Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana is Here - and it's all about EBERRON!

Pretty awesome that this series has started

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-eberron

Will Greyhawk or Dragonlance be next??

Probably Dragonlance. Does Greyhawk have any particular crunchy player bits that aren't covered by the PHB already?

 

[Ahrimon]

Well Keith Baker has done a modification of both the warlock and cleric as artificers, so I can easily see a bard.

Did he modify the base class though? If not, and it works better for the folks out there then why not use his? I like how WotC is doing things by sticking with sub classes to modify things. It keeps the complexity down and makes the game more diverse. But that said there isn't anything wrong with doing a bigger modification. I just understand why wizards wants to avoid that.

I'm was never big on the artificer so I don't remember what features they had, but it might be a great idea to start a new thread with our own ideas. Perhaps we could all come together and make a version that fits the community idea of the artificer better.

 

[WackyAnne]

Aasimar already detailed in a free PDF excerpt of the DMG

Looks nice. Still missing the Aasimar though. I just don't understand why they sticked to the tieflings, especially into those 4e tieflings.

Aasimar already detailed in a free PDF excerpt of the DMG (p286 if you've a hardcopy)
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/excerpt-creating-new-race

 

[Ravenheart87]

Aasimar already detailed in a free PDF excerpt of the DMG (p286 if you've a hardcopy)

Unfortunately his abilities are on the other page not in the excerpt. Still, the aasimar and eladrin races are there in the DMG.

 

[Spykes]

I admit that I have a huge bias in favor of psionics, but at this point, it feels like they are avoiding it. I do get that tackling psionics is a huge undertaking as Mearls has already said it needs to be its own class and it will require much thought and they want to make sure they do it right. I respect that. However, when races like the Changeling and Shifters are making an appearance, along with campaign setting sans an entire race devoted to it, I'm forced to think maybe it's time to set it in your sights. Psionics!!!!! We want it!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I admit that I have a huge bias in favor of psionics, but at this point, it feels like they are avoiding it. I do get that tackling psionics is a huge undertaking as Mearls has already said it needs to be its own class and it will require much thought and they want to make sure they do it right. I respect that. However, when races like the Changeling and Shifters are making an appearance, along with campaign setting sans an entire race devoted to it, I'm forced to think maybe it's time to set it in your sights. Psionics!!!!! We want it!

I love psionics too, but I am kind of mystified as to why you think that they are "avoiding" it.

I mean, in 1E, they were a minor appendix in the PHB, and just a weird bonus ability you could get, something that would just not be done today. Also that would attract accusations of being half-arsed and so on.

In 2E, they took about two years to appear, with the Complete Psionics Handbook.

In 3E, they took a year and a bit, and they were probably the worst version of Psionics D&D has ever had (imho), being poorly differentiated from magic, and seeming very much like X-Men-style "mutant powers" than, y'know psionics as per earlier versions of D&D, other TT RPGs, fantasy fiction settings which had psionics or psionics-style magic (Deryni, Royal Assassin series, etc. - also most "Romantic Fantasy" - i.e. Mercedes Lackey et al, has psionics-style magic), or what-have-you. I suspect this was a result of being rather rushed out.

In 4E, they took about two years to come out, in PHB3.

5E has really only been fully "out" since December 2014. It's February 2015. When we hit December 2016, and there's no sign of anything psionics-related on the release schedule for 2017, then we could reasonably say that they're "avoiding" them, but for now? It's wildly premature.

I mean, it's a boring refrain, but I'd rather they took their time and did a really good version of psionics for 5E, one that fits with D&D, and with fantasy (not SF, even if there's some quasi-science, as there is with D&D's arcane magic) fiction presentations of psionics, differentiating them sufficiently from other forms of magic, and giving them cool stuff that's unique to them. Not just slapping out a book that has psionics in it for the sake of psionics.

I do find it interesting that so many people seem to see psionics as an important part of Eberron. I never really got that vibe in 3.XE (even though I was well aware of the Kalashtar and the psionic-oriented nation and so on). That's cool, for sure.

