Basics of Eberron: a Handout [Archive] - Wizards Community

Basics of Eberron: a Handout [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Zentinel
03-07-05, 12:08 PM I've long been thinking that it would be good to have a handout to give to PCs covering the most important themes of Eberron from a PC point of view.
Such a handout shouldn't go into mechanics, or too much detail, but should introduce flavour and broad concepts of the world.
Here what I came up with. I'm open to suggestions
------------------

Basics of Eberron:

A) An Industrialized World:
The World of Eberron is industrialized, but not with technology. Magic is the key.
The causes for this are twofold:
1) Dragonmarks: A few lineages have found themselves able to evoke magical effects through birthright. They since carved a niche for themselves by offering their services for hire. Since the ability is innate and not trained, they are offered at a better rate than is normal. As a result, magic is more widespread. (These powerful trade houses are also a significant political force)
2) Presence of common magic-wielding NPC class – The MageWright:
In Eberron, 90% of the population belong to the NPC classes, and most of those are Commoners. Regardless, there is an easily accessible class which allows a small selection of spells. The most common spell used allows for more easily constructed quility goods. As a result, quality goods are more commonly available (if not cheaper).

B) The Last War:
The primary continent is named Khorvaire. Many nations of Khorvaire are new, having been recognized in the last few years with the ending of the Last War. The war was ended when a great disaster of unknown origin destroyed a nation. Those lands are still haunted.
The great war also led to the creation of a new race: Warforged. These intelligent, living constructs were created for various specialized roles, and declared free at the end of the war. Manufacture of further Warforged is illegal.

C) Shades of Grey
The gods of Eberron do not take a direct role in the world… as a result, no avatars or heralds walk the land, no visions or divine quests are handed down, and most importantly, a cleric need not be of his diety’s alignment. Similarly, no intelligent monster need follow an pre-assigned alignment. Even dragons, demons and angels rarely interact in mortal affairs. As a result, right action is not always obvious.

D) Old names, New faces
Traditional D&D races are mechanically similar, but thematically different from the norm. While all humanoid races have members integrated into society at large (such as those from the powerful trade Houses), these races have backgrounds distinct from the norm in fantasy:
- Elves come from two possible backgrounds: Aerenal, and Valenar. Aerenali elves have their own continent, and engage in ancestor worship. They have found a way of creating positive-powered undead, and the nation is ruled by a council of undying. Valenar elves have established their own domain on the main continent, and attempt to recreate the deeds of their ancestors through martial prowess.
- Half-elves have arisen long ago from an intermingling of Aerenal elves and Khorvari humans. They have their own cultural identity, although some adhere to their elven or human roots.
- Halflings come from the the Talenta Plains. They are nomadic, and have domesticated the local dinosaurs.
- Gnomes originate from Zilargo, and are masters of social manipulation.
- Orcs are an ancient race with strong ties to nature: they are the original druids. Half-orcs come from union of these primal beings and human settlers to the Shadow Marches.
- Dwarves have never had a unified nation until recently. (Otherwise they are similar to the usual.)
- Goblinoids once ruled the realm, but their nations fell long before the arrival of humans to the continent millenia ago. Since the Last War, they again have a dominion to themselves.

E) New Races
Eberron has several new PC races.
- Shifters are a race which developed from the mixing of lycanthrope and human. They retain a small ability to assume a feral state.
- Changelings developed from the mixing of Doppelganger and human. They retain the ability to change their shape to a lesser degree.
- Warforged are living constructs built to fight in the Last War. A few illicit forges still produce new warforged.
- Kalashtar arose from a race from the Realm of Dreams, which escaped the tyranny of local overlords by merging with humans. Modern Kalashtar resemble humans, but are bred true. They have a strong psionic potential.

F) New class
Aside from the NPC class of MageWrite, Eberron also introduces a new PC class: Artificer.
Artificers specialize in Magic items, the creation and manipulation of. They also have a small range of spells, as well as the ability to find and disarm traps.

G) Action points
Eberron is intended to be cinematic, much in the style of “pulp” action. As a result, PCs get “Action points” which can be spend to increase success on tasks. A.P.s replenish every level.

H) Power level
PCs are intended to be noteworthy: as a result, very few NPCs are above level 8, and only the exceptional are above level 12.
Similarly, only 10% of the population have PC classes: the rest are commoners, experts, and whatnot. Most priests are Experts, most soldiers are Warriors (or even Commoners). Since priests are so rare, divine magic is a miracle. Divine magic is seen as a holy blessing, one of few signs of the Gods’ intervention. Miracles aren’t for sale.

-------------

That's what I've got so far. I'm afraid making the document much larger will make it too big to read quickly. Anything noteworthy I'm missing tho?

