Now that the Dragon Delves adventure anthology is officially out in the world, Wizards of the Coast is shifting its focus to the next new book. Eberron: Forge of the Artificer is highly anticipated thanks to its return to the popular Eberron region. Recently, a new post on D&D Beyond shed more light on the upcoming title. While the book is shorter than many fans expected, it’s also less expensive than most official source books. But it’s another detail that’s capturing the attention of many D&D fans because it could spell the return of something we lost with the 2024 rules update.
Eberron: Forge of the Artificer introduces the 2024 revision of the Artificer class, along with five subclasses. Gamers got to playtest these new versions of the Artificer not long ago, thanks to Unearthed Arcana, and Artificer fans are more than ready to see them become official. However, the Artificier might be the highlight, but it’s not the only detail in the new Eberron book that’s captured attention.
Along with the Artificer, the upcoming source book brings in revised versions of 5 species, new backgrounds, feats, spells, and more. The 2024 rules made a lot of improvements to D&D, but they didn’t come without some sacrifices. Changes to species included the removal of options like the Half-Elf, a personal favorite of mine and many players. Now, it looks like we might be getting that option back with Forge of the Artificer. At least, kind of.
Eberron’s Revised Species List Includes The Region’s Half-Elves
Wizards hasn’t revealed the full list of revised species that will become options for players again with Forge of the Artificer. However, we do have a few details, and they’re worth getting excited about. The living Construct Warforged, an iconic Eberron species, will return with a 2024 revision. That’s exciting in and of itself, but it’s another bit of Eberron lore that’s caught players’ attention – the Khoravar.
The Khoravar are, essentially, half-elves. Kind of. Their lore is a bit more complicated than your standard half-elf born from one elven and one human parent. Rather, they are their own species, originally descended from humans and elves but evolving into something new. Even so, they bear many traits in common with half-elves, and they might well be the closest we’re going to get to having that option back.
The 2024 revision of the Player’s Handbook removed the half-elf, along with other half-species such as the half-orc. This decision was part of efforts to remove some content that Wizards felt could be perceived as racist, which also included shifting from the term “race” to “species” instead. Despite these good intentions, many players were sad to see some of their favorite character-building options taken off the table.
So, bringing back Eberron’s own version of the half-elf through the Khoravar could be a nice compromise here. Until we see what the Khoravar species option actually looks like, it’s hard to say how similar it will be to playing the old pre-2024 half-elf. But many players are eagerly looking forward to finding out, myself included.
Eberron: Forge of the Artificer comes out August 19th. It is available for pre-order now via D&D Beyond.
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