Eberron 2.0 (?) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron 2.0 (?) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ziii4
12-26-05, 11:17 PM Sooooo.... I've been doing some thinking (perhaps too much) on my love of Eberron and my desire to craft my own campaign setting, and have settled on a compromise: The Eberron of the Future! I am no expert on Eberron, or on world histoyr (see below) and i therefor submit my ideas to you all for correction, advice and suggestion. Please excuse any misspelling and missinformation about anything pretaining to worlds either real or imagined.
Now, this idea relies primarily on the way the Eberron we know draws from the history of early 20th century earth. Most are aware of the "pulp action" feel of Eberron, and one can go so far as to say the entire setting is drawn from the pulp age, that is the 1930s or so on our own planet earth. Earth in the 30's and Eberron have both experienced massive world spanning "Last" wars. The nations of 30's earth and Eberron both exist in a teneous peace created by a fragile treaty. 30's earth and Eberron are both changing due to the existence of newer technologies mainly in the area of transportation.(lightning rails/ railroads, airships/planes, elemental sailing vessals/steamships ect.) These powerful modes of transportation require a precious and rare recourse that is relatively difficult to aquire (dragonshards in Eberron, Oil on planet earth) Of course, not everything in Eberron has a real world parellel, but you get the idea. Now here's the main course. My idea for a setting would be an Eberron that mirrors our earth in the aftermath of the Second World War. A world that draws thematic inspiration not from pulp action but from cold war paranoia and obsession with the march towords greater and greater future technologies. A world ruled not by roughly equal powered nations competing in cramped quaters, but by two massive superpowers backed by ideals as much as armies. and finally, a world where the competions for resources and minds drives these nations into frequent but clandestine conflict. So... where to begin.......... [in the next post!]
ChronosCrow
12-26-05, 11:37 PM I had a similar kind of idea, eberron the future that is. Never actually did it, but I did think up a good bit. Go here for it:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=465173
ziii4
12-27-05, 12:09 AM here's my framework for my vision of a future eberron. Changes, suggestions and other comments are encourged please.

We begin with some history:

The madness of the Second Great War has ended, and a new era had been unleashed. the second great war began with King Kaius of Karnath being corrupted by the lords of dust and the blood of vol. He became a vessle of fiendish evil, and, with the aid of demonic advice, broght his proud country that had been so damaged during the Last War into the spotlight. Karnathian nation pride swelled and soon the nation began to expand its borders into an unsuspecting Aundair and the Talenta Planes, who could do little to stop the renewed military might of their neighbor. The rest of the nations watched in a mixture of fear and rage as Karnish power grew and the corrupted Kauis's depravity and evil became more evident. Kaius and the fiends who shared his mind saw the dwarves of the M'ror Holds as an easy target for example. The dwarves had humiliated Karnath by gaining independance, and their vast wealth showed their success. However, Kaius and his fiendish allies painted the dwarves as the enemy of the common Karn with skillful propoganda, and soon thousands of dwarves had their assets seized in the name of Karnath and were interned. Those who did not escape were later brutally killed along with many changelings, shifters, gnomes, and other creatures who Kaius claimed posed a threat to the glory of Karnath. Despite these atrocities, Thrane and Breland did nothing as Karnath occupied Aundair and moved to repopulate the Talenta Plains with its own people. Finally, a response was made. Thrane, long embittered with Karnath, began to fight a brutal war on the front lines. Meanwhile, tho Breland was buffered from Karnath thanks to the Mournland and Thrane, it faced a threat from the West. The goblonoid kingdom, in an attempt to regain its former glory, had made an opportunistic alliance with the growing power of Karnath. It then made an unprovoked attack on Breland, and the democratic nation was forced to enter the fray. A terrifying war followed. Sharn was subject to deadly bombing attacks, Thrane suffered massive losses along the border with Karnath, and all sides commited morally questionable acts, tho none so heinous as those exectued by Kaius and his demonic consorts. Breland, for example, saw the goblin nation's threat within their own borders and for a time interned all their goblonoid subjects, especially in Sharn. All nations raced to gain greater acess to dragon shards to feul their machines of war and the dragonmarked houses played both sides, growing richer all the while. As it stood, Thrane, Breland, Zilago, Q'barra and the liberated sections of Aundair stood against Karnath, Darguun and various powers of evil. National spirit was fervent and it was not long before Breland disolved its monarchy entirly, becoming the first fully democratic nation. As the war went on, brutal and deadly, the two sides, now known as the Imperial Alliance of Karnath and Darguun and the Union of Thrane, Breland and Free Aundair, became aware through dragonic prophesy of the power behind the disaster that befell Cyre. Using only their greatest mages, the power groups raced to discover a way of replicated the deadly event and using it as a weapon. As it turned out, a massive number of all three forms of dragonshard were required. The race was on as thousands died fighting over dragonshard rich territory. At long last, the Union nations seemed to be winning. The elves of Valener and Arenal saw the threat posed to their nation by the encroaching Karn forces and lent their aid against the Imperial Alliance. Breland and Thrane ended victorious, but not before they, in possession of a newly discovered powerful magic blasted a larged section of Karnath to a bleak nothingness using the same powers that created the Mournalnd. Distruction run rampant and the twisted nature of the Mournland seemed to creep up out of Cyre and into Karnath. With this decisive blow, war as Khorvair knew it had ended. Suddenly both Thrane and Breland possessed magics that could destroy an entire nation at their whims.

