| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| Raziel_Brokodar07-29-05, 06:59 PM | This fall I'll be going off to college, I'll be running a Eberron game and will run the published adventures again... But....... I have no clue at all how to introduce new people to Eberron, and possibly even D&D. :( (since I've been playing with just one group for two years) Recently I've seen posts asking to describe Eberron in sentence or paragraph... so I figured this was a good time to ask... :P Should I worry about introducing them to everything from the Last War, or some of the nations, or houses? Or do they not need to know that right off... because there are several things to know... plus I'll have enough trouble with character creation... What would they need to know, does the stuff at the back of "City of Towers" help? (which I recently got a friend to buy for me, he still hasn't given me it...) Anyway any help would be appreciated... I just hope the people I find know some stuff about D&D or have played before so I don't have to worry about the rules too... :( |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-29-05, 07:12 PM | Another note... here are a list of descriptions from the "You have a paragraph to describe Eberron to a friend..." thread... It's Wizards' new campaign setting that emphasizes low-level adventuring. Think of it as Post-WW1 Europe with magic instead of guns. There's a lot of political animosity, budding magi-technology (they have rail lines and telegraphs, run by Half-Elves and Gnomes, if you can believe that), and embittered people looking for their way in the world, luckily, there's lots to explore and steal, and plenty of people who'll pay out the nose for someone else to do it for them. Which is where the PC comes in... It's a medieval society with high technology interpersed with the swords and magic. It's got robots as player characters. It's just past this really huge war with nobles with weird tatoos related to dragons. It also has this really cool Doctor Doom/Largo like villain named the Lord of Blades whose responsible for everything evil that isn't caused by Changeling's formori or the Great Old Ones from Call of Cthulhu. It's a D&D world with normal level magic but with smart people behind the wheel, no confirmed gods, and emphasis on dark and multi-tiered political adventures with an action theme Eberron is an open-ended setting for the Dungeons & Dragons rôle-playing game. It offers several new options for characters, including new races such as the warforged, a race of living constructs built to fight a Last War, a war from which the continent is only now recovering. It offers new options for Dungeon Masters, in its sensible approach to a rich history and mythology of the world. The tone and flavor of the world are based in equal measure on the genres of pulp fiction, characterized by generally low-level Non-Player Characters, allowing the players to act as the true heroes of the setting, and film noir, characterized by the relaxation of alignment restrictions: the Eberron setting features good characters from traditionally evil races, and vice versa, together with an emphasis on intrigue and occasional betrayal as themes in the various plots and plot devices. The setting does not overturn the traditional reliance on ancient and medieval technology common to Dungeons & Dragons settings: rather, it offers an advancing and advanced environment of low-level magic to provide advantages that the real world associates with advanced technology. I mean, this is all good if the people I'm dealing with are familiar with D&D... I mean especially the last one which has terms and differences from normal D&D... I just have to hope... Still, any input would be VERY helpful... ALSO I assume some of the early info in the ECS which describes the setting would also be helpful.. Would I have to introduce them to Core D&D first? (sorry if I seem like I'm freaking out about it all, because I AM! :( ) |
| Majorafire7707-29-05, 10:46 PM | Would I have to introduce them to Core D&D first? Alright, first of all I'm hoping you realize that Eberron is a Campaign Setting within the roleplaying game known as D&D. Simply put, you can't teach them how to play Eberron without teaching them how to play D&D. The stuff in the back of City of Towers is very good for introducing players to Eberron imo. I don't think it contains any major spoilers. The ECS is very good, but there are spoilers out in the open (the ones that really irk me is the one on the secret creation forges and the one revealing the vampiric nature of Kaius). Cover up those sections with post-its or something. It's a medieval society with high technology interpersed with the swords and magic. It's got robots as player characters. It's just past this really huge war with nobles with weird tatoos related to dragons. It also has this really cool Doctor Doom/Largo like villain named the Lord of Blades whose responsible for everything evil that isn't caused by Changeling's formori or the Great Old Ones from Call of Cthulhu. ^ Bad description |