[Edit: cleaned up some spelling and use of language, clarified a few points.]
DanjaNinja
03-07-05, 12:34 PM Seems pretty good, except...
The great war also led to the creation of a new race: Warforced...Warfaces are living constructs built to fight in the Great War.You spelled warforged wrong fifty percent of the time. :P
You might also want to go into a little more detail about Cyre. And I don't think magewrights compose such a large amount of the population. Maybe around thirty percent.
talion09
03-07-05, 01:31 PM I'd say you could make it a little longer (maybe 25%?). Big enough to fit on a doublesided piece of paper in a legible font.

I did something similiar when I started my campaign a back in january. If I can find the word document I'll post it. I think it was like yours, but I mentioned the daelkyr, quori, vol, etc and did the last war in more detail. Oh, and I tossed in a two sentence description of each of the main nations. Just enough so that if I mentioned zilargo in a description, the players knew what I was talking about.
Dragom
03-07-05, 02:20 PM I recomend you mention the Blood of Vol as worshipers of the divine qualities of blood and undeath as a path to divinity.

I so enjoy coaxing a character into being a true believer of Vol.
Altaris
03-07-05, 03:01 PM I, too, did a handout for my campaign. For the first several levels of play, I also read the ECS Entry on a nation the first time the hereos went there. It helped to set the mood and to focus the players on the cultural distinctiveness that is so prevalent in Eberron.

A few points you may want to clarify...

The 'great war' is actually called The Last War. Though many of the nations are only recently recognized by the Treaty of Thronehold, their territories have been around for centuries. It is kind of like the 'European Union' and its respective countries. Especially when talking abouth the Five Nations (Cyre, Breland, Karrnath, Aundair and Thrane,) as these were the five provinces of the Kingdom of Galifar.

Besides the Valenar and Aerenal elves, there are the elves of House Phiarlan and House Thuranni AND those elves with no ties to any of the above.

Half-elves not only populate two of the great Houses, but are also a true-breeding race. They are much more common than human-elf children. Also, half-elves often call themselve the 'Khorvaire.'

There are barbarian halflings who tame dinosaurs as herds and mounts in the Talenta Plains. There are also a pair of great Houses who long ago moved into the cities and are now very cosmopolitan. Indeed, the halflings of House Jorasco are more commonly healers and surgeons than holymen and women.

The goblinoids weren't subjegated by the human settlers. Rather, the ancient Hobgoblin Empire of Dhakaan had fractured long ago. The provinces of this fallen empire had dispersed into the goblinoid tribes and clas of today, who having been flocking to the newly emerged nation of Darguun.
Shurijo
03-07-05, 08:35 PM Besides the Valenar and Aerenal elves, there are the elves of House Phiarlan and House Thuranni AND those elves with no ties to any of the above.

I think you could group elves into 3 categories. Khorvaire, Aereni, and Tairnadal

Khorvaire - These elves came to Khorvarie about 3,000 years ago and have fully integrated into the humans, dwarves, halfings, etc.

Aereni - From Aerenal, proud, arrogant, cold/distant, doesn't like outsiders, focus on Undying Court

Tairnadal - From nothernmost parts of Aerenal, several warbands came to aid Cyre, then formed Valenar. Very militant, aggressive, focus more on Xen'drik ancestors (keepers of the past)
Zentinel
03-07-05, 09:36 PM And I don't think magewrights compose such a large amount of the population. Maybe around thirty percent.

I meant to say that 90% of the population beling to a NPC class, not this NPC class. I'll clean it up. (and the warforged mispellings. :)

I'm hesitant to add anything about individual nations, religions, and Houses in an introductory document... It's the sort of nitty-gritty that goes over the head of someone being introduced to a setting. It DOES make a great second handout tho: "Eberron: The World" :)

I'll mention that all races have members who well integrated into society at large tho. That's an important point.

Good thoughts.
Knuckles
03-08-05, 01:58 AM I wound recommend that your players to read the first appendix of "The City of Towers" novel, which has a great introduction of Eberron that contains no spoilers. Reading the book (players and DMs alike) is a great idea too, for it containts lots of flavour.
Host of Angels
03-08-05, 08:07 AM Brilliant - and just in the nick of time. Hope you don't mind me copying this - it fits neatly onto two sides of A4 at 11 point text with paragraph spacing.

Brilliant!
drogg
03-08-05, 11:19 AM this has come up before -- here's jatyic's eberron primer, clocking in at nine pages with illustrations, formatted and edited a bit by me.

http://drogg.vocodex.org/primer.zip
al29902
03-08-05, 06:55 PM As an Eberron DM, I think you did a pretty good job.

