It's not just the update to the existing class! Forge of the Artificer (FotA?) has a fair number of other chapters, and among the two really player-facing ones, we have the species!
There are five new species available here, four of which showed up in Rising From the Last War (I think most if not all were even in Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron way back when). Thus, we're getting updated versions of the Changeling, Kalashtar, Shifter, and Warforged, along with the new Khoravar - though it's arguably not so new, depending on your point of view.
The Changeling and Shifter got reprints in Monsters of the Multiverse, but everyone's getting a bit of an update.
Let's go through them (this ought to go faster than the class stuff, he said hopefully).
Changelings:
Able to change their appearance on a whim, Changelings are kind of your playable Doppelganger species. (Funnily enough, the Artificer in my long-running Ravnica campaign is a Changeling, so they've got a lot of potential updates they could make).
Changelings have the Fey creature type (as they did starting in Monsters of the Muliverse).
Their default speed is 30 feet, and they can be either Small or Medium.
Changelings get proficiency in their choice of two of the following skills: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion.
Naturally, with not-quite-Disguise Self at will, a Changeling works well as a party face, and these skills play well into social encounters.
Shape-Shifter lets you, as an action, change your appearance and voice. You can take on the appearance of any individual you've seen, as long as they have the same basic arrangement of limbs (so not a centaur). Your clothing and equipment don't change. This change can alter your size between Medium and Small. While shape-shifted, you have advantage on Charisma checks, and you stay in this form until you use an action to revert to your true form (or, I'd assume, pick a different form.
Notably, the advantage on Charisma checks is new, and we can probably assume this will just always be on, which is quite strong for any party face - a Changeling Bard is going to be able to talk their way into and out of anything.
Kalashtar:
Humans who have merged with dream-beings called Quori, Kalashtar look human but are slightly different in appearance, with greater symmetry and angular features, and occasionally glowing eyes. They can't communicate directly with their bonded Quori, but are lent a kind of instinctive inspiration.
Kalashtar have the Aberration creature type.
They are Medium in size, and have a default speed of 30 feet.
Dual Mind gives them advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws.
The former of which is, of course, far more common. Odd that they don't also get Intelligence, like Vedalken.
Mental Discipline gives them resistance to Psychic damage.
Very campaign-dependent, but good to have.
Mind Link gives them telepathy with a range of 10 times their level. You can also use a Magic action to give the creature you're speaking with the ability to talk back for one hour or until you use a Magic action to end this effect.
This is actually pretty powerful - as far as I can tell, you can actually use this with multiple friends, meaning you could act something like a telepathic hub. At low levels, of course, the range is pretty tiny, but it gets pretty significant as you go.
Severed From Dreams gives you immunity to the Dream spell. Additionally, when you finish a long rest, you gain proficiency in one skill of your choice until you finish your next long rest.
The only downside here is that Dream can technically be used as a more complicated Sending spell that has no limit on how much you can communicate. Dream can, of course, be used to harm a foe, but it doesn't always need to. The skill is nice - essentially, you have a bonus skill you can swap on a long rest.
Khoravar:
Interestingly, while the 2024 PHB got rid of Half Elves and Half Orcs (in an effort, I think, to make other combinations easier to implement) the Khoravar are a species specific to Eberron with a proud and solid identity of mixed elvish and human ancestry.
Thus, in a sense, this is our post-2024 Half Elf option.
Your type is Humanoid.
You can be Medium or Small, and have a default speed of 30 feet.
You get Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Fey Ancestry, like with Elves and Goblins, gives you advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Charmed condition.
Fey Gift gives you the Friends cantrip, but on a long rest you can swap that with a different cantrip from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list, choosing Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability when you pick the species.
This is a great way for Druids and Clerics to get True Strike if they want a Warden/Protector build, actually.
Lethargy Resilience lets you choose to succeed instead when you fail a saving throw to avoid or end the unconscious condition. Once you use this, you can't do so again for 1d4 Long Rests.
I'd assume this does not include Death Saves (because you can only end the condition on a nat 20). It's interesting that this is like a legendary resistance against sleep effects. Naturally, elves not sleeping at all makes this a thematically appropriate thing. I guess hats off to a fairly original feature, though one that I think is probably going to be pretty situational (there are some poisons that knock you out too, so it's not just the Sleep spell).
