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.

 

[EthanSental]

On the dnd beyond page, scrolling to the right, it’s says 112 pages. Just noticed it this morning. Sorry Fitz for the excellent store owner behind the scenes thoughts you gave us above on what you’ve been seeing and estimation.

 

[Parmandur]

On the dnd beyond page, scrolling to the right, it’s says 112 pages. Just noticed it this morning. Sorry Fitz for the excellent store owner behind the scenes thoughts you gave us above on what you’ve been seeing and estimation. View attachment 405588

@DavyGreenwind so, 112 pages: I think your estimates for content were generally pretty good, I reckon the campaign models and Bastions will actually be pretty ample.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

On the dnd beyond page, scrolling to the right, it’s says 112 pages. Just noticed it this morning. Sorry Fitz for the excellent store owner behind the scenes thoughts you gave us above on what you’ve been seeing and estimation. View attachment 405588

Hey, I'd rather know the truth than be right about a guess!

 

[Parmandur]

Hey, I'd rather know the truth than be right about a guess!

Given the odd pahe number, and that Beyond lists one map, I think there may be a poster map in this, which may accoutn for the estimate difference.

 

[DavyGreenwind]

@DavyGreenwind so, 112 pages: I think your estimates for content were generally pretty good, I reckon the campaign models and Bastions will actually be pretty ample.

Yes! More than I was expecting. That's exciting. Maybe detailed Airship rules, and some stats a la Spelljammer or BGDiA

 

[pukunui]

I hope one of the three vehicles is a skycoach, because rules for them are strangely absent from the game. There aren’t even stats for them in the 3.5e Sharn book!

Keith Baker views them as being like NYC’s taxis (with the implication being that PCs will only ever get rides in them), but the problem is that there’s nothing physically unique about a taxi. It’s just a car, and there are plenty of privately-owned cars in NYC.

There should be rules for skycoaches in the game because players are inevitably going to get their hands on one, and they’re going to want to know how the thing works! (I know because I ran an Oracle of War adventure recently in which the bad guy has a skycoach and now the PCs have it!)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I wouldn't be too surprised if we see in the future a LEGO&D skycoach.

I guess those vehicles may too expensive for low-level PCs, or they can't be used to travel toward far lands because it needs a special fuel/energy reload and this is only possible in certain places within capital cities.

I suggest to recover the "residium" from 4th Ed like the "gold" or virtual money to craft magic items. I mean PCs can gather residium to craft magic items then they don't need to spend a lot of gold coins. Maybe they can use a "lower-quality" type of residium for low-level magic items, with some little handicap like the potion should be spent soon, or only working near certain temple.

Now I am thinking about the urban druid from Dragon magazine, and I wonder this could be updated, like a subclass or a "variant", but I imagine something mixing the augurs from the ancient Rome and the archivist class from Heroes of Horror.

* When will we see the saurian shifters? That subrace from Dragon magazine #328?

I hope a psionic artificer subclass or variant.

The half-blood daelkyr needs symbionts but a future sourcebook with biopunk grafts should be possible.

 

[pukunui]

I wouldn't be too surprised if we see in the future a LEGO&D skycoach.

There's already been a premium WizKids "miniature" set that had a skycoach and some soarsleds.

I guess those vehicles may too expensive for low-level PCs, or they can't be used to travel toward far lands because it needs a special fuel/energy reload and this is only possible in certain places within capital cities.

They don't work outside of Sharn's manifest zone. But SO MUCH of the setting is tied up in Sharn that it's crazy not to include stats for skycoaches. Their absence from the 3.5e Sharn: City of Towers is especially perplexing. Like, if you're going to include them anywhere, that would be it, since skycoaches don't exist anywhere else in the setting! But nope ... nothing.