next post... current state of affairs.
ziii4
12-27-05, 12:13 AM A strange by product of the destruction of Karnath, the area that was once the Mournland suddenly began to go back to normal. The dwarves, unable to live in their former home, now attempt to eek out an existence in the newly accesable, but still dangerous, Cyre. The nation of Cyre itself attemtps to pick up the pieces in its old home. Karnath is ruined and large parts of it now are under the banner of Thrane, as well as sections of a badly damaged Aundair. Breland has expanded slightly as well, and has even begun to settle on Xen'drik to greater success. As it stands The Silver Empire of Thrane and the Democratic State of Breland are the two great powers in the world, no longer allies and each capable of destroying one another with the same magic that ruined Karnath. However, this is not the say Khorvaire is without conflict. Breland and Thrane have become bitter rivals in all levels. Thrane preaches the glories of a theocratic state in which faith and government are one while Breland attempts to sow the seeds of democracy. Both sides are self-serving and their governments are rife with corruption. Thrane and the Church of the Silver Flame have become one entity, and the Church has begun a brutal crackdown on those who would defy the fiath or the natoin. Breland has all but outlawed worship of the Silver Flame and hunts down and imprisons worshipers as Thrane spies even as it preaches democracy and free speach. Both nations scramble for ever scarcer dragonshards as they power even more devoloped magic (maybe even something like a magic powered automobile?) They also attemtp to expand their influence beyond their borders with both troops and progaganda. The goblonoid nation and what remains of Karnath are slowly rebuilding, but are kept under a watchful eye by both Thrane and Breland. So it stands, with two mighty nations, bitterly opposed. Heroes can work for either side, as spies infiltrating the enemy government, explorers uncovering powerful magics that could aid their nation, or anything else imaginable. Gamers can take their inspiration from James Bond and Mission: Impossible and all the glories of the age of TVs and Nuclear Power rather than pulp mysteries and film noir.

So theres a rough backround framework. Of course it is as inclused of all that exists in Eberron as it is well written (that is, not a lot) So i ask you all to help me fill in the gaps in terms of the history (what happend to the warforged? what role did the inspired play? Who are the current political figureheads on both sides?) as well as offer general suggestions and critisizms for the setting. things that i would love to get held with espicially would be

1. Political Geography [in terms of new borders, as well as how the mournland has moved]
2. The Role and Status of Dragonmarked Houses [i could never really get into dragonmarked houses, perhaps you could help]
3. Advancements in Magic as Technology [magical cars, reliable airships, and other such things]
4. Ways to make the setting more Dungeons and Dragonsy [Eberron has an excellent blend of a world similar to our own as well as using the rich resources of the Dungeons and Dragons game. I fear that this setting risks loosing the fantasy feeling and i'd like above all else to get suggestions on how to prevent that]
5. Anything else you can think of [i really want to share this idea and have it shaped by the folks on this board]