 

[Spykes]

I love psionics too, but I am kind of mystified as to why you think that they are "avoiding" it.

Only because at one point they were going to include it. It was slated to be a sub-class of the Mage during beta, if you recall. That was summer 2013. They decided it needed more attention and put it off. Cool. But now we are a year and a half later and still nothing on the horizon, that I know about anyway. I agree with you, I would rather it get done right, but let's not put it off forever. I contend that the longer you put it off, the more it feels like it's been shimmed into the game, which adds to the argument against it by some saying, "We don't need another type of Magic" or "It's just the same powers we already have with a different flavor". Get it into the game ASAP so that you are able to allow psionics to hold a unique role or function. Something that it brings to the table makes it a first class citizen of the game.

 

[collin]

I think one of the reasons the artificer needs it's own class is BECAUSE it has so many great archetype options. Arcane Trapsmith, Golem Forger, Battleforger, Eldritch-Bolter, hell even Runepriest could be thrown in there as ways to choose long range, pet, traps, or magic weapon maker (with an option for having a more divine bent for Runepriest, the sacred Dwarven art of using the God's own runes as weapons).

Excellent point and suggestion. I like it.

 

[Dire Bare]

Only because at one point they were going to include it. It was slated to be a sub-class of the Mage during beta, if you recall. That was summer 2013. They decided it needed more attention and put it off. Cool. But now we are a year and a half later and still nothing on the horizon, that I know about anyway. I agree with you, I would rather it get done right, but let's not put it off forever. I contend that the longer you put it off, the more it feels like it's been shimmed into the game, which adds to the argument against it by some saying, "We don't need another type of Magic" or "It's just the same powers we already have with a different flavor". Get it into the game ASAP so that you are able to allow psionics to hold a unique role or function. Something that it brings to the table makes it a first class citizen of the game.

Oh good lord. It hasn't been a year-and-a-half, it's been two months tops. Let's repeat, the whole game wasn't published until December of last year. To expect even a psionics playtest AND the Eberron info is ridiculous. Sure, it'd be great to have, but this complaint just mystifies me. Hell, let's whine about not getting Dragonlance info right away since the kender was originally slated for the DMG also.

Even if WotC had documents similar in quality and readiness to the Eberron article ready to go, they would be fools to release it all now. One piece a month for us to argue over and dissect is more than reasonable.

 

[Spykes]

Oh good lord. It hasn't been a year-and-a-half, it's been two months tops. Let's repeat, the whole game wasn't published until December of last year. To expect even a psionics playtest AND the Eberron info is ridiculous. Sure, it'd be great to have, but this complaint just mystifies me. Hell, let's whine about not getting Dragonlance info right away since the kender was originally slated for the DMG also.

Even if WotC had documents similar in quality and readiness to the Eberron article ready to go, they would be fools to release it all now. One piece a month for us to argue over and dissect is more than reasonable.

First of all.. this is not worth getting that upset over. It's an opinion.
I talked to Mearls at Gen Con 2013 and at that time, the Psion was slated to be subclass of the Mage.. now changed to the Wizard. That's a year an a half ago. Some of us have been testing this stuff for longer than since it's been released. At that point they were looking at including psionics in the initial offering. It proved to be too much content to tackle. Fine.. I get it. I just don't want to see too much time go by until they finally decide to shim it in the game because the longer it takes, the harder it becomes to give it its own place in the game. That's an opinion of mine, I grant you that. But it's based on past editions and how people have reacted to psionics and their and people's attitude towards it.

The Eberron stuff isn't ALL new. Warforged were in the playtest material long ago. An it's not exactly like this was a huge content offering. I would just like to know that it's on the radar. All I ever hear is that it's slated for some point in the distant future. I disagree with that approach to psionics and think it deserves more attention and greater priority. again, my opinion.

 

[BryonD]

That's it for a month for this column. There's every likelihood that the website will be back to having other columns and features besides Unearthed Arcana updated on a monthly or weekly basis.

Did I miss anything?