Eberron Hardcover 2019!

[RedMage125]

Link (https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/05/20/dungeons-and-dragons-eberron-hardcover-2019/)

Looks like WotC's promise of a setting this year is confirmed as Eberron. Which is probably why they ramped up the Artificer playtests.

Who's excited?

[Yora]

I say moderately interested. Given what material has been released for 5th edition so far, I expect it to have very little new things about the world that we didn't already get with the 3rd edition book.
But there's plenty of creatures and other stuff that I quite like about the setting and that would be cool to have in 5th edition mechanics. I also never got the 3rd edition book myself and only had it borrowed from one of my players. I actually might get this one.

[Anderlith]

I need it!!!!

[Grod_The_Giant]

Even as someone who mostly uses my own settings, that's exciting news just for all the mechanical stuff unique to Eberron that'll be nice to finally see in official print. Warforged, Shifters, Artificers, Dragonmarks, airships, a more concrete magic item economy... maybe even some psionics, if I dare dream.

[TyGuy]

Wow, they're cranking out content. Salt Marsh, Eberron, and Avernus all in the same year!

[Vogie]

I figured it would be - It'll connect really well with Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, on top of being their own thing. I can't wait to hear the Total Party Thrill guys' sonic boom of excitement.

[KorvinStarmast]

The Wayfinder's Guide is OK.
I have an artificer (UA, most recent) beginning in a game I am starting to GM, and I intend to take us to Saltmarsh when the material shows up. I preordered.

Honestly?

I think the Artificer is an over fiddly and pointless class. I have a limited taste for steampunkfantasy stuff.

But plenty of people want one, so WoTC provides one. We're looking forward to more or less playtesting the UA one.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

I'm glad they're doing it for all the people who want it, but I have no interest whatsoever in artificers, magic trains, yadda yadda, and I'm a bit bummed that the setting books we've gotten so far are a tiny portion of the Forgotten Realms, Magic the Gathering and Eberron.

[Anderlith]

I'm glad they're doing it for all the people who want it, but I have no interest whatsoever in artificers, magic trains, yadda yadda, and I'm a bit bummed that the setting books we've gotten so far are a tiny portion of the Forgotten Realms, Magic the Gathering and Eberron.
Almost all the content we have gotten has been Forgotten Realms. I say it’s time for a new setting for a good long bit

[stoutstien]

I'm hoping they clean up alot of the content before releasing. The artificer is clunky as an UA

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Almost all the content we have gotten has been Forgotten Realms. I say it’s time for a new setting for a good long bit

The adventures we've gotten have been Forgotten Realms, certainly. I don't know that XgtE or MToF are Realms sourcebooks, precisely. VGtM might be, but it's not exactly a Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, either. And SCAG is very limited in scope.

[MaxWilson]

I'm glad they're doing it for all the people who want it, but I have no interest whatsoever in artificers, magic trains, yadda yadda, and I'm a bit bummed that the setting books we've gotten so far are a tiny portion of the Forgotten Realms, Magic the Gathering and Eberron.

It reminds me of the way Disney lately keeps recycling nostalgia for old cartoons into live action versions of those same cartoons.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

It reminds me of the way Disney lately keeps recycling nostalgia for old cartoons into live action versions of those same cartoons.

Meanwhile, I want them to lean even harder into random recycling of nostalgia. Bral's Guide to Spelljamming! Random-ass rules for Mystaran immortals! Doing Magic and Eberron is less like doing live-action versions of the vaulted cartoons and more like doing live-action versions of the Pixar hits. Toy Story, not Cinderella.

I also want a specific guide to building a setting, including stuff like creating logical maps, balancing power in particular ways, features that can enhance the game ideas they brought up in the DMG, and so on; something that expands on the worldbuilding information in the DMG.

[RedMage125]

The adventures we've gotten have been Forgotten Realms, certainly. I don't know that XgtE or MToF are Realms sourcebooks, precisely. VGtM might be, but it's not exactly a Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, either. And SCAG is very limited in scope.
Volothamp Geddarm or however you spell it, is a person in the Realms. So it's still kind of FR related.

It reminds me of the way Disney lately keeps recycling nostalgia for old cartoons into live action versions of those same cartoons.

