Dragonmark
When Keith Baker created the Dungeons & Dragons 3e setting of Eberron, one of the things he wanted to do was to explore the idea of "wide magic"; widely available, but not very powerful, magic. This would justify his setting's dungeonpunk theme and its magitek by way of industrialized magic motif. To do this, he invented two things. The first was the Magewright NPC class. The other was the concept of Dragonmarks.
Connected in some mysterious way to the Draconic Prophecy, Dragonmarks are mystical symbols that appear on an individual's skin, and each of which bestows innate magical abilities based on that mark. Kind of like a birthmark that gives you a quick dip in Sorcerer for free. There are a dozen different Dragonmarks, and each mark comes in one of several levels of complexity; more developed dragonmarks can produce more powerful effects. These levels consist of Least, Lesser and Greater, for the most part, although extremely rare individuals may manifest a Siberys Mark, more powerful than even a GreateR Mark.
There was a 13th Dragonmark, the Mark of Death, but it's gone now. There are also Aberrant Dragonmarks - see below.
The Dragonmarks are tied to specific races, and more specifically to certain bloodlines. These gave rise to the Dragonmarked Houses; one half fantastical megacorp, one half aristocratic family. Through centuries of work, they have both monopolized their mark, binding together all examples of their mark into a single sprawling family tree, and exploited their mark's power to give them an unshakeable place in Khorvaire's functioning, their usefulness allowing them to transcend mere nations as entities of power.
Mechanics for dragonmarks have varied across editions.
In third edition, Dragonmarks are feats you take. You can then improve these feats with sequential feats or dedicated prestige classes. They have lots of magic item support too.
In 4th edition, Dragonmarks were condensed into one feat, and while there was support for them it was less broad than before. It was possible to defy the rules of 3e and have a functioning dragonmark outside of the one(s) associated with your race, but you were told upright that doing this would Get You Noticed, and the DM had every justification and incentive to have people take note of this very exceptional trait of your PC and respond accordingly.
In 5th edition, there were two takes on the rules. The first was in the Eberron Unearthed Arcana, which saw them remain as feats with increasingly powerful spell-like abilities becoming available based on character level. The Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron supplement made it so that true dragonmarks are variant races. The changes of these variants are so extreme the only way they're "variants" is that you still count as human/elf/ect. for effects based on race. These can be improved by taking an extra feat. This does mean the ability to realize your status as a foundling mid-play no longer exists however. 5E also makes mainstream the new concept of claiming your dragonmark as the ultimate source of your magic abilities, typically for Sorcerer or Warlock. This option existed in 3.5, but it was buried in Dragon Magazine.
The Mark of Detection
The Mark of Detection gifts the marked with the ability to ferret out danger whether from an ambush or a cup of poisoned wine. It is born by the half-elven dynasty called House Medani, one of the youngest of the Dragonmarked Houses. The Warning Guild is well known for its personal protection services and anyone holding a meeting with less than trustworthy business partners would do well to spring for a member from the guild to attend. Members of the house who do not manifest the mark often serve as sentries and guards.
- Least: Detect magic 2/day or detect poison 2/day; +2 on Spot checks.
- Lesser: Detect Scrying 1/day or see invisibility 1/day
- Greater: True seeing 1/day
- Siberys: Moment of prescience 1/day
The Mark of Finding
The Mark of Finding grants a marked creature with abilities related to locating people and objects. Originating amongst the humans of House Tharashk, their presence in the orc-controlled Shadow Marches has resulted in the mark being found amongst half-orcs as well. The House is also known as the Finder's Guild; it maintains a monopoly over the ranks of investigators, law enforcement agents, treasure hunters, dragonshard prospectors, bounty hunters and even assassins, or so it's rumored. Members of the house without dragonmarks are often mundane but highly skilled investigators as well as prospectors and guides.
- Least: Identify or locate object 1/day or know direction 2/day
- Lesser: Helping hand or locate creature 1/day
- Greater: Find the path 1/day
- Siberys: Discern location 1/day
The Mark of Handling
The Mark of Handling allows the bearer to care for and control various animals. Found amongst the humans of House Vadalis, the Handlers Guild controls the breeding of both mundane livestock and more exotic pets and beasts of burden. Those of the house who are unmarked often take up professions as breeders, animal handlers and drivers.
