Eberron: Forge of the Artificer has redesigned the Dragonmarks to function as feats, rather than variant or sub-race options. Each of the Dragonmarked houses comes with a background, but in theory, with a DM's permission, you could pick one of these up with a different background as well (as I've said before, while I'm mostly very positive on the 2024 changes, the intertwining of ability score bonuses and backgrounds was, I think, a step backward for the game. I don't mind the origin feats being tied to backgrounds as much, but having two majorly impactful player-power choices both tied in this way feels bad, and also I think backgrounds with less useful feats, like Savage Attacker, kind of push players away from those backgrounds).
Anyway, I wasn't terribly impressed with the origin feats found in Heroes of Faerun (overall I think that that book is not as impressive to me as this one) the feats in Forge of the Artificer have some real heft to them.
I did a brief overview of them in an earlier post, but I thought I'd take the time to go in-depth on them, talking both about the feats and the backgrounds that grant them, and see how they could play into a particular character build.
I'm going to also group these a little differently: each Dragonmark feat starts off with an origin feat and then has a potential secondary feat that has it has a prerequisite, which empowers that dragonmark further.
Rather than do a big list of origin feats all in a row and then a separate post (or, let's be honest, group of posts) looking at what you can follow it up with, I think the more useful thing here would be to look at the whole Dragonmark progression as a whole.
Dragonmark General Stuff:
The Dragonmarks share a lot of similar elements, so we'll use a shorthand:
Spells of the Mark work a bit like the 2014 Warlock's Expanded Spell Lists. These add certain spells to your class spell list, assuming you have one.
Dragonmarks also tend to come with some spells that work more like Species spells - they're always prepared, you get one free cast of them, and then you can spend spell slots on them to cast them again. We'll call them Dragonmark Spells (so remember that Dragonmark Spells work differently from Spells of the Mark).
Each Dragonmark also gives you a bonus when making certain skill checks equal to a d4. We'll refer to these as Dragonmark skills (they don't have that actual nomenclature in the feats, but that seems like a decent shorthand for them.
Finally, there are some miscellaneous bonuses.
Greater Dragonmark Stuff:
Each Greater Dragonmark is a General feat, which will, as general feats do, grant an ability score bonus.
They will also all generally improve the bonus to your Dragonmark Skills from a d4 to a d6.
Then, they will tend to enhance some element of the Dragonmark, often altering the way one of the Dragonmark Spells work.
And finally, they might have some other miscellaneous bonus or effect.
But before we do any of that, we need to talk about Potent Dragonmark:
Potent Dragonmark
This is a general feat whose prerequisite is simply that you have any Dragonmark feat (and of course are level 4+, when you can start getting general feats).
First, you get a +1 bump to the spellcasting ability of your Dragonmark.
Second, the spells on the Spells of the Mark list you get from your Dragonmark are always prepared for you.
Third, you get a single extra spell slot equal to half your level (rounded up) to a maximum of 5th level, which you can expend only on the spells from your Spells of the Mark list, but you get this back on a Short or Long rest.
Potent Dragonmark is, I think, a pretty strong contender for any class that uses Dragonmarks, but it's probably strongest for non-casters. I made a hypothetical Monk character who uses this with Mark of the Storm to be able to cast Conjure Minor Elementals and thus unleash terrifying damage with Flurry of Blows. But it's probably worth considering even for pure casters depending on the power of your Spells of the Mark list.
We'll leave the Epic Boon, Boon of Siberys, for later, as it doesn't really tie into the existing Dragonmarks.
Now, without further ado, let's go into Dragonmarks, starting with the background that grants them.
Aberrant Mark
Aberrant Heir:
Ability Scores: Strength, Constitution, Charisma
Skills: History, Intimidation
Tools: Disguise Kit
Aberrant Dragonmark:
Ok, actually, we have to start with the weird one because of alphabetical order.
In place of Dragonmark skills, you get to add a d4 to a failed Constitution saving throw, but you can only do this once per long rest.
Dragonmark Spells: You pick your choice of a Sorcerer cantrip and a 1st level Sorcerer spell. You use Constitution for your spellcasting ability.
Miscellaneous: When you cast the 1st level spell from this feat, you can expend one Hit Die and roll it. If you roll an even number, you gain Temp HP equal to the number rolled, and if you roll an odd number, one creature other than you within 30 feet of you takes Force damage equal to the roll (if no creatures are in range, you do take that damage).
Greater Aberrant Mark:
Your Constitution goes up by 1.
Your bonus to a failed Con save goes up to 1d6, and you now can do it once per Short or Long Rest.
