Exploring Eberron

Another product from the DM's Guild, and another item supporting Eberron in 5e from the creator of the setting, "Exploring Eberron" is a 249-page PDF (with Print-on-Demand option) split into eight chapters. Intended as a companion piece to the hardback "Eberron: Rising from the Last War", this shows a slightly different slant on the setting - something of a "director's cut", bing Keith Baker's own take on the setting, or at least part of it.

The chapters in brief are:

• Discovering Eberron: 26 pages on ancient and recent history, and then some material on forms of magic and artifice.
• Races of Eberron: 16 pages covering Changelings, one Elven culture, Kalashtar, Shifters, and Warforged.
• Faiths of Eberron: 32 pages on various religions, and a brief look at the Aasimar.
• Uncharted Domains: 62 pages detailing heretofore uncovered areas: Droaam, the Dhakaan, the Mror Holds, and the Thunder Sea.
• Planes of Existence: A further 62 pages looking at the various planes in a bit more detail.
• Character Options: The inevitable grab-bag of new backgrounds, subraces, feats, and subclasses. This one runs to 16 pages.
• Treasures: 12 pages of new magic items, focusing on items unique to Eberron - dragonshards, symbionts, etc.
• Friends and Foes: 14ish pages of new monsters.

There is an awful lot to like here. It's composed, written, and illustrated in much the same way as an "official" book, and the experience of the team here rivals that of most published products. Plus, of course, Baker's knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, Eberron is second to none.

For me, the highlights were definitely the two chapters on Uncharted Domains and the Planes of Existence. As can perhaps be gathered, I wasn't so keen on the last three chapters - as noted, they pretty much felt like things that had to be there, rather than game-changers. That said, I don't think any of the material is bad, and may well use, or allow, it into my games. But it did leave me a little cold.

I would recommend this one to people who like Eberron, and liked "Rising from the Last War" but who want a bit more. (And I would definitely recommend it over "Morgrave Miscellany".) But I probably wouldn't recommend this in isolation, or to someone who didn't like, or didn't care for, Eberron as a setting.

One final thought: I'm now at a point where I think I have almost enough Eberron material. If WotC produce another hardback I'll certainly take a look, and if Keith Baker produces more products on the DM's Guild then I'll likewise consider them, but I'm probably only in the market for one of each now, at least until such time as I actually make use of the setting for another campaign...

Oops. Also, a name change

I've been reading a Eberron sourcebook recently (more on which soon), which has thrown up a realisation: the name of my Dragonborn empire of lore was lifted, albeit slightly modified, from Eberron. This was unintentional, of course, but probably somewhat influenced by the role that it played in a previous campaign.

As a consequence of this I have had to change the name of said empire: Atkalasa has become Talkalasa. (Tal-kalasa, rather than Talk-alasa...)

I've edited the three blog posts that made reference to the old name - a bit of revisionist history I would prefer to avoid, but given that the blog is essentially the repository of my work-in-progress, one that was probably necessary in this case.

House Rule: Ability Score Generation

In light of recent events, WotC have decided to change the way that they're handling ability score adjustments for PCs. Specifically, they no longer want some races to be a better fit for some classes. Personally, I've never had a problem with this, but on the other hand I would also have much preferred to see racial ability score adjustments dropped with the advent of 5e, so I'm not particularly bothered by the change.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all keen on how they've chosen to implement it, so here is the alternative I'm considering adopting:

Note: In all cases, characters generated using these methods do not get the state ability score increases listed for their race. The whole point of these house rules is to eliminate those increases, after all!

Method 1: Random Roll

If you choose to random roll, you roll 4d6 and drop the lowest for each of your six ability scores, and then arrange these values to suit. In addition, you may choose a Feat for your character.

Two conditions:

1. If you choose to randomly roll your character's ability scores, you are expected to accept the results of the roll however the dice lie. Randomly rolled characters are, on average, slightly more powerful than those generated by other means (and have at least the possibility of starting with an 18), but at the risk of suffering lower results.
2. You are expected to play the resulting character in good faith. No suiciding the character!

Method 2: Standard Array

If you wish to use the standard array, check the table below and select the array listed for your character's race and/or subrace. Arrange those values to suit.

Note that if you choose to use the standard array you must use those values exactly as listed. Characters with the standard array are nominally slightly more powerful than those generated via point buy, but this comes at the cost of losing flexibility.

Method 3: Point Buy

If you wish to use point buy, check the table below to get a number of points to spend for your character's race and/or subrace. You may then spend these points according to the costs given in the following table:

Score	Cost		Score	Cost
8	0		13	5
9	1		14	7
10	2		15	9
11	3		16	12
12	4		17	1

"Variant" Characters

If you prefer, you may accept a lower set of starting attributes in exchange for some additional Racial Traits.

