Wizards of the Coast announced it would be releasing a new sourcebook focused on the magic steampunk-inspired world of Eberron. The new book will update the Artificer class for the revised Fifth Edition ruleset and add other player options for the new game, as well as explore regions of Eberron not seen in Eberron: Rising From The Last War.

This week, the D&D design team announced a new Unearthed Arcana playtest via D&D Beyond, featuring revised rules for the Artificer, a new Artificer subclass, and numerous Dragonmarked feats. The Artificer received several upgrades with an eye to more consistent uses of some of its abilities, while the new Cartographer subclass grants the Artificer access to an Adventurer's Atlas, a specialized magic tool that grants some short-term movement and teleportation buffs.

Additionally, the new playtest details the updated Dragonmarked feats, with confirmation that the Dragonmarks are no longer tied to specific species.

How Eberron's Dragonmarks Continue An Interesting Fifth Edition Trend

It Appears That Setting-Specific Feats Will Continue To Be A Part Of Dungeons & Dragons

The Dragonmarks are particularly interesting in that they continue two trends first seen in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. Dragonmark feats have two requirements for use. First, players must be in an Eberron campaign to take a Dragonmark feat. Secondly, players can upgrade their Dragonmark via a second feat that can be taken at higher levels, thus creating a kind of feat tree system. Both of these features were in the previous Dragonlance book, and it appears that D&D is continuing to use these design restrictions to delve further into campaigns.

Wizards of the Coast previously confirmed that Dragonmarks (which traditionally have had specific marks limited to single races) would no longer be tied to species moving forward. The playtest also confirmed that players would be limited to one Dragonmark per player, which is based on Eberron lore, but could have been exploited through various rules on Feats in the new Fifth Edition ruleset. Functionally, the D&D design team found a solution that allowed them to open up Dragonmarks in certain ways without leaving loopholes that counter the lore.

Our Take: Eberron's Rulebook Looks To Be A Hit

New D&D Book Looks To Be Very Interesting Based On Multiple Playtests

Personally, I'm hopeful that the Cartographer subclass makes it into Eberron: Forge of the Artificer. It's a mechanically unique subclass that could be a lot of fun and captures a level of area control and protection that we haven't seen in Dungeons & Dragons. The Dragonmark feat restrictions soothe some of my biggest fears about turning Dragonmarks into feats (they previously were variant subraces in Fifth Edition), although some Dragonmarks seem unbalanced compared to others.

All in all, it seems like Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is going in an interesting direction, and I can't wait to see this Dungeons & Dragons book coming soon.

Source: D&D Beyond