D&D 5E Keith Baker: Exploring Eberron

Eberron creator Keith Baker has been busy recently! He has unveiled the cover to his new book, to be released in July on DMs Guild in PDF and Print on Demand hardcover. It will dive into parts of Eberron that have received little attention in prior books, including the undersea civilizations and the planes.

Keith sent Sly Flourish a PDF copy of the book, which Sly flipped through


Also, check out the KB Presents Twitter for past previews

 

[dave2008]

Dragonmarks: Gnolls and the Znir Pact

Art by Mariana Suarez Otero for Eberron Expanded In the dawn of time, before the Sovereigns and the Silver Flame, Eberron was the domain of the fiendish overlords. This was an age of chaos, as the …

keith-baker.com

New Keith post! Lore write up for gnolls, plus confirmation that the book will include racial stats!

Thanks for the update - that was a great read. I've always been fond of gnolls and that was probably the best concept for gnoll PCs I've ever heard. I don't run an Eberron game, but I am looking forward to this book and I am definitely using a version of this concept in my game.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I suspect the larger airships and ones used by a military have three pilots, allowing shorter shifts and no interruption in service if some tragedy occurs.

If it's a warship you would be a bit stuffed if your only pilot was hit by a stray shot!

 

[ChaosOS]

For what it's worth, Keith's vision of airships is closer to WW1 use of airplanes, which is to say not terribly involved and mostly used for reconnaissance. What's more relevant to air power is flying cavalry, which due to the cost of raising the mounts has significantly different dynamics.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

For what it's worth, Keith's vision of airships is closer to WW1 use of airplanes, which is to say not terribly involved and mostly used for reconnaissance. What's more relevant to air power is flying cavalry, which due to the cost of raising the mounts has significantly different dynamics.

Skyships where a relatively new innovation only appearing towards the end of the Last War, so the comparison with WW1* is apt - military strategists hadn't fully worked out the possibilities. One of the D&D beyond "encounters of the week" touched on a House Lyrandar program to develop much larger heavily armed skyships in the post war environment. It's not Baker, but it seems like a logical development.


*However, read this: London’s World War I Zeppelin Terror

 

[Panda-s1]

here's another question: what's the deal the "arcane firearm" that main character girl is holding on page Idon'thavemybookonmerightnow? I went to the section about items and couldn't find anything about it. I also read Keith Baker's stance on firearms in Eberron (spoilers: there are none), so what exactly is it that she's holding that was okayed to be in an official book?

Almost certainly there are a lot of sberrant marks yes, not to mention the fact that there are all thebastard offspring between a possibly drunken dragonmarked heir & a drunken beauty or sexworker who don't manifest a mark & can still bear an aberrant with another bastard.


Aberrant's aren't always dangerous & out of control folks losing it (but enough are) so unless their mark is someplace they can't hide like their face they might be able to go around living a nearly normal life not wildly dissimilar from some sorcerers. The problem comes when they are say... a chef & worked for years to reach a high point of recognition until one day they lost their temper & killed an entire kitchen staff while discovering their mark for the first time. Those type of aberrant marked individuals are no doubt the minority but the results are terrible enough & dramaticized enough with propaganda that everyone "knows" that aberrants are all dangerous

so... they're like the Burnish.

....I can't be the only one here who saw Promare, right?

 

[tetrasodium]

here's another question: what's the deal the "arcane firearm" that main character girl is holding on page Idon'thavemybookonmerightnow? I went to the section about items and couldn't find anything about it. I also read Keith Baker's stance on firearms in Eberron (spoilers: there are none), so what exactly is it that she's holding that was okayed to be in an official book?


so... they're like the Burnish.

....I can't be the only one here who saw Promare, right?

Artificer artillerist class feature iirc. Never heard of the other thing

 

[Panda-s1]

Artificer artillerist class feature iirc. Never heard of the other thing

is it? I thought they get something more akin to hand cannons, I guess I'll go over it again when I can.

 

[Kurotowa]

is it? I thought they get something more akin to hand cannons, I guess I'll go over it again when I can.

The Artificer heavily features the new design principle of clearly and explicitly endorsing the player's ability to customize the cosmetic manifestation of their class features, as long as the mechanical effect remains the same. So when they summon an Eldritch Cannon it can be anything from a tiny projector that clips to a shoulder or wrist mount to a self-mobile small turret that can climb walls. Similarly their Arcane Firearm feature enhances a wand, staff, or rod and you can tailor the wand to be anything from a very traditional Harry Potter style stick to a much more high-tech looking one with a pistol grip.

 

[Weiley31]

Thanks for the update - that was a great read. I've always been fond of gnolls and that was probably the best concept for gnoll PCs I've ever heard. I don't run an Eberron game, but I am looking forward to this book and I am definitely using a version of this concept in my game.

I do like this, but I also enjoy 4E's take on the Gnolls.

 

[Panda-s1]

The Artificer heavily features the new design principle of clearly and explicitly endorsing the player's ability to customize the cosmetic manifestation of their class features, as long as the mechanical effect remains the same. So when they summon an Eldritch Cannon it can be anything from a tiny projector that clips to a shoulder or wrist mount to a self-mobile small turret that can climb walls. Similarly their Arcane Firearm feature enhances a wand, staff, or rod and you can tailor the wand to be anything from a very traditional Harry Potter style stick to a much more high-tech looking one with a pistol grip.

okay, I'll have to look into the class more, maybe that'll be the next character I make lol.