Dragonmarks as Bloodlines?

[T.G. Oskar]

Being a fan of Eberron as I am, I love the idea of the dragonmarked houses and the dragonmarks themselves; a nice way to allow the Core races to get some boost in comparison to the new races offered within the campaign setting (namely, the changeling, the kalashtar, the shifter and particularly the warforged). The lore of some of the houses (namely, Deneith) is excellent, and gives the vibe of Renaissance Italy where mercantile houses reigned supreme, and their owners were basically nobles on their own right (ergo, the term bourgeoisie (sp?)

However, I usually find that attempting to get a dragonmark almost always hurts. While it's nice to get Shield of Faith, for example, or Cure Light Wounds as spell-like abilities, wasting a feat slot for them (when feat slots are very scarce; note I speak of 3.5 and not PF) doesn't seem like a fair trade, especially if you only gain one use of the ability per day. The Least Dragonmark feat grants a minor boost to a skill check, but that alone doesn't justify the expenditure at early levels, let alone at later ones. Considering that you can join the house without being an actual scion (i.e. one who holds a dragonmark), it makes little sense that those who DO have a dragonmark sorta sacrifice their potential for their minimal powers.

Thus, after brief pondering, I realized: what about turning the dragonmarks into bloodlines? Considering that anyone manifesting a dragonmark is a member of a very specific bloodline dating from the ages pre-Galifar, it already fits with the concept of a bloodline. Most likely, you could have least, lesser and greater dragonmarks manifest as minor, major and greater bloodlines, with their divisions cleanly placed. Certainly, losing a few class levels (between 1 to 3) can hurt, but considering that the loss is somewhat offset (you gain progression in certain class features, including caster level and level-based abilities) and you gain extra abilities from the bloodline (beyond the spell-like abilities), it seems like a fairer trade than the norm. You could expend a few more feat slots to spend on the Dragonmarked sourcebook feats, but you'd gain at least some motivation. This would also imply a modification to all PrCs based on the dragonmarks (namely, Dragonmarked Heir and the house-specific PrCs) as well, though there's the issue of heir of Siberys (which grants a unique, extremely powerful dragonmark).

So, whaddya think about it? Is it a good idea, an unnecessary idea, or a silly idea?

[Cicciograna]

Pleasepleaseplease with sugar and honey over it, make it real. I love your creations, Oskar, I like Eberron and I like bloodlines. But please, turn 'em in a whole mass of sweet, sweet awesomeness!

[Chambers]

I think it's a great idea and am jealous I haven't thought of it first.

[mattie_p]

There's definitely some possibilities here, T.G. Oskar. I personally don't allow bloodlines, I find them overly complicated, but I wish I understood them better. I need to do some more reading up on the topic, but from what I know it sounds very setting-appropriate and would probably be beneficial to the PCs who choose dragonmarks.

[Morph Bark]

The main thing about this idea is that bloodlines come with problems of their own, especially when used for PCs that work alongside PCs that don't have a bloodline.

That being said though, I approve of trying to come up with alternate/better ways to implement Dragonmarks, as they are one of the features of Eberron that I quite like.