Exploring Eberron

From 2d4chan
Revision as of 11:08, 14 July 2021 by 1d4chan>Throwaway1066 (→‎Chapter 8: Friends and Foes)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article related to Dungeons & Dragons is a stub. You can help 1d4chan by expanding it
This page is needs images. Help plz.

Exploring Eberron is an Eberron splatbook released by Keith Baker for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in August 2020. It is intended as a companion for "Eberron: Rising From the Last War", WoTC's official 5e campaign guide for the setting, although its own canonicity is... hard to place.

Chapter 1: Discovering Eberron

Talks in detail about Eberron's ancient and recent history, fleshes out what Cyre was like before the Mourning, expands upon the Last War, and talks about both Eberron's approach to magic and its relationship with artificers.

Chapter 2: Races of Eberron

Expands upon five major races unique to Eberron; Changelings, Kalashtar, Shifters, Warforged, and the Elves of Aerenal.

Chapter 3: Faiths of Eberron

Talks more about religion and how it works in the Eberron world, expanding upion the role of the divine and the place of aasimars in particular before generally expanding upon the Silver Flame, the Blood of Vol, the Sovereign Host, the Dark Six, the Cults of the Dragon Below, and other "unusual" faiths of the setting.

Chapter 4: Uncharted Domains

Expands upon four particular regions of Eberron glossed over in the official book; the monster nation of Droaam, the fledgling goblin nation called the Heirs of Dhakaan, the Mror Holds, and the Thunder Sea.

Chapter 5: Planes of Existence

Expands upon the planes unique to the Orrery, the defining cosmology of Eberron.

Chapter 6: Character Options

New backgrounds, new racial profiles, new racial feats, and new subclass options.

Aasimar: Eberron's unique cosmology leads to a few unique aasimar subraces.

Court Aasimar are born to elven parents, gaining +1 Dexterity, the Fey Ancestry and Trance traits, Elvish as a bonus language, and the trait Guidance from the Past; this only becomes available from 3rd level, and lets the aasimar spend an action to gain Advantage on all Wisdom checks and saves for 1 minute 1/day.
Seeker Aasimar draw power from blood - theirs, and that of those around them, living manifestations of the Blood of Vol's creed.
Fernian Aasimars are connected to the plane of Fernia; they use the stats of Scourge Aasimar, except they replace Celestial Resistance and Light Bearer with the traits Fernian Resistance (Fire and Necrotic), Shroud of Flame (Radiant Consumption does Fire damage, not Radiant), and Spirit of Fire (can cast Produce Flames cantrip with Charisma).
Mabaran Aasimars likewise are connected to the plane of Mabar. They use the stats of Fallen Aasimar, except they replace Healing Hands and Light Bearer with Consuming Touch (1/day, as an action, make a melee spell attack (Charisma); target takes Necrotic damage equal to your level, you regain HP equal to half damage inflicted) and Herald of Doom (you can cast Toll the Dead with Charisma).

Aereni Elves gain +1 to either Int or Wisdom, Expertise with one skill or tool proficiency granted by race, class or background, and a Cleric or Wizard cantrip of their choice.

Ruinbond Dwarves are aberrant-tainted dwarves from the Mror Holds, causing them to be born with "assimilated" aberrant symbionts and, optionally, further mutations. Dwarves with this subrace gain +1 Cha and the racial traits Personal Symbiont (you can cast 1 cantrip with Charisma from the following list, which you can change after completing a long rest, but only whilst you have the physical mutation embodying it exposed: Acid Splash, Guidance (Self Only), Infestation, Light, Mage Hand, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost) and Symbiont Mastery (you gain a bonus "magic item attunement slot" which can only be used with items that have Symbiotic Nature - also, you can freely end your attunement to such items after a long rest).

Dhakaani are the goblinoids of Eberron, gaining unique abilities compared to the "common" goblinoids offered by Volo's Guide. Basically, they're variant statblocks to replace the generic 5e Hobgoblin, Goblin and Bugbear with ones more rooted in Eberron lore.

