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If this product has a downside it is that no great detail is invested in any one concept. The book wants to cover a broad array of Eberron focused ideas concerning magic and it does an admirable job. Additionally, while the product name suggests it is just about magic it actually includes a moderate amount of information on psionics as well. If you want more powers and fiddly bits that evoke an Eberron feel then this is a great product.
The Physical Thing
Magic of Eberron is a 160 page full color hardcover that showcases above average production values. The formatting is excellent, leading to an attractive easy to read product. The art is very good, and the detailed full color maps clearly illustrate an organization’s facilities. More importantly, the art is logically presented with the appropriate subject matter. Instead of just an unconnected setting piece, most of the art here ties into the concepts being discussed. This makes for a much more evocative product.The Ideas
This product has several things going on, and it’s fair to divide them into three groups. First, the product provides a very broad overview of Eberron specific magical concepts. This includes flavorful supporting spells, Feats, and other standard d20 mechanics but it also means more support is presented for dragon shards, Artificer infusions, and specific organizations. Second, the book has a number of concepts that link to elemental binding. This includes binding elementals to a person’s body, binding them into objects, and other applications. Finally, there is an aberration theme to some of the things introduced. This is most obvious with the Daelkyr Half Blood race, but can be seen as well with the aberration binding (body alterations) and aberration focused magic items.By far this is a general product, with no focus other than magical things found in Eberron.. The two reoccurring concepts I mention are simply the most common of the diverse themes.
Under the Cover
The book kicks off with a detailed index-like table of contents that makes for easy reference. A one page introduction briefly discusses magic in Eberron and mentions what books are needed for this product. The core books, Eberron Campaign Setting, and the Expanded Psionics Handbook are essential. The book mentions the Epic Level Handbook, but I cannot easily find a need for it and have not required it while using this product in play. If you are not using the psionics rules you will find a moderate amount of content in this book to be of no use.Chapter 1 Magic in Eberron 26 pages.
A number of plot hooks involving artifice and magic in Eberron are sprinkled throughout this chapter, and they provide just enough ideas to stimulate the imagination. A complete system for binding elementals is introduced, providing step by step directions. The system is written both to be evocative in terms of roleplay but also to take advantage of game mechanics. I question whether opposed Charisma checks are a reasonable method for ultimately binding the elemental. I would favor Knowledge: Arcane, Concentration (which is used for the first stage), or a similar skill. The most forceful binder in the world only has a 20% (+4 bonus) greater chance than an average fisherman of binding an elemental.
Next a discussion of Dragon Shard harvesting is presented, along with a map of a cavern with Khyber Shards. Generally, Dragon Shards are either picked up off the ground or mined and different parts of the world possess them in varied quantities. The Draconic Prophecy is briefly discussed. Neither of these discussions are particularly helpful (because they are vague), though I do like the idea that more Siberys Shards fall near the equator.
Daelkyr Magic, magic focused on perverting life and creating bizarre mutations, is briefly discussed. Dragon Totem Rituals, Psionics, Aerenal Magic, Karnath Magic, and two briefly described magical organizations are also introduced. All of the entries in this chapter include a variety of detail, but on the whole they tend to be very vague. I’ve run two campaigns since I purchased this book, and I have never consulted it for anything presented in the first chapter. WOTC clearly wants to hold back extensive information on Eberron, and while it’s great that DMs have plenty of room to do what they want it’s not good for a book focused on that very material. Instead of introducing vague new concepts like Dragon Totem Rituals the book should really delve deeper into cultural magic.
The new organizations are similarly uninspiring. The Finder’s guild is sponsored by the House with the Mark of Finding to find things. While it’s great that organizations with an adventuring focus continue to be presented in Eberron products, this is the height of blandness.
Chapter 2 Character Options 16 pages.
This chapter kicks off with two new races: the Daelkyr Half-Blood and the Psi-Forged. The Daelkyr Half-Blood is flavorful, interesting, and has no level adjustment attached. Basically it’s a race of half-aberrations that rely on a monstrous symbiont to survive. They gain a familiar-like symbiont as well as Darkvision and a resistance to magical mind reading.
The Psiforged are Warforged characters with the Psiforged Body Feat taken at 1st level, representing psionically charged crystals growing all over the Warforged’s body which allow for the storing of 1pp/2 levels and gives the Warforged 1 extra power point. The description is as you would expect, the only notable aspect of the Psiforged is that they tend to be curious. Both the Daelkyr Half-Blood and the Psiforged get a multipage workup as well as several condensed NPC stat blocks for example members of the race.