Disney's trying to renew their rights to the IP before it goes into Public Domain (I actually liked Beauty and the Beast, mostly). I don't think it's comparable. Eberron has a lot of unique factors and mechanics that make an updated setting appropriate. And a lot of DMs dont allow "playtest material" at their tables. I don't. I'd rather see the finished product, as the playtest can be unbalanced. Redemption Paladins come to mind, as do Lore Wizards.

[JackPhoenix]

I don't expect anything new in the lore department, judging by the WGtE. Just short introduction of the same old 3.5 stuff for new 5e players.

However, I want to see polished and finished version of mechanical stuff and the artificer. Hopefully it won't be Ravnica all over again.

[Tetrasodium]

The Wayfinder's Guide is OK.
I have an artificer (UA, most recent) beginning in a game I am starting to GM, and I intend to take us to Saltmarsh when the material shows up. I preordered.

Honestly?

I think the Artificer is an over fiddly and pointless class. I have a limited taste for steampunkfantasy stuff.

But plenty of people want one, so WoTC provides one. We're looking forward to more or less playtesting the UA one.

Eberron's wide magic is not steampunk.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Volothamp Geddarm or however you spell it, is a person in the Realms. So it's still kind of FR related.

Yeah, VGtM is the most FR book, and Volo is a FR character. So is Xanthar. Mordenkainen is Greyhawk, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to call MToF a Greyhawk book. Volo's is a setting book only in establishing sample societies and organizations for the races in that book. They're not appropriate for all settings, obviously. But it's not like it's giving you notable NPCs in Neverwinter, explaining the schools and sub-orders of the Red Wizards of Thay, or giving detailed maps of Zakhara, the Land of Fate.

[Anderlith]

It’s more fantasy noir mixed with dungeonpunk

[Envyus]

Eberron's wide magic is not steampunk.

The aesthetic is a bit steampunkish. It's not outright steampunk but it covers some of it.

[jaappleton]

Here’s the thing:

Is this a new book?

Or is it that Wayfinder’s will be made completely official instead of quasi-UA, and be printed?

[Gryndle]

for Eberron, there may be things I take from it, but I've never really cared for the setting.

I more excited about the Baldur's Gate module to be honest.

[Garfunion]

Here’s the thing:

Is this a new book?

Or is it that Wayfinder’s will be made completely official instead of quasi-UA, and be printed?
From the article, it is going to be an official book. The wayfinder’s guide was a playtest, leading up to the release of an official book.


Personally, I think they just got tired of creating Forgotten Realms adventures and want to do something different.
The Eberron book will also pave the way to a Darksun book and psionic class.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

The Eberron book will also pave the way to a Darksun book

Any source for this? I'm quite skeptical WotC will ever update most legacy settings.

[Garfunion]

Any source for this? I'm quite skeptical WotC will ever update most legacy settings.
No source, just a hopeful feeling. The setting is perfect to introduce the psionic class.

[JakOfAllTirades]

link (https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/05/20/dungeons-and-dragons-eberron-hardcover-2019/)

looks like wotc's promise of a setting this year is confirmed as eberron. Which is probably why they ramped up the artificer playtests.

Who's excited?

10 character minimum sux!

ME! :biggrin:

[Doug Lampert]

Disney's trying to renew their rights to the IP before it goes into Public Domain (I actually liked Beauty and the Beast, mostly). I don't think it's comparable. Eberron has a lot of unique factors and mechanics that make an updated setting appropriate. And a lot of DMs dont allow "playtest material" at their tables. I don't. I'd rather see the finished product, as the playtest can be unbalanced. Redemption Paladins come to mind, as do Lore Wizards.

Live action Beauty and the Beast grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide. Most of that money goes to the distribution company, which happens to be Disney. The animated cartoon will go out of copyright in roughly 2066. I think the 1.2 billion had a lot more to do with them making the live action then the imminent threat that other people can sell the animated movie in 46 years or so.

It's worse than that, because the animated film going out of copyright will have nothing to do with the character trademarks, which is what Disney usually defends in court anyway, and trademarks are good forever. Good luck selling the movie with no publicity, advertising, or packaging using the trademarked characters.

And as a final point, making the live action film doesn't extend copyright on existing material anyway. It does make it a bit harder to make a sequel and claim you're only using material from the out of copyright original, but any hypothetical sequel is already killed dead by the actively defended trademark on the character.