Thank you all very much if you have read all this and thank you all the more for any suggestions you might have.
Just another user
12-27-05, 03:49 AM 30's earth and Eberron are both changing due to the existence of newer technologies mainly in the area of transportation.(lightning rails/ railroads, airships/planes, elemental sailing vessals/steamships ect.) These powerful modes of transportation require a precious and rare recourse that is relatively difficult to aquire (dragonshards in Eberron, Oil on planet earth)
This analogy works only partially, airships and C. don't need dragonshards to fly, they need dragonshards to be built but once built they goes on forever.

second, if you want to keep the parallel, the Mournbomb should have been used on Darguun and Karrnath invaded by conventional means. I think it even make more sense I see Breland have less scruples using such a weapon on goblinoids rather than on fellow human(oid)s no matter how wicked.

You could even create the M-day, when the Breland's troops in a daring maneuver took the city of Karrlakton passing throught the Mournland after having tricked them into believing that they would have attacked from Scion Sound.
After that the taking of Korn was (very relatively) easy

Oh, and about the Mournland, what about the Lord of Blades? You don't seems to mention it(him?)
Turkforged
12-27-05, 10:58 AM Well, it's a (nearly) copy of 2nd world war. I mean, make it a little different than 2nd WW.. If you want it of course, it is your game.
And secondly, If you want a region who wants revenge, Aundair will be best. Eldeen Reaches, Thaolist problem, a queen who wants power... Karrnath is not that a good choice because King Kaius wants his country be cleaned from undead corruption and that kind of influences, so he'll try to resist those demonic influences...

BUT, this is your game. It was just a.. opinion.
ziii4
12-27-05, 09:19 PM thanks for the replies. As for dragonshards, i think since they haven't been in use for mass transport for that long it is possible to wear out their magical energies, at least with poetic liscence. as for the finer points of history, yes its a lot like WW2, and i picked Karnath over audinair fairly arbitrarily, tho the connection to evil and its animosity to Thrane helped. I appreceate the comments, and i'm glad to work out finer points of history, but what i really want to work on is the current setting, attitude at all. I think i got a little caught up in the history stuff, but what's important is Khorvaire as it stands. Thrane and Breland are the only great powers, locked in a war of espionage and ideals. The tone would change from pulp/noir to the frantic, pulsating rythms of bebop jazz and the larger than life underground war James Bond style. So yeah, histories important, and i appreceate the suggestions, but i guess i got a little too into it.
ryanroyce
12-27-05, 10:56 PM IMO, to make this really work, you need powers bigger than any single nation on Khorvaire. You need Riedra. Of course, one superpower needs another to oppose it, and for that role I suggest nothing less than the Dragons of Argonessen. For the purposes of this scenario, let's assume that something prevents the Dragons and the Quori from fighting each other outright. Thus, they choose to use Khorvaire (and to a lesser degree, Xen'drik) as their 'battlefield' instead. The Quori are determined to dominate Eberron with a totalitarian regime where citizens exist solely as components of The State. However, since the Draconic Prophesies require independence and individuality to be properly fullfilled (for the purposes of this scenario), the dragons are compelled to oppose the Dreaming Dark at every turn.

Hence, Khorvaire isn't America or Russia in this scenario (who are the Dragons and Quori respectively), it is The Rest Of The World. Your PCs can be agents of the Chamber (i.e., the CIA) or their allies, the Trust (i.e., MI6) working covertly to thwart the machinations of the Dreaming Dark (i.e., the KGB). Khorvaire is a surrogate battlefield where the Chamber supports certain nations/organizations/etc while opposing those allied with the Dreaming Dark (and vice versa).