Miscellaneous: When you cast a cantrip (any, it seems) you can roll one or two of your unexpended Hit Dice and both gain Temp HP equal to the number you rolled plus your Constitution modifier and one creature within 30 feet of you other than yourself takes Force damage equal to the number rolled. (The dice are then expended). You can do this PB times per long rest.
This, I think, is a fairly broad and open possibility for a character. But you're ultimately getting just a 1st level spell and a cantrip. Hit Dice are easier to get back these days (you get all of them, not just half on a long rest) and that damage might add up in early levels, but even a Barbarian (who isn't often casting cantrips in battle) getting 2d12 extra damage on a cantrip (to be fair, it cannot miss) feels a bit weak. The real benefit here, I think, is that truly any character could pick up the related background.
Strength and Constitution to me play well into a Barbarian, Fighter, or Paladin, and Charisma could apply to a lot of classes that do have spellcasting. Sadly, Sorcerers don't get Find Familiar, which would be excellent. Given how limited your use will be if you don't have your own spell slots, something like Charm Person or Silent Image, which could be used quite effectively outside of combat, might be best. If you do have spell slots, I think Shield would be a great choice on any character who can't normally get it (though its value is lower if you can truly only cast it once a day).
House Cannith/Mark of Making
House Cannith Heir:
Ability Scores: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence
Skills: Investigation, Sleight of Hand
Tools: Your choice of one set of Artisan's Tools
Mark of Making
Dragonmark Skills: Intelligence (Arcana) or any check with Artisan's Tools
Dragonmark Spells: Mending, Magic Weapon
Spells of the Mark:
1st: Identify, Tenser's Floating Disk
2nd: Continual Flame, Spiritual Weapon
3rd: Conjure Barrage, Elemental Weapon
4th: Fabricate, Stone Shape
5th: Creation
Greater Mark of Making:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skills: Standard d6 upgrade
Miscellaneous: When you use your free casting of Magic Weapon, you now cast it at 3rd level.
So, the flavor of House Cannith would make them obvious for an Artificer character, but you run into two slight issues: first, while Intelligence is an ability you can boost with this, you probably want the other to be Constitution. That said, Dexterity is also good for them, allowing you to round out a 13 to a 14 to get the full benefit of Medium armor (less exciting for an Armorer). The other is that Artificers already get Mending for free, but that might be fine. I think the real winner in terms of Spells of the Mark is Conjure Barrage, which has become a fantastic spell in the 2024 revamp - slightly less damage than Fireball but a larger area and, most importantly, it only hits enemies. Again, if you go Battle Smith, this will be redundant.
Magic Weapon is actually pretty good - it only takes a bonus action to cast, and when upcast to 3rd level, you essentially get a +2 weapon for an hour. But it's only really good if you don't already have a magic weapon, so it's pretty campaign/DM dependent. Taking Potent Dragonmark will let you cast Elemental Weapon eventually at 5th level, which gives it a +2 effect and increases its bonus damage, but that spell is both an action to cast and requires concentration, which I think probably makes it worse than Magic Weapon overall.
For pure casters, I think that the ability score restriction on the background makes this really only work for Wizards (and maybe Psions if they ever come out,) who already can get a lot of these spells. I think you could make an argument for Paladins and maybe Eldritch Knight Fighters and Arcane Trickster Rogues, all of whom might like to get Conjure Barrage (Rangers can already get it, of course).
House Deneith/Mark of Sentinel
House Deneith Heir:
Ability Scores: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom
Skills: Insight, Perception
Tools: One kind of gaming set.
Mark of Sentinel:
Dragonmark Skills: Wisdom (Insight or Perception)
Dragonmark Spell: Shield
Miscellaneous: When a creature you can see within 5 feet of you is hit with an attack roll, you can use a reaction to swap places with that creature and you are hit with the attack instead. You can do this PB time per long rest.
Spells of the Mark:
1st: Compelled Duel, Shield of Faith
2nd: Warding Bond, Zone of Truth
3rd: Counterspell, Protection from Energy
4th: Death Ward, Guardian of Faith
5th: Bigby's Hand
Greater Mark of Sentinel:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skills: Standard d6
Miscellaneous: When you use the reaction from the previous feat, you can also make an attack with a weapon or unarmed strike as part of the same reaction.