[Sception]

Im excited. I always liked the mor4 modernish/victorienesque nature of eberron as an alternative to more derivative & interchangeable medieval type settings. Would have liked to see dark sun, ravenloft, or spellhammer just as much. Planescape would also be pretty cool.

Hopefully the arteficer gets cleaned up a bit, current version is on the right track, imo, but still a bit messy.

[chainer1216]

I needs it so bad, its my favorite setting.

[MaxWilson]

And a lot of DMs dont allow "playtest material" at their tables. I don't. I'd rather see the finished product, as the playtest can be unbalanced. Redemption Paladins come to mind, as do Lore Wizards.

This used to be my attitude too, and then Ravnica came out, and I was like, "okay, this is published but I still don't want this in my game. It's power creep, and not appropriate for anywhere but its own setting."

It wouldn't surprise me if Eberron turned out the same way. Published, but still banned at many tables.


Meanwhile, I want them to lean even harder into random recycling of nostalgia. Bral's Guide to Spelljamming! Snip

In principle, yes, I'd love for Spelljammer/Planescape/Dark Sun to get some renewed mindshare. I'd even get excited and buy the books. Then I'd get disappointed by pedestrian execution, I'd wonder why I got my hopes up in the first place, and I'd realize that creativity takes practice and that churning out thin adaptations of somebody else's nostalgia isn't a good way to learn design principles, and that WotC needs more practice being original before they're even qualified to adapt (and improve!) other people's work.

[stoutstien]

This used to be my attitude too, and then Ravnica came out, and I was like, "okay, this is published but I still don't want this in my game. It's power creep, and not appropriate for anywhere but its own setting."

It wouldn't surprise me if Eberron turned out the same way. Published, but still banned at many tables.

Yea, allowing expanded spell list from backgrounds was a bad move. The races and subclasses are fine IMO.

[MaxWilson]

Yea, allowing expanded spell list from backgrounds was a bad move. The races and subclasses are fine IMO.

Yeah, I was thinking of the expanded spell lists and the magic items. Races were fine. I don't remember the subclasses.

[stoutstien]

Yeah, I was thinking of the expanded spell lists and the magic items. Races were fine. I don't remember the subclasses.
Order domain and spore circle.

[Anderlith]

I feel like the Ravnica background were a misguided attempt to incentivize people to even touch the book. No one who plays D&D really cares that much about MtG worlds.

[Luccan]

Great! I was kind of concerned the Wayfarer's Guide would be it. Come to think, I thought the MtG online stuff would be it for MtG in D&D 5e too. I really hope they start releasing Dark Sun stuff online that everyone complains about. It seems to be a guaranteed way to get a setting book out. Also, totally agree with those saying Dark Sun would be the right place to release an official psionics class.

[Arkhios]

Psionics used to be a big part of Eberron lore back in 3.5

I wouldn't say Eberron is any less appropriate setting for introducing an official/finalized psionic class(es).

Note: I'm not saying Dark Sun wasn't appropriate for it.

[Anderlith]

A new class in every setting would be a cool/fun way to do things

Eberron > Artificer
Dark Sun > Psion
Spelljammer > ???

Maybe Binder? Not sure what would fit best

[MaxWilson]

Order domain and spore circle.

Ah. I hate the flavor of Order domain, but it would be fine as a Domain of Mind Control. It just has nothing to do with order. From a power perspective it's fine, no power creep that I noticed.

Spore Circle is also fine from a power perspective, though I remember thinking the way it used reactions was kind of weird and clunky in UA (not really a reaction at all) and I don't remember if Ravnica cleaned that up. If I were going to have Spore Circle druids in game I'd bite the bullet and open the doors to other freestanding reactions too, like opportunity attacks against any paralyzed target, since the main reason I haven't done that already is just because it's not idiomatic to the rest of 5E design.

[GreyBlack]

The adventures we've gotten have been Forgotten Realms, certainly. I don't know that XgtE or MToF are Realms sourcebooks, precisely. VGtM might be, but it's not exactly a Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, either. And SCAG is very limited in scope.

Isn't Xanathar a specific NPC in the Forgotten Realms? He's, like, one of the big NPC's in Dragon Heist, which is explicitly Forgotten Realms.