- Least: Calm animal, charm animal or speak with animals 1/day; +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks.
- Lesser: Dominate animal or greater magic fang 1/day
- Greater: Animal growth or summon nature's ally V 1/day
- Siberys: Awaken 1/day or Summon nature's ally VI 1/day
The Mark of Healing
The Mark of Healing bestows the marked with magic that can cure and aid those in need. One of the two halfling-held dragonmarks, House Jorasco manages to make a tidy profit as the Healer's Guild because the various faiths of Eberron maintain a strict policy of restricting access to their divine curative spells, even for their own faithful; as such, those seeking both mundane and magical healing almost always turn to the guild. Even those within the Healers Guild who are not marked are expert physicians and herbalists.
- Least: Cure light wounds or lesser restoration 1/day; +2 bonus on Heal checks
- Lesser: Cure serious wounds, neutralize poison, remove desease or restoration 1/day
- Greater: Heal 1/day
- Siberys: Mass Heal 1/day
The Mark of Hospitality
The Mark of Hospitality grants those who bear it powers related to both food and shelter. One of the two halfling-held dragonmarks, House Ghallanda might not control every single inn and restaurant in Khorvaire, but because their Hosteler's Guild sets the golden standard for quality and comfort, they might as well do it; it's very hard to compete with a Guild-run place to stay. Those who lack dragonmarks within the house are still able to run some of the finest establishments in all of Khorvaire and, mark or no, members of House Ghallanda take pride in their services.
- Least: Unseen servant 1/day or purify food and drink or prestidigitation 2/day; +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks
- Lesser: Create food and water or Leomund's secure shelter 1/day
- Greater: Heroes feast or Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion 1/day
- Siberys: Refuge 1/day
The Mark of Making
Those who possess the Mark of Making can mend and create inanimate objects with its power. The human-based House Cannith may not be the only source of artificers and magewrights in Eberron, but membership in their exclusive Tinkers Guild commands a great deal of respect. In fact, House Cannith is so powerful that it has a second Guild it operates through; , the Fabricators Guild is made up exclusively of members who possess lesser or greater dragonmarks and are able to not only mend broken items but create entirely new ones. Those who are not marked usually take on roles as well-off artisans or, in rarer cases, mundane tinkers.
- Least: Make whole or repair light damage 1/day or mending 2/day; +2 bonus on Craft checks
- Lesser: Minor creation or repair serious damage 1/day
- Greater: Fabricate or major creation 1/day
- Siberys: True Creation 1/day
The Mark of Passage
The Mark of Passage grants its bearer magic related to transportation and in more advanced marks teleportation. One of the many human-based Dragonmarks, House Orien and their Courier's Guild handles pretty much everything related to carrying packages, cargo and passengers great distances all across Khorvaire. Marked members are often lightning rail overseers and caravan guides. Unmarked house members generally operate within a smaller range, such as a single city or small region as mundane couriers.
- Least: Expeditious retreat, mount or dimension leap 1/day; +2 bonus on Survival checks.
- Lesser: Dimension door or phantom steed 1/day
- Greater: Overland flight or teleport 1/day
- Siberys: Greater teleport 1/day
The Mark of Scribing
The Mark of Scribing gives its bearers access to a variety of power related to the written word and communication, often over great distances. As such, the gnomes of House Sivis and the Speaker's Guild serve as everything from translators and mediators to diplomats, messengers and notaries, even amongst their members who lack marks. Those who have the more powerful kinds of marks hold a monopoly over long-ranged communication in Eberron.
- Least: Whispering winds or comprehend languages 1/day or arcane mark 2/day; +2 bonus on Decipher Script checks
- Lesser: Illusory script , secret page or tongues 1/day
- Greater: Sending 1/day
- Siberys: Symbol of death 1/day
The Mark of Sentinel
The bearers of the Mark of Sentinel possess a number of powers designed to keep others from coming to harm. House Deneith, a human-based house, operates the Defenders Guild, which offers comprehensive bodyguard services to persons of position and wealth, as well as providing the sentinel marshals, a branch of law-enforcement officials whose jurisdiction crosses national boundaries. All members of House Deneith operate in this field, but the marked ones command the highest prices.