A new class is introduced as well. The Psionic Artificer replaces the Magic Item Creation Feats of an Artificer with Psionic Item Creation Feats. A few skills are replaced with psionic skills, and the class otherwise functions exactly the same. Infusions and core statistics remain unchanged. It’s a neat, playable class but generally feels uninspired. I would rather have had an entirely new class instead of a simple variant on the Artificer.
The new Feats presented here are very Eberron focused. Feats for Artificers, magic item creation, elemental summoning, that use Action Points, and other similarly Eberron specific Feats are provided. There are few that could see use outside of Eberron (as they require Action Points, Artificer abilities, etc). On the whole I consider the Feat list to be a little sub par, as there are few Feats that I would expect players to be interested in. I’ve made this book available for two campaigns, each with Artificers and arcane spellcasters, and no one was interested in making use of this content despite using other Eberron products.
Chapter 3 Prestige Classes 38 pages.
The Alchemical Savant is a prestige class any arcane caster or Artificer could enter early in life (typically by level 5 or 6 as it requires 3rd level spells or infusions), and provides five levels of full spell casting progression. The class has typical arcane advancement modifiers (though a good Fort save instead of Will) and gains more efficient potion creation as well as poison use. The final ability of the class is to brew a universal potion that can be turned into whatever potion is needed on the go, which is pretty nifty. On the downside the class requires Favored in House (Cannith) or Least Dragonmark (Mark of Making). This is unfortunate because it is another Cannith specific prestige class, like the Cannith Wand Adept from Sharn: City of Towers. This is a bad thing because some folk will not want their Artificer to belong to House Cannith, yet two of the few Artificer specific prestige classes require membership. The Alchemist Savant has a d4 Hit Die.
The Deadgrim is an undead slayer that becomes undead over time. They get four out of five levels of divine spell casting progression, full turn undead progression, and some anti-undead abilities while also turning into undead and possibly learning to instantly turn spells into Inflict instead of Cure spells. It’s a neat class for players who want to play the tormented good guy or something of a good necromancer concept, though it might have difficulty helping the party later on. The class gets full BAB progression and might make a fun choice for a Paladin. The Deadgrim receives a d8 Hit Die.
The Dragon Prophet is dedicated to understanding the Draconic Prophecy. An arcane spell casting / Artificer prestige class, the class gains 9/10 spell casting while advancing in BAB and saves as a wizard (Good Will, poor everything else). They gain a variety of minor special abilities based on the constellations. The final ability, Ageless, allows the caster to live 4x longer than normal while being immune to magical aging and aging penalties. Given that most campaigns don’t last anywhere close to this length it seems like a weak ability. The Dragon Prophet gains a d4 Hit Die.
The Elemental Scion of Zilargo is a strange elementally focused class. It gains medium BAB, good Fort saves, and poor everything else. The class gains some minor abilities to summon and bond with elementals. Ultimately this is a 10 level prestige class that allows the character to summon and merge with (thus gaining complete control over) an Elder Elemental. It’s neat conceptually, perhaps a touch underpowered but definitely something players that enjoy unusual concepts will find intriguing. The Elemental Scion has a d8 Hit Die.
The Impure Prince is a Ranger or Druid prestige class that gains full BAB progression, four levels of spell casting progression, a good Will save, and at least one Aberration focused ability per level. The class is both focused around hunting Aberrations while also embracing and partially becoming an Aberration, similar to the Deadgrim above. The Impure Prince has a d8 Hit Die.
The Quori Mindhunter gains medium BAB progression, a good Will wave, 9/10 manifester levels, and a number of powers meant to overcome possession. The class is meant for Psionics and Psychic Warriors who dedicate themselves to hunting down the Quori and thwarting the goals of the Dreaming Dark. It’s an interesting class, and very appropriate to Eberron, though unless mind control and possession are a commonly encountered problem in a campaign many of the abilities will have limited use. The Quori Mindhunter has a d6 Hit Die.
Renegade Mastermakers are humanoids who wish to become Warforged, which they consider to be perfect beings. Over time they replace body parts one at a time until they are living constructs like the race they revere. With one Craft skill at 8 ranks, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, and Craft Wondrous Item as the only prerequisites this is a prestige class open to a wide variety of characters. With medium BAB progression, a good will save, 8/10 spell casting, and a variety of martially focused abilities this class will likely appeal more to the Artificer who will eventually be able to use infusions to directly enhance the living construct form. The Renegade Mastermaker has a d6 Hit Die.
The Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal are meant to be spies and assassins in service to Aerenal. This five level prestige class gains medium BAB, good Reflex and Will saves, 2d6 Sneak Attack, permanent non-detection, the ability to use Sense Motive to read minds, and unlimited Dimensional Leap (short range teleportation) at the rate of 1/minute. While it’s a little bland conceptually, this five level prestige class offers many useful Rogue (or Ranger or Bard) abilities. The requirements are Diplomacy 8, Hide 4, Move Silently 4, and Sense Motive 8 making it a requirement light prestige class for certain builds. The Vigilant Sentinel has a d8 Hit Die.
