Zweisteine
2014-08-28, 09:05 PM
UPDATE: Project canceled for the foreseeable future because I am lame and don't like the whole formatting/typing-up of ideas.
Instead, I recommend using the updates presented in this Wizards article (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-eberron). Be warned: the rules in there are, as the article states, not final, and not entirely balanced.
The most obvious change I would recommend is to replace their changeling's shapechanging ability with an at-will disguise self effect that is physical rather than illusory, and can not include clothing.
My other Eberron-related 5e homebrew (including a draft of my version of the Warforged) can be found in my extended signature.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070717235951/eberron/images/1/11/Eberron_logo.jpg
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=62059&d=1402069840&stc=1
5e
Well, Eberron will probably be published for 5e eventually, but I think that's gonna be a wait of at least a year. They've already got this year full releasing the core books, and Forgotten Realms-specifics will probably come out before Eberron.
So someone has to make rules for us to use in the interim.
Keith Baker might be the most qualified to make some of those updates, but he has already spoken (http://keith-baker.com/hacking-5e-eberron/) on the subject. What he said boils down to this: He doesn't know the system well enough to make the updates himself, but he can give some tips. His big tip was to reskin lots of things. Some things can't be accomplished with reskinning (like warforged and kalashtar), and he simply recommends waiting.
But why should we wait? We have the collective might of this forum's homebrewers and Eberron fanatics. Why not do it now?
I have already created rules for the Changeling race, and am working on the Warforged. I have plans to create Shifters, and a workable basis for dragonmarks. The Kalashtar will be more difficult, but I do aim to include a non-psionic version of them as well. I hope for the pinnacle of this project to be a version of the artificer class, but that will be last, and I'll need help figuring out what parts will fit. These updates won't be completely faithful to the original versions, but they will fit the patterns set by existing 5e rules.
I might add world-related rules such as the effects of coterminous planes at some point, but they have a much lower priority than other things, as they are far easier to play without.
Setting Changes
Note: This section isn't important to gameplay, and you can ignore it if you don't like it.
Because of the low-magic-item nature of 5e, much of Eberron will be much more difficult to model, especially because magic item creation looks to be gone, at least from the players' hands (which is all we have right now). While you could ignore the incongruity of having a magic train, flying ships, MageMail, and more in a ruleset where magic items are a rarity, you also could find a way to explain it. This section aims to do that, and give options for other changes to make the world better fit the rules.
Idea #1: Creation Forges
The simplest explanation is to add a MacGuffin (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin) or a few that were used to create many magic items, and possibly to keep them in operation. Better yet, use an existing MacGuffin-like object: The Creation Forges. Using this setting modification, the Creation Forges were built by an ancient civilization or by beings of extreme power (be they epic adventurers, outsiders, or Onatar himself), and are now used by the civilizations of Khorvaire to create artifacts they would otherwise never have dreamed of.
These are suggestions for how Creation Forges could be worked in as the means of creation for the various technologiest of Eberron.
1. Maybe a series of Major Forges served different purposes. One might only build airships and one the skyscrapers of Sharn. A number of scattered forges could have been used to build the Lightning Rail. The Towers of Arcanix might also have been built by a particularly mighty forge, but they more likely are a direct creation of the forge-builders.
2. Lesser forges could have been used for smaller creations, such as automatons and the Warforged.
3. As the people of Khorvaire discovered the forges, they were able to create larger magics than they had ever seen before.
4. With this modification, House Cannith's role in the creation of the Warforged and Eberrons many other creations was to operate the forges. When the forges were found, they were not active, and their discoverers could not understand many of the schemas they found (and of those they did, few were fully decipherable). Over decades, they modified the ancient schemas (and eventually created their own), brought raw materials to the forges, and started the creation process.
Feel free to note any other possible changes that would help make the setting 5e-compatible. If it makes sense, I'll add it in when I have time.
Rules-Fluff Changes
Note: This section isn't important to gameplay, and you can ignore it if you don't like it.
This section serves to list possible adaptions of the fluff given in the D&D Basic Rules and the Player's Handbook to make them better fit Eberron. Much of this section may be self-evident, but I have included it anyway.
Druids: Circles could be used to represent different druidic sects. The Any Moonspeaker druids obviously would obviously follow the circle of the moon, but the other sects have little connection to any of the circles. The sects might best be described as their own druid circles, which might be an eventual addition to this thread.