With Constitution in the mix, this will give good scores to basically any Strength- or Wisdom-focused character, meaning it'll work for Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, maybe some Rangers (though I recommend even melee rangers stick to Dex) as well as Clerics and Druids. However, the in-built reaction is clearly there to assist a tank-like character. Notably, it's not like "if the attack still beats your AC, you take the hit" but just that it now hits you, regardless of how low your friend's AC might have been, meaning that this doesn't let you prevent the hit, and thus something with built-in damage reduction like a Barbarian might prefer this over a high-AC Fighter. I actually think it works pretty well for a Moon Druid.
Of course, Shield is an incredible spell. It's less great when you can only cast it once a day, so this element is going to be better on a half- or full caster. Even if the Spells of the Mark are less exciting for a Paladin until they can cast 3rd level spells, a Paladin with Shield is really great (there might be some awkwardness if your DM is a stickler about being able to cast spells with somatic components while wielding weapons in both hands - this isn't going to be a Paladin spell, so you can't just use the holy symbol on your shield as the focus for it).
While clearly very tank-coded, it's also not a terrible way to go for a front-line healer. A Cleric with Shield might decide they can take a hit for a friend and then put out a Mass Healing Word to heal everyone up after spreading the damage out.
House Ghallanda/Mark of Hospitality
House Ghallanda Heir:
Ability Scores: Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Insight, Persuasion
Tools: Cook's Utensils
Mark of Hospitality:
Dragonmark Skills: Charisma (Persuasion) or any check using Brewer's Supplies or Cook's Utensils
Dragonmark Spells: Purify Food and Drink, Unseen Servant, Calm Emotions (character level 3)
Spells of the Mark:
1st: Goodberry, Sleep
2nd: Aid, Enhance Ability
3rd: Create Food and Water, Leomund's Tiny Hut
4th: Aura of Purity, Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum
5th: Hallow
Greater Mark of Hospitality:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skill: Standard d6 improvement
Miscellaneous: When you cast Purify Food and Drink, you can alter it once per long rest to cause it to grant each creature of your choice within 30 feet Temp HP equal to PB+the spellcasting ability you chose with the first feat, and also reduce each affected creature's exhaustion level by 1.
A decent number of characters will like these ability score increases - Monks and Rangers can use both the Dex and Wisdom, while basically any Charisma casters (except the Paladin) will be happy to get Dex on top of Cha (actually, Noble Genie Paladins going for the unarmored version will like this as well).
Most of the granted spells will not be great in a fight, though Sleep and Aid can be good. The Greater Mark reducing exhaustion can be a really big bonus if your campaign threatens this condition frequently, but the temp HP is going to cap out at 11 by tier 4, which might be a little underwhelming.
A party face who wants a little insurance on their charming capabilities might go for this, and I think there's a lot of really good thematic stuff here. More than anything, I think this is an option for campaigns where hospitality is in demand - a lot of these spells could be useful when traveling across wilderness, and Leomund's Tiny Hut is a great way to get a safe long rest.
House Jorasco/Mark of Healing
House Jorasco Heir:
Ability Scores: Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom
Skills: Medicine, Stealth
Tools: Herbalism Kit
Mark of Healing:
Dragonmark Skills: Wisdom (Medicine) or any check using an Herbalism Kit
Dragonmark Spells: Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration (at character level 3)
Spells of the Mark:
1st: False Life, Healing Word
2nd: Arcane Vigor, Prayer of Healing
3rd: Aura of Vitality, Mass Healing Word
4th: Aura of Life, Aura of Purity
5th: Greater Restoration
Greater Mark of Healing:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skils: Standard d6 upgrade
Miscellaneous: You now get PB free Cure Wounds castings per Long Rest, up from 1, and you can treat a roll of 1 or 2 on the d8s for the spell as 3s.
So, there's an obvious theme here, but also a problem: I think the most attractive element of this Dragonmark is that you could turn a non-healing full caster into a very capable healer... except that the background boosts Wisdom and no other standard spellcasting abilities. Clerics and Druids are already quite capable at healing, though I could maybe see taking this on a Druid as I think there are one or two spells that they don't get access to, like Prayer of Healing.
Having Dex and Con there also work quite well for Rangers, Monks, Rogues, and dex-focused Fighters and Paladins. The Greater Mark giving you multiple Cure Wounds per day is actually situationally better than the Potent Mark's one big spell slot, and I could imagine a Monk who wants some healing capability (maybe to supplement Warrior of Mercy features, or to make up for going with a different subclass) going this way. The actual boost to healing is turning a d8's 4.5 average into 4.875, which I don't think is that notable (these "treat the lower rolls as better" features are generally pretty underwhelming, and I think are worse the larger the die is).
For Clerics and Druids who were going the classic healing archetype route anyway, you're not getting a ton that you don't already have, though perhaps the extra free Cure Wounds will be nice?
