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Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
Eberron was born in 2002 when Wizards of the Coast launched a worldwide search for a new campaign setting.
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron brings the eponymous campaign setting to the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This 175 page book gives you everything you need to create an Eberron story or character, exploring the core themes of the setting and the rules to implement them in fifth edition. It includes an overview of Khorvaire and the fantastic city of Sharn, along with a host of background ideas and story hooks.
Playtest material includes the unique races of Eberron, the mystical dragonmarks (including greater dragonmarks and aberrant dragonmarks), and new magic items; this is a living document, and this content will evolve and be updated in response to feedback.
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron brings the eponymous campaign setting to the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This 175 page book gives you everything you need to create an Eberron story or character, exploring the core themes of the setting and the rules to implement them in fifth edition. It includes an overview of Khorvaire and the fantastic city of Sharn, along with a host of background ideas and story hooks.
Playtest material includes the unique races of Eberron, the mystical dragonmarks (including greater dragonmarks and aberrant dragonmarks), and new magic items; this is a living document, and this content will evolve and be updated in response to feedback.
173 pages, ebook
First published July 23, 2018
5 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Keith Baker
73 books190 followersI've been interested in games since I first fell under the sinister influence of the Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, back in sixth grade. Over the last few decades I have managed to turn gaming from a hobby into a career. Here is a list of the highlights of my life as a game designer. If you have any questions, let me know!
From 1994-2002, I fell into the computer games industry. My first job was with Magnet Interactive Studios, in Washington DC. Sadly, Magnet never managed to hit the big time as a game developer. I worked on a number of projects during my stay at Magnet; for a time I was lead designer on a game called BLUESTAR, a position that was held at other times by such roleplaying luminaries as Ken Rolston and Zeb Cook. However, the only work that ever saw the light of day was some level design on the abstract arcade game Icebreaker.
Magnet began a slow implosion in 1996, and along with a number of other people I went to work for a Colorado company called VR1. I started as lead designer on VR-1 Crossroads, a text-based MUD centered on warring conspiracies – The X-Files meets Illuminati, with a world of dreams thrown in for good measure. When VR1 decided to move away from text games, I started work on a graphical MMORPG based on the pulp serials. After a few twists and turns, the project ended up being known as Lost Continents. But early in 2002 I decided that I'd had enough of the computer games industry and left VR1 to focus on writing. Then in June of 2002, Wizards of the Coast announced their Fantasy Setting Search, and I thought: What about pulp fantasy? And the rest is history. . .
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
From 1994-2002, I fell into the computer games industry. My first job was with Magnet Interactive Studios, in Washington DC. Sadly, Magnet never managed to hit the big time as a game developer. I worked on a number of projects during my stay at Magnet; for a time I was lead designer on a game called BLUESTAR, a position that was held at other times by such roleplaying luminaries as Ken Rolston and Zeb Cook. However, the only work that ever saw the light of day was some level design on the abstract arcade game Icebreaker.
Magnet began a slow implosion in 1996, and along with a number of other people I went to work for a Colorado company called VR1. I started as lead designer on VR-1 Crossroads, a text-based MUD centered on warring conspiracies – The X-Files meets Illuminati, with a world of dreams thrown in for good measure. When VR1 decided to move away from text games, I started work on a graphical MMORPG based on the pulp serials. After a few twists and turns, the project ended up being known as Lost Continents. But early in 2002 I decided that I'd had enough of the computer games industry and left VR1 to focus on writing. Then in June of 2002, Wizards of the Coast announced their Fantasy Setting Search, and I thought: What about pulp fantasy? And the rest is history. . .
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 13, 2023
Really fun setting, the book is well-structured! I have cannibalised a lot of the contents :)
March 19, 2019
Super interessant setting for D&D 5th. Jeg har ingen nostalgi for den, for jeg har aldrig spillet eller læst om den før, men det er rigtig mange sjove ideer. Tribal halflings? Frie krigs-golemer? I love it!
December 5, 2018
Looks like a cool setting, but this book is more like flavor highlights than substantial lore for world-building. A lot of the emphasis in 5e is on empowering DMs and players to make each world their own, but in this particular product, much like the SCAG, less is less, not more. There's enough detail to inspire provocative ideas and story hooks, but not enough to flesh them out with consistency. And there's JUST enough detail to be a bit overwhelming -- making me feel less like taking the plunge, because there's so much to keep straight. I wouldn't worry so much about that, except that Eberron might be featured in later adventures, and I feel like homebrewing content now might just make more work later when I have to reconcile published material to my own invention (if I decide to run an adventure module). In large part, my qualms have to do with being a lazy DM -- and if I'm going to spend this much time homebrewing an adventure, why wouldn't I just homebrew my own from scratch? It would in some ways be easier. A book like this makes me appreciate how much a well-structured adventure does to flesh out how a setting actually works and how it feels to explore one.