| St Elmos Fire07-29-05, 11:56 PM | It's a medieval society with high technology interpersed with the swords and magic. It's got robots as player characters. It's just past this really huge war with nobles with weird tatoos related to dragons. It also has this really cool Doctor Doom/Largo like villain named the Lord of Blades whose responsible for everything evil that isn't caused by Changeling's formori or the Great Old Ones from Call of Cthulhu. Eberron is not high-technology, nor are Warforged "robots" considering that no robot considering that blank-programming and sentience which are found in the 'forged are not indicative of programmed robots. Weird tattoos related to dragons. And the Lord of the Blades is a pathetic mucky-muck. Evil in Eberron's got nothing to do with high-level. It's a much stronger, baser business. |
| trashdog07-30-05, 05:49 PM | I, too, am heading off to college this fall, and I'm currently without an in-person gaming group. I agree with you that explaining D&D comes before Eberron, but how you explain is part introduction, part persuasion. If things are similar where you are to where I am, D&D doesn't have a great reputation. Convincing people to play can be hard, especially if they've heard of it before. You can try saying it's like any RPG you've played before (think Evercrack or WoW), but with far more freedom. If he or she is not familiar with these games , say it's somewhere between writing a novel (or short story) and a boardgame. Explain the character creation process in very simple terms. Focus on the role-play instead of the rules, because the rules quite honestly scare people off. As for Eberron, I'd say the post-WWI description is a good start. Explain that Khorvaire is a fractured continent, with many nations vying for power, as well as secret organization fighting from the shadows. Relgion is much like it is in the real world, with faith at the center of the various churches and cults. Powerful Houses control much of the economy, and are tied together by strange marks that grant magical powers. You don't need to explain every religion, every dragonmarked house, and every nation. Just try to figure out what he/she is interested in. For example, if he/she like the idea of druids, go ahead and tell 'em about the Reaches and the Shadow Marches. I hope this helps, because this is the method I'm going to use. Good luck! :D |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 10:48 PM | Alright, first of all I'm hoping you realize that Eberron is a Campaign Setting within the roleplaying game known as D&D. Simply put, you can't teach them how to play Eberron without teaching them how to play D&D. And you don't think I know that?!? What I meant was would I have to teach them stuff like; the role of orcs D&D, their hate of everything (elves, dwarves, etc...), you know teach them core D&D first. Where they could get a feel things. If people join because they like LOTR, I'd obviously have to introduce them to Gnomes, well what I mean would I tell them that they hate Kobolds? Because that doesn't apply... I don't know how to explain it to you what I mean... Should I teach them "D&D" before I teach them "Eberron"? If so, should I start off playing Eberron or play Core, since Eberron "twists" D&D, for example in Eberron some monsters have different roles. Bah, I don't need to try to explain this to you... |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 10:54 PM | Ok heres what I mean... Eberron is an open-ended setting for the Dungeons & Dragons rôle-playing game. It offers several new options for characters, including new races such as the warforged, a race of living constructs built to fight a Last War, a war from which the continent is only now recovering. It offers new options for Dungeon Masters, in its sensible approach to a rich history and mythology of the world. The tone and flavor of the world are based in equal measure on the genres of pulp fiction, characterized by generally low-level Non-Player Characters, allowing the players to act as the true heroes of the setting, and film noir, characterized by the relaxation of alignment restrictions: the Eberron setting features good characters from traditionally evil races, and vice versa, together with an emphasis on intrigue and occasional betrayal as themes in the various plots and plot devices. The setting does not overturn the traditional reliance on ancient and medieval technology common to Dungeons & Dragons settings: rather, it offers an advancing