Ryan
LordofIllusions
01-03-06, 09:56 AM LoL@Eberron 2.0

~~~

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ziii4 12-26-05, 11:17 PM	Sooooo.... I've been doing some thinking (perhaps too much) on my love of Eberron and my desire to craft my own campaign setting, and have settled on a compromise: The Eberron of the Future! I am no expert on Eberron, or on world histoyr (see below) and i therefor submit my ideas to you all for correction, advice and suggestion. Please excuse any misspelling and missinformation about anything pretaining to worlds either real or imagined. Now, this idea relies primarily on the way the Eberron we know draws from the history of early 20th century earth. Most are aware of the "pulp action" feel of Eberron, and one can go so far as to say the entire setting is drawn from the pulp age, that is the 1930s or so on our own planet earth. Earth in the 30's and Eberron have both experienced massive world spanning "Last" wars. The nations of 30's earth and Eberron both exist in a teneous peace created by a fragile treaty. 30's earth and Eberron are both changing due to the existence of newer technologies mainly in the area of transportation.(lightning rails/ railroads, airships/planes, elemental sailing vessals/steamships ect.) These powerful modes of transportation require a precious and rare recourse that is relatively difficult to aquire (dragonshards in Eberron, Oil on planet earth) Of course, not everything in Eberron has a real world parellel, but you get the idea. Now here's the main course. My idea for a setting would be an Eberron that mirrors our earth in the aftermath of the Second World War. A world that draws thematic inspiration not from pulp action but from cold war paranoia and obsession with the march towords greater and greater future technologies. A world ruled not by roughly equal powered nations competing in cramped quaters, but by two massive superpowers backed by ideals as much as armies. and finally, a world where the competions for resources and minds drives these nations into frequent but clandestine conflict. So... where to begin.......... [in the next post!]
ChronosCrow 12-26-05, 11:37 PM	I had a similar kind of idea, eberron the future that is. Never actually did it, but I did think up a good bit. Go here for it: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=465173
ziii4 12-27-05, 12:09 AM	here's my framework for my vision of a future eberron. Changes, suggestions and other comments are encourged please. We begin with some history: The madness of the Second Great War has ended, and a new era had been unleashed. the second great war began with King Kaius of Karnath being corrupted by the lords of dust and the blood of vol. He became a vessle of fiendish evil, and, with the aid of demonic advice, broght his proud country that had been so damaged during the Last War into the spotlight. Karnathian nation pride swelled and soon the nation began to expand its borders into an unsuspecting Aundair and the Talenta Planes, who could do little to stop the renewed military might of their neighbor. The rest of the nations watched in a mixture of fear and rage as Karnish power grew and the corrupted Kauis's depravity and evil became more evident. Kaius and the fiends who shared his mind saw the dwarves of the M'ror Holds as an easy target for example. The dwarves had humiliated Karnath by gaining independance, and their vast wealth showed their success. However, Kaius and his fiendish allies painted the dwarves as the enemy of the common Karn with skillful propoganda, and soon thousands of dwarves had their assets seized in the name of Karnath and were interned. Those who did not escape were later brutally killed along with many changelings, shifters, gnomes, and other creatures who Kaius claimed posed a threat to the glory of Karnath. Despite these atrocities, Thrane and Breland did nothing as Karnath occupied Aundair and moved to repopulate the Talenta Plains with its own people. Finally, a response was made. Thrane, long embittered with Karnath, began to fight a brutal war on the front lines. Meanwhile, tho Breland was buffered from Karnath thanks to the Mournland and Thrane, it faced a threat from the West. The goblonoid kingdom, in an attempt to regain its former glory, had made an opportunistic alliance with the growing power of Karnath. It then made an unprovoked attack on Breland, and the democratic nation was forced to enter the fray. A terrifying war followed. Sharn was subject to deadly bombing attacks, Thrane suffered massive losses along the border with Karnath, and all sides commited morally questionable acts, tho none so heinous as those exectued by Kaius and his demonic consorts. Breland, for example, saw the goblin