Post/Author/DateTime	Post
stone_dog 12-23-04, 03:10 PM	I am certainly looking forward to the Five Kingdoms book, Races of Eberron, the Explorer's Guide and the inevitable Monsters of, Magic of and Xen'Drik sourcebooks. I like the way the potential of a Xen'Drik book has been explained. As a great big DMs sandbox. Some history, some ecology, some geography all mixed up so you know what it would be like to go into Eberron's unexplored wilderland, but not so much a hard and fast set of rules as to what is actually out there. It reminds me of Sigil in a way. If all goes well, it will be a living and breathing place that is still very customizable. I would like that to continue for a series of sourcebooks not yet described as being part of the Eberron line, but a series that I dearly hope WILL be included at some point. Event books. Take, for example, the Next War. Assume that the year is 999 and tensions have come to a breaking point again. The book wouldn't give a cannon description of what happens, but will give several different accounts of what COULD happen along with a few campaign outlines. Yes, this is rather like the White Wolf end of the world books. I like those. They are interesting, fluid and customizable so that they don't tell players "this is how you must run things." But there is one problem with those books. They changed (ended) the official setting forever. We don't want that in Eberron... do we? Isn't that one of the things many of us like about Eberron that we don't like about Forgotten Realms? It is an easy fix. Next year (or however long you want to space them) you put out another event book. Take a planar invasion. Assume the year is 999 and a swarm of otherworldly creatures are moving across the face of the world. What about the Next War? Didn't happen. Officially. If you DID use that book in your campaing and you want to use this one as well, there can be a series of short essays or a chapter discussing possible impacts on an invasion going on during or after the Next War. Next year you put out another. A steady supply of world shattering events loosely constructed so that one size pretty much fits all and none of these events are official. The official core books always (ALWAYS. very important) assume that the year is 998. Races of Eberron, Five Kingdoms, Magic of, Faiths of and other such "core" splatbooks always assume 998. The optional Event Books always assume 999, but that is made clear to be easily shifted about for already long running campagins. Better yet (possibly), make them the equivalent to a writer's jam session. Each book has a theme. Next War, Planar Invasion, Draconic Crusade, Rajahs Breaking Free, Plague of Unnessecary Capitalizations. Maybe not that last one. Take four or five line authors and creative talents. Give each one a set number of words to describe what happens in their vision of events and let them go wild.* A pipe dream? Possibly. Woefully impractical? Maybe. Do I still want it? Oh yes. *When I think on this, that would be a fun "Mysteries of Eberron" or possibly "Crazy Theories of Morgrave University" :rimshot: series. Take that approach to a Mournland supplement and see what kind of stuff comes up!
ThanisKartaleon 12-24-04, 04:48 AM	That is a serious good idea. Serious. :cookie:
Splendide 12-24-04, 06:24 AM	I have to say that I'm not even a little bit interested in that, personally. How hard is it to make that stuff up yourself? An interplanar invasion is simple. Pick a plane, pick some beasties, decide a cause of it and hey presto.
hiryuu 12-24-04, 01:44 PM	I have to say that I'm not even a little bit interested in that, personally. How hard is it to make that stuff up yourself? An interplanar invasion is simple. Pick a plane, pick some beasties, decide a cause of it and hey presto. Good. Now figure out how the different nations react, where they hit first because of what they are and where they're from, how this affects the power struggles, how those powerful groups react, and how individuals react. What repercussions this might have for the future, ans so on.
Roxlimn 12-24-04, 02:24 PM	I think it's a pipe dream because I cannot see why such a series of products would be profitable.
stone_dog 12-24-04, 03:30 PM	How hard is it to make that stuff up yourself? An interplanar invasion is simple. Pick a plane, pick some beasties, decide a cause of it and hey presto.Sure, but I'd expect an actual sourcebook to come up with other things rather than just those basics. Dark arts of the Daelkyr, plots of the Quori and other such things that I would be willing to pay people with more talent than I to put down on paper. Also... I think it's a pipe dream because I cannot see why such a series of products would be profitable. It seemed to work pretty well for White Wolf. To be fair though, their event books were actually major events in the industry as a whole and thus got much more attention. The thing that makes me want such a thing comes from the early days of talking about Eberron (god that makes me feel old to say). Back when all we had were a few maddening hints and there was nothing to hold us back. Not cannon, not printed work, not even Keith Himself (gentleman and a scholar that he is, he actually encouraged us). That is my real wish I suppose. That Eberron does everything that it can to keep the dream alive. To keep us excited with inspiration instead of fact, just like Dragonshards and Steal This Hook do, but on a grander scale. Ingredients and cookbooks instead of already prepared meals, but with appetizers and snack to munch and crunch on when we don't feel like cooking. Its the season I suppose. Makes me all nostalgic and sentimental. "Oh stop it. We're going to bond soon, it'll make me vomit." -James Garner as President Matt Douglas, My Fellow Americans. ;)