The best part of this particular book is all the tips for DMs and players for reskinning or adapting existing Realms-default material to Eberron. It's flavorful, on-point, and full of great ideas. Also cool are some of the tables for generating backgrounds or story twists. The "falling in Sharn" table in particular, of all the things in the book, really captured the essence of what it might feel like to run Eberron and what makes it an appealing and unique setting. I also appreciated a lot of the common magic items.
EDIT: Important contextual note: this is a living document, meant to be updated over time. So some of my dissatisfaction might be mitigated or overcome by future updates. For instance, a little more material on the weird spirit-bonded race might be helpful. Otherwise, it just feels really free-floating.
The best part of this particular book is all the tips for DMs and players for reskinning or adapting existing Realms-default material to Eberron. It's flavorful, on-point, and full of great ideas. Also cool are some of the tables for generating backgrounds or story twists. The "falling in Sharn" table in particular, of all the things in the book, really captured the essence of what it might feel like to run Eberron and what makes it an appealing and unique setting. I also appreciated a lot of the common magic items.
EDIT: Important contextual note: this is a living document, meant to be updated over time. So some of my dissatisfaction might be mitigated or overcome by future updates. For instance, a little more material on the weird spirit-bonded race might be helpful. Otherwise, it just feels really free-floating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2018
I remember eagerly reading through Eberron when it was released in 2004. It was one of my favorite settings for years. This is the recently released, albeit in prototype form, update for the fifth Edition ruleset. It is described as a draft, a living document. In fact it is missing content such as the Artificer which will be added presumably next month alongside the Unearthed Arcana.
I bought this for the fluff, expecting that the crunch would go through balance passes with time. As expected, the crunch has a few glaring omissions and obviously not considered interactions that will no doubt be smoothed out in subsequent updates. My main issue that the fluff, what is there, is not up to par. Maps don't even indicate capitals of kingdoms. There are no roads. There is no description of capital cities. There is a brief introduction of some elements of various regions, but most includes a note to check the appendix to find which other book for an old edition you should buy.
Even the most fleshed out part of the book, Sharn, doesn't include enough information to run campaign. By and large right now I would say use the material from the UA and wait to see if this book improves. For now it is a disappointment and largely useless as an working introduction to Eberron.
Edit: As an example of glaring omissions. It doesn't include information about running an Airship. It is missing information about how the trains are set up or even any kind of schedule. What is more egregious is that they include information about the expense of travel, but it is buried in paragraphs of text and not a table. It serves as neither an in depth discussion of the setting nor as a quick reference of information.
I bought this for the fluff, expecting that the crunch would go through balance passes with time. As expected, the crunch has a few glaring omissions and obviously not considered interactions that will no doubt be smoothed out in subsequent updates. My main issue that the fluff, what is there, is not up to par. Maps don't even indicate capitals of kingdoms. There are no roads. There is no description of capital cities. There is a brief introduction of some elements of various regions, but most includes a note to check the appendix to find which other book for an old edition you should buy.
Even the most fleshed out part of the book, Sharn, doesn't include enough information to run campaign. By and large right now I would say use the material from the UA and wait to see if this book improves. For now it is a disappointment and largely useless as an working introduction to Eberron.
Edit: As an example of glaring omissions. It doesn't include information about running an Airship. It is missing information about how the trains are set up or even any kind of schedule. What is more egregious is that they include information about the expense of travel, but it is buried in paragraphs of text and not a table. It serves as neither an in depth discussion of the setting nor as a quick reference of information.
