Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is a brand new type of product for Wizards of the Coast – an growth to an present Dungeons & Dragons rulebook. The brand new Eberron sourcebook is billed as an “exhaustive complement” to the 2019 Eberron: Rising From the Final Conflict and steadily references the e book when mentioning Eberron lore and locale. Though billing the brand new e book as an growth frees the designers from having to rehash previous lore, it appears like a little bit of a misstep to not reintroduce the marketing campaign setting for brand new gamers leaping into D&D for a primary time due to the 2024 revised Fifth Version ruleset. Nonetheless, Forge of the Artificer firmly sticks with its meant scope of rejiggering Eberron particular participant choices for 2024 guidelines, whereas additionally introducing new Bastions materials, beefed up airship guidelines, and a few marketing campaign tips. The e book is not a house run just like the pair of Forgotten Realms rulebooks launched final month, however it’s nonetheless a stable funding offered you are already accustomed to Eberron or have prepared entry to Rising From the Final Conflict.
Eberron: The Golden Stepchild of D&D
As somebody who found D&D in Fifth Version, Eberron has all the time had a wierd match to D&D. I am accustomed to Eberron’s historical past – it emerged because the winner of a contest looking for out a model new Fantasy Setting for the sport and was supported extensively for Third Version and Fourth Version. Eberron may be very completely different from different D&D worlds, however not in a nasty method. The fantasy steampunk/noir themes permit for very completely different tales to be advised inside D&D, and it additionally birthed the Artificer, a singular class that stands other than different D&D courses due to how tied it’s to the Eberron setting. Whereas the Artificer can be utilized in non-Eberron campaigns, it is arduous to not bleed parts of Eberron right into a marketing campaign that options an Artificer character. Eberron is a singular jewel inside D&D’s catalog of worlds, with Wizards’ remedy of the world holding it other than different D&D worlds.
Nonetheless, I do really feel like Eberron hasn’t developed or grown a lot since its 2004 debut, and that is still true for Forge of the Artificer. The truth that the e book so extensively references a 6-year previous e book when referencing its lore speaks fairly clearly that Eberron is a moderately static sample. Whereas different marketing campaign settings (such because the Forgotten Realms or Ravenloft) have seen loads of updates, however Eberron’s 2025 updates are moderately muted by comparability. Dragonmarks, as soon as largely confined to sure species, can now be discovered on characters of any species, and the Khoravar species has emerged as a strategy to additional scrub the concept of “half-species” from D&D with out discarding any of Eberron’s wealthy lore.
I’m curious how Wizards treats Eberron sooner or later. It appears uncertain that we’ll ever get an Eberron-specific journey, however it does really feel like there’s nonetheless loads of meat left on the proverbial bone, even when Wizards does not need to advance the world in any method. The addition of a a lot wanted fifth subclass for the Artificer is a begin, however I can not assist however ponder whether Wizards will depart the Artificer to languish for one more 5 years, much like the stretch between Tasha’s Cauldron of All the pieces and this e book. It could good to see Eberron obtain continued help, particularly as Wizards does deal with the marketing campaign setting in another way than the rest in its catalogue. Nonetheless, I am a bit uncertain provided that Wizards has restricted design assets and solely so many bodily releases per yr.
Do not Name Them Marketing campaign Frames
I want I may actually present extra substantive ideas on the player-facing choices on this e book, however all the pieces right here appears simply nice to me. The Dragonmarks feats all observe a particular design sample (add a D4 when making a particular type of test, plus forged two spells and not using a spell slot as soon as per Lengthy Relaxation), and the Artificer appears to be largely in keeping with what we noticed within the Unearthed Arcana. The Cartographer acquired some tweaks in response to the playtesting, though I really feel it is nonetheless an underbaked subclass when it comes to energy stage. The up to date species appear to be fairly much like the 2019 variations, simply shifted round to suit inside 2024 guidelines. All the pieces right here appears simply….nice, principally as a result of (save for the Cartographer and a few Backgrounds) it is all similar to what we have seen earlier than.
As for the remainder of the e book, the factor that jumped out to me most had been the marketing campaign outlines present in Chapters 4-6. The general chapters present some deeper steerage on how one can run varied sorts of campaigns inside Eberron, starting from pulpy investigators to battle between Dragonmarked homes to archeological discoveries. Every chapter has just a few condensed outlines of potential campaigns that lays out the final story beats of a marketing campaign whereas leaving the specifics as much as the DM to run. We noticed one thing comparable in Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun. I can not assist however ponder whether these are going to be an indicator of the revised 2024 rulebooks alongside the brand new plug and play one-page adventures we have seen within the Dungeon Grasp’s Information and Adventures in Faerun. I like the instance marketing campaign thought, because it exhibits the final tempo of an prolonged marketing campaign with out truly dictating an excessive amount of of it. The Rival Adventurers define might be probably the most helpful of those, because it lays out how a staff of rival adventurers grows in energy (through instance statblocks) as they progress via the marketing campaign. I simply hope they do not substitute the complete size marketing campaign product, that are useful instruments even when the standard of the campaigns have dipped lately.
All in all, Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is a bizarre product. It isn’t unhealthy by any stretch, particularly for the $30 worth level, however I hope merchandise that lean into 5+ yr previous merchandise do not turn into a development in D&D’s catalog. I additionally suppose that this half-book demonstrates that Wizards does not actually know how one can construct off of Eberron past the Artificer class itself. In an ideal world, Eberron can be getting a remedy much like the Forgotten Realms, with video video games, books, and RPG merchandise serving to to develop it. Nonetheless, I do not really feel Wizards sees Eberron as something greater than a curiosity, given its remedy this yr.