Ghaal'dar are the Eberronian hobgoblins; +2 Constitution, Medium, Base speed 30 feet, Darkvision 60 feet, with the racial trait Discipline (Advantage on saves vs. Charm). They have to take one of two subraces, representing their racial castes; Guide or Soldier. Both subraces get a variant of the canon hobgob's "Saving Face" trait which only applies to two rolls instead of Saving Face's three.
Guide: +1 Int or Cha, Lead by Example (Saving Face, but only for ability checks and saving throws) and The Guiding Arts (free proficiency in 2 of the following skills: History, Medicine, Performance, Persuasion).
Soldier: +1 Str or Dex, Strength in Unity (Saving Face, but only for attack rolls and saving throws), and The Arts of War (free proficiency in 2 of the following sills: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Survival).
Golin'dar are the Eberronian goblins; +2 Dexterity, Small, speed 30 feet, Darkvision 60 feet, and the Lightfoot Halfling ability Naturally Stealthy. They too have a pair of subraces; Artisan or Kesh'dar.
Artisan: +2 Intelligence, free proficiency with one artisan's tool.
Kesh'dar: +1 Wisdom, The Silent Arts (Expertise with Stealth).
Guul'dar, the Eberronian bugbears, are characterized by their bravery, and are almost mechanically identical to the core version, except they can swap their +1 Dexterity for +1 Constitution and trade Sneaky and Sneak Attack for Brave (Advantage on saves vs. Fear) and Stand by the Strong (if an ally within 30 feet fails a save vs. Fear, you can spend your Reaction to let them reroll that save).

Gnolls on Eberron are not the mindless monsters of 5re lore, but a fully sapient and rational people who have turned their backs on their demon worshipping past. The WotC book acknowledges this, but doesn't make them playable. This book amends that mistake. Gnoll PCs get +1 Constition, +2 Strength or Dexterity. They are Medium with base speed 30 feet and Darkvision 60 feet. Their racial traits are Bite (can do 1d4+Str bonus Piercing damage with unarmed strikes), Hunter's Senses (free proficiency with either Perception, Stealth or Survival), and Rampage (if you make a bite attack or reduce a creature to 0 HP, you can spend a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make either a weapon attack or a bite attack).

Artificer: This class gains a couple of new infusions, as well as two new subclasses.

The Forge Adept practices a tradition developed by the ancient Dhakaani, focusing on augmenting weapons and armor, and learning how to wield a piece of their soul as a weapon. They gain free proficiency with smith's tools, and the bonus spells Armor of Agathys, Shield of Faith, Spiritual Weapon, Warding Bond, Beacon of Hope, Remove Curse, Death Ward, Fire Shield, Banishing Smite and Wall of Force. Their Battle Ready feature (3rd level) grants them both Proficiency with Martial Weapons and the ability to use Intelligence for attack & damage rolls with magic weapons. Their other 3rd level feature, Gaal'Shaarat, lets the artificer create a bonus infused simple or martial melee weapon that grants a +1 bonus to attack & damage rolls (increasing to +2 at 8th level and +3 at 13th level) and has the "return when thrown" power. The gaal'shaarat only functions for the Forge Adept. At 5th level, they gain the Extra Attack feature. At 9th level, they gain Runes of War, which is a 30ft aura from the artificer that can be activated as an action Int modifier times per day, which lasts for 1 minute and gives all selected creatures within its area of effect +1d4 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage with their weapon attacks. Finally, 15th level gives them the Perfect Weapon feature; at the start of each turn they can lower their gaal'shaarat's to hit and damage bonuses to boost their AC (+1 AC per -1 to both attack roll and damage roll), and after completing a long rest, they can apply either of two bonus enchantments to their gaal'shaarat; Resistance to Psychic Damage + Immunity to Charm and Fear, or +1d6 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage.
The Maverick is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none artificer whose chaotic experimentation has imbued them with spellcasting abilities beyond those of the common artificer. The Maverick's enhanced spell list goes beyond the normal "bonus spells" class feature. Instead, they start with the 3rd level features Arcane Breakthroughs (choose either Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer or Wizard; you can learn these spells as if they were artificer spells...and you get another class's spell list to play with at levels 5, 9, 13 and 17 - also, you gain a bonus spell memorization slot for 1st through 5th level spells that can only be filled by one of these bonus spells) and Cantrip Specialist (you gain +1 cantrip, and can swap out one of your known cantrips as part of a short rest). At 5th level, they gain Cantrip Savant (+1 to attack rolls and spell save DC with artificer cantrips or Breakthrough cantrips, increases by +1 at 9th and 15th level, can replace a cantrip as an action 1/day). At 9th level, they gain both Superior Breakthroughs (an Arcane Breakthroughs bonus spell can be cast with a +2 slot level bonus Int modifier times per day) and Work in Progress (1/rest, you can use an action to swap out one of your prepared spells). Finally, 15th level brings with it the Final Breakthrough (a second bonus Arcane Breakthrough spell slot, plus a bonus spell slot for 5th level artificer spells).