To create a variant character, select either Method 2 (Standard Array) or Method 3 (Point Buy). Consult the table below for the array or point buy allowance for Variant characters. Additionally, variant characters generated using Method 3 are limited to a maximum ability score of 16.

In addition, variant characters gain the following traits:

• Feat: You gain one feat of your choice.
• Skill: You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.

Main Table

The table below shows the standard array and point buy allowances for each race and/or subrace, as well as those used for variant characters:

Race	Standard Array	Point Buy	Variant Array	Variant Point Buy
Half-elf, Human, Mountain Dwarf	17, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8	38	16, 15, 14, 13, 10, 8	32
All others	17, 15, 14, 12, 10, 8	35	16, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8	30

A Quick Note on Table Construction

The point buy costs for scores of 16 and 17 were derived by extending the relevant table from the PHB - the rule seems to be that going from score N to N+1 costs a number of points equal to the modifier of the new score, with a minimum of 1.

The point buy allocations for the various races were then initially generated by assuming the most efficient allocation of the bonuses and working backwards. This was then rounded to reduce the number of entries. Essentially, though, if a race or subraces granted a +2 and a +1, or three +1s, this gave a value of 35 points; if a race or subrace granted two +2s, a +2 and two +1s, or six +1s then this gave a value of 38 points. The variant allocations represent the reduction of of the variant human from six +1s to two.

Finally, the standard arrays represent a point buy value of 40 points for humans, 35 for variant humans, 37 for most other races, and then 32 points for variants of those races. This represents a small increase in nominal power, but comes at the cost of flexibility - that is why characters who use the standard array must use it exactly as presented.

House Rule: Minor Spellcasting

I've been using a house rule in 5e right from the start without ever really mentioning it. I call it the "Minor Spellcasting Rule" - both because it relates to minor spellcasting and because it's a pretty minor rule.

There are several ways that a character can gain the ability to gain a small number of spells that are not directly associated with the characters class(es): the high elf, forest gnome, and tiefling races all grant one or more spells; and the magic initiate feat likewise. (And, of course, other means have been added in books after the PHB. Each of these means specifies a spellcasting ability for the spells granted.

The "Minor Spellcasting Rule" is a fairly small bit of tidying up: if you are a member of a spellcasting class and you also gain minor spellcasting via your race, a feat, or some other means, your spellcasting ability for the minor spellcasting is the same as for your class.

(For multiclass characters there are two additional considerations. Firstly, if you have two spellcasting classes and also gain minor spellcasting from somewhere else, you can choose which of your class spellcasting abilities to use. Secondly, if you have a spellcasting class and also a non-spellcasting class that grants some form of minor spellcasting, the Minor Spellcasting Rule applies - that is, the minor spellcasting from your non-spellcasting class uses the spellcasting ability from your spellcasting class. But then, I don't actually use multiclassing, so this is just listed for completeness.)

Favourite Things About Each Edition of D&D

This discussion came up on ENWorld recently, and I thought it was interesting enough to duplicate here:

OD&D, B/X: Never played.

BECMI: My introduction to the game. I liked the relative simplicity of it all, and I also liked the way that the boxes gradually built on one another, allowing the game to become more involved as we gained experience with it. (I should note that I never got to the "MI" part of this version - moved to 2nd Ed.)

1st Ed: This edition seems to have the bulk of the best adventures, and also seems to be the place where many of the iconic concepts that we now take for granted originated. Even the relative rawness of it is something of a plus - it's unlikely that something like "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" would be tried now if it hadn't been done before. So, lots of creativity here.

2nd Ed: Possibly controversial, but IMO 2nd Ed is better than 1st - largely because the writing is much cleaner and the organisation much better. (If I'd graduated from BECMI to 1st Ed it's likely I would not now be a gamer.) The expanded format of monsters used in the Monstrous Compendium (though not the folders!) was a highlight. But the best thing about the edition was the settings: for me, it was Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and Dark Sun that were the highlights.

3e/3.5e: On reading the 3e PHB it was immediately obvious to me that this was the edition I never knew I always wanted. Obviously, over time the weaknesses in the mechanics of this edition became sorely apparent, but just having a set of consistent mechanics was a massive step forward. Also, while 2nd Ed really shone in its settings, it was 3e that gave us my absolute favourite in Eberron, as well as the single best setting book I've seen in the FRCS.

4e: In most ways my least-favourite edition (hey, something has to be), 4e had a lot of good ideas, many of which have been sadly dropped. The Bloodied condition is something I still use. But my favourite was the explicitly-stated monster roles and the Solo/Elite/regular/Minion split - that really helped with encounter design.

5e: In many ways I find this to be a truer successor to 2nd Ed than the previous two editions, in a good way - it has the cleaned up mechanics, but also lacks the complexity of a 3e or 4e. But right now the single biggest highlights are the "Starter Set" (for "Lost Mine of Phandelver") and the "Essentials Kit" (for everything except the included adventure).