Eberron has what the DM wants. I mean, there are firearms in the Realms if the DM wants.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Whatever this is, I dont like it. Granted, fully my own opinion, but I am not sold on the Artificer.

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Yeah, Eberron fans largely didn't like that as a book cover because it gives the wrong impression that Eberron is "guns and robots". That's a wand slinging gnome artificer (Jeremy Crawford's character Vi).

Artificers are involved in big parts of the setting, Sharn makes that necessary, but, as we've said before, there are big chunks of the setting where Artificers basically aren't involved at all.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Meh. Eberron has what the DM wants. I mean, there are firearms in the Realms if the DM wants.

Not just "if you want to", 5e has included Drow Gunslingers in an official Forgotten Realms adventure (Dragon Heist). And there are Gnome Mind Flayers with laser pistols in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Eberron purposefully doesn't put guns in any of its books, just gun-shaped wands.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Meh. Eberron has what the DM wants. I mean, there are firearms in the Realms if the DM wants.

And as someone who's been working on a stupidly massive Savage Tide++ (Please, help! It won't stop growing!!!) conversion that will invariably draw upon Pirates of the Caribbean aesthetics, you can be sure my version of Eberron will have cannons and flintlocks to play around with.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Meh. Eberron has what the DM wants. I mean, there are firearms in the Realms if the DM wants.

They're in the FR lore too.

 

[ChaosOS]

From Exploring Eberron

Arcane magic is a science. Wizards use words of power and mystic gestures, but there are many ways to channel arcane energies—suspended in the liquid of a potion, trapped in the sigils of a scroll, or focused through a wand.
The artificer is an arcane engineer; instead of working directly with mystical energy, they use tools to perform wonders. In a world where wandslingers take to the battlefields and airships sail through the skies, artificers are innovators and inventors developing tools to shape the future.

The hi-tech look is because some people really like that, but it's never been terribly core to Eberron. The original art in the ECS were dudes stuffed to the brim with wands, rods, and scrolls

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah, Eberron fans largely didn't like that as a book cover because it gives the wrong impression that Eberron is "guns and robots". That's a wand slinging gnome artificer (Jeremy Crawford's character Vi).

Artificers are involved in big parts of the setting, Sharn makes that necessary, but, as we've said before, there are big chunks of the setting where Artificers basically aren't involved at all.

I'd be just fine with a guns and robots motif.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Ok fair distinction. I guess I want 'narrow' magic then.

And no guns...

Low-magic application can be wide in Eberron, but most people with access to magic can only do a few, very restricted actions with it. Like casting Mending as a ritual, or a magic stone in public baths to cast the ''cleaning'' option of Prestidigitation. Even the heirs of the Dragonmarked houses only have a small, narrow subset of thematic magic spells. You dont have that much NPC with spells slots to sling fireball and speak with dead willy-nilly.

IIRC, the leveled NPC are pretty low-level (like 5-to-8)

An guns and cannons are replaced by wands and heavy two-handed staves.

 

[ChaosOS]

Exploring Eberron chapter 1, which is what's included in the preview on the guild, has a bunch of Keith's takes on magic in the world