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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RICHLY DETAILED NEW CHARACTER OPTIONS,
This review is from: Dragonmarked (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
Wizards of the coast continues to build upon its ever-burgeoning Ebberon setting with their latest hardcover supplement, Dragonmarked. In Eberron there are twelve houses (think clans) of Dragonmarked. The Dragonmark is a symbol that appears on one's body and simply cannot be removed. It is etched in various colors and provides various magical abilities to the holder of the mark.
The thirteen different houses of the Dragonmarked are introduced in vast detail. You'll learn the rich history of each of the thirteen houses including its greatest members, notable events, house organization, guilds associated with the house, entry requirements, notes on playing as a member of that house, advancement, and much more. These various houses afford players a chance to play within a very rich tapestry of past history and current associations, something that most starting players are usually lacking. They also allow a player to join a house that closely fits his class and personality; if your DM allows you to pick which house you want to join. The houses are also associated with certain races such as the House of Jorasco, populated by halflings, and the House of Kundarak which is the house made up of dwarves. These various houses continue to lend a more mythical feel to Eberron, compared to the Forgotten Realms. Chapter two presents a full dozen new prestige classes of Dragonmarked characters and some of them are quite enthralling. The Shadow Hunter is a special class that combines excellent combat skills with a high degree of stealth and magical powers to make themselves truly proficient combatants. They can uses their powers of darkness in defense to hide from opponents, or on offense to blind their foes. Each prestige class includes everything you need to know about joining the class, all features and powers, organizations, play tips, sample encounters, and NPC reactions. Chapters three and four introduce dozens of new feats, spells, and magic items to flesh out your Dragonmarked character even more. The book is, of course, accompanied by the always-excellent artwork from a host of talented artists. I suppose you could fit Dragonmarked into the Forgotten Realms but I think its best to keep it within Eberron as its designed. There's an extreme amount of detail in this book but it can really create some very unique characters. Reviewed by Tim Janson
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Strong but Frustrating Entry,
By The Game Maester (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dragonmarked (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
Dragonmarked was another strong entry in the growing Eberron saga. As a player-oriented sourcebook, the player options were of course many and varied -- from the dozen prestige classes to the host of new feats and spells -- and on the whole, added to the setting precisely what one would expect the new mechanics of such a book to add. Unfortunately, some of the "meat" of the individual houses was thin if not outright gamey (no pun), in a few places. Here was a great opportunity (THE opportunity, in fact) to reveal the real deal behind some of the more intriguing and mysterious of houses, and it seems like the developers failed to capitalize on that opportunity at times. As a player in the setting, yes, I wanted more dragonmark-related goodies, but I wanted the depth of narrative that I've been waiting for since the corebook was released. Did the writers try to do this and were edited "down" by the developers? We'll never know, but the end result is a bit of a missed opportunity when it comes to such explication. In particular, the places where the tone retains its mystery -- "It might have been this, or it might have been that" -- were especially aggravating. That's what we've heard all along, folks; this was the place to stop prevaricating, and show us the hidden truth. If you don't intend to reveal it, don't make the promise that the book makes by its very design. All in all, the book is 5 out of 5 stars in game content, as one might expect from WotC; but as one might also expect from WotC in the 3.5 era, the narrative leaves a little something to be desired in some places (though a few house descriptions, such as Sivis, don't disappoint at all). And so it must needs drop from 5 to 4 stars, though it's still a very good sourcebook.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good entry into the Eberron saga,
By Azer Kain En "Kneeknocker" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dragonmarked (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
I'm really disappointed that this book didn't contain information on the lost mark. I have planned a resurgence of the lost mark in my campaign setting and I was looking forward to an official breakdown of the least, lesser, and greater mark of death.
This book does contain a great many new and interesting feats for characters who have dragonmarks. Though, once again with the recent release wave of WOTC, there are issues with balance in regard to feats. Some feats are lame, some are very obviously uber. Who wouldn't want to take a feat that grants Damage Reduction 5/magic or Damage Reduction 5/byeshk. Dm's will need to tweak things here and there to make them more balance minded. There are some very promising prestige classes in this book. My personal favorite is the combat oriented prestige class for House Orien. Reminds me of Nightcrawler from the Xmen. Since this book lacks information on the 13th mark...this is what I'm using...feel free to implement it in your campaign! +2 knowledge(religion) checks least mark - 1/day command undead or invisibility to undead lesser mark - 1/ day animate undead or halt undead greater mark - 1/ day create undead or undeath to death siberys mark - 1/ day create greater undead or control undead Overall...I feel this is a strong addition to my Eberron campaign and will enrich the setting.
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