and advanced environment of low-level magic to provide advantages that the real world associates with advanced technology. If I used this description... it assumes a lot. What's a construct? What is low level magic? What were the alignment restrictions? What are the traditionally evil races? |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 11:02 PM | Another thing is they'd be unfamiliar with the spells that you and I are used to... magic missle, mage armor, restoration, etc.. they're be a lot of messing around with that... with my current group I was lucky enough to play with people who were familiar with games like Baldur's Gate and they knew these things. I just have to hope that the players have "some" clue ahead of time. I remember when I attempted to teach one of my friends to play. She didn't really understand things (made a wizard too) and didn't last long. |
| PoeticJustice07-31-05, 11:03 PM | three ways of thinking for you to explore, Raz: 1) Ask specifically for an Eberron group. There should be enough interest in any major city if you look hard enough. If your not in or near an urban area, you may get lucky. 2) Take it slow. People have gone without Eberron before. Settle for starting a playgroup if that's al you can get, dropping in little Eberron ideas as you go. Take out Wood Elves and put in Shifters. Introduce the artificer class. Then, when they are comfortable with D&D/ready for a change of pace, ask them if they'd be interested in switching to the setting from which you got all the snazzy ideas. Patience is key here friend. Pick your battles and get what you can, lest you lose everything. 3) Play at home. Playing once or twice a month and during breaks isn't that bad. If you're going to college, branch out and try doing new things. When you want something familiar, get the old group together for some D&D during winter/summer break. Personally, I just joined a bi-monthly group in Richmond, where I'll be going, as opposed to the weekly I ran at home. Realizing the books are cumbersome and somewhat uselss in my circumstances, I gave about $450 worth of 3.5 material (Keeping Core, Eberron material, and Races of the Wild. Go Halflings!) away to a friend of mine in the hopes that he'd keep the group going in my absence. That way there's always something to come back to. |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 11:03 PM | I, too, am heading off to college this fall, and I'm currently without an in-person gaming group. I agree with you that explaining D&D comes before Eberron, but how you explain is part introduction, part persuasion. If things are similar where you are to where I am, D&D doesn't have a great reputation. Convincing people to play can be hard, especially if they've heard of it before. You can try saying it's like any RPG you've played before (think Evercrack or WoW), but with far more freedom. If he or she is not familiar with these games , say it's somewhere between writing a novel (or short story) and a boardgame. Explain the character creation process in very simple terms. Focus on the role-play instead of the rules, because the rules quite honestly scare people off. As for Eberron, I'd say the post-WWI description is a good start. Explain that Khorvaire is a fractured continent, with many nations vying for power, as well as secret organization fighting from the shadows. Relgion is much like it is in the real world, with faith at the center of the various churches and cults. Powerful Houses control much of the economy, and are tied together by strange marks that grant magical powers. You don't need to explain every religion, every dragonmarked house, and every nation. Just try to figure out what he/she is interested in. For example, if he/she like the idea of druids, go ahead and tell 'em about the Reaches and the Shadow Marches. I hope this helps, because this is the method I'm going to use. Good luck! :D Greatly, thanks... |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 11:09 PM | three ways of thinking for you to explore, Raz: 1) Ask specifically for an Eberron group. There should be enough interest in any major city if you look hard enough. If your not in or near an urban area, you may get lucky. 2) Take it slow. People have gone without Eberron before. Settle for starting a playgroup if that's al you can get, dropping in little Eberron ideas as you go. Take out Wood Elves and put in Shifters. Introduce the artificer class. Then, when they are comfortable with D&D/ready for a change of pace, ask them if they'd be interested in switching to the setting from which you got all the snazzy ideas. Patience is key here friend. Pick your battles and get what you can, lest you lose everything. 