July 28, 2018
Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Product- Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron
System-DnD 5e
Producer- Wizards of the Coast
Price- $20 here http://www.dmsguild.com/product/247882/Wayfinders-Guide-to-Eberron-5e
TL; DR- A much needed update on nearly everyone's favorite modern crazy setting. 88%
Basics-Whose ready for some Dragonpunk? Wayfinder’s guide to Eberron is a 5e update to Eberron from Keith Baker. Eberron debuted in 3.5 DnD, received a 4e update, and this is the updated 5e version. What Eberron is is hard to describe. It's a post-magic war, Noir, fantasy, semi-modern sci-fi non-standard epic with sprinkles of Cthulhu mythos added in, with massive changes to the standard DnD world as magic is extremely common and every race doesn’t follow any of the normal conventions set before. The book itself has one chapter setting the tone and feel of the world. After that is a chapter on the geography of the main continent followed by a chapter on the different races of Eberron. From there the book shifts to magic, focusing one chapter on Dragonmark houses (think magic family guilds with tattoos that appear under stress providing magic powers), and then new magic creation rules as well as items for the world. The book wraps up by focusing on a major city of the world called Sharn, and finally providing additional resources like extra reading, a glossary, and pictures you can use for your game.
Theme or Fluff-I like the stuff in this book. It is travel guide to the world of Eberron providing a much needed update for the most recent system of DnD. Players get to learn about the world, and GMs get enough story seeds that they can set a story anywhere. The races feel fresh since that is a major point of Eberron, and the world is deep. My major complaint is this book feels short. Under 3.5, whole books were written about each of the different countries, and here each place gets about a page. For a book published by Wizards of the Coast itself, I expect a bit more for a $20 PDF. Nothing here is bad, but I expect a bit more from the main publisher. 4.5/5
Mechanics or Crunch-Wizards of the Coast put out a book, so they know their own system. I love the new races and am glad to see the races specific to Eberron get a 5e DnD coat of paint. I also can’t give enough praise and love to how Dragonmarks and magic item creation is handled. Dragonmarks are one of the core elements of the Eberron setting as these magic family businesses run large chunks of the world, at least by proxy. Previous editions handled this by feats, but this one sets them up as races. You are born a Dragonmark, which feels thematically true, but I also like the crunch of how each Dragonmark is handled. Magic items are extremely common with an almost cellphone like network existing in Eberron, so magic item rules needed an update. This book provides new item creation rules and providing costs for items. This is an update the system needed long ago as some DnD Adventurers’ League players are swimming in gold but have no real use for it. In Eberron, that gold has a place to go! 5/5
Execution- HOOOOLLLLYYYY COW! Wizards of the Cost put out a PDF and its hyperlinked!? Overall, I like the flow in this book. I don’t hate reading the book as it doesn’t hurt my eyes to scan or dive deeply into each topic. The text is laid out well, font is good, and I like the art. Now, the art is very recycled, but the DMs Guild lets authors use art from previous editions, so I don’t hate it. I would like a bit more from the mothership, but its is not bad. The book does feel short, and that short nature hurts it a bit. I could easily see expanding each country to two pages and adding in more art assets from other books. This also kinds of makes me angry as your charging roughly full price compared to Chaosium and Paizo for a book that the fluff is already written for and your art is already written for. The art is already made, and you have the graphics sitting on a hard drive, so why not use them? The maps are ok, but they are the most general ones from the setting, so you don’t even see the capital cities on them. This would also break up the text a bit more as multiple pages are two columns in a row. There is enough white space to not make reading boring, but I’d like more. 3.75/5
Summary-Eberron is an amazing setting that everyone should experience. From how it flips the script of traditional RPG elements to its Noir setting of morally gray characters, it should be on every RPG player's bucket list. This book provides a great new update to the world, providing both DMs and players with a wealth of information. My main complaint is that I would like more. For a $20 PDF, I would like a bit more, and some of the more I want are things that Wizards of the Coast already has like maps and art assets. Some are included in the back of the book, but putting them where they are mentioned in the book might help a bit more. That said, you can’t really go wrong with this book. If you are tired of the same Tolkien inspired fantasy, then check out Eberron. This book will give you the 5e shot in the arm you’ve been looking for to start your own game. 88%
Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Product- Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron
System-DnD 5e
Producer- Wizards of the Coast
Price- $20 here http://www.dmsguild.com/product/247882/Wayfinders-Guide-to-Eberron-5e
TL; DR- A much needed update on nearly everyone's favorite modern crazy setting. 88%
Basics-Whose ready for some Dragonpunk? Wayfinder’s guide to Eberron is a 5e update to Eberron from Keith Baker. Eberron debuted in 3.5 DnD, received a 4e update, and this is the updated 5e version. What Eberron is is hard to describe. It's a post-magic war, Noir, fantasy, semi-modern sci-fi non-standard epic with sprinkles of Cthulhu mythos added in, with massive changes to the standard DnD world as magic is extremely common and every race doesn’t follow any of the normal conventions set before. The book itself has one chapter setting the tone and feel of the world. After that is a chapter on the geography of the main continent followed by a chapter on the different races of Eberron. From there the book shifts to magic, focusing one chapter on Dragonmark houses (think magic family guilds with tattoos that appear under stress providing magic powers), and then new magic creation rules as well as items for the world. The book wraps up by focusing on a major city of the world called Sharn, and finally providing additional resources like extra reading, a glossary, and pictures you can use for your game.
