Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 gricktree Jul 12, 2008 18:27:38	I'm new to Eberron. I pretty much skipped 3.x of D&D in favour of other games but find I really like 4e and thus am discovering Eberron for the first time (I'm reading through one of my friends books now). I've noticed that 4e directly borrows and incorporates ideas from 3.x Eberron and seems like it will be an ideal fit. One area where it makes the most sense is with the distinction between Elite and Professional spellcasters. Pretty much everything that is a magical service in Eberron is handled by ritual casters. Professional spell casters are simply those with ritual spell casting and the appropriate skills. Elite casters are those with actual powers (in the 4e definition of the word). Seems like a natural fit. How is everyone else handling the proponderance of mundane magic users in Eberron?
#2 rauric Jul 13, 2008 7:07:33	I was wondering if their will be some commoner/noble/caster system eventually like there was in 3e. I am not sure if it is needed but they (EB designers) might come up with some new interesting way of looking at it that will probably make the setting and 4E rules even more fun. :D
#3 ieattrollsforbreakfast Jul 13, 2008 7:50:15	I'm with gricktree, the ritual system is plenty to handle the professional spellcasters of Eberron. The one thing I would like to see to complement the system and the setting, though, is rituals with dragonmarks as prerequisites. Having some rituals limited to the Dragonmarked Houses would emphasise their role in Khorvaire's economy, and ensure they are a visible presence in games that do not directly focus on them.
#4 mystrich Jul 13, 2008 10:21:16	I'm with gricktree, the ritual system is plenty to handle the professional spellcasters of Eberron. The one thing I would like to see to complement the system and the setting, though, is rituals with dragonmarks as prerequisites. Having some rituals limited to the Dragonmarked Houses would emphasise their role in Khorvaire's economy, and ensure they are a visible presence in games that do not directly focus on them. Maybe some, but other than Dragonmarked's spells, the abilities of the Dragonmarks have always been something everyone can do. But anyone in the House can manifest them, even with no training at all. And in flavor-text, we know Eberron is much harder for NPCs to advance, and wizard has always required years of training. So of two normal people, one might get the same spell overnight that the other took 10 years to master, hence why they're so profitable.
#5 JohnLynch Jul 13, 2008 18:59:08	Having some rituals limited to the Dragonmarked Houses would emphasise their role in Khorvaire's economy, and ensure they are a visible presence in games that do not directly focus on them. I'm thinking they might be able to do their rituals without a component. This would be extremely handy for the high-level rituals.
#6 nymrohd Jul 14, 2008 9:17:54	Dragonmarks could act as residuum and give a bonus to ritual checks. Keep in mind that considering that spellscars in FR (which, let's face it, are dragonmark ripoffs) will be handled by a multiclass-only class, maybe the dragonmark heir can have a generic utility power that can be used during rituals.
#7 RedRider Jul 14, 2008 15:20:18	I was wondering if their will be some commoner/noble/caster system eventually like there was in 3e. I think it's more likely NPCs will just be given abilities in their stat block to represent their abilities. Since Monsters (including humans) no longer need class levels to represent their abilities. So instead of "Magewright 5, knows light, continual flame etc." it'll be more like: --- Magewright, Level 2 minion. (However many XP) Basic Melee attack. Basic Ranged attack. Can cast Light (as wizard cantrip) At Will. Knows the Cold Flame ritual and can perform it without using a ritual book. --- This also means we can have highly skilled individuals (Like Syberys marked scions) who don't also have high attack bonuses and saves, should that be desirable for the character. (That 19th level commoner in Sharn is probably tougher than most grunt-level city guards despite being in her twiglight years and being a chef.)
#8 gricktree Jul 14, 2008 22:40:45	NPC levels was a big pile of nonsense and I'm glad it's gone. Having the NPCs and the PCs built/using different rules is a great way.
#9 julescarv Jul 15, 2008 0:15:49	Well, if all magewright-type magic were handled by rituals, then it would have to become much more rare -- component costs to rituals are fairly hefty if it's something you're going to do on a day-to-day basis. For instance, if magecraft were a ritual, it almost certainly wouldn't be worth it as a routine aid to crafting. Of course, since there is not by-the-rules mundane item crafting system in 4e, you can just say "this artisan can cast magecraft, and gets stuff done quicker and better. This one doesn't, and is a bit slower and can't achieve quite as high quality," and don't need to worry about whether it's a component-less ritual, power, or what.
#10 nymrohd Jul 15, 2008 7:39:22	I don't see why your average magewright would even have an NPC writeup. No similr NPCs have writeups in any of the published material. Just a list of rituals known, and what their skill bonus is.
#11 eldritch_lord Jul 15, 2008 9:51:04	Well, if all magewright-type magic were handled by rituals, then it would have to become much more rare -- component costs to rituals are fairly hefty if it's something you're going to do on a day-to-day basis. For instance, if magecraft were a ritual, it almost certainly wouldn't be worth it as a routine aid to crafting. You could always make the most common rituals quick to cast and dirt-cheap. Magecraft might be 1 minute and 8 sp. Not all rituals have to be chanting-cabal-and-tons-of-incense affairs like raise dead.