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A Thread in which we discuss Eberron
DeVryGuy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Eberron was the first campaign setting created for D&D 3.5. While all traditional D&D elements are present in the world of Eberron, it is pretty much the antithesis of everything that is Forgotten Realms.
Alright, but what's so great about Eberron?
Perhaps the most important thing about Eberron to remember is that your PCs are in fact the heroes of the setting, because pretty much all the really powerful people got killed off in the Last War. When the threats pop up, it's up to your characters to deal with them, because there are no Elminsters or other such really powerful characters to come save the day.
Not to mention, the new view on alignments as well as the pulp/noir feel of the setting gives D&D a very fresh feeling without comprimising the core fun of D&D.
Eberron Campaign Setting wrote:10 things you need to know about Eberron:
1. If it exists in D&D, then it has a place in Eberron. A monster or spell or magic item from the core rulebooks might feature a twist or two to account for Eberron's tone an attitude, but otherwise everything in the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual has a place somewhere in Eberron. Also, this is the first D&D setting built entirely from the v.3.5 rules, which enabled us to blend rules and story in brand-new ways.
2. Tone an attitude. The campaign combines traditional medieval D&D fantasy with swashbuckling action and dark adventure. Alignments are relative guages of a character's viewpoint, and not absolute barometers of affiliation and actionl nothing is exactly as it seems. Alignments are blurred, so that it's possible to encounter an evil silver dragon or a good vampire. Traditionally good-aligned creatures may wind up opposed to the heroes, while well-known agents of evil might provide assistance when it's least expected. To help capture the cinematic nature of the swordplay and spellcasting, we've added action points to the rules mix. This spendable, limited resource allows players to alter the outcome of dramatic situations and have their characters accomplish the seemingly impossible.
3. A world of magic. The setting supposes a world that developed not through the advance of science, but by the mastery of arcane magic. this concept allows for certain coveniences unimagined in other medieval timeframes. The binding and harnessing of elemental creatures makes airships and rail transport possible. A working class of minor mages uses spells to provide energy and other necessities in towns and cities. Advances in magic item creation have led to everything from self-ropelled farming implements to sentient, free-willed constructs.
4. A world of adventure. From the seaming jungles of Aerenal to the colossal ruins of Xen'drik, from the towering keeps of Sharn to the blasted hills and velleys of the Demon Wastes, Eberron is a world of action and adventure. Adventures can and should draw heroes from one exotic location to another across nations, continents, and the entire world. The quest for the Mirror of the Seventh Moon may take the heroes from a hidden desert shrine to a ruined castle in the Shadow Marches and finally to a dungeon deep below the Library of Korranberg. Through the use of magical transportation, heroes can reach a wider range of environments over the course of an adventure, and thus deal with a diverse assortment of monsters and challenges.
5. The Last War has ended--sort of. The Last War, which plunged the continent of Khorvaire into civil war more than a century ago, eded with the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold and the establishment of twelve recognized nations occupying what was once the kingdom of Galifar. At least overtly, the peace has held for almost two years as the campaign begins. The conflicts, the anger, and the pain of the long war remain, however, and the new nations seeks every advantage as they prepare for the inevitable next war that will eventually break ou on the continent.
6. The Five Nations. The human-dominated civilizations on the continent of Khorvaire trace a lineage to the ancient kingdom of Galifar, which was made up of five distinct regions, or nations. These were Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Karrnath and Thrane. Four of these survive to the present day as independant countries; Cyre was destroyed before the start of the campiagn. The devestated territory once occupied is now known as the Mournland. A common epithet among the people of Khorvaire is "By the Five Nations," or some version therof. The Five Nations refers to the ancient kingdom of Galifar and harkens back to a legendary time of peace and prosperity.
7. A world of intrigue. The war is over, and the nations of Khorvaire now try to build a new age of peace and prosperity. Ancient threats linger, however, and the new world desperately needs heroes to take up the cause. nations complete on many levels--economic, political influence, territory, magical power--each looking to maintain or improveits current status by any means short of an all-out war. Espionage and sabotage services create big business in certain circles. The dragonmarked houses, churches both pure and corrupt, crime lords, monster gangs, psionic spies, arcane universities, royal orders of knights and wizards, secret societies, sinister masterminds, dragons, and a multitude of organizations and factions jockey for position in the afterglow of the Last War. Eberron teems with conflict and intrigue.
