Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) Q & A thread

[WizarDru]

Okay, I was reading the Reserach feat last night.

How does research work for PCs who don't have the feat? I would assume that wizardly types have been doing research long before the feat got invented.

I don't know. Maybe they've been taking 20? You could always ask the Sorcerors in Greyhawk how they'd been casting out of wizard spellbooks for the previous 20 years prior to 3e. Imagine their suprise when they woke up and found they'd been a different class, all these years.

 

[Kabol]

Yet Another Artificer Question

How do you See Artificers with Psionics? If they use Feats to Gain Psionic Crafting Feats, and Get skilled in the Use Psionic Device Skill - can they then use that skill like they use Use Magic Device to Created Psionic Arms/Armor and Dorje and Such?

Or, can they Use thier Use Magic Device Skill for Useing Psionic Items?

 

[Hellcow]

OK, I'm back, but it will take me a while to answer everyone's questions. I also advse folks to check the WotC message board's "Ask Keith" thread -- as they pay the bills (though not, unfortunately, for posting on message boards) I've been devoting a little more time to that thread.

Can you say anything about the development of the map of Khorvaire? Was this something you came up with, was it part of your 10 page submission or the 100+ page setting bible? The similarities between the map of that continent and the map of Cerilia (from Birthright) are striking.

I provided a map as part of the 100 page setting bible, but it was different from the map that appears in the final book. The original map was functionally similar, but some names were changed, and the shapes were adjusted by the art team. So I really couldn't say. And while I had lots of fun with The Gorgon's Alliance, I never actually owned the Birthright setting itself.

 

[Hellcow]

While I have not yet purchased Eberron, I have enjoyed Crime & Punishment, the book you wrote for Atlas.

Glad to hear it. I think there's a lot there that can be used in Eberron, but of course I'm biased.

I would like to ask Keith if he has read (Feet of Clay), and recommend it to anyone playing a Warforged character.

I haven't read Feet of Clay, but you're not the first person to mention it -- I'll certainly check it out next time I'm in a bookstore.

 

[Hellcow]

That said, a bit of advice: Don't put out products that enforce an overall story. Let us advance Eberron the way we see fit. Reason being; I love using good expansions that come out, but I hate having to filter out decisions that have been made for me that I have already arrived at story-wise. I know it's not up to you, but maybe you can pass those thoughts along.

You're right, it's not up to me. But I don't think WotC is in any hurry to do this. As I've said before, based on discussions I've had with the WotC designers, I doubt you'll ever see an adventure that says "this is exactly what happened in the Mournland" -- you might get things that MAY have been responsible, but nothing conclusive -- nothing that would force a massive change to the world. Take the power struggle between the Blood of Vol and Kaius of Karrnath. If you want to shake things up and have the Emerald Claw seize power -- with all the attendant chaos that would cause -- go for it. But I can't imagine WotC declaring "Oh, Kaius has been deposed" in November -- it's too major a change, and would throw off stories and plans of many DMs. The books that I know of are things like the Sharn sourcebook: providing more information for you to use as you see fit.

In terms of novels, you can do a lot of interesting stories with low and midlevel characters; heroes don't have to be epic-level godbreakers. Plus, you can have major events without changing the world. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, if the bad guys had somehow turned the power of the ark into a weapon, maybe they could have conquered the world. But as it was, the ark ended up in a box in a basement, and the world at large never knew anything dangerous had occured. It would have changed the world if it hadn't been stopped -- but it was stopped. On the other hand, the Maltese Falcon is an excellent story that doesn't involve any sort of threat to the world -- just greed, intrigue, and murder.

Anyhow, I don't believe that any of the upcoming products I'm aware of will cause you concern, Fred. We'll see.

 

[Hellcow]

1.) Is it possible for a 1st level PC to take 2 house dragonmarks? Right now I can't seem to find any mechanical restrictions that prevent me from creating a character that does so.

To possess a dragonmark, you must be a member of a dragonmarked house or trace descent from a house. You cannot belong to two houses. If you mix the blood of two houses, you generally end up with an aberrant dragonmark (if you end up with a mark at all).

3.) Will the powers and uses of Dragonmarks be expanded upon?

It seems likely. However, a lot of the expanded uses of dragonmarks come through the use of dragonshard focus items as opposed to inherent power. As it stands, a channeling rod will let you apply metamagic feats to dragonmarks, and focus items like speaking stones allow the powers of marks to be used in entirely different ways.

4.) Xen'Drik is a pretty interesting place, and I'm hoping we get to see some material on it soon, any chance you can give us a bit of a heads up on when we can expect a Xen'Drik book or adventure?

I believe that part of Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is set in Xen'drik. I'm planning to occasionally profile Xen'drik locations in the Dragonshards articles I'm writing for the WotC website. I don't know when a full book may come out. Bear in mind that such a book would be a sourcebook of things that could be found in Xen'drik. It's both huge and intentionally mysterious, and we never want to fill it entirely; there should always be room for you to add your own touches.

 

[Hellcow]

When you designed eberron, did you only consider the core 3.5 books (PHB, DMG, MM, etc.) or did you also consider other third party products as well?

Only the core books. My hope was that the world had enough versatility (especially with the presence of the Mournland and Xen'drik) to allow people to incorporate ideas from other products, but only the core books were fixed. Case in point, my own work in Crime & Punishment overlaps some concepts in Eberron (the Master Inquisitive, the Investigate feat, etc) but handles them in an entirely different manner.

 

[Hellcow]

So question to Keith, if he hasn't ignore-listed me:
What was the average jokes about warforged/session with warforged in it? It's probably just my group, or the fact that it's new, but man...

Huh. I haven't dealt with many. But people may just be afraid to joke about the setting around me.

Sorry to hear about the bored artificers. Both the artificers I've played with have gone the crossbow route; crossbow + personal weapon augmentation can be pretty effective. On the other hand, when you've got two warforged demanding healing... still, he could always say "Not my problem! Hammer out your own dents!"

 

[Hellcow]

I know that "If it's in D&D, it has a place in Eberron" but I was wondering if you would comment on the idea of Half-Giants in Eberron. Do you have any idea where they would fit in best?

I know there has been a lot of discussion of this on the WotC boards (by others). Xen'drik is a good place because it has giants and because the giants fought the Quori long ago; thus the psionic ability of half-giants could be related to this, either the result of a taint or giants trying to breed their own psions before the collapse of their society. Others suggested Droaam -- the other location where giants can be found; one idea was that they may be being bred as a warrior force but that the people in charge are secretly agents of the Dreaming Dark and the half-giants are being created as future vessels for an Inspired invasion of Khorvaire. But your idea -- an Inspired experiment in the quest to creat a superior host -- is certainly a sound one. [/QUOTE]

 

[Hellcow]

This makes me want to know the motives for it, how they played out in testing, why they were Construct (living) and not Humanoid (constructed), to see how the designers themselves made their decisions. But perhaps if we wish to continue this, a new thread is advisable....hmmm....

I'm afraid it is, because it's really not a question I can answer. Remember that the 100 page story bible was just that -- a story bible, without mechanics. During the development of the setting, the first pass at warforged mechanics went to James Wyatt, and they went through dozens of rewrites in the 16 months between the time the setting was selected and released. But while I was involved with the discussions and used various versions of the warforged in my campaigns, the final decisions fell to the WotC developers.