Warlocks:
1. Warlocks choose a patron to draw power from, and while their patron may be as general as "a fey lord of Lammania," but more specific options would enhance the flavor of the class. Warlocks of the Great Old One could draw their power from the Daelkyr of Xoriat or the Quori, or they could venerate the Dragon Below himself. The Rakshasa Rajahs serve as patrons both as Fiends and Great Old Ones.
2. As a more dramatic change, those of you who want to preserve as much of Eberron's fluff as possible might re-fluff warlocks as a psionic class. Nothing would deed to be changed, and
Sorcerers:
1. Wild magic sorcerers may have been touched by Xoriat or Dal Quor, which could lead to various plot points, especially if they run into the Gatekeepers.
2. Like the walock, more so, even, sorcerers are well-suited to re-fluffing as psionic characters. Spell points become poet points, spells powers, and you have a psion of sorts. If your DM allows it, you could even switch your casting stat (and your charisma save proficiency) to Intelligence.
This section, too, needs more content. Feel free to make contributions.
New Rules
Note: This section is very important to gameplay, and you can't (or rather shouldn't) ignore it if you plan to run a 5e campaign in Eberron.
This what you came here for: Updated Eberron rules for characters!
Races:
Changeling
Blah blah blah. Fluff: blah blah blah. Fluff: blah blah blah. Names: blah blah blah. Traits:
Changelings have some qualities that derive from their doppelganger ancestry, and some from their human side.
....Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
....Age. Changelings mature at the rate as humans, and live just as long.
....Alignment. Changelings tend towards neutral alignments. They tend to focus on their own problems, paying little attention to morals and laws. Many follow a personal code of honor, but also share a fierce independence.
....Size. Changelings are slightly shorter than most humans, but still in the range of 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is medium.
....Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
....Skill Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the skill of your choice: Deception, Intimidation, or Insight.
....Minor Shape Change. You can create an effect similar to the spell alter self as your action.
....This ability modifies your appearance to the same extent as change appearance option of that spell. This transformation ends if you die, but otherwie remains until you use this ability again or you use your action to dismiss it. If you use this ability to turn into a creature you have seen, you have advantage on any check you make to disguise yourself as that creature. A creature can determine that you are transformed by using its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (investigation) check. The DC for this check equals 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. Once you reach 5th level, any Intelligence (investigation) check made to see through this ability is made with disadvantage.
After you use this ability, you can not use it again until after you complete a short or long rest.
....Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.
I think I did fairly well with this, did I not?
As always, thanks for reading!
Instead, I recommend using the updates presented in this Wizards article (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-eberron). Be warned: the rules in there are, as the article states, not final, and not entirely balanced.
The most obvious change I would recommend is to replace their changeling's shapechanging ability with an at-will disguise self effect that is physical rather than illusory, and can not include clothing.
My other Eberron-related 5e homebrew (including a draft of my version of the Warforged) can be found in my extended signature.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070717235951/eberron/images/1/11/Eberron_logo.jpg
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=62059&d=1402069840&stc=1
5e
Well, Eberron will probably be published for 5e eventually, but I think that's gonna be a wait of at least a year. They've already got this year full releasing the core books, and Forgotten Realms-specifics will probably come out before Eberron.
So someone has to make rules for us to use in the interim.
Keith Baker might be the most qualified to make some of those updates, but he has already spoken (http://keith-baker.com/hacking-5e-eberron/) on the subject. What he said boils down to this: He doesn't know the system well enough to make the updates himself, but he can give some tips. His big tip was to reskin lots of things. Some things can't be accomplished with reskinning (like warforged and kalashtar), and he simply recommends waiting.
But why should we wait? We have the collective might of this forum's homebrewers and Eberron fanatics. Why not do it now?
I have already created rules for the Changeling race, and am working on the Warforged. I have plans to create Shifters, and a workable basis for dragonmarks. The Kalashtar will be more difficult, but I do aim to include a non-psionic version of them as well. I hope for the pinnacle of this project to be a version of the artificer class, but that will be last, and I'll need help figuring out what parts will fit. These updates won't be completely faithful to the original versions, but they will fit the patterns set by existing 5e rules.
I might add world-related rules such as the effects of coterminous planes at some point, but they have a much lower priority than other things, as they are far easier to play without.
Setting Changes
Note: This section isn't important to gameplay, and you can ignore it if you don't like it.
Because of the low-magic-item nature of 5e, much of Eberron will be much more difficult to model, especially because magic item creation looks to be gone, at least from the players' hands (which is all we have right now). While you could ignore the incongruity of having a magic train, flying ships, MageMail, and more in a ruleset where magic items are a rarity, you also could find a way to explain it. This section aims to do that, and give options for other changes to make the world better fit the rules.