All of these prestige classes come with descriptions of the organizations, sample NPCs, and in some cases maps and descriptions of their base of operations. The material is highly variable and of questionable use. Certainly if a DM just wants a typical member of the Vigilant Sentinels to deliver a message the quick stats may be useful. However, given the mixed nature of this product it seems unlikely that most DMs would keep it nearby for a quick reference like that. However, these groups could generate various interesting plot hooks, and the maps of their strongholds could be useful to the DM who is trying to speed up session prep.
Chapter 4 Spells and Powers 18 pages.
These 18 pages contain a host of new spells and powers for every class, with the general focus being on the mid to low levels. Many of the abilities have an Eberron focus, such as Detect Dragonmark and Khyber Trap (traps extraplanar creature in a Dragon Shard). However, most of these abilities could be dropped into any fantasy without any trouble. Spells like Clothier’s Closet (conjures clothing for people) and Leap into Animal (jump into an animal and control it) are just cool and could be a lot of fun to play around with. On the whole the abilities found here are a mixed bag. While it’s safe to say that some of them could absolutely find their way into a game, many are of such questionable use that players are unlikely to be interested.
The real plus to this chapter for many people will be the 16 new Artificer infusions, which add quite a bit. Being able to create Slaying Arrows on the run sounds like a lot of fun.
Chapter 5 Magic Items and Equipment 34 pages.
The chapter presents a diverse assortment of magic items with an Eberron feel, and overall it’s a good selection. The items tend to be interesting, flavorful, and more than just an item that could already be easily crafted with the existing rules in the DMG. Many items for Artificers, that work with Dragon Shards, and that Feature bound elementals are provided. New Warforged components, psionic items, and elemental vessels are presented.
An interesting new system called Grafting is included here. Grafting allows a character to replace parts of their body with elementals, aberration parts, or plants. The system works like normal item crafting. A character has to have a Feat to do so, then must expend money and xp to create the graft (though they could hire someone else to do these two steps). Finally, when the graft is applied a character loses permanent HP and/or permanent ability score points in return for a fixed ability (such as water breathing). It’s a neat system, and while it is expensive in terms of sacrificed permanent HP it will appeal to many players. My only complaint is that players who wish to do it themselves are spending a Feat, permanent HP/ability, thousands of gold, and a hunk of xp for what are often situational abilities that could be taken care of with a scroll or potion.
New mundane weapons, magical materials, and other equipment options are presented as well. On the whole this chapter does a good job of introducing flavorful additions to Eberron, and provides a wide variety of interesting objects. The only potential downside to this is that many of the additions are strange, and there are few mundane swords, armors, and other common objects. To me, this is a good thing, as I would much rather have a chapter that oozes Eberron flavor than even more standard magic items.
Chapter 6 Creatures 15 pages.
Different Quori, Aberrations, and new Symbionts (for use with the Dalkyr Half-Blood) are provided here. The Quori are likely the most useful, as they are a major part of Eberron and it’s nice to have more varied examples of them. However, the Creatures chapter is short and includes very little content. On the one hand it feels out of place with this product, on the other hand the Symbionts needed to be included for the Dalkyr Half-Blood anyway.
My Take
This product is all over the place, both in terms of content and quality. Personally, I feel that the reason for this is to stretch out introductory discussions so that little new content is actually presented. The mechanics are new and interesting, but anyone who wants to read about the subject of magic in the Eberron setting (which one would imagine could fill a hundred pages easily) will not find anything useful here. A lot of the character options are of questionable value as well. I doubt there is a strong interest in the Psionic Artificer or the Psiforged, especially considering that they are simple variants on existing concepts. The new Feats, the graft system, and a lot of the other content is of questionable use to players. Finally, the mini maps and organization discussions presented to help flesh out prestige class groups and otherwise ease a DM’s burden seem limited given that the product only includes a few of them and with little detail.There is good here, however. Many of the prestige classes are interesting and occupy an important role in the setting. The Artificer gets a lot more support with this product, with Feats, infusions, and prestige classes. The new magical items, in particular, have a strong Eberron feel and are definitely worth adding to a game.
The bottom line is that if you are already an Eberron fan and want a variety of Eberron flavored crunchy bits to add to your game, then this is a good buy. While you wont find much in the way of useful setting discussion, all of the mechanics have a strong Eberron feel that will assist in making a game feel more like Eberron and less like a generic fantasy world.