Mordekainen, I won't comment on because, although he is an NPC in one of the Forgotten Realms adventures he seems more universal to the D&D mythos than to the unique Forgotten Realms mythos.

[GreyBlack]

Great! I was kind of concerned the Wayfarer's Guide would be it. Come to think, I thought the MtG online stuff would be it for MtG in D&D 5e too. I really hope they start releasing Dark Sun stuff online that everyone complains about. It seems to be a guaranteed way to get a setting book out. Also, totally agree with those saying Dark Sun would be the right place to release an official psionics class.

Nah, they're going to be making Dark Sun the next MTG expansion to improve crossover appeal.

[Zanthy1]

I say moderately interested. Given what material has been released for 5th edition so far, I expect it to have very little new things about the world that we didn't already get with the 3rd edition book.
But there's plenty of creatures and other stuff that I quite like about the setting and that would be cool to have in 5th edition mechanics. I also never got the 3rd edition book myself and only had it borrowed from one of my players. I actually might get this one.

I am also excited for it. I think that it is important to rehash a lot of the background information regarding the setting (that was mostly in the 3rd edition book) because of all the newer players who only started with 5e. I only started playing a year or two before 5e came out (3.5 and a little Pathfinder), and I only know basics. DnD now is at record highs in terms of active players (in part due to the ease of which picking up and playing 5e is, but also due to the popularizing of "nerd" culture). These new bubs need the info

[darknite]

Good. Looks like I'll finally have to check it out.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

A new class in every setting would be a cool/fun way to do things

Eberron > Artificer
Dark Sun > Psion
Spelljammer > ???

Maybe Binder? Not sure what would fit best

I don't like this just for AL reasons. The PHB + 1 rule makes new classes in setting books a bit awkward, unless there's some tweak to the rules. I'd prefer a XGtE-style omnibus book - but also I'd be complaining if it just had reprints of class options from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravenica, Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron and the new Eberron hardcover.


Isn't Xanathar a specific NPC in the Forgotten Realms? He's, like, one of the big NPC's in Dragon Heist, which is explicitly Forgotten Realms.

Mordekainen, I won't comment on because, although he is an NPC in one of the Forgotten Realms adventures he seems more universal to the D&D mythos than to the unique Forgotten Realms mythos.

Xanthar is a specific NPC in FR, yeah, but I don't think there's much that's setting-specific about XGtE beyond the name. And while Mordenkainen appears in the FR, he originates in Greyhawk, and he pops up everywhere because he's part of the Planescape meta-setting. He, Elminster and Dalamar the Dark had random adventures together in Dragon for like 35 years. One of them even started watching hockey.

[Bloodcloud]

This used to be my attitude too, and then Ravnica came out, and I was like, "okay, this is published but I still don't want this in my game. It's power creep, and not appropriate for anywhere but its own setting."

It wouldn't surprise me if Eberron turned out the same way. Published, but still banned at many tables.

I quite like a few of the monsters from Ravnica though. Druid subclass is not OP at all. Magic items, guild spell list... well, yeah, those are ridiculous.

[Anderlith]

The Core +1 is going to be the end of 5e if not amended. Too many options spread out over too many sources. Like how everyone was glad to have XGE spells on the Artificer list. It’s just going to lead to either the supplements getting bloated, reprinting more & more stuff that’s found in older books OR big omnibuses being printed that cause everyone to go out & buy more collections even though they already have the same stuff scattered in the books they already have.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

The Core +1 is going to be the end of 5e if not amended. Too many options spread out over too many sources. Like how everyone was glad to have XGE spells on the Artificer list. It’s just going to lead to either the supplements getting bloated, reprinting more & more stuff that’s found in older books OR big omnibuses being printed that cause everyone to go out & buy more collections even though they already have the same stuff scattered in the books they already have.

Also... Is there any guidance on what counts for the purposes of the plus one? Can I bring a character with a race, background and subclass from the MtG book to a FR AL table?

[Tetrasodium]

This used to be my attitude too, and then Ravnica came out, and I was like, "okay, this is published but I still don't want this in my game. It's power creep, and not appropriate for anywhere but its own setting."

