Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
TVLLestatTVL
06-17-07, 08:22 PM Can someone give me a quick run down of Eberron? Is it sci fi? Modern? I live medieval fantasy such as mythical beats and dragons. Are Eberron campaign books for me? Or should I be looking at a different setting?
Neutronium_Dragon
06-17-07, 08:29 PM You would probably have better luck asking on the Eberron forums, which are here: http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=502
Rerecros
06-17-07, 08:34 PM Eberron Rocks.
It's standard fantasy mixed with pulp post-war noir.
It has all the standards, dragons mythic beasts, heros and stuff.
Eberron treats magic as technology, and has things like trains powered by bound elementals, magic street lamps.
There is lots of low level magic, but high level magic is very rare.
the eberron board are a much better place for this than here.
TevolRia
06-17-07, 08:35 PM eberron is still medival fantasy, just a little closer to a renasance period (advanced by magic rather than technology). it is a setting that is purposely a "everything is not always as it seems" feel.
utilitarian
06-17-07, 08:45 PM This is a very odd forum to ask this question in, you might be better off in What's a DM to Do, or the Eberron Forums (obviously)

If you want to know about the Dieities of eberron:

Gods in Eberron are very hands off. They grant spells sure, but don't expect Dol-Dorm to come down and grant you a divine mission. Unlike in the Realms, the dieties of Eberron have almost nothing to do with the world.

So much so, that they don't even care who worships them. You can be a CG cleric worshipping a LE diety, or vice versa. In addition, there are several sources of divine magic in eberron that aren't even Gods! Like the Undying Court, a grand court of deathless elves! and the Silver Flame and Path of Light, which are more ideals than anything.
Salla
06-17-07, 08:52 PM Gods in Eberron are very hands off. They grant spells sure, but don't expect Dol-Dorm to come down and grant you a divine mission. Unlike in the Realms, the dieties of Eberron have almost nothing to do with the world.

So much so, that they don't even care who worships them. You can be a CG cleric worshipping a LE diety, or vice versa. In addition, there are several sources of divine magic in eberron that aren't even Gods! Like the Undying Court, a grand court of deathless elves! and the Silver Flame and Path of Light, which are more ideals than anything.

In fact, even the gods may not exist ...
Neutronium_Dragon
06-17-07, 10:25 PM It's not a given that there are gods granting spells. Those who believe the gods grant them spells obviously subscribe to that idea, but they can't actually prove it, and there are other equally plausible ideas about where that power is coming from.

In essence, the strength of one's belief in a cause is what allows a character to wield divine magic. Whether there's actually "someone out there" sending that power to the character, or if their force of belief is enough to tap the latent energies of the Ring of Syberis, or whatever else, no one can say for sure.

By the same token, you don't have to match the alignment of the cause, but you do still have to forcefully believe in it. As an iconic Eberron example, Cardinal Krozen (Lawful Evil) of the Church of the Silver Flame (Lawful Good) is morally corrupt, but he still believes in the cause of the Silver Flame and works towards its goals - it's just that he has long since stopped caring about whether his methods of pursuing those goals actually live up to the high principles which the Silver Flame represents.

Alignment in general has relatively little impact on the cosmology, and it's essentially tangential where it exists at all. This is in stark contrast to the generic-setting Great Wheel, which is all about alignment. This also means that many characters and creatures and their interactions are much more gray than you might be used to from the generic setting. The greatest proponent of peace is an intensely Lawful Evil individual, but he's evil due to the fact that he's outright ruthless about getting what he wants, not because he has some bwa-ha-ha plot to destroy the world, etc.
ripvanwormer
06-17-07, 10:39 PM Yes, it's medieval fantasy, slightly remixed and with everything that has anything to do with D&D crammed in and reinterpreted. It takes inspiration from 1930s pulps without actually being modern. There are elemental-powered trains and lightning rails, but the processes used to craft them are pre-industrial, and everything else is low-tech.
Rerecros
06-17-07, 10:46 PM And outsiders aren't grouped by alignment, Beblith (demon) and hellcats (devil) are both found on Lamannia due to their beastial nature. A succubi lives mostly with yugoloths and has likely never heard of a dretch.

