Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is out in the wild now. Here are our first impressions of the new D&D expansion.
D&D returns to my favorite campaign setting with a new expansion book, Eberron: Forge of the Artificer. This new book has two purposes. For one, it’s a supplement to the material from Eberron: Rising from the Last War (after all, D&D 5.5E is backwards compatible), and two, it is the official D&D 5.5E Artificer glow-up. The first and only “new” class of D&D 5E gets a freshly updated set of rules. Hopefully, enough to bring it in line with the updated power of the new classes.
And make no mistake, this is the Big Book o’ Artificers first and foremost. The Artificer gets its own chapter dedicated to it, with new lore and flavor to play with, as well as a total of five subclasses, including the new Cartographer. As for the rest? You’ll find new character options, new ways to build campaigns, new ideas for Bastions, and even new NPCs and magic items. How does it all stack up? Let’s take a look.
Eberron: Forge of the Artificer – Tinkering With A New Class
Eberron: Forge of the Artificer lives up to its name. It starts with the Artificer, chapter one, right out of the gate. It’s hard to give even a first impressions review of the book without taking a deeper dive into the class. I’ve had access to it for a little while now, and you can look for the Artificer deep dive later this week. But in trying to separate the Artifice from the Artificer one thing becomes immediately apparent: this book is a blueprint for future expansions.
I mean, the new class gets its own dedicated chapter. It’s not bundled in with anything else, and that means the designers can focus on Artificers and the things they do. Although, I wish they would have focused a little bit more on who and why. On the lore of Artificers. In the 5.5E Player’s Handbook, for instance, every class gets at least three pages of fluffy lore to describe their place in the world. WotC hands out plenty of examples of why you might be a Sorcerer or a Fighter, and how they fit into the world.
But the Artificer gets a lowly little blurb:
Masters of invention, Artificers use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and then harnessed in their spells and inventions. You can find everything you need to play one of these inventors in this chapter.
I think this is one place I’d have liked to see more. Admittedly, you can pull the stuff from Eberron: Rising from the Last War if you want. But not everyone’s going to have that book. And I think it would have been helpful to give newer players context for the Artificer. If you’re going to “add” a “new” class, why not go all the way?
Aside from that, admittedly minor, quibble, the Artificer writeup in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer does its job exceedingly well. You get the new class with all the features spelled out in the form of a 5.5E class. Including what traits you get for taking level 1 as an Artificer, and what you get for multiclassing. And I imagine we’ll probably see a few multiclass builds with Artificer worked in.
What Else Is In The Book Though?
Practically speaking, that’s only one (admittedly big) chapter of the book, though. In the rest of the book you’ll find basically an updated campaign setting guide. While it isn’t split into two books the way the Faerun books are, there is a distinct separation between Player and DM material here. Players get a host of new feats to represent the 5.5E Dragonmark paradigm. I think they’re strong, but also very flavorful additions to the game. Personally, I don’t care about players feeling “balanced” because I can design encounters to challenge them, but Eberron characters will probably tear through existing pre-written content that is left unmmodified.
There’s also updated profiles for five new playable species. Changelings, Kalashtar, Khoravar (Half-Elves), Shifters, and of course, Warforged. They receive relatively minor tweaks all things considered; some are definitely ahead of the curve (looking at Shifters and Warforged) but I think people might like the new take on Half-Elves/Khoravar as well.
One last bit of player-facing tools – a list of Bastions that might be mobile, including an airship or big boat. And new facilities that are actually exciting? I hope more books have Bastion features like this. It’s truly an underrated hit for me.
But where the book gets its hooks into me is in the DM-facing tools. You’ll get three big different campaign modes and hints at running other games in Eberron. Eberron: Forge ofthe Artificer wants you to play with Eberron. Whether that’s exploratory expeditions, political intrigue, or war stories.
Is it as robust as I, personally, would like? No. But, there’s enough there to spark anyone’s creative juices. And if you want to play an Artificer (or just in Eberron) this book is a must.
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