BTW, I just bought the FRCS and was wondering if there's anything on the boards comparable to this for that. It would be really helpful, as there are a lot more tiny countries and subraces and stuff that would be helpful to get clear for players. Hell, it would be helpful for me too!
Gunrock
03-08-05, 10:35 PM I have copied and printed this handout for my players. I expect that it will clear up some of their largest misconceptions. Thank you.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zentinel 03-07-05, 12:08 PM	I've long been thinking that it would be good to have a handout to give to PCs covering the most important themes of Eberron from a PC point of view. Such a handout shouldn't go into mechanics, or too much detail, but should introduce flavour and broad concepts of the world. Here what I came up with. I'm open to suggestions ------------------ Basics of Eberron: A) An Industrialized World: The World of Eberron is industrialized, but not with technology. Magic is the key. The causes for this are twofold: 1) Dragonmarks: A few lineages have found themselves able to evoke magical effects through birthright. They since carved a niche for themselves by offering their services for hire. Since the ability is innate and not trained, they are offered at a better rate than is normal. As a result, magic is more widespread. (These powerful trade houses are also a significant political force) 2) Presence of common magic-wielding NPC class – The MageWright: In Eberron, 90% of the population belong to the NPC classes, and most of those are Commoners. Regardless, there is an easily accessible class which allows a small selection of spells. The most common spell used allows for more easily constructed quility goods. As a result, quality goods are more commonly available (if not cheaper). B) The Last War: The primary continent is named Khorvaire. Many nations of Khorvaire are new, having been recognized in the last few years with the ending of the Last War. The war was ended when a great disaster of unknown origin destroyed a nation. Those lands are still haunted. The great war also led to the creation of a new race: Warforged. These intelligent, living constructs were created for various specialized roles, and declared free at the end of the war. Manufacture of further Warforged is illegal. C) Shades of Grey The gods of Eberron do not take a direct role in the world… as a result, no avatars or heralds walk the land, no visions or divine quests are handed down, and most importantly, a cleric need not be of his diety’s alignment. Similarly, no intelligent monster need follow an pre-assigned alignment. Even dragons, demons and angels rarely interact in mortal affairs. As a result, right action is not always obvious. D) Old names, New faces Traditional D&D races are mechanically similar, but thematically different from the norm. While all humanoid races have members integrated into society at large (such as those from the powerful trade Houses), these races have backgrounds distinct from the norm in fantasy: - Elves come from two possible backgrounds: Aerenal, and Valenar. Aerenali elves have their own continent, and engage in ancestor worship. They have found a way of creating positive-powered undead, and the nation is ruled by a council of undying. Valenar elves have established their own domain on the main continent, and attempt to recreate the deeds of their ancestors through martial prowess. - Half-elves have arisen long ago from an intermingling of Aerenal elves and Khorvari humans. They have their own cultural identity, although some adhere to their elven or human roots. - Halflings come from the the Talenta Plains. They are nomadic, and have domesticated the local dinosaurs. - Gnomes originate from Zilargo, and are masters of social manipulation. - Orcs are an ancient race with strong ties to nature: they are the original druids. Half-orcs come from union of these primal beings and human settlers to the Shadow Marches. - Dwarves have never had a unified nation until recently. (Otherwise they are similar to the usual.) - Goblinoids once ruled the realm, but their nations fell long before the arrival of humans to the continent millenia ago. Since the Last War, they again have a dominion to themselves. E) New Races Eberron has several new PC races. - Shifters are a race which developed from the mixing of lycanthrope and human. They retain a small ability to assume a feral state. - Changelings developed from the mixing of Doppelganger and human. They retain the ability to change their shape to a lesser degree. - Warforged are living constructs built to fight in the Last War. A few illicit forges still produce new warforged. - Kalashtar arose from a race from the Realm of Dreams, which escaped the tyranny of local overlords by merging with humans. Modern Kalashtar resemble humans, but are bred true. They have a strong psionic potential. F) New class Aside from the NPC class of MageWrite, Eberron also introduces a new PC class: Artificer. Artificers specialize in Magic items, the creation and manipulation of. They also have a small range of spells, as well as the ability to find and disarm traps. G) Action points Eberron is intended to be cinematic, much in the style of “pulp” action. As a result, PCs get “Action points” which can be spend to increase success on tasks. A.P.s replenish every level. H) Power level PCs are intended to be noteworthy: as a result, very few NPCs are above level 8, and only the exceptional are above level 12. Similarly, only 10% of the population have PC classes: the rest are commoners, experts, and whatnot. Most priests are Experts, most soldiers are Warriors (or even Commoners). Since priests are so rare, divine magic is a miracle. Divine magic is seen as a holy blessing, one of few signs of the Gods’ intervention. Miracles aren’t for sale. ------------- That's what I've got so far. I'm afraid making the document much larger will make it too big to read quickly. Anything noteworthy I'm missing tho? [Edit: cleaned up some spelling and use of language, clarified a few points.]
