As a cis male who lands in just about every privilaged and/or entitled demographic, I'm very glad this work is available and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you for your efforts and the education.

Haters can sit in their smaller worlds, cry, and die angry.

This is great! There's some really interesting opportunities to look at gender and queer culture in Eberron - with races that experience gender (or not!) in a variety of ways. I love that Lex has looked at these and thought, at every step "so, what does that mean for the inhabitants?"

Great images, nicely laid out. Very happy with my purchase.

Loved this product! I don't play D&D 5e, but I still bought this product because I think the way it addresses the subject matter is applicable to any RPG. I run an Eberron game using Savage Worlds, and what was presented here fit perfectly in with my view of Eberron and the people therein. I have used some of these concepts in the NPCs in my Eberron world already and plan on adding even more! This is the kind of product that promotes inclusivity and openness in gaming in the best possible way. I can't say enough good things about it.

Overall this is a great roleplay tool for Eberron. Mechanically there's one common magic item and one 1st level spell/ritual, and both are meant to support roleplay over say, combat.

The main points are how specific races would relate to gender identity, particularly ones with baked in themes such as fluid Changeling and blank slate Warforged. This isn't exhaustive but can provide good ideas. For instance I had never considered the implications of Tairnadal elves bonding to ancestors of a different gender. There's also a short little paragraph on dwarves of the Mror Holds which I particularly like and think is neat.

Then there is a short section on the act of transitioning, including the magic item and spell. This factors in some core concepts of the setting, that there are magical professionals who can provide services not typical of standard D&D and other fantasy settings.

Thirdly there are options presented for how the various major religions would approach these themes. This provides interesting notes on how transgender individuals of different faiths use that faith as part of their experience.

And lastly there's a section of sample NPCs. For the most part these have a great differentiation in personalities and life experiences and help to flesh out whatever environment your players are in. By default these NPCs are almost all in Sharn. Most can probably be shifted to new locations without issue, but that's a slight bit of work on the DM.

A thoughtful and insightful book that outlines many ways to incorporate transgender people into the Eberron setting. It builds on the established peoples/cultures of Eberron and fleshes out the role gender identity plays in their societies.

It is also depicts religion as not being inherently discriminate against different gender identities, which is refreshing. The addition of spells and magic items that help facilitate transitioning are also a nice touch.

Contrary to what you might read, transgender people very much belong in Eberron, as they do in every other form of media.

I have a lot of very positive feelings about this book, and I am going to illustrate them by refuting another distinctly hateful review.

I hadn't written any reviews on this site until today, when I decided to catch up on rating my library of purchases. I remembered this one in particular as being a favorite, so imagine my surprise when I came to rate it and saw a wildly transphobic review by Scott S. that ultimately said such identities have no place in Eberron, that it's a setting codified by being Noir and Pulp, and that if such identities were desired, the author should make their own setting.

And yet, he goes on to say that transgender or other gender identities outside of the binary cannot exist without conflict in any fantasy world or setting:

"A short section on religion tries to introduce this new doctrine without any conflict whatsoever. This is totally unrealistic and would not occur in any fantasy world or setting. Conflict arrises in every culture, religion, race or belief system and it is naïve to believe this system would have no conflicts in Eberron. Unless everyone in Eberron drank the cordial, there would at least be some members to society who would have adverse feelings towards those with Queer Gender Identity. Conflict already exists within the religions in Eberron over beliefs. Saying that adding transgender elements is universally accepted just doesn’t make sense."

That's Scott's two cents, folks.

The conflict over beliefs in Eberron, for the record, largely concerns the balance of power and the fallout of the Last War, as well as the actual morality of various faiths. Let's go to a specific thought that Keith Baker himself had about the Traveler, one of the Dark Six, on his personal blog:

"In the Pyrinean myths, the Traveler seeks to lure you off the path of safety and security. In the traditions of the Children, the Traveler is the guide who walks by your side when you choose the unknown road. Because it’s only by walking your own path that you can find yourself. These two concepts—walk your own path and find yourself are important principles for those who honor the Traveler. Walk your own path is a principle that can be embraced both literally and metaphorically. On the one hand, it’s a faith that encourages a nomadic lifestyle, embracing the chaos of the road and seeking out new places and experiences. Beyond that, it’s a simple directive not to let others control your life; trust your instincts and don’t fear the unknown.

"Find yourself can likewise be embraced on multiple levels. Identify your strengths and your passions. But beyond that, figure out who you want to be and become that person. While this is an easy directive for a changeling, Eberron is a world of magic and it’s something that can be a literal truth for anyone. Disguise self and alter self allow people to temporarily assume identities, but there are transmutation spells and rituals that allow someone to permanently change any aspect of appearance or gender. Followers of the Traveler are urged not to feel bound by anyone’s expectations—only you know who you are."

This is an explicit acknowledgement of transgender individuals in Eberron. But this isn't the only time he's touched upon it. Let's look at a question he answered about the Kalashtar in a Q&A from his blog on 5/18/18:

QUESTION: Taratai is female in Races of Eberron, and male in Secrets of Sarlona. Which is it?

KEITH BAKER: "It’s a legitimately confusing issue. Here’s a quote from “The Legend of Taratai” in Secrets of Sarlona (page 24):

'She led sixty-seven spirits that became the kalashtar to Adar, where the monk Hazgaal and his students accepted them. In Hazgaal’s body as Haztaratai (though many stories still call her Taratai), she taught and wrote the precepts of the Path of Light… '

"So: both SoS and RoE agree that the kalaraq quori Taratai identified as female. However, per SoS she bonded with the human monk Hazgaal, who was male. This means that the spiritual lineage of Taratai were male kalashtar, though they were bound to a female spirit. Quite a few kalashtar lines have this sort of disconnect, which results in a great deal of gender fluidity within kalashtar culture."

But if those explanations are too "word of god" and outside actual publication to be worth their salt for anyone's taste, then let's turn to the Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron, where it's made very official:

"The typical warforged has a muscular, sexless body shape. Some warforged ignore the concept of gender entirely, while others adopt a gender identity in emulation of creatures around them."

Scott actually uses the specific wording the book uses regarding the warforged's appearance: a muscular, sexless body shape. Then continues to berate the author of this book for implying the same thing that Keith Baker himself says in the Wayfinder's Guide: warforged sometimes abdicate all gender, and sometimes they adopt gender as they see fit. When faced with authorial intent that Scott obviously read and dismissed, I'm left with the conclusion that he's coming from a place of hate, or at the very least ignorance with utter refusal to learn, even when the creator of the world he obviously otherwise enjoys has overtly introduced the concepts to him.

As a final piece of evidence that Keith not only supports the inclusion of such identities in Eberron but actively believes they don't cause any conflict by their mere presence, I will include a personal email a fan received in response to a letter they wrote him regarding trans individuals in Eberron, which the author of this book also quotes in a response to another review (possibly they had the discussion with him!). The veracity of it is up to the reader, but it matches many of the above statements he's made, and even includes a mention of his latest game, Phoenix: Dawn Command.

"This is one of those questions where I generally assume that Eberron is a BETTER place than our world - it's a world I'd want to live in, as opposed to the world we do live in.

As a result, we generally don't place a focus on sexism, ethnic racism, or homophobia. I like to say that in a world where there are literal monsters, people don't judge one another by skin color or gender. Essentially, if you specifically want to play in a campaign where someone is persecuted for those things, you can add it in... but that persecution isn't a theme we wanted to explore with the setting, so we've assumed more enlightenment and equality than in our world.

With that said, I'll note that there are two reasons I would think people would be more comfortable with transgender folk in particular. --Changelings are inherently gender fluid and in my Eberron rarely limit themselves to a single gender. --A kalashtar can literally have a soul that has a different gender identity than its physical body. --Warforged have no innate gender and must choose their own gender identity. --Transformation magic exists, and there's many ways for a person to change their body to match their vision of themselves.

Essentially, people have been dealing with openly transgender individuals since the dawn of Galifar, and I feel that this would lead to a broader acceptance of the concept among other races. And sure, I think that over the course of that thousand years, Jorasco and Vadalis could have worked together to develop a ritual or series of rituals that alter gender.

As a side note, in Phoenix: Dawn Command players are people who die and have been reborn as Phoenixes. A core concept of that is that your appearance as a Phoenix matches your self-image, and that gender, race and age may all be different than how you were born... and could even change again with each death, if you feel that your identity has fundamentally changed."

NOW, at last, onto my personal feelings about this book, divorced entirely from the absolute nonsense Scott S. spouted! Actual review starts here!

This book lovingly explores the possibilities of different gender expression in the various races of Eberron, even and especially including the races that either don't have a gender or whose gender is fluid, and how they view themselves. It's a fantastic starting point for players to decide for themselves how their character exists in the world, and allows them to go on their own gender adventure, so to speak! The attention to detail in expanding what Keith Baker already lightly touched on re: gender identity is immediately apparent, and the inclusion of incredibly well crafted NPCs that seamlessly fit into and support these identities within the setting is a breath of fresh air.

I would only agree with yet another reviewer (Matthew B.!) that my singular wish is for the book to be longer! I'd love to read about the other races traditions regarding sexuality, such as halflings, shifters, etc.

I have been a huge fan of Eberron since it burst onto the D&D scene back in 3.5 edition. The steampunk setting was new, a breath of fresh air into an exciting RPG system that had been around for 30 years.

Blessed of The Traveler, is a very brief publication that tries to introduce a current social issue of non-binary/transgender into the existing setting. The guide does not go into much depth in how this improves on existing material or gameplay in general.

Painting the world with a very wide brush, the guide states that Transgender people exist among all the races of Eberron, and are just that—people—with no exceptional circumstances or traditions relating to their identity. All races should have some distinct background that makes them what they are. Traditions and circumstance shapes the identity of cultures and races.

Of the races, Changelings and Shapeshifters are already ambiguous in regards to their sexuality and gender. Having the ability to be either sex it already exists in Eberron as part of the race. This was never a major selling point of Eberron. There was nothing new that really added to the existing race descriptions.

Warforged being Queer is the biggest misfit and anomaly. Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some Warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same Warforged in different ways. The Warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. Trying to change the sexuality of this race severely changes an important aspect of these beings. The beings have no sexual organs and would not need to identify as bI sexual, queer or straight. It would have been better to completely leave this race out of the booklet rather than force it.

A short section on religion tries to introduce this new doctrine without any conflict whatsoever. This is totally unrealistic and would not occur in any fantasy world or setting. Conflict arrises in every culture, religion, race or belief system and it is naïve to believe this system would have no conflicts in Eberron. Unless everyone in Eberron drank the cordial, there would at least be some members to society who would have adverse feelings towards those with Queer Gender Identity. Conflict already exists within the religions in Eberron over beliefs. Saying that adding transgender elements is universally accepted just doesn’t make sense.

Page 7 states “The major faiths of Khorvaire have no strong beliefs about transgender individuals, in the same way that their doctrines don’t specifically refer to dwarves or those with green eyes; one’s gender matters less than their piety and deeds. Transgender people can be found in places of worship across the continent as members of the flock or clergy like any other.”

Eberron works with both pulp and noir themes. This publication doesn’t really add or suit either of these settings and as such, feels forced. Like trying to add an additional layer over an already finished masterpiece.

Overall I felt this guide was too forced and didn’t suit the existing world of Eberron. No doubt it will appeal to the transgender population but overall it was not well integrated into the existing Eberron setting. Perhaps it would have been better to create a new world and not attempt to introduce these elements into an existing setting.

I have to say, this book is Eberron to the max. As has already been pointed out elsewhere in the reviews and discussion, the setting is one which has bigger fish to fry than gender, race, and sexuality, and this follows that nicely. Five stars off the bat! Of special significance to me were the short quick write-ups on elves, dwarves, gnomes and the Dhakaani which REALLY show the author's understanding of Baker's world (dwarven extravagence being something I notice a lot of people missing, not to mention goblin muut)

My only "complaints" as a fan of Eberron are really a product of the restrictions of someone independent working on a labour of love, and that's depth. I would have been interested to know if the Dragonmarked Houses' obsession with continuation of the bloodline might factor into their attitudes towards their scions identity, what the opressive Inspired of Riedra think (especially as those whose dreams differ from the community are quietly removed or must flee), and if this tolerance extends back to the period after the Sundering and before the foundation of Galifer when Khorvaire was a much more warlike place? What DO halflings, the cults of the Dragon Below, and the Lords of Dust think on the subject?