It wouldn't surprise me if Eberron turned out the same way. Published, but still banned at many tables.



In principle, yes, I'd love for Spelljammer/Planescape/Dark Sun to get some renewed mindshare. I'd even get excited and buy the books. Then I'd get disappointed by pedestrian execution, I'd wonder why I got my hopes up in the first place, and I'd realize that creativity takes practice and that churning out thin adaptations of somebody else's nostalgia isn't a good way to learn design principles, and that WotC needs more practice being original before they're even qualified to adapt (and improve!) other people's work.

like stoutstien noted, ravinica did some silly stuff like a bracelet to cast two illusion cantrips at once (pretty cool idea) that is not actually limited to illusion cantrips. I wouldn't say that expanded spell lists for backgrounds is a bad thing, but those are definitely a huge power shift that simply can't be compared to the other backgrounds so that you either need to use all ravinica backgrounds or none of them for your game.

"The doesn't belong anywhere but its own setting." is something I completely agree with & have been saying for a long time, in fact that's been a big complaint about the phb classes and equipment lists not including any setting other than the faerun way unless that other setting is an analog or coincidentally fitting. The entire chapter 5 (Equipment 143-165) is largely ill fitting for both eberron & darksun to the point where dmsguild even has a few alternate versions, also considering those settings from the start would have saved a lot of time & frustration on the part of gm's like myself, naomi, & others who run games clopser to /in one of those pther settings.

edit: With that said, the monsters are great & I use more of them than mm monmsters in my eberron game.

[Waazraath]

I feel like the Ravnica background were a misguided attempt to incentivize people to even touch the book. No one who plays D&D really cares that much about MtG worlds.

Really? I love the book! Great art work, and the MtG approach (combining the 5 colours, including opposits, in the guilds) made great and non-cliché organisations, characters and monsters. It's a breath of fresh air compared to recycling (for example) the bloodwar yet once more, with minor details that are different, and with lesser artists and writers. A few of the items and the 'spells with background' are a bit crazy though, as other have mentioned.

[stoutstien]

The Core +1 is going to be the end of 5e if not amended. Too many options spread out over too many sources. Like how everyone was glad to have XGE spells on the Artificer list. It’s just going to lead to either the supplements getting bloated, reprinting more & more stuff that’s found in older books OR big omnibuses being printed that cause everyone to go out & buy more collections even though they already have the same stuff scattered in the books they already have.
I doubt they will change it. The phb+1 is really the only good way they have to stop power creep. The only other option would be making sure new content is balanced before printing 🙄. Hasn't even come close to the level of creep of older editions but there have been some in 5e

[Brookshw]

Link (https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/05/20/dungeons-and-dragons-eberron-hardcover-2019/)

Looks like WotC's promise of a setting this year is confirmed as Eberron. Which is probably why they ramped up the Artificer playtests.

Who's excited?

Meh, I could take Warforged and ditch the rest.

Still waiting for a new Planescape....

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

I doubt they will change it. The phb+1 is really the only good way they have to stop power creep. The only other option would be making sure new content is balanced before printing 🙄. Hasn't even come close to the level of creep of older editions but there have been some in 5e

It's worse for some than others. Players who want to be Rangers are pretty strongly incentivized to pick XGtE as the subclasses are better. For most charisma-based classes the yuan-ti from VGtM is the best possible option (though it might be campaign-dependent).

As I said, my biggest worry with the rule is player options being setting-exclusive. They set this precedent a while ago with SCAG, and I didn't think about it because it was a FR campaign setting book at a time when all AL content was FR-based. Maybe Ghosts of Saltmarsh being explicitly Greyhawk, plus the new Avernus adventure, plus GGtR, WGtE and the new Eberron book are suggestions that they're just going to declare that, starting in AL Season 10, Adventurer's League play is Planescape now, go mix settings at will. Otherwise there's going to be unhappy either unhappy players, who want to be spore druids and can't because those are in other settings, or unhappy DMs, who want to run a nice clean FR game and can't because their players have all chosen to be warforged.

Just releasing a player option omnibus isn't a good option. Players won't want to buy another book for access to materials they've already got. And there really isn't enough stuff yet, and releasing four more classes with three subclasses each to fill out a book is a guarantee that we'll get some crazy unbalanced classes and spells.