- Least: Mage armor, protection from arrows, shield of faith or shield other 1/day; +2 bonus to Sense Motive checks
- Lesser: Protection from energy, lesser globe of invulnerability 1/day
- Greater: Globe of invulnerability 1/day
- Siberys: Mind blank 1/day
The Mark of Shadow
The Mark of Shadows benefits its bearer with both invasive scrying magic as well as illusory abilities used for deception. Unusually, there are two Dragonmarked Houses who claim jurisdiction over this mark; the original House Phiarlan and its younger offshoot, the rebellious House Thuranni, which separated due to the internal conflicts that racked the greater house during the Last War. Both houses still use the marks and their non-magical skills for intelligence gathering, spying, and other covert activities while still pursuing mercantile wealth through entertainers and artisans of all kinds.
House Phiarlan controls the mysterious Artisans Guild. Outwardly a group of entertainers and companions, they are in reality a vast spy web operating throughout Breland, Thrane, and Aundair. House Thuranni and their Shadow Network are based in the Lhazaar Principalities who stretch their influence into Karrnath, Droaam, Q'Barra, and even into the ranks of the Emerald Claw, at the behest of the fickle princes. Both houses also employ unmarked spies, disguised as dancers, musicians, and artists. House Thuranni isn't quite as powerful as its progenitor, but it specializes in assassination, and here manages to out-do them.
- Least: Darkness, disguise self or minor image 1/day; +2 bonus on Gather Information checks
- Lesser: Clairaudience/clairvoyance, shadow conjuration or scrying 1/day
- Greater: Mislead, prying eyes or shadow walk 1/day
- Siberys: Greater prying eyes or greater scrying 1/day
The Mark of Storm
The Mark of Storm gives its bearer power over the weather, from calm winds to raging rainstorms. A Half-Elf bloodline, House Lyrander is one of the few Dragonmarked Houses to operate two guilds; the WIndwright Guild, which all but monopolizes the business of shipping and transportation across sea and sky, and the Raincallers Guild, which is intimately tied into agriculture, using its powers to aid farmers during times of flood or drought. Unmarked house members are often successful farmers, crew mates on water based and air ships or plantation owners.
- Least: Endure elements, fog cloud or gust of wind 1/day; +2 bonus on Balance checks
- Lesser: Sleet storm, wind's favor or wind wall 1/day
- Greater: Control winds or control weather 1/day
- Siberys: Storm of vengeance 1/day
The Mark of Warding
The Mark of Warding is used to protect people, places and things from all manner of damage or harm, with a focus on guarding locations and items from would-be thieves. This is the only mark to have manifested in dwarf bearers, and House Kundarak exploits its powers twicefold; not only does the dwarven Warding Guild offer its services in security, keeping businesses and personal homes safe from unwanted intruders, the dwarves also manage the largest bank and the largest prison in all of Khorvaire. Unmarked members often obtain jobs as trapmakers, security consultation, private security, and bankers.
- Least: Alarm, arcane lock, fire trap or misdirection 1/day; +2 bonus on Search checks
- Lesser: Explosive runes, glyph of warding or nondetection 1/day
- Greater: Mordenkainen's faithful hound, greater glyph of warding or guards and wards 1/day
- Siberys: Prismatic wall 1/day
The Mark of Death
This is the Lost Dragonmark, destroyed when the elf family that held it was wiped out by angry dragons for having created a Half-Dragon Elf. Ironically, that hybrid survived, by becoming a lich, and went on to found the Blood of Vol. Even more ironically, in her undead state, she can't use the powers of her mark anymore. Weirdly enough, the hybrid, Erandis, is usually depicted as the corpse of a grown woman, despire the fact that she was raised as a teenager, and undead don't age.
