Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Eberron Is Here Today!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Shardstone" data-source="post: 7859159" data-attributes="member: 6807784"><p>Anyway, back to the book and moving past Wayfinder's.</p><p></p><p>The actual text of the book, despite not being as well-written as some recent pieces, is still pretty good. But most importantly, the Adventure Generators in this book are absolute golden. The best ever produced for 5E so far; maybe D&D as a whole? Other books have done adventure seeds and stuff, but these roletables and guidelines cover so many genres and factions and ideas that it is absolutely breathtaking. Makes reading the setting information almost unneeded, so complete are these generators.</p><p></p><p>Now, the bestiary is also pretty damn good. It covers a really wide range of CRs, from low to high, and works well with the Monster Manual. You could probably run a game with just this bestiary, but its also a great accent to whatever flavor of bestiary you want to use. Personal favorites are the Daelkyr for their description as aberrant artists.</p><p></p><p>All the new mechanics are alright. I'm not a fan of some of the flavor-feature removals. The Warforged Integrated Tool (NOT PROTECTION), the 2nd persona for Changlings, and the Kalashtar wisdom stuff being removed really sucks, but it makes sense as it gave the Races just a liiiittle too much power beyond their core. Still, I can't help but wonder that, with Elven, Dwarven, and Gnome dragonmarks being added if maybe they could have stayed, since those races got pretty big buffs from those dragonmarks.</p><p></p><p>And about Dragonmarks! Great stuff. Really strong for casters obviously, but they still add some oomph for non-caster characters. But really it's Sorcerer, Warlock, and the half-casters that get the most out of dragonmarks, with their comparatively smaller spell lists to Wizards, Druids, Clerics, and Bards. Taking the magic intiate feat at 4th level if you are a dragonmarked Bard, Fighter, Rogue, or Monk might not be too bad of an idea, since it unlocks a ton of spells for you - but I'm not sure if the MI feat would actually grant their casting? Idk.</p><p></p><p>Group patrons are something I'm doing in the 5E book I just got kickstarted, but it made me happy that they did them completely different. In Eberron, they're a group background, making them a useful story tool above anything else. No new mechanics for these. I would have liked a background-esque feature for each of them, but I can homebrew something for that and slide it up on DMs Guild or something.</p><p></p><p>Its a shame that the art-direction for this book is probably the worst of every single 5E book released. Only a few of the originals are good, and the overall aesthetic just isn't that strong. Compared to the gorgeous art for Ravnica, the experimental and fresh art for DiA, and the overall high-quality art for Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Rising leaves a LOT to be desired in that department. Perhaps most unfortunate is looking at a book like Xanathar's, whose art direction is peak 5E, and then looking at Eberron and wondering where the budget went? Especially since they sold Wayfinder's, which did really well by their admission and was free to produce save for paying Keith, they should have had more than enough money to fund some really good art for this book. Are gone the days of people like Brom, or DiTerlizzi, or even Reynolds himself, whose visions singlehandedly crafted a beautiful, unique aesthetic for their respective settings? Hopefully not, but we shall see I guess.</p><p></p><p>Though I heavily regret purchasing Wayfinder's, I don't regret purchasing Rising. Solid, top-tier WotC book. Of note, the small things I like:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Orcs hunting culture transitioning them into bounty hunters and inquisitives is S++.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dwarves culture being based around fusing with symbiotic aberrations to reclaim their lost home is also S++.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Finally including a new class to 5E makes this book shine.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The roll tables for debts, regrets, and falling off a tower in Sharn are all S++ and really flavorful.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Aftermath from the Last War bits really help focus the setting.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shardstone, post: 7859159, member: 6807784"] Anyway, back to the book and moving past Wayfinder's. The actual text of the book, despite not being as well-written as some recent pieces, is still pretty good. But most importantly, the Adventure Generators in this book are absolute golden. The best ever produced for 5E so far; maybe D&D as a whole? Other books have done adventure seeds and stuff, but these roletables and guidelines cover so many genres and factions and ideas that it is absolutely breathtaking. Makes reading the setting information almost unneeded, so complete are these generators. Now, the bestiary is also pretty damn good. It covers a really wide range of CRs, from low to high, and works well with the Monster Manual. You could probably run a game with just this bestiary, but its also a great accent to whatever flavor of bestiary you want to use. Personal favorites are the Daelkyr for their description as aberrant artists. All the new mechanics are alright. I'm not a fan of some of the flavor-feature removals. The Warforged Integrated Tool (NOT PROTECTION), the 2nd persona for Changlings, and the Kalashtar wisdom stuff being removed really sucks, but it makes sense as it gave the Races just a liiiittle too much power beyond their core. Still, I can't help but wonder that, with Elven, Dwarven, and Gnome dragonmarks being added if maybe they could have stayed, since those races got pretty big buffs from those dragonmarks. And about Dragonmarks! Great stuff. Really strong for casters obviously, but they still add some oomph for non-caster characters. But really it's Sorcerer, Warlock, and the half-casters that get the most out of dragonmarks, with their comparatively smaller spell lists to Wizards, Druids, Clerics, and Bards. Taking the magic intiate feat at 4th level if you are a dragonmarked Bard, Fighter, Rogue, or Monk might not be too bad of an idea, since it unlocks a ton of spells for you - but I'm not sure if the MI feat would actually grant their casting? Idk. Group patrons are something I'm doing in the 5E book I just got kickstarted, but it made me happy that they did them completely different. In Eberron, they're a group background, making them a useful story tool above anything else. No new mechanics for these. I would have liked a background-esque feature for each of them, but I can homebrew something for that and slide it up on DMs Guild or something. Its a shame that the art-direction for this book is probably the worst of every single 5E book released. Only a few of the originals are good, and the overall aesthetic just isn't that strong. Compared to the gorgeous art for Ravnica, the experimental and fresh art for DiA, and the overall high-quality art for Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Rising leaves a LOT to be desired in that department. Perhaps most unfortunate is looking at a book like Xanathar's, whose art direction is peak 5E, and then looking at Eberron and wondering where the budget went? Especially since they sold Wayfinder's, which did really well by their admission and was free to produce save for paying Keith, they should have had more than enough money to fund some really good art for this book. Are gone the days of people like Brom, or DiTerlizzi, or even Reynolds himself, whose visions singlehandedly crafted a beautiful, unique aesthetic for their respective settings? Hopefully not, but we shall see I guess. Though I heavily regret purchasing Wayfinder's, I don't regret purchasing Rising. Solid, top-tier WotC book. Of note, the small things I like: [LIST] [*]Orcs hunting culture transitioning them into bounty hunters and inquisitives is S++. [*]Dwarves culture being based around fusing with symbiotic aberrations to reclaim their lost home is also S++. [*]Finally including a new class to 5E makes this book shine. [*]The roll tables for debts, regrets, and falling off a tower in Sharn are all S++ and really flavorful. [*]The Aftermath from the Last War bits really help focus the setting. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Eberron Is Here Today!
Top