Theme or Fluff-I like the stuff in this book. It is travel guide to the world of Eberron providing a much needed update for the most recent system of DnD. Players get to learn about the world, and GMs get enough story seeds that they can set a story anywhere. The races feel fresh since that is a major point of Eberron, and the world is deep. My major complaint is this book feels short. Under 3.5, whole books were written about each of the different countries, and here each place gets about a page. For a book published by Wizards of the Coast itself, I expect a bit more for a $20 PDF. Nothing here is bad, but I expect a bit more from the main publisher. 4.5/5
Mechanics or Crunch-Wizards of the Coast put out a book, so they know their own system. I love the new races and am glad to see the races specific to Eberron get a 5e DnD coat of paint. I also can’t give enough praise and love to how Dragonmarks and magic item creation is handled. Dragonmarks are one of the core elements of the Eberron setting as these magic family businesses run large chunks of the world, at least by proxy. Previous editions handled this by feats, but this one sets them up as races. You are born a Dragonmark, which feels thematically true, but I also like the crunch of how each Dragonmark is handled. Magic items are extremely common with an almost cellphone like network existing in Eberron, so magic item rules needed an update. This book provides new item creation rules and providing costs for items. This is an update the system needed long ago as some DnD Adventurers’ League players are swimming in gold but have no real use for it. In Eberron, that gold has a place to go! 5/5
Execution- HOOOOLLLLYYYY COW! Wizards of the Cost put out a PDF and its hyperlinked!? Overall, I like the flow in this book. I don’t hate reading the book as it doesn’t hurt my eyes to scan or dive deeply into each topic. The text is laid out well, font is good, and I like the art. Now, the art is very recycled, but the DMs Guild lets authors use art from previous editions, so I don’t hate it. I would like a bit more from the mothership, but its is not bad. The book does feel short, and that short nature hurts it a bit. I could easily see expanding each country to two pages and adding in more art assets from other books. This also kinds of makes me angry as your charging roughly full price compared to Chaosium and Paizo for a book that the fluff is already written for and your art is already written for. The art is already made, and you have the graphics sitting on a hard drive, so why not use them? The maps are ok, but they are the most general ones from the setting, so you don’t even see the capital cities on them. This would also break up the text a bit more as multiple pages are two columns in a row. There is enough white space to not make reading boring, but I’d like more. 3.75/5
Summary-Eberron is an amazing setting that everyone should experience. From how it flips the script of traditional RPG elements to its Noir setting of morally gray characters, it should be on every RPG player's bucket list. This book provides a great new update to the world, providing both DMs and players with a wealth of information. My main complaint is that I would like more. For a $20 PDF, I would like a bit more, and some of the more I want are things that Wizards of the Coast already has like maps and art assets. Some are included in the back of the book, but putting them where they are mentioned in the book might help a bit more. That said, you can’t really go wrong with this book. If you are tired of the same Tolkien inspired fantasy, then check out Eberron. This book will give you the 5e shot in the arm you’ve been looking for to start your own game. 88%
October 11, 2018
All non fluff content is currently available in Unearthed Arcana. Appendix A is usefull as an rundown of published worked for previous editions
April 4, 2019
An excellent source book from a player's point of view. It has a lot of adventure hooks and descriptions of the world for gaming, but it leaves enough ambiguity that you can easily build your campaign around the material here without being distracted by Metaplot.
Plus the custom races and content (notably Dragonmarked traits) are nicely structured in parallel with the Player's handbook which makes coming up with Eberron versions of D&D concepts super fun and easy.
Plus the custom races and content (notably Dragonmarked traits) are nicely structured in parallel with the Player's handbook which makes coming up with Eberron versions of D&D concepts super fun and easy.
August 28, 2019
A very good overview, that I hope serves as the core of the upcoming hardback book. As a completist, it's hard for me to give 5 stars, as I found myself referring to my older Eberron books more than I would like when armed with a "sourcebook."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews