Top 10 You Need to Know.

[ronjeremyjr]

In the Eberron Campaign Setting HC there is a nice Top 10 list that helps to give the casual reader some insight as to what to expect from the setting. Let's review some of this and I'll give my 2 cents as my thoughts for what to expect.


1) If it exists in D&D, then it has a place in Eberron.
Yes, the monsters, magic, and weapons in the core books all do have places in Eberron but to fit the 'feel' some twists are needed. So yes in that respect if it exists it'll be in Eberron. What won't be in Eberron are other campaign worlds spells, monsters, races, artifacts, etc,. So no FR materials, no Spelljammer, no Arcana Unearthed, no Ravenloft...etc. This is a choice on my part to keep a potentially overwhelming amount of source material at a minimum. Not only that, some of the other materials may not blend well with the tone of this setting.

2) Tone and attitude.
A few points here that the books brings out that I'm going to touch on. First, the setting is one of traditional D&D fantasy, swashbuckling action, and dark fantasy. It also mentions that alignments are relative guages of a viewpoint and not the absolute law to character actions. Also alignments are blurred a bit, meaning that creatures that have always been "evil" or "good" can be the opposite depending on the circumstances. An lawful evil gold dragon or a chaotic good vampire can happen here. This helps give this campaign the noir tone that the world conveys; nothing is black and white...its all shades of grey.

3) A world of magic.
Mastery of the arcane instead of scientific advancement is the norm here. Think our tech level from the approx. 1800's except its magically evolved.
Case in point the 'lightning rails' are basically this worlds version of steam locomotives but instead of steam they race along on streams of magical electrical energy.

4) A world of adventure.
All RPGs are worlds of adventure. So the authors statement is vague. A world of pulp adventure is more accurate. If you think of a D&D version of the old pulp noir radio serials then you have a good grasp as to the feel of Eberron.

5) The Last War has ended....sort of.
The 102yr long civil war on Khorvaire has ended, and any campaigns begin about two years later but tensions among the nations on the continent are still elevated and while they are hoping the peace lasts, they are bracing and preparing for another war. This kind of set up gives the players/DM a nice pseudo-Cold War era feel to the game. Spies, double/triple crosses, assassinations, political power on the very verge of faltering...its all here on the continent of Khorvaire.

We'll pick up on #6-10 in another post. In the meantime, comment on what you've seen so far.

[Relthar]

1) I agree on keeping out information from other campagin settings. This is a slight problem I have had, and have hopefully fixed, with the ToSC game. Some people just do not understand that just because somethig is cool doesn't mean it should be used in a certain setting.

2) I've seen Eberron more as magical steampunk. Like playing Final Fantasy VI. Lots of fantasy, but not traditional sword and sorcery fantasy. As such the integration of certain things (like psionics) don't grate on me as much as they would with a more 'traditional' setting.

3) My response for #2 holds for this too. The magic as technology is neat as the whole setting is derived around it.

4) Its just a different flavor of adventure, that's all.

5) This can make for some interesting role-playing, as old grudges don't go away quickly. Political intrigues, however, are not my cup of tea. I freely admit to not liking political games or scenarios as a player, and as such have a great deal of difficulty running such as a GM, too. If the game were too politically focused, I know I wouldn't enjoy it.

[ronjeremyjr]

Eberron does have a Final Fantasy VI feel to it. Lots of tech and magic. A 'Shadowrun Past' setting if you will.
As for a political game; unless you plan on spending time with characters deeply entrenched within the Dragonmarked houses for the entire game-span you won't be playing a politically charged game. The twinges of politics will be present, more active behind the scenes. The players will be more on the adventuring side of things, more akin to 'Indiana Jones' and 'Army of Darkness' or some detective work like 'The Usual Suspects' or 'Sherlock Holmes'.
I'm just hoping my DMing chops are up to snuff to pull off running a pulp steam-punk game with high levels of cinematic action and intrigue throughout.

[Relthar]

The "Indiana Jones" feel is how I preceive most of the adventures would be. Even I have political goings on in the background of the ToSC game, with the characters on the adventuring end. So, as usual, we're on the same page here.