Idea #1: Creation Forges
The simplest explanation is to add a MacGuffin (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin) or a few that were used to create many magic items, and possibly to keep them in operation. Better yet, use an existing MacGuffin-like object: The Creation Forges. Using this setting modification, the Creation Forges were built by an ancient civilization or by beings of extreme power (be they epic adventurers, outsiders, or Onatar himself), and are now used by the civilizations of Khorvaire to create artifacts they would otherwise never have dreamed of.
These are suggestions for how Creation Forges could be worked in as the means of creation for the various technologiest of Eberron.
1. Maybe a series of Major Forges served different purposes. One might only build airships and one the skyscrapers of Sharn. A number of scattered forges could have been used to build the Lightning Rail. The Towers of Arcanix might also have been built by a particularly mighty forge, but they more likely are a direct creation of the forge-builders.
2. Lesser forges could have been used for smaller creations, such as automatons and the Warforged.
3. As the people of Khorvaire discovered the forges, they were able to create larger magics than they had ever seen before.
4. With this modification, House Cannith's role in the creation of the Warforged and Eberrons many other creations was to operate the forges. When the forges were found, they were not active, and their discoverers could not understand many of the schemas they found (and of those they did, few were fully decipherable). Over decades, they modified the ancient schemas (and eventually created their own), brought raw materials to the forges, and started the creation process.
Feel free to note any other possible changes that would help make the setting 5e-compatible. If it makes sense, I'll add it in when I have time.
Rules-Fluff Changes
Note: This section isn't important to gameplay, and you can ignore it if you don't like it.
This section serves to list possible adaptions of the fluff given in the D&D Basic Rules and the Player's Handbook to make them better fit Eberron. Much of this section may be self-evident, but I have included it anyway.
Druids: Circles could be used to represent different druidic sects. The Any Moonspeaker druids obviously would obviously follow the circle of the moon, but the other sects have little connection to any of the circles. The sects might best be described as their own druid circles, which might be an eventual addition to this thread.
Warlocks:
1. Warlocks choose a patron to draw power from, and while their patron may be as general as "a fey lord of Lammania," but more specific options would enhance the flavor of the class. Warlocks of the Great Old One could draw their power from the Daelkyr of Xoriat or the Quori, or they could venerate the Dragon Below himself. The Rakshasa Rajahs serve as patrons both as Fiends and Great Old Ones.
2. As a more dramatic change, those of you who want to preserve as much of Eberron's fluff as possible might re-fluff warlocks as a psionic class. Nothing would deed to be changed, and
Sorcerers:
1. Wild magic sorcerers may have been touched by Xoriat or Dal Quor, which could lead to various plot points, especially if they run into the Gatekeepers.
2. Like the walock, more so, even, sorcerers are well-suited to re-fluffing as psionic characters. Spell points become poet points, spells powers, and you have a psion of sorts. If your DM allows it, you could even switch your casting stat (and your charisma save proficiency) to Intelligence.
This section, too, needs more content. Feel free to make contributions.
New Rules
Note: This section is very important to gameplay, and you can't (or rather shouldn't) ignore it if you plan to run a 5e campaign in Eberron.
This what you came here for: Updated Eberron rules for characters!
Races:
Changeling
Blah blah blah. Fluff: blah blah blah. Fluff: blah blah blah. Names: blah blah blah. Traits:
Changelings have some qualities that derive from their doppelganger ancestry, and some from their human side.
....Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
....Age. Changelings mature at the rate as humans, and live just as long.
....Alignment. Changelings tend towards neutral alignments. They tend to focus on their own problems, paying little attention to morals and laws. Many follow a personal code of honor, but also share a fierce independence.
....Size. Changelings are slightly shorter than most humans, but still in the range of 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is medium.
....Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
....Skill Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the skill of your choice: Deception, Intimidation, or Insight.
....Minor Shape Change. You can create an effect similar to the spell alter self as your action.
....This ability modifies your appearance to the same extent as change appearance option of that spell. This transformation ends if you die, but otherwie remains until you use this ability again or you use your action to dismiss it. If you use this ability to turn into a creature you have seen, you have advantage on any check you make to disguise yourself as that creature. A creature can determine that you are transformed by using its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (investigation) check. The DC for this check equals 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. Once you reach 5th level, any Intelligence (investigation) check made to see through this ability is made with disadvantage.
After you use this ability, you can not use it again until after you complete a short or long rest.
....Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.
I think I did fairly well with this, did I not?
As always, thanks for reading!