Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Dragonmarks

There, is a text error in the pdf, with the description of the mark of scribing overwriting part of the description of the Mark of the Sentinel.

The Mark of Making looks far more useful to adventurers than the others: 2 wizard cantrips and can make a temporary magic weapon -very useful at low level when magic weapons might be unavailable.

The Healing and Detection Greater Dragonmarks look useful though.

 

[ZickZak]

These seem way too overpowered.

 

[gyor]

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

My concern is are they only subraces mechanically or are they actual subraces akin to Drow, High Elf, Githyanki, Ghostwise Halfling and so on.

I kind of like using the mechanics of the Mark of Shadows for a straight up Shadow Elf subrace for say Ravenloft, Mystsra, and Evermeet.

 

[Gradine]

My concern is are they only subraces mechanically or are they actual subraces akin to Drow, High Elf, Githyanki, Ghostwise Halfling and so on.

I mean, kind of?

Most members of Dragonmarked Houses are pretty far removed from their traditional racial roots and cultures; it's most pronounced for Elves and Halflings, but Houses Kundaruk and Sivis have their own kind of separation from broader Dwarven/Gnomish culture.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Half orcs and dwarves do pretty badly here. The give up good racials for fairly meh abilities.

But how come hybid races get unique marks, rather than inheriting from either parent?

 

[Gradine]

Half orcs and dwarves do pretty badly here. The give up good racials for fairly meh abilities.

But how come hybid races get unique marks, rather than inheriting from either parent?

In the lore of Eberron, Half-Elves tend to be considered a true-breeding race in and of themselves (usually referred to as "Khoravar"). The vast majority of Half-Elves descend from other Half-Elves, and this has been true since long before any Half-Elves started developing their unique marks.

Half-orcs tend to be generally more isolated geographically; Orcs (or at least the kinds of Orcs that would willingly mingle Humans, and vice-versa) tend to stick to the Shadow Marches, their lives revolving around either tribes or clans. Half-orcs tend to hold a reverential position in this society, considered to have adopted the best traits of both races. The Mark of Finding is the most recent mark and the only one that appears on multiple races (both Humans and Half-Orcs, though it seems restricted to Half-Orcs now?) and folks have long debated why Orcs never seem to manifest the Mark.

Dragonmarked houses tend not to intermingle as it leads to Aberrant Dragonmarks, the reaction to which tends to situate between "exiled for life" to "kill it with fire".

Eberron in general tends to have a special relationship with the most common hybrid races; just ask what happened the last time a half-dragon was born.

 

[Hamburger Mary]

These seem all over the place power wise. One gives you the ability to get any wizard cantrip and free +1 (temporary) magic items and another gives you some ability bonuses and the friends and prestidigitation cantrips.

That's because they're subraces. The Mark of Making is applied to humans, who have no other benefits. The Mark of Hospitality is applied to halflings, who are ALREADY Brave and Lucky and Nimble. If the Mark of Hospitality was on its own as powerful as Making, it would be HOSPITALITY that was broken. It's only natural that side by side, a human mark will be more powerful than a mark that's being added to other racial abilities (elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling).

 

[Hamburger Mary]

Half orcs and dwarves do pretty badly here.

Looking to dwarves, I think that depends what you're trying to do.

HILL: Wisdom +1, +1 HP/level
MOUNTAIN: Strength +2, proficiency with light and medium armor
WARDING: Dex +1, Int +1, +1d4 to ability checks tied to locks or traps, Alarm and Arcane Lock.

The hit point bonus of Hill Dwarves is generically useful to everyone, but not that interesting. Mountain dwarves are great if you need Strength (though if you need Strength, you probably already have the armor proficiency). I think Warding is a good option for rogues, and if the Artificer is an Int-based class then I imagine this will be a good choice for an artificer, which was probably the intent.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Looking to dwarves, I think that depends what you're trying to do.

HILL: Wisdom +1, +1 HP/level
MOUNTAIN: Strength +2, proficiency with light and medium armor
WARDING: Dex +1, Int +1, +1d4 to ability checks tied to locks or traps, Alarm and Arcane Lock.

The hit point bonus of Hill Dwarves is generically useful to everyone, but not that interesting. Mountain dwarves are great if you need Strength (though if you need Strength, you probably already have the armor proficiency). I think Warding is a good option for rogues, and if the Artificer is an Int-based class then I imagine this will be a good choice for an artificer, which was probably the intent.

I have to confess, I hadn't looked closely at the ability score mods. But this pushes you towards a very specific role, in a way that 5e has tried to avoid in it's class design. You can imagine if this was a MMO:

Dwarf Player (thinks): "+1 dex, +1 int, +2 con and poison resistance would make a pretty good Eldritch Knight."
L33T Player: "Y U NO HAVE EXPERTISE THIEVES TOOLS??!!!"
Dwarf Player: "well, I see myself in more of a tanking role."
L33T Player: "Y U NO SENTINEL N00B??!"

Fortunately, most D&D players don't have that mentality, but it can still be a bit of a trap being the single clear best option for a particular role.

As for half orcs, I still say their dragonmark sucks. You give up +2 str, +1 con and and an "I AINT DEAD" button in exchange for +1 str, +1 wis and a pile of meh.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That's because they're subraces. The Mark of Making is applied to humans, who have no other benefits. The Mark of Hospitality is applied to halflings, who are ALREADY Brave and Lucky and Nimble. If the Mark of Hospitality was on its own as powerful as Making, it would be HOSPITALITY that was broken. It's only natural that side by side, a human mark will be more powerful than a mark that's being added to other racial abilities (elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling).

That argument doesn't entierly hold water. The Mark of Healing, also for halflings, is straight up better (especially if you take the Greater Dragonmark for early access to Greater Restoration) than the Mark of Hospitality and the human-only Mark of Handling.

 

[MarkB]

I have to confess, I hadn't looked closely at the ability score mods. But this pushes you towards a very specific role, in a way that 5e has tried to avoid in it's class design.

Has it? There are already pretty clear optimal and sub-optimal race choices for each class, based upon ability score bonuses and other racial abilities.