Man, I hope the come out with planes of eberron already.
The White Sorcerer
06-17-07, 11:22 PM Is it sci fi? Modern?

Neither.

I would describe the genre of Eberron as "fantasy pulp/noir." Lord of the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Maltese Falcon.
The White Sorcerer
06-17-07, 11:23 PM There are elemental-powered trains and lightning rails

Aren't those kind of the same thing?
Salla
06-17-07, 11:24 PM Neither.

I would describe the genre of Eberron as "fantasy pulp/noir." Lord of the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Maltese Falcon.

I would describe it as 'Fantasy where the existance of magic actually has a logical effect on societal development', were I feeling unromantic about it. :)
ElberethSilverleaf
06-24-07, 03:14 AM I kind of think of Eberron as a medieval/renfair Shadowrun world that has a magical system that actually works...
Myst_the_Moonscout
06-25-07, 02:33 AM "Steam punk" is the term that I've heard used. Think Wild Wild West and that sort of thing, but with magic involved and away from the "west" aspect. Mostly.

Dragons have a particular role in Eberron, they aren't just adventure fodder in caves on piles of gold, though the occasional 'rogue' may be that way. A good place to go are the Dragonshards articles on the main Eberron page. They detail the role of dragons and other races as well as political and other aspects of the setting. I'm new to it, and like the setting so far, but haven't decided if I want the book.
Rerecros
06-25-07, 03:11 AM "Steam punk" is the term that I've heard used. Think Wild Wild West and that sort of thing, but with magic involved and away from the "west" aspect. Mostly.

Not trying to be a jerk here, but eberron ain't steampunk.
Steampunk is set during the industrial revolution, most of the 19th century.
Eberron is pulp, set early 20th century.
Millenia
06-25-07, 03:15 AM Eberron is magicpunk. :>
XHereticX
06-25-07, 09:06 AM A crazed-up place where fantasy is made reality and reality itself is distorted. Steampunk in nature, magic is what you make it, also focuses highly on small magics that permeate everyday lives rather than ancient, powerful, and mysterious magics. Also seems to revolve a lot around prophecy, and clerics in that world apparently draw power from ideas and philosophies rather than gods.

Not my cup of tea, but you might like it if you are into all that stuff I typed above.
TVLLestatTVL
06-25-07, 01:31 PM I don't like wild wild west theme books. Or modern books. I'm more the heavy magic, fantasy medieval kind. I like the idea of an elemental train. Except not the train part. Maybe a boat or an airship.
Myst_the_Moonscout
06-25-07, 03:39 PM Airships are there, but it's more gears and gadgets then mystical concoctions. I still think the best thing to do is look over the main Eberron page.

Not trying to be a jerk here, but eberron ain't steampunk.
Steampunk is set during the industrial revolution, most of the 19th century.
Eberron is pulp, set early 20th century. Talking centuries with regards to fantasy settings doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Call it both.
Rerecros
06-25-07, 03:50 PM I don't like wild wild west theme books. Or modern books.

Good because Eberron is neither.

Airships are there, but it's more gears and gadgets then mystical concoctions. I still think the best thing to do is look over the main Eberron page.

Talking centuries with regards to fantasy settings doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Call it both.

Again, eberron isn't steam punk. Nothing runs on steam, nor has many moving parts like gears. It has nothing to do with the victorian era, and the industrial revolution, and the age of innovation. It isn't anything like jules vern, wild wild west or amazing screw on head.

It is pulp, roughly based on the fiction of the 1920s and 30s. The period between the first and second world wars.
hiryuu
06-25-07, 04:05 PM A crazed-up place where fantasy is made reality and reality itself is distorted. Steampunk in nature, magic is what you make it, also focuses highly on small magics that permeate everyday lives rather than ancient, powerful, and mysterious magics. Also seems to revolve a lot around prophecy, and clerics in that world apparently draw power from ideas and philosophies rather than gods.