House Kundarak/Mark of Warding
House Kundarak Heir:
Ability Scores: Strength, Constitution, Intelligence
Skills: Arcana, Investigation
Tools: Thieves' Tools
Mark of Warding:
Dragonmark Skills: Intelligence (Investigation) and any check using Thieves' Tools
Dragonmark Spells: Alarm, Mage Armor, Arcane Lock (at character level 3)
Spells of the Mark:
1st: Armor of Agathys, Sanctuary
2nd: Knock, Nystul's Magic Aura
3rd: Glyph of Warding, Magic Circle
4th: Leomund's Secret Chest, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound
5th: Antilife Shell
Greater Mark of Warding:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skill: Standard d6 upgrade
Miscellaneous: When a creature makes an attack roll against you or a creature within 30 feet of yourself, you can use a reaction to impose disadvantage on the roll PB times per long rest.
The ability scores here work well for Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, as well as Wizards and Artificers. The main spell I think that has interesting combat implications is Armor of Agathys, which I think got a lot better by becoming a Bonus Action in 2024. When paired with the Potent Mark feat, you'll eventually get a 5th level spell slot to cast it (which is as high as a Warlock is going to cast it anyway). With its hour-long, concentration free duration, even a Barbarian can make good use of it (in fact, thanks to the damage reduction from rage, you'll probably get twice as much use out of it). So, a Barbarian who is giving back 25 cold damage every time they get hit (and maybe refreshing the Temp HP with the World Tree's Vitality of the Tree feature) is going to be pretty nasty.
I'm somewhat skeptical that the Greater Mark is worth it. It's kind of like a ranged version of the Protection fighting style with limited uses (though I guess it can protect you as well). Actually, the use here might be more for a ranged caster who doesn't actually get attacked that often to try to make those rare occasions less likely to hit.
I wills ay that Knock and Thieves' Tools proficiency have a bit of redundancy, though you could maybe use the spell if you're struggling with the lockpicking. There's a part of this that feels like a substitute for having a Rogue in the party.
House Lyrandar/Mark of Storm
House Lyrandar Heir:
Ability Scores: Strength, Dexterity, Charisma
Skills: Acrobatics, Nature
Tools: Navigator's Tools
Mark of Storm:
Dragonmark Skills: Dexterity (Acrobatics) and any check made with Navigator's Tools
Dragonmark Spells: Thunderclap, Gust of Wind (at character level 3)
Miscellaneous: You have resistance to Lightning damage.
Spells of the Mark:
1st: Feather Fall, Fog Cloud
2nd: Levitate, Shatter
3rd: Sleet Storm, Wind Wall
4th: Conjure Minor Elementals, Control Water
5th: Conjure Elemental
Greater Mark of Storm:
Ability Score: Any
Dragonmark Skill: Standard d6 upgrade
Miscellaneous: When you use your feat to cast Gust of Wind, you also gain a fly speed of 60 feet for the duration.
I've touched on this before: Pairing this with Potent Dragonmark and getting Conjure Minor Elementals on a character who can make a lot of attacks is going to give you a once-per-short-rest nova of insane damage. (Fighters and Monks I think will both do best for this combo, as you can use Action Surge or Flurry of Blows to attack the same turn you cast the spell, and these are already the classes who can make the most attacks in a turn.)
The ability score bonuses, unfortunately, will saddle any character with something they probably don't need - except possibly a Paladin who wants a good Strength and a good Charisma. No other classes really need any two of these ability scores to be that high, or at least wouldn't prefer Constitution over whatever secondary, +1 they're taking. Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Bards might like the Dex for a bit of AC, but I'd guess they're usually going to prefer Con over Dex to shore up their HP rather than their AC.
But I do think that the aforementioned way to get CME (and even upcast it to 5th level by the time you're level 10) functionality is going to make this a very popular route to take. The fly speed from Gust of Wind is actually pretty notable, though the duration means it's still nowhere as good as the Fly spell. But this is one where Potent Dragonmark is for sure the more powerful option (which, honestly, I think it often is).
All right! With 6 out of 13 of the Dragonmarked Houses taken care of as well as the Aberrant Mark, I think we can close out this first post here. Notably, there are also three non-Dragonmark backgrounds, the Archaeologist and the Inquisitive, which are probably less Eberron-specific (and I think are either reprints or close approximations of earlier backgrounds in Tomb of Annhilation and Van Richten's, respectively) and I don't think warrant such in-depth analysis. The House Agent is more setting-specific, but also doesn't involve the special feats, so I'm going to leave it out.
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