Spellscars= dragonmarks?

[HazardCatcher]

Personally it is my hope that the Spellscared from Forgotten Realms will BE the abberant dragonmarks for Eberron.

It just seems like such a cool way to tie the two books together. And in my opinion abberant dragonmarks aren't meant to be a huge part of the setting, but this would provide them with fully fleshed out rules and mechanics.

 

[skitleer]

I'm planning on playin an Eberron campaing, starting early next year. So since the campaign setting is not out yet, I tought a bit on how to implement dragonmark.

Here is what i've come up with so far :

One feat to make you a member of a particular House, give you skill training or skill focus in a skill realated to the house (basically it is the same as skill training or skill focus, just with a different flavor, and that you can be part of only one House)

then three utility power swap feat
Some of the ability given by dragonmarks are already implemented as utility power (cure light wounds, expeditous retreat, dimension door, etc...), so for these it's easy.
If the ability is now a ritual, you can make the power to allow to perform the ritual at reduced cost/reduced preparation time/increased efficiency (bonus to skill check). You can make the power at will/encounter/daily and combine any of the three bonus to balance it.
If the ability doesn't exist yet in the core books, well you'll have to work a bit more to create the power...


least dragonmark (requires to be a memeber of the associated House, heroic tier) :
swap you're second level utility power.

lesser dragonmark (require least dragonmark, heroic tier)
swap you're 6th or 10th level utility power (depending on the power gained)

greater dragonmark (requires lesser dragonmark, paragon tier)
swap you're 16th or 22nd level utility (again depend on the power gained)
You can take the feat before level 22nd and wait for 22nd level to swap you're utility if you want to qualify for Sibery Mark epic destiny

And finally Sibery Mark would be an epic destiny requiring greater dragonmark and give a 25th level utility power (+ other benefit to determine)

I think it should be pretty balanced, since the feats don't grant you any power, just increase your choice of utilities.
It can help to fill missing roles in a party (for instance a party who doesn't have a lot of access to healing power, could have someone bear a least dragonmark of Healing for cure light wound...)

The hard part is to convert the ability (well it depends, cure light wound is easy to convert for instance
You don't have to convert everything though, just convert the one you will really use. And you can even come up with new power that fit the flavor of a particular mark

If you get the chance to try it before me, lmk how it plays.

Cheers

 

[IanArgent]

Feats, Paragon Path, Epic Destiny. Dragonmarks were fairly explicitly not a core part of the character unless they took a prestige class. They were always feats. So feats for the basic mark, then Paragon Path for the Dragonmark Heir equivalent, and Epic Destiny for Heir of Syberis.

 

[balard]

I'd go with a feat that gives you some skill bonus and the ability to make that Mark rituals and function as a good NPC(healing, traveling, manufacturing), and with power swaps you get some real power. So, if you get the Mark of Healing feat you can learn remove disease and raise dead qhen you are high enough level, but you must get a power swap feat to learn CLW.

Than you could have especialization feats like the gladiators to get bonus on some at-will or utilities based on you mark...