Not my cup of tea, but you might like it if you are into all that stuff I typed above.

Any cleric that worships a deity will insist that he's drawing his power from that god, and woe be to the heretic that says otherwise.

Low-level magic is commonplace, but seeing anything higher than 3rd level spells is a rarity in the setting, making the magic the PCs possess rare and wondrous. Finding scrolls of those spells requires dungeoneering or checking the black market, since the people who have them don't like to give them up.

It's obvious you weren't paying attention to one of the the setting's major themes: exploration of ancient mysteries and unknown magic. There's a metric buttload of ancient and mysterious magic. In fact, there's an entire continent of it. The ancient demon empire existed millions of years ago and left behind all manner of strange and incomprehensible monuments and auras, and extraplanar invasions have occured multiple times. Cyclopean ruins and ancient dweomers sit and stir, fantastic magical places where strange symbols grow from the planet itself wait for those daring enough to find and make use of them. Dread and incalculable plans for magic items capable of animating entire armies of the dead, changing life itself, channeling the powers that lie dreaming or lost deep within the planes, or transforming normal men and women into mindless engines of magical destruction lay hidden about the world.

Eberron does not use gears or gadgets. They use magic items. There's no flashlight, there's a stick with continual flame cast on it, it's not a train anymore than a dolphin is a shark, it's a bunch of carriages roped together dragged through the air by levitation and an air elemental. They use concoctions, sure. They call 'em potions.

Best way to describe Eberron: You remember all that stuff PCs used to do in games, like casting continual flame on coins or using Tenser's floating disk in weird or imaginative ways, but the world somehow existed in a vacuum where those imaginative and innovative ways of using common as dirt low-level spells were patently ignored (and low-level spells have always been as common as dirt)? Yeah. Imagine if the rest of the world wasn't stupid enough to ignore those kinds of innovations.
XHereticX
06-25-07, 06:41 PM Any cleric that worships a deity will insist that he's drawing his power from that god, and woe be to the heretic that says otherwise.

Low-level magic is commonplace, but seeing anything higher than 3rd level spells is a rarity in the setting, making the magic the PCs possess rare and wondrous. Finding scrolls of those spells requires dungeoneering or checking the black market, since the people who have them don't like to give them up.

It's obvious you weren't paying attention to one of the the setting's major themes: exploration of ancient mysteries and unknown magic. There's a metric buttload of ancient and mysterious magic. In fact, there's an entire continent of it. The ancient demon empire existed millions of years ago and left behind all manner of strange and incomprehensible monuments and auras, and extraplanar invasions have occured multiple times. Cyclopean ruins and ancient dweomers sit and stir, fantastic magical places where strange symbols grow from the planet itself wait for those daring enough to find and make use of them. Dread and incalculable plans for magic items capable of animating entire armies of the dead, changing life itself, channeling the powers that lie dreaming or lost deep within the planes, or transforming normal men and women into mindless engines of magical destruction lay hidden about the world.

Eberron does not use gears or gadgets. They use magic items. There's no flashlight, there's a stick with continual flame cast on it, it's not a train anymore than a dolphin is a shark, it's a bunch of carriages roped together dragged through the air by levitation and an air elemental. They use concoctions, sure. They call 'em potions.

Best way to describe Eberron: You remember all that stuff PCs used to do in games, like casting continual flame on coins or using Tenser's floating disk in weird or imaginative ways, but the world somehow existed in a vacuum where those imaginative and innovative ways of using common as dirt low-level spells were patently ignored (and low-level spells have always been as common as dirt)? Yeah. Imagine if the rest of the world wasn't stupid enough to ignore those kinds of innovations.

Is it just me, or did what you describe end up sounding a lot like the Forgotten Realms?
Salla
06-25-07, 06:53 PM Eberron isn't steampunk because nothing runs on steam.

