Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana Dragonmarks

[Blue]

How many of those are you REALLY going have going at the same time though? Its a very niche build you're discussing. [...]

Actually, that's not a niche build, that's a niche PARTY.

Well, considering the historical precident we have from 3.0 and 3.5 when different named bonuses would stack, players will go really far out of their way to get them. And with bounded accuracy meaning that the modifiers and DCs are in a more constrained range, every +1 means more in 5e so you don't need too many sources. 2-3 on a roll will make a big difference.

Do I think it will make difference at every table? No, not at all. Though a simple guidance or bless + bardic inspiration is likely something that a good number of tables could pull off.

Do I think that some parties will have lots of different type of numerical buffs / advantage? That I do as well.



And for what? A couple bonus re-rolls, and a couple 1d4s added to it (plus the scaling bardic die). Its a trick that requires an entire team to pick exactly the right combo of skill-pumping abilities and then dump them all on the one PC. For one skill check. You think that's bad, don't check out what a well-optimized party can do to aid the team fighter in combat!

The reality is that few, if any, PCs are going to have more than two of these effects going at any given time. Even if the perfect storm hits and a PC somehow gets a 40 on a skill check, think of how many resources were wasted to do so. Let the guy beat the DC by 20+; its not like he's any more successful for beating a skill check by 2 or 22.[/QUOTE]

 

[Li Shenron]

As others have said, they wanted to playtest this material as widely as possible.
But it is unfortunate that they didn't let people know they were going to after releasing the book, or some people might have waited to buy.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they said the Eberron pdf is a LIVING document that will be updated after gamers feedback, unlike printed books.

So they wanted to sell it straight away but then they will publish stuff to UA, get feedback, update the pdf book, and anyone who has bought it will receive the update for free. Who bought the book is not really penalized.

Others can just use the UA, but as usual these may not be the final versions after all.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just a level 2 Thunderwave.

Quite right, I was in error.

Then the wording even more strongly implies the ability to learn aberrant spells higher than level 1.

Thunderwave still looks like the best spell to pick for this (assuming your character is melee).

 

[MarkB]

Just be careful, because if they are putting it out UA that means they are looking for feedback to revise it.

And the way to provide that feedback is by using those rules in actual play.

 

[Jester David]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they said the Eberron pdf is a LIVING document that will be updated after gamers feedback, unlike printed books.

So they wanted to sell it straight away but then they will publish stuff to UA, get feedback, update the pdf book, and anyone who has bought it will receive the update for free. Who bought the book is not really penalized.

Others can just use the UA, but as usual these may not be the final versions after all.

That's how I read it. We get the stuff now, but people who own the PDF will see the revisions.
Probably.
Updating stuff like that has never been WotC's strong suit.

 

[Tallifer]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but the Tome Show podcast has a fascinating new interview with Keith Baker and Ruty Rutenberg all about Eberron, the Wayfarer's Guide, Dragonmarks and several upcoming pdfs.

http://www.thetomeshow.com/

 

[Blue]

And the way to provide that feedback is by using those rules in actual play.

Oh sure, I wasn't say don't use it. I was saying that what your players can get for free will likely be out-of-sync with what's in the final of the Wayfarer's Guide. So it won't stay useful down the road as a resource for them that's free.

By all means play with it - that's a lot better then the theorycrafting that I'm sure much of the surveys will be.

 

[Plaguescarred]

I like how Dragonmarks connect with races either as variant races or subraces options.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Paladin has the Mark of the Sentinel. Riding into battle, he designates his warhorse as his ward. The orcs shoot arrows at the horse, so they switch places...

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Paladin has the Mark of the Sentinel. Riding into battle, he designates his warhorse as his ward. The orcs shoot arrows at the horse, so they switch places...

[MENTION=88539]LowKey[/MENTION] would probably say something about natural selection.....

I admit I did think about this as a "fix" for the BM ranger (or an earlier thought about adding warding bond to the ranger spell list), but I think that would just lead to requests for the heavy armor proficiency ranger....