8. Dragonmark dynasties. The great dragonmarked families are the barons of industry and commerce throughout Khorvaire and beyond. Their influence transcends political boundaries, and they remained mostly neutral during the Last War. While not technically citizens of any nation, the matriarchs and patriarchs of each house live in splendor within their enclaves and emporiums located throughout Khorvaire. These dynastic houses of commerce derive their power from the dragonmarks--unique, hereditary arcane sigils that manifest on certain individuals within the family, granting them limited but very useful magical abilities associated with the trade guilds the family controls.
9. Dragonshards. Ancient legends and creation myths describe Eberron as a world in three parts: the ring above, the subterranean realm below, and the land between. Each of these world sections is tied to a great dragon of legend--Siberys, Kkyber, and Eberron. Each section of the world produces stones and crystals imbued with arcane power--dragonshards. With dragonshards, dragonmarks can be made more powerful, elementals can be controlled and harnessed, and magic items of all sorts can be crafted and shaped. These shards, however, are race and difficult to come by, making them expensive and often the goals to great quests and adventures.
10. New races. In addition to the common player character races found in the Player's Handbook, players can choose to play changelings, kalashtar, shifters and warforged in Eberron. Changelings are a race that evolved from the crossing of dopplegangers and humans, giving them minor shapechanging abilities. Kalashtar are plar entities merged with human hosts who are capable of becoming powerful weilders of psionicpower. (To fully utilize the kalashtar and other psionic elements of the world, we strongly recommend the use of the Expanded Psionics Handbook.) Shifters developed from the mixing of humans and lycanthropes, a union that grants them limited bestial abilities and feral instincts. The warforged are sentient constructs created during the Last War who developed free will and a desire to improve their position in the world.
Alright, but what's so great about Eberron?
Perhaps the most important thing about Eberron to remember is that your PCs are in fact the heroes of the setting, because pretty much all the really powerful people got killed off in the Last War. When the threats pop up, it's up to your characters to deal with them, because there are no Elminsters or other such really powerful characters to come save the day.
Not to mention, the new view on alignments as well as the pulp/noir feel of the setting gives D&D a very fresh feeling without comprimising the core fun of D&D.
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DeVryGuy on
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And he's a tree. A level 16 or so tree.
Ayliana Moonwhisper Ecksus Cerazal
And the new races/elements/cosmology just oozes style and refinement (though I've heard some gameplay concerns about shifters).
If only I had a chance playing it
Yup, a tree. He can summon a bunch of wolves or something, and they'll stick around for almost two minutes
Fixed.
Even better when it's a Warforged Artificer.
Ayliana Moonwhisper Ecksus Cerazal
"You're pending, for a BENDING!"
The disk is collecting dust on my desk.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
I've read through the Campaign Setting and talked at length with my supervisor (also my DM) about Eberron, so I'm not just making an uninformed decision on it.
Maybe it's just the warforged and all the magic or elemental powered stuff that gets me. I prefer Faerun since it's more "realistic" fantasy. The more traditional fantasy setting.
I think Privateer Press's Iron Kingdoms is a much cooler steampunk style setting, and it comes with it's own accompanying war game.
It's an awakened "greatpine."
And technically, the sisters of sora kell and Erandis d'Vol are both more powerful (if I remember correctly).
In one of the games I'm in, I'm currently playing a pacifist Warforged Monk whose left arm and lower jaw got rusted off while being tortured after the last war.
Yeah.
Well, I think Faerun sucks too (Greyhawk forever yos) but a FR game could be very succesful.
DDO actually has a pretty fun core--it needs an overworld map and would make a pretty sweet game.
I know they added a new race... but their patch notes are so damn cryptic.. I can't tell whats going on.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
No, but they added drow.
Fucking turd burglers.
I installed it yesterday, same old shit, different day. They've poorly concealed the hideous lack of content with a reputation grind ala World of Warcraft.... like that makes having to do the same story arc 20 times over less boring.
Oh and, everyone is a drow. Everyone.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Who invented dark elves so I can go back in time and kill them?
Also, Eberron is fun. I love me some Warforged.
God yes.
Drizzt can go die in a fire made of scorpions.
I'm fairly certain that Salvatore didn't create them. He did start that Drizzt crap, so sting/burn him all you like.
Drow have been around since early first, with rules to play them in UA, those fuckers are older than I am.
Edit: Er...Eberron you say? (Stupid 'staying on topic') One of the things that I like the most about Eberron is that they reimagine races, often justifing old views with new reasons.
Eberron elves are the first elves that strike me as having a reason to be uppity bitches. I actually like them.
And wouldn't call them evil, just agressive, and downright mercenary.
Slaughtering cyrian refugees escaping the day of mourning is pretty evil, but maybe that was just a few of them.