The lightning rails run on magical conductor crystals.
The airships fly because of special wood and bound elementals.
Myst_the_Moonscout
06-25-07, 07:02 PM I can see you guys were taking that a lot more literally then I was. Fair enough.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TVLLestatTVL 06-17-07, 08:22 PM	Can someone give me a quick run down of Eberron? Is it sci fi? Modern? I live medieval fantasy such as mythical beats and dragons. Are Eberron campaign books for me? Or should I be looking at a different setting?
Neutronium_Dragon 06-17-07, 08:29 PM	You would probably have better luck asking on the Eberron forums, which are here: http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=502
Rerecros 06-17-07, 08:34 PM	Eberron Rocks. It's standard fantasy mixed with pulp post-war noir. It has all the standards, dragons mythic beasts, heros and stuff. Eberron treats magic as technology, and has things like trains powered by bound elementals, magic street lamps. There is lots of low level magic, but high level magic is very rare. the eberron board are a much better place for this than here.
TevolRia 06-17-07, 08:35 PM	eberron is still medival fantasy, just a little closer to a renasance period (advanced by magic rather than technology). it is a setting that is purposely a "everything is not always as it seems" feel.
utilitarian 06-17-07, 08:45 PM	This is a very odd forum to ask this question in, you might be better off in What's a DM to Do, or the Eberron Forums (obviously) If you want to know about the Dieities of eberron: Gods in Eberron are very hands off. They grant spells sure, but don't expect Dol-Dorm to come down and grant you a divine mission. Unlike in the Realms, the dieties of Eberron have almost nothing to do with the world. So much so, that they don't even care who worships them. You can be a CG cleric worshipping a LE diety, or vice versa. In addition, there are several sources of divine magic in eberron that aren't even Gods! Like the Undying Court, a grand court of deathless elves! and the Silver Flame and Path of Light, which are more ideals than anything.
Salla 06-17-07, 08:52 PM	Gods in Eberron are very hands off. They grant spells sure, but don't expect Dol-Dorm to come down and grant you a divine mission. Unlike in the Realms, the dieties of Eberron have almost nothing to do with the world. So much so, that they don't even care who worships them. You can be a CG cleric worshipping a LE diety, or vice versa. In addition, there are several sources of divine magic in eberron that aren't even Gods! Like the Undying Court, a grand court of deathless elves! and the Silver Flame and Path of Light, which are more ideals than anything. In fact, even the gods may not exist ...
Neutronium_Dragon 06-17-07, 10:25 PM	It's not a given that there are gods granting spells. Those who believe the gods grant them spells obviously subscribe to that idea, but they can't actually prove it, and there are other equally plausible ideas about where that power is coming from. In essence, the strength of one's belief in a cause is what allows a character to wield divine magic. Whether there's actually "someone out there" sending that power to the character, or if their force of belief is enough to tap the latent energies of the Ring of Syberis, or whatever else, no one can say for sure. By the same token, you don't have to match the alignment of the cause, but you do still have to forcefully believe in it. As an iconic Eberron example, Cardinal Krozen (Lawful Evil) of the Church of the Silver Flame (Lawful Good) is morally corrupt, but he still believes in the cause of the Silver Flame and works towards its goals - it's just that he has long since stopped caring about whether his methods of pursuing those goals actually live up to the high principles which the Silver Flame represents. Alignment in general has relatively little impact on the cosmology, and it's essentially tangential where it exists at all. This is in stark contrast to the generic-setting Great Wheel, which is all about alignment. This also means that many characters and creatures and their interactions are much more gray than you might be used to from the generic setting. The greatest proponent of peace is an intensely Lawful Evil individual, but he's evil due to the fact that he's outright ruthless about getting what he wants, not because he has some bwa-ha-ha plot to destroy the world, etc.
ripvanwormer 06-17-07, 10:39 PM	Yes, it's medieval fantasy, slightly remixed and with everything that has anything to do with D&D crammed in and reinterpreted. It takes inspiration from 1930s pulps without actually being modern. There are elemental-powered trains and lightning rails, but the processes used to craft them are pre-industrial, and everything else is low-tech.
