Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Azar_of_Faerun 01-01-07, 06:56 PM	Well i do have Races of Eberron as well, but i'll just call it a races book for the purposes of this thread :P What other supplement is good all around to have?
Edymnion 01-01-07, 07:01 PM	http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=762613 http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=761242 http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=761374 http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=764441
Azar_of_Faerun 01-02-07, 12:00 AM	Which would you recommend?
Manyfist 01-02-07, 12:12 AM	Which would you recommend? Magic of Eberron is a good one. Player's Guide to Eberron is another.
Azar_of_Faerun 01-02-07, 01:06 AM	Does the first have Magic Item cost reducing feats?
law 01-02-07, 01:34 AM	Um let me see the eberron core book does read through the feats. Though as I own the two books you have plus Races of Eberron I cant say much on what to get next. Though im looking at the other books right now myself.
Manyfist 01-02-07, 01:51 AM	Does the first have Magic Item cost reducing feats? ECS has those. :P
Kaizer_Ryu 01-02-07, 02:05 AM	The best ones to go for after those two are Five Nations and Magic of Eberron in that order, and then either Faiths of Eberron or Dragonmarked. Five Nations is an excellent resource for adventuring around Khorvaire, with everything from plot hooks to NPC's to the everyday workings of the Nations themselves. MoE is chock full of crunchy goodness as well as all sorts of helpful info on that most Eberron-y of classes, the Artificer. Both FoE and Dragonmarked expand a great deal on the respective roles of each in everyday life. Faiths gives more fluff, and Dragonmarked more crunch, but you really can't go wrong either way. I'd give the Players Guide to Eberron a look too, but I've found the other ones mentioned here more helpful overall.
Azar_of_Faerun 01-02-07, 02:52 AM	ECS has those. :P I am aware of that. So, does Magic of Eberron have feats that reduce the cost of magic item crafting? :)
thecosmicgoose 01-02-07, 07:25 PM	most useful in decending order Five Nations Magic of Eberron Players guide Races of Eberron Faiths of Eberron Dragonmarked least useful Explorers handbook City of Sharn
Altar_Boy 01-03-07, 05:16 PM	For a player? Player's Guide to Eberron. Second best book for a player? Magic of Eberron. For a DM interested in worldbuilding? Five Nations. For a DM needing adventure tips? Explorers' Handbook. The other books (SoX, S:CoT, FoE, and DMark) are very specific books, and should only be purchased if the campaign will exclusively revolve around them. For personal tastes, I liked Five Nations the least, but only because it's not my bag. It's all good.
Edymnion 01-03-07, 09:01 PM	I am aware of that. So, does Magic of Eberron have feats that reduce the cost of magic item crafting? :)No, those feats are in the ECS, there is no need to reprint them, and putting in yet more would just be too much, unless it specifically said "This feat does not stack with XXXX Artisan".
yrogerg 01-03-07, 10:24 PM	Well i do have Races of Eberron as well, but i'll just call it a races book for the purposes of this thread :P What other supplement is good all around to have? Meh, I've noticed that Edy's opinion and mine about Races and PGtE are *completely* inverted. My personal opinion is that Races is mostly decent, and the objectionable parts are easily ignored, and that at least 85% of PGtE is complete tripe. I only point this out to say that while most of the time, Edy is right, his opinions still aren't law. :P Anyway, back on topic: The latest couple of books, Dragonmarked and Secrets of Xendrik, are *really* good. SoX is largely