nation's threat within their own borders and for a time interned all their goblonoid subjects, especially in Sharn. All nations raced to gain greater acess to dragon shards to feul their machines of war and the dragonmarked houses played both sides, growing richer all the while. As it stood, Thrane, Breland, Zilago, Q'barra and the liberated sections of Aundair stood against Karnath, Darguun and various powers of evil. National spirit was fervent and it was not long before Breland disolved its monarchy entirly, becoming the first fully democratic nation. As the war went on, brutal and deadly, the two sides, now known as the Imperial Alliance of Karnath and Darguun and the Union of Thrane, Breland and Free Aundair, became aware through dragonic prophesy of the power behind the disaster that befell Cyre. Using only their greatest mages, the power groups raced to discover a way of replicated the deadly event and using it as a weapon. As it turned out, a massive number of all three forms of dragonshard were required. The race was on as thousands died fighting over dragonshard rich territory. At long last, the Union nations seemed to be winning. The elves of Valener and Arenal saw the threat posed to their nation by the encroaching Karn forces and lent their aid against the Imperial Alliance. Breland and Thrane ended victorious, but not before they, in possession of a newly discovered powerful magic blasted a larged section of Karnath to a bleak nothingness using the same powers that created the Mournalnd. Distruction run rampant and the twisted nature of the Mournland seemed to creep up out of Cyre and into Karnath. With this decisive blow, war as Khorvair knew it had ended. Suddenly both Thrane and Breland possessed magics that could destroy an entire nation at their whims. next post... current state of affairs.
ziii4 12-27-05, 12:13 AM	A strange by product of the destruction of Karnath, the area that was once the Mournland suddenly began to go back to normal. The dwarves, unable to live in their former home, now attempt to eek out an existence in the newly accesable, but still dangerous, Cyre. The nation of Cyre itself attemtps to pick up the pieces in its old home. Karnath is ruined and large parts of it now are under the banner of Thrane, as well as sections of a badly damaged Aundair. Breland has expanded slightly as well, and has even begun to settle on Xen'drik to greater success. As it stands The Silver Empire of Thrane and the Democratic State of Breland are the two great powers in the world, no longer allies and each capable of destroying one another with the same magic that ruined Karnath. However, this is not the say Khorvaire is without conflict. Breland and Thrane have become bitter rivals in all levels. Thrane preaches the glories of a theocratic state in which faith and government are one while Breland attempts to sow the seeds of democracy. Both sides are self-serving and their governments are rife with corruption. Thrane and the Church of the Silver Flame have become one entity, and the Church has begun a brutal crackdown on those who would defy the fiath or the natoin. Breland has all but outlawed worship of the Silver Flame and hunts down and imprisons worshipers as Thrane spies even as it preaches democracy and free speach. Both nations scramble for ever scarcer dragonshards as they power even more devoloped magic (maybe even something like a magic powered automobile?) They also attemtp to expand their influence beyond their borders with both troops and progaganda. The goblonoid nation and what remains of Karnath are slowly rebuilding, but are kept under a watchful eye by both Thrane and Breland. So it stands, with two mighty nations, bitterly opposed. Heroes can work for either side, as spies infiltrating the enemy government, explorers uncovering powerful magics that could aid their nation, or anything else imaginable. Gamers can take their inspiration from James Bond and Mission: Impossible and all the glories of the age of TVs and Nuclear Power rather than pulp mysteries and film noir. So theres a rough backround framework. Of course it is as inclused of all that exists in Eberron as it is well written (that is, not a lot) So i ask you all to help me fill in the gaps in terms of the history (what happend to the warforged? what role did the inspired play? Who are the current political figureheads on both sides?) as well as offer general suggestions and critisizms for the setting. things that i would love to get held with espicially would be 1. Political Geography [in terms of new borders, as well as how the mournland has moved] 2. The Role and Status of Dragonmarked Houses [i could never really get into dragonmarked houses, perhaps you could help] 3. Advancements in Magic as Technology [magical cars, reliable airships, and other such things] 4. Ways to make the setting more Dungeons and Dragonsy [Eberron has an excellent blend of a world similar to our own as well as using the rich resources of the Dungeons and Dragons game. I fear that this setting risks loosing the fantasy feeling and i'd like above all else to get suggestions on how to prevent that] 5. Anything else you can think of [i really want to share this idea and have it shaped by the folks on this board] Thank you all very much if you have read all this and thank you all the more for any suggestions you might have.
Just another user 12-27-05, 03:49 AM	30's earth and Eberron are both changing due to the existence of newer technologies mainly in the area of transportation.(lightning rails/ railroads, airships/planes, elemental sailing vessals/steamships ect.) These powerful modes of transportation require a precious and rare recourse that is relatively difficult to aquire (dragonshards in Eberron, Oil on planet earth) This analogy works only partially, airships and C. don't need dragonshards to fly, they need dragonshards to be built but once built they goes on forever. second, if you want to keep the parallel, the Mournbomb should have been used on Darguun and Karrnath invaded by conventional means. I think it even make more sense I see Breland have less scruples using such a weapon on goblinoids rather than on fellow human(oid)s no matter how wicked. You could even create the M-day, when the Breland's troops in a daring maneuver took the city of Karrlakton passing throught the Mournland after having tricked them into believing that they would have attacked from Scion Sound. After that the taking of Korn was (very relatively) easy Oh, and about the Mournland, what about the Lord of Blades? You don't seems to mention it(him?)
Turkforged 12-27-05, 10:58 AM	Well, it's a (nearly) copy of 2nd world war. I mean, make it a little different than 2nd WW.. If you want it of course, it is your game. And secondly, If you want a region who wants revenge, Aundair will be best. Eldeen Reaches, Thaolist problem, a queen who wants power... Karrnath is not that a good choice because King Kaius wants his country be cleaned from undead corruption and that kind of influences, so he'll try to resist those demonic influences... BUT, this is your game. It was just a.. opinion.
ziii4 12-27-05, 09:19 PM	thanks for the replies. As for dragonshards, i think since they haven't been in use for mass transport for that long it is possible to wear out their magical energies, at least with poetic liscence. as for the finer points of history, yes its a lot like WW2, and i picked Karnath over audinair fairly arbitrarily, tho the connection to evil and its animosity to Thrane helped. I appreceate the comments, and i'm glad to work out finer points of history, but what i really want to work on is the current setting, attitude at all. I think i got a little caught up in the history stuff, but what's important is Khorvaire as it stands. Thrane and Breland are the only great powers, locked in a war of espionage and ideals. The tone would change from pulp/noir to the frantic, pulsating rythms of bebop jazz and the larger than life underground war James Bond style. So yeah, histories important, and i appreceate the suggestions, but i guess i got a little too into it.
ryanroyce 12-27-05, 10:56 PM	IMO, to make this really work, you need powers bigger than any single nation on Khorvaire. You need Riedra. Of course, one superpower needs another to oppose it, and for that role I suggest nothing less than the Dragons of Argonessen. For the purposes of this scenario, let's assume that something prevents the Dragons and the Quori from fighting each other outright. Thus, they choose to use Khorvaire (and to a lesser degree, Xen'drik) as their 'battlefield' instead. The Quori are determined to dominate Eberron with a totalitarian regime where citizens exist solely as components of The State. However, since the Draconic Prophesies require independence and individuality to be properly fullfilled (for the purposes of this scenario), the dragons are compelled to oppose the Dreaming Dark at every turn. Hence, Khorvaire isn't America or Russia in this scenario (who are the Dragons and Quori respectively), it is The Rest Of The World. Your PCs can be agents of the Chamber (i.e., the CIA) or their allies, the Trust (i.e., MI6) working covertly to thwart the machinations of the Dreaming Dark (i.e., the KGB). Khorvaire is a surrogate battlefield where the Chamber supports certain nations/organizations/etc while opposing those allied with the Dreaming Dark (and vice versa). Ryan
LordofIllusions 01-03-06, 09:56 AM	LoL@Eberron 2.0 ~~~