The Mark of Death is one of the few "mysteries" of Eberron, in that Keith Baker has stated that the truth of its nature will never be revealed in an official supplement. Keith has stated that the true nature of the Mark of Death, like that of the Day of Mourning, is for the Dungeon Master to decide. In his opinion it would not kill, because Dragonmarks are almost universally positive/constructive in their effects: hospitality, creation, taming, etc. As such, the Mark of Death would do things more along the lines of speaking with the deceased, raising undead and controlling them (as well as those previously reanimated), or setting undead to rest. He also stated that, in his view, the Dragonmark that Lady Vol possessed was not a Siberys Mark, but even more powerful because of her draconic heritage. Essentially, she is a living Eldritch Machine.
Aberrant Dragonmarks
So, the Dragonmarked Houses have the market and the potential for Dragonmarks all sewn up, right? Wrong. Every so often, a person of any race is born with a Dragonmark that doesn't quite match up with the others. It has unique powers, sometimes quite potent, but it also tends to have strange side-effects. It's possible that, given time, an Aberrant Dragonmark could stabilize and become a new Mark; the 12 Dragonmarks may owe their existence to interbreeding between the Aberrant-Marked and stabilization. However, Khorvaire society demonizes those who bear Aberrant Dragonmarks; after all, the Dragonmarked Houses don't need competition.
This hasn't stopped "House Tarkanan", a group of Aberrant-Marked souls, from banding together and exploiting their unique powers to try and gain material wealth and authority.
3.5 Edition: In the Eberron Campaign Setting page 47 the aberrant dragonmark can be taken as a feat by player characters. While the aberrant dragonmark is said to be imposible to improve in the ECS, the splatbook Dragonmarked overrides this and presents a lesser and greater aberrant dragonmark feat. A saving throw against one of your aberrant dragonmark spell-like abilities has a DC of 10 + the level of the spell + your Cha modifier. The caster level for your aberrant dragonmark spell-like abilities is equal to X + one-half your character level, where the X is a value determined by the power of your Mark (base: 0, so you just have Caster Level equal to 1/2 your character level or 1, whichever is higher, Lesser: 3, Greater: 5). Whenever you use an Aberrant Mark ability, you must succeed on a Fortitude save with the DC determined by the power level invoked (DC 10 for a base mark ability, DC 10 for a Lesser Mark ability, DC 15 for a Greater Mark ability) or be dazed for 1 round.
- Aberrant Mark: You can use one of the following spell-like abilities once per day. Burning hands, cause fear, charm person, chill touch, detect secret doors, feather fall, inflict light wounds, jump, light, pass without trace, produce flame, shield, Tenser’s floating disk.
- Lesser Aberrant Mark: You can use one of the following spell-like abilities the indicated number of times per day, and you can use your base aberrant mark power +1 time per day. Bestow curse 1/day, contagion 1/day, darkvision 2/day, death knell 2/day, false life 2/day, poison 1/day, rage 1/day, scare 2/day, scorching ray 2/day, sleet storm 1/day, suggestion 1/day, summon swarm 2/day, touch of idiocy 2/day, or vampiric touch 1/day.
- Greater Aberrant Mark: You can use one of the following spell-like abilities the indicated number of times per day, and you can use your base aberrant mark power and your lesser aberrant mark power +1 time per day each. Cloudkill 1/day, cone of cold 1/day, confusion 2/day, dominate person 1/day, enervation 2/day, fear 2/day, feeblemind 1/day, fire shield 2/day, flame strike 1/day, insect plague 1/day, mass inflict light wounds 1/day, phantasmal killer 2/day, or slay living 1/day.
4th Edition: In the Eberron Player's Guide pages 86-87 three Aberrant marks are available to player characters as feats which apply riders to the character's Daily Powers. The aberrant marks are as follows:
- Aberrant Mark of Contagion: Enemies you hit with a Daily Power suffer a -2 penalty to saves against Ongoing Damage.
- Aberrant Mark of Madness: Enemies you hit with a Daily Power suffer a -2 penalty to their Will defense.
- Aberrant Mark of Terror: Enemies you hit with a Daily Power suffer a -1 penalty to their attack rolls against you; this is a Fear effect.
5th Edition: Aberrant Dragonmarks are a feat. What's different here is that any race, not just dragonmarked ones (Yes, even Warforged), can take the feat. This time they can get any 0th and 1st level spell and spend HP to increase the effective slot they were cast from.