Rerecros 06-17-07, 10:46 PM	And outsiders aren't grouped by alignment, Beblith (demon) and hellcats (devil) are both found on Lamannia due to their beastial nature. A succubi lives mostly with yugoloths and has likely never heard of a dretch. Man, I hope the come out with planes of eberron already.
The White Sorcerer 06-17-07, 11:22 PM	Is it sci fi? Modern? Neither. I would describe the genre of Eberron as "fantasy pulp/noir." Lord of the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Maltese Falcon.
The White Sorcerer 06-17-07, 11:23 PM	There are elemental-powered trains and lightning rails Aren't those kind of the same thing?
Salla 06-17-07, 11:24 PM	Neither. I would describe the genre of Eberron as "fantasy pulp/noir." Lord of the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Maltese Falcon. I would describe it as 'Fantasy where the existance of magic actually has a logical effect on societal development', were I feeling unromantic about it. :)
ElberethSilverleaf 06-24-07, 03:14 AM	I kind of think of Eberron as a medieval/renfair Shadowrun world that has a magical system that actually works...
Myst_the_Moonscout 06-25-07, 02:33 AM	"Steam punk" is the term that I've heard used. Think Wild Wild West and that sort of thing, but with magic involved and away from the "west" aspect. Mostly. Dragons have a particular role in Eberron, they aren't just adventure fodder in caves on piles of gold, though the occasional 'rogue' may be that way. A good place to go are the Dragonshards articles on the main Eberron page. They detail the role of dragons and other races as well as political and other aspects of the setting. I'm new to it, and like the setting so far, but haven't decided if I want the book.
Rerecros 06-25-07, 03:11 AM	"Steam punk" is the term that I've heard used. Think Wild Wild West and that sort of thing, but with magic involved and away from the "west" aspect. Mostly. Not trying to be a jerk here, but eberron ain't steampunk. Steampunk is set during the industrial revolution, most of the 19th century. Eberron is pulp, set early 20th century.
Millenia 06-25-07, 03:15 AM	Eberron is magicpunk. :>
XHereticX 06-25-07, 09:06 AM	A crazed-up place where fantasy is made reality and reality itself is distorted. Steampunk in nature, magic is what you make it, also focuses highly on small magics that permeate everyday lives rather than ancient, powerful, and mysterious magics. Also seems to revolve a lot around prophecy, and clerics in that world apparently draw power from ideas and philosophies rather than gods. Not my cup of tea, but you might like it if you are into all that stuff I typed above.
TVLLestatTVL 06-25-07, 01:31 PM	I don't like wild wild west theme books. Or modern books. I'm more the heavy magic, fantasy medieval kind. I like the idea of an elemental train. Except not the train part. Maybe a boat or an airship.
Myst_the_Moonscout 06-25-07, 03:39 PM	Airships are there, but it's more gears and gadgets then mystical concoctions. I still think the best thing to do is look over the main Eberron page. Not trying to be a jerk here, but eberron ain't steampunk. Steampunk is set during the industrial revolution, most of the 19th century. Eberron is pulp, set early 20th century. Talking centuries with regards to fantasy settings doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Call it both.
Rerecros 06-25-07, 03:50 PM	I don't like wild wild west theme books. Or modern books. Good because Eberron is neither. Airships are there, but it's more gears and gadgets then mystical concoctions. I still think the best thing to do is look over the main Eberron page. Talking centuries with regards to fantasy settings doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Call it both. Again, eberron isn't steam punk. Nothing runs on steam, nor has many moving parts like gears. It has nothing to do with the victorian era, and the industrial revolution, and the age of innovation. It isn't anything like jules vern, wild wild west or amazing screw on head. It is pulp, roughly based on the fiction of the 1920s and 30s. The period between the first and second world wars.