DanjaNinja 03-07-05, 12:34 PM	Seems pretty good, except... The great war also led to the creation of a new race: Warforced...Warfaces are living constructs built to fight in the Great War.You spelled warforged wrong fifty percent of the time. :P You might also want to go into a little more detail about Cyre. And I don't think magewrights compose such a large amount of the population. Maybe around thirty percent.
talion09 03-07-05, 01:31 PM	I'd say you could make it a little longer (maybe 25%?). Big enough to fit on a doublesided piece of paper in a legible font. I did something similiar when I started my campaign a back in january. If I can find the word document I'll post it. I think it was like yours, but I mentioned the daelkyr, quori, vol, etc and did the last war in more detail. Oh, and I tossed in a two sentence description of each of the main nations. Just enough so that if I mentioned zilargo in a description, the players knew what I was talking about.
Dragom 03-07-05, 02:20 PM	I recomend you mention the Blood of Vol as worshipers of the divine qualities of blood and undeath as a path to divinity. I so enjoy coaxing a character into being a true believer of Vol.
Altaris 03-07-05, 03:01 PM	I, too, did a handout for my campaign. For the first several levels of play, I also read the ECS Entry on a nation the first time the hereos went there. It helped to set the mood and to focus the players on the cultural distinctiveness that is so prevalent in Eberron. A few points you may want to clarify... The 'great war' is actually called The Last War. Though many of the nations are only recently recognized by the Treaty of Thronehold, their territories have been around for centuries. It is kind of like the 'European Union' and its respective countries. Especially when talking abouth the Five Nations (Cyre, Breland, Karrnath, Aundair and Thrane,) as these were the five provinces of the Kingdom of Galifar. Besides the Valenar and Aerenal elves, there are the elves of House Phiarlan and House Thuranni AND those elves with no ties to any of the above. Half-elves not only populate two of the great Houses, but are also a true-breeding race. They are much more common than human-elf children. Also, half-elves often call themselve the 'Khorvaire.' There are barbarian halflings who tame dinosaurs as herds and mounts in the Talenta Plains. There are also a pair of great Houses who long ago moved into the cities and are now very cosmopolitan. Indeed, the halflings of House Jorasco are more commonly healers and surgeons than holymen and women. The goblinoids weren't subjegated by the human settlers. Rather, the ancient Hobgoblin Empire of Dhakaan had fractured long ago. The provinces of this fallen empire had dispersed into the goblinoid tribes and clas of today, who having been flocking to the newly emerged nation of Darguun.
Shurijo 03-07-05, 08:35 PM	Besides the Valenar and Aerenal elves, there are the elves of House Phiarlan and House Thuranni AND those elves with no ties to any of the above. I think you could group elves into 3 categories. Khorvaire, Aereni, and Tairnadal Khorvaire - These elves came to Khorvarie about 3,000 years ago and have fully integrated into the humans, dwarves, halfings, etc. Aereni - From Aerenal, proud, arrogant, cold/distant, doesn't like outsiders, focus on Undying Court Tairnadal - From nothernmost parts of Aerenal, several warbands came to aid Cyre, then formed Valenar. Very militant, aggressive, focus more on Xen'drik ancestors (keepers of the past)
Zentinel 03-07-05, 09:36 PM	And I don't think magewrights compose such a large amount of the population. Maybe around thirty percent. I meant to say that 90% of the population beling to a NPC class, not this NPC class. I'll clean it up. (and the warforged mispellings. :) I'm hesitant to add anything about individual nations, religions, and Houses in an introductory document... It's the sort of nitty-gritty that goes over the head of someone being introduced to a setting. It DOES make a great second handout tho: "Eberron: The World" :) I'll mention that all races have members who well integrated into society at large tho. That's an important point. Good thoughts.
Knuckles 03-08-05, 01:58 AM	I wound recommend that your players to read the first appendix of "The City of Towers" novel, which has a great introduction of Eberron that contains no spoilers. Reading the book (players and DMs alike) is a great idea too, for it containts lots of flavour.
Host of Angels 03-08-05, 08:07 AM	Brilliant - and just in the nick of time. Hope you don't mind me copying this - it fits neatly onto two sides of A4 at 11 point text with paragraph spacing. Brilliant!
drogg 03-08-05, 11:19 AM	this has come up before -- here's jatyic's eberron primer, clocking in at nine pages with illustrations, formatted and edited a bit by me. http://drogg.vocodex.org/primer.zip
al29902 03-08-05, 06:55 PM	As an Eberron DM, I think you did a pretty good job. BTW, I just bought the FRCS and was wondering if there's anything on the boards comparable to this for that. It would be really helpful, as there are a lot more tiny countries and subraces and stuff that would be helpful to get clear for players. Hell, it would be helpful for me too!
Gunrock 03-08-05, 10:35 PM	I have copied and printed this handout for my players. I expect that it will clear up some of their largest misconceptions. Thank you.