Bard: College of the Dirge Singer. Despite the name's association with bardic necromancers, the Eberronian dirge singer is a military morale booster and oral historian, in a tradition created by the Dhakaani goblinoids. Its 3rd level features are Broad Inspiration (Guidance as a bonus cantrip, can grant Bardic Inspiration to two creatures within 60 feet by spending a use as a bonus action, Bardic Inspiration die remains d6 at 5th level and becomes a d8 at 10th level and a d10 at 15th level) and Keeper of History (gain Proficiency in either History or Performance - if already proficient in both, then gain Proficiency in either Arcana, Intimidation or Persuasion, and also gain Expertise in either History or Performance). 6th level brings with it the Commanding Voice (when an Inspired ally attacks, you can spend a reaction to grant it an extra attack with Inspiration). Finally, 14th level brings with it the Master Commander feature (you can use Countercharm as a bonus action, Countercharmed allies gain +d4 to their ability check or saving throw).

Cleric: The Mind Domain is a blending of divine magic and psionics, and is associated with deities of the cerebral or the insane. The [kalashtar]] Path of Light, and its dark counterpart the Path of Inspiration are associated with this domain, but so are the Cults of the Dragon Below. Its 1st level features are Flash of Insight (can reroll an ability check result, before learning if it succeeds or fails, 2/short rest) and Psychic Force (cleric spells and cantrips you cast can change Radiant damage for Psychic Damage). Their 2nd level Channel Divinity is Psychic Feedback (if a creature within 30 feet has to make a Wisdom save, use your reaction + Channel Divinity to impose Disadvantage - also, inflict Psychic damage equal to half your cleric level if the check wasn't prompted by a spell you cast). 6th level grants the feture Gestalt Anchor (when you're conscious, you and allies within 10 feet gain +2 to Int, Wis and Cha saves). 8th level grants the Potent Spell feature. Finally, at 17th level, they gain Bend Reality (grant an ally within 30 feet a nat 20 on a failed save 1/rest).

Druid: Circle of the Forged. As the name implies, this is primarily a Circle associated with Warforged druids, who seek to find a way to assume animal form whilst retaining their nature as living constructs. However, other races have also learned from their experiments, seeking to blend artifice and primal magic to become mechanical animals. Druids of this Circle can shapeshift into CR 1 or less creatures from 2nd level, and from 6th level their Wild Shape CR limit becomes "1/3rd Druid Level, rounded down" - they don't follow the normal table. Their 2nd level feature is Skin of Steel (in Wild Shape, you look like a warforged version of an animal, but this gives you +2 AC, Advantage on saves vs. Poison, Resistance to Poison, Immunity to Disease and Magical sleep, and don't need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep). 6th level brings with it Elemental Fury (when you enter Wild Shape, choose either Acid, Cold, Fire or Lighting; your first melee attack of each turn can be imbued with that energy by spending a spellslot; it does +d6 damage per slot level, up to +5d6, and the target then falls afoul of a 5eification of a 4e style ongoing effect depending on which damage type you used). 10th level brings with it Adamantine Hide (Wild Shape gains Resistance to Nonmagical Physical Damage, plus you can shift to Wild Shape as a reaction to damage and thus take the damage from your beast form), and 14th level brings Constructed Perfection (Wild Shape grants Immunity to Charm, Fright, Paralsysis, Petrification, Poisoned and Poison Damage).

Monk: The Way of the Living Weapon is a collection of different martial arts traditions developed by nonhuman races of Eberron to better exploit their natural weaponry in combat. The Forged Heart was developed by Warforged, the Nightmare Shroud by Kalashtar, the Traveler's Blade by Changelings, and the Weretouched by Shifters (obviously). Mechanically, this gives the player the option to choose one of these four styles as the basis for their 3rd level feature (Martial Discipline) and their 17th level feature (Perfect Form). All Monks on this subclass gain the 3rd level features Fists of Bone and Steel (martial arts damage die with unarmed strikes is d6 at 3rd level, d 8 at 5th, d10 at 11th and d12 at 17th) and utable Strike (unarmed strikes can do slashing, bludgeoning or piercing damage as you choose), the 6th level feature Manifest Blow (After each long rest, choose either Magical Bludgeoning, Magical Piercing, Magical Slashing, Cold, Lightning, Necrotic, Psychic or Thunder; your first attack on each turn does +1d6 damage of that type), and the 11th level feature Reflexive Adaptation (can spend 1 ki point to add +1d20 to an Athletics or Acrobatics check, Manifest Blow increases to +2d6). A character doesn't have to take the same substyle for both Martial Discipline and Perfect Form, and a sidebar talks about how to flavor characters who take this path and either take the techniques not associated with their race, or just take the class without being one of those four races.

Chapter 7: Treasures

New magical items; common, Dhakaani, dragonmarks, miscellaneous and symbionts.

Chapter 8: Friends and Foes

A brief assortment of new monsters for the Eberron setting. This includes stats for Valaara the Crawling Queen and tips on how to run her and the other Daelkyr, stats for two lords of Thelanis (The Forest Queen and the Forgotten Prince) and tips for roleplaying them, and stats for the Du’ulora, one of the kinds of Quori not statted out in Rising From the Last War.