hiryuu 06-25-07, 04:05 PM	A crazed-up place where fantasy is made reality and reality itself is distorted. Steampunk in nature, magic is what you make it, also focuses highly on small magics that permeate everyday lives rather than ancient, powerful, and mysterious magics. Also seems to revolve a lot around prophecy, and clerics in that world apparently draw power from ideas and philosophies rather than gods. Not my cup of tea, but you might like it if you are into all that stuff I typed above. Any cleric that worships a deity will insist that he's drawing his power from that god, and woe be to the heretic that says otherwise. Low-level magic is commonplace, but seeing anything higher than 3rd level spells is a rarity in the setting, making the magic the PCs possess rare and wondrous. Finding scrolls of those spells requires dungeoneering or checking the black market, since the people who have them don't like to give them up. It's obvious you weren't paying attention to one of the the setting's major themes: exploration of ancient mysteries and unknown magic. There's a metric buttload of ancient and mysterious magic. In fact, there's an entire continent of it. The ancient demon empire existed millions of years ago and left behind all manner of strange and incomprehensible monuments and auras, and extraplanar invasions have occured multiple times. Cyclopean ruins and ancient dweomers sit and stir, fantastic magical places where strange symbols grow from the planet itself wait for those daring enough to find and make use of them. Dread and incalculable plans for magic items capable of animating entire armies of the dead, changing life itself, channeling the powers that lie dreaming or lost deep within the planes, or transforming normal men and women into mindless engines of magical destruction lay hidden about the world. Eberron does not use gears or gadgets. They use magic items. There's no flashlight, there's a stick with continual flame cast on it, it's not a train anymore than a dolphin is a shark, it's a bunch of carriages roped together dragged through the air by levitation and an air elemental. They use concoctions, sure. They call 'em potions. Best way to describe Eberron: You remember all that stuff PCs used to do in games, like casting continual flame on coins or using Tenser's floating disk in weird or imaginative ways, but the world somehow existed in a vacuum where those imaginative and innovative ways of using common as dirt low-level spells were patently ignored (and low-level spells have always been as common as dirt)? Yeah. Imagine if the rest of the world wasn't stupid enough to ignore those kinds of innovations.
XHereticX 06-25-07, 06:41 PM	Any cleric that worships a deity will insist that he's drawing his power from that god, and woe be to the heretic that says otherwise. Low-level magic is commonplace, but seeing anything higher than 3rd level spells is a rarity in the setting, making the magic the PCs possess rare and wondrous. Finding scrolls of those spells requires dungeoneering or checking the black market, since the people who have them don't like to give them up. It's obvious you weren't paying attention to one of the the setting's major themes: exploration of ancient mysteries and unknown magic. There's a metric buttload of ancient and mysterious magic. In fact, there's an entire continent of it. The ancient demon empire existed millions of years ago and left behind all manner of strange and incomprehensible monuments and auras, and extraplanar invasions have occured multiple times. Cyclopean ruins and ancient dweomers sit and stir, fantastic magical places where strange symbols grow from the planet itself wait for those daring enough to find and make use of them. Dread and incalculable plans for magic items capable of animating entire armies of the dead, changing life itself, channeling the powers that lie dreaming or lost deep within the planes, or transforming normal men and women into mindless engines of magical destruction lay hidden about the world. Eberron does not use gears or gadgets. They use magic items. There's no flashlight, there's a stick with continual flame cast on it, it's not a train anymore than a dolphin is a shark, it's a bunch of carriages roped together dragged through the air by levitation and an air elemental. They use concoctions, sure. They call 'em potions. Best way to describe Eberron: You remember all that stuff PCs used to do in games, like casting continual flame on coins or using Tenser's floating disk in weird or imaginative ways, but the world somehow existed in a vacuum where those imaginative and innovative ways of using common as dirt low-level spells were patently ignored (and low-level spells have always been as common as dirt)? Yeah. Imagine if the rest of the world wasn't stupid enough to ignore those kinds of innovations. Is it just me, or did what you describe end up sounding a lot like the Forgotten Realms?
Salla 06-25-07, 06:53 PM	Eberron isn't steampunk because nothing runs on steam. The lightning rails run on magical conductor crystals. The airships fly because of special wood and bound elementals.
Myst_the_Moonscout 06-25-07, 07:02 PM	I can see you guys were taking that a lot more literally then I was. Fair enough.