Skill Versatility gives you proficiency with one skill or tool of your choice. You can swap this out on a long rest.
So, pretty similar to the Trance feature as seen in more recent elves.
Yeah, so overall, if you really wanted to bring Half Elves back as an option, I think you could easily slot these into any world with both humans and elves, which is most.
Shifter:
More or less playable Lycanthropes, Shifters are humanoids who have some ancestral connection to were-creatures, and are thus sort of vaguely-animal-like, more humanoid than, say, a Tabaxi or Aarakocra, but displaying clear animalistic traits.
Your creature type is Humanoid.
Your size is either Medium or Small, and you have a default speed of 30 feet.
Bestial Instincts gives you proficiency with your choice of Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, or Survival.
You get Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Shifting: As a bonus action, you can shape-shift to lean into your bestial appearance and nature. The transformation lasts 1 minute or until you revert as a bonus action. When you do, you gain temp HP equal to twice your PB. You can shift PB times per long rest.
You choose a Shifter ancestry, and gain additional benefits when shifting based on your choice:
Beasthide: You gain an additional 1d6 Temp HP, and you have a +1 bonus to AC when shifted.
Notably, I don't think you lose the THP when your shift ends, so this means 1d6+PB x PB temp HP per day. By level 20, that'll be 6 times 1d6+6, or 57 total.
Longtooth: As part of the bonus action to shift and as a bonus action on subsequent turns while shifted, you can make an unarmed strike with your fangs, which deal 1d6+Strength piecing damage instead of your normal unarmed strike damage.
Note that an unarmed strike also includes grappling and shoving. I think this is going to be best on a strength-based class that doesn't often need their bonus action - a melee fighter is probably the best bet, though I could see a Barbarian using this after they've raged. Monks don't really benefit much from this at all, as they can already do this by default.
Swiftstride: While shifted, your speed increases by 10 feet, and you can move up to 10 feet as a reaction when a creature ends its turn within 5 feet of you without provoking an opportunity attack.
This one's a better option for non-melee characters who want to get the hell away from their foes, though note that your allies can actually trigger this reaction as well.
Wildhunt: While shifted, you have advantage on Wisdom checks. Also, no creature within 30 feet of you can have advantage on an attack roll against you unless you're incapacitated.
Probably the most situational - this could give you an edge if you're in a hot pursuit, but the one-minute duration of Shifting makes it hard to track someone across country or something with this. To be fair, this is probably great in a Noir-ish intrigue encounter, which is very much a genre that Eberron touches on (there's even a chapter on Sharn Inquisitive adventures, which are of this vibe).
Warforged:
Artificial people with minds and souls, the Warforged are basically playable golems, created to fight in the Last War and now looking for meaning in the post-war world.
Your creature type is Construct (remember that the many healing and resurrection spells that didn't work on Constructs and Undead in the 2014 rules now will work just fine on you.)
Your size is either Medium or Small, and have a default speed of 30 feet.
Construct Resilience gives you resistance to Poison damage and advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the poisoned condition.
Yep, you can drink like a Dwarf!
Integrated Protection gives you a +1 bonus to AC, and any armor you're waring can't be removed against your will if you're alive.
The latter part is very unlikely, but the +1 bonus to AC is certainly nice for any character.
Sentry's Rest: You don't need to sleep, and can't be put to sleep by magic. You can finish a long rest in 6 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive and motionless state, during which you appear inert but remain conscious.
It's not quite an Elf's Trance, but it's pretty darn close. I'd argue that a Warforged should be able to take watch the whole night, though I think you could argue that, because they can't turn their head while resting in this way, they might get disadvantage while in rest mode.
Specialized Design gives you one skill and one tool proficiency of your choice.
Nothing special, but nice.
Tireless: You don't gain exhaustion levels from dehydration, malnutrition, or suffocation.
Translation: You don't need to drink, eat, or breathe.
Overall Thoughts:
I think this is mostly just minor tweaks, though I believe Changelings gained and then lost Darkvision with Monsters of the Multiverse and then this. They're definitely getting more liberal with playable creature types. Are the new Kalashtar our first ever playable Aberration? (Though Githyanki and Githzerai would likely be considered that with the new design philosophy.)
No comments:
Post a Comment