So what I'm saying is, if the author was inclined I'd totally pay more for a follow-up exploration of the less central parts of Eberron's view on gender and the like.

Book is awful, poorly researched. Person has no clue about what they are talking abo... nope, couldn't get through that with a straight face.

The book is great. It takes waht can be seen as a sensitive subject and incorperates it into the game with dignity and grace. As someone who is keeping an active archive of the content he likes, this will be finding a place right along side of the Korranberg Chronicle and offical WotC product.

Good book. Simple and to the point. Honestly I'm a little surprised such a product wasn't created sooner given Eberron is the origin of changelings and warforged in particular.

The ideas within are easy to incorporate into any game, and won't dominate or distract unnecessarily. Some of the information seems obvious in hindsight, which I take evidence it fits into Keith Baker's world naturally and coherently and is not "shoehorned" or forced. In particular the title's use of the Traveler immediately struck me with the thought "of course, that does make sense, why didn't I think of that". Because a lot of the information is linked to races that appear in every setting, it is easily applied in most D&D settings. The backgrounds and character ideas at the end are quite easy to adapt for any character.

I would have liked more example NPCs worked into the text of each race's section instead of all the NPCs lumped at the end. I think those examples could have made the individual racial sections stand out as more distinct. As it is things feel a little homogenous at the beginning. And perhaps a few sample encounters as ideas for new DMs to start from or even some varied personality/ideal/bond/flaw tables for the races, religions, and cultures. Since 5e hasn't touched on the sub cultures of the changelings from 3.5 and 4e yet this would have been a perfect place to consider how those changelings who focus on perfecting one form vs having no permanent form vs finding the balance each intersect with gender discovery. But those are just nitpicks. As I said, this is a good product and worth supporting in the hopes of generating more products from this team.

Fantastic supplement. Contains some really great tips on creating a trans inclusive setting. My only feedback is that the document doesn't necessarily need to be constrained to Eberron; a lot of what's included is easily applicable to Forgotten Realms or other settings. Personally I don't expect to run a game in Eberron anytime soon. Though if this is intended as part 1 in a longer series looking at other settings, then I look forward to seeing more!

Picked it up out of curiosity, expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised to find this offering wasn't preachy. The info on transgenderism (is that a word?) in the changelings, kalashtar, and warforged was pretty no-brainer stuff. My biggest gripe was that the entire setting - mainly the religions thereof - was described as being tolerant of or accepting of the transgender. That strains verisimilitude IMHO. The magic item and spell presented were nice little cosmetic additions, which is something the game needs more of. And the cover art is amazing :D

Edit to add - Gripe retracted due to author response :) I'd add another star rating for due diligence alone, but the system won't let me at the moment.

As an lesbian DM for the LGBTQIA+ & Allies D&D Meetup in Calgary, I love the content and its thoughfulness. One suggestion, I would have loved to see the NPCs' stats and/or character sheets for quick use to throw into my campaign either as NPC or as Pre-generated characters that we use for our beginner/how to play D&D teaching sessions. Great work, looking forward to more.

Thoughtful and well written, this supplement has lots of ideas and story hooks for Ebberon players and DMs. It's also nicely laid out. If you want to support more content like this, buy it and leave a review!

This is an excellent resource for any group whose members might be interested in playing trans and nonbinary characters in the Eberron setting, but don't know where to start. It has race- and setting-specific lore that will help give background for your queer characters, fully rooting them in Eberron's world. I'd love to see a similar book for the Faerun setting, but even then it gives answers to many of the questions I'd have anyway, as well as an item and spell I could use in any setting.

Thank you for this great supplement!