3) Play at home. Playing once or twice a month and during breaks isn't that bad. If you're going to college, branch out and try doing new things. When you want something familiar, get the old group together for some D&D during winter/summer break. Personally, I just joined a bi-monthly group in Richmond, where I'll be going, as opposed to the weekly I ran at home. Realizing the books are cumbersome and somewhat uselss in my circumstances, I gave about $450 worth of 3.5 material (Keeping Core, Eberron material, and Races of the Wild. Go Halflings!) away to a friend of mine in the hopes that he'd keep the group going in my absence. That way there's always something to come back to. Thanks for the suggestions... 1) Ask specifically for an Eberron group. There should be enough interest in any major city if you look hard enough. If your not in or near an urban area, you may get lucky. Haha.. not likely where I'm going. I'm from Newfoundland, I'd never be able to request a specific kind of D&D. I'd be lucky to find someone who knows what Eberron is... Plus our urban areas aren't really what you'd call urban. 3) Play at home. Playing once or twice a month and during breaks isn't that bad. If you're going to college, branch out and try doing new things. When you want something familiar, get the old group together for some D&D during winter/summer break. Personally, I just joined a bi-monthly group in Richmond, where I'll be going, as opposed to the weekly I ran at home. Realizing the books are cumbersome and somewhat uselss in my circumstances, I gave about $450 worth of 3.5 material (Keeping Core, Eberron material, and Races of the Wild. Go Halflings!) away to a friend of mine in the hopes that he'd keep the group going in my absence. That way there's always something to come back to. Hard to do man, I'm hooked... Eberron does that to you.... :( And I'm having a hard enough time getting the group together this summer, and well actually last summer too... And I need to play, otherwise I'd lose my mind... it's already happening this summer... So no breaks... I play weekly!!! :P |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 11:15 PM | Eberron is not high-technology, nor are Warforged "robots" considering that no robot considering that blank-programming and sentience which are found in the 'forged are not indicative of programmed robots. Weird tattoos related to dragons. And the Lord of the Blades is a pathetic mucky-muck. Evil in Eberron's got nothing to do with high-level. It's a much stronger, baser business. These descriptions aren't mine, and I actually critized the one you quoted. |
| PoeticJustice07-31-05, 11:28 PM | Okay, well how about nosing around the campus Comic Book shop, or other nerdly location? Find a bookstore that carries D&D and ask if they wouldn't mind you sticking a flier requesting gamers up on the bookshelf or inside the front cover of the supplements. Explain that it might help sales and would really help you out of a jam. Book stores (particularly borders) also host art events, book readings, and clubs all the time. It isn't out of the ballpark for them to give you a corner tabe one night every week or two provided you keep the noise down. First find players. Then move onto Eberron |
| Raziel_Brokodar07-31-05, 11:35 PM | Okay, well how about nosing around the campus Comic Book shop, or other nerdly location? Find a bookstore that carries D&D and ask if they wouldn't mind you sticking a flier requesting gamers up on the bookshelf or inside the front cover of the supplements. Explain that it might help sales and would really help you out of a jam. Book stores (particularly borders) also host art events, book readings, and clubs all the time. It isn't out of the ballpark for them to give you a corner tabe one night every week or two provided you keep the noise down. First find players. Then move onto Eberron I was going to put up a "sign-up" sheet on my dorm room's door, but also if there's a local bulletin board or something I'd post up on there... putting up things in a place that carries D&D stuff is a good idea, if there's a place that does... :( |
| Raziel_Brokodar08-01-05, 12:27 AM | Ok change of topic... would I need to teach my players about the different houses and nations... in my first Eberron campign I really didn't (two players gained insight through reading some parts of the ECS, while one still doesn't know) I guess I'd give some basic info about each... ex. Kundarak; Dwarf/Security and Jorasco; Halfling/Healing... or Valenar; on Khorvaire, Nomadic horse rider elves, scimitar experts and Mournland; wasteland, once a nation called Cyre. Is that kind of the basics of what I have to teach regarding those items? I think that could cover those topics. |
| DwarvinJedi08-01-05, 11:57 AM | Jaytic D'Cannith made a really good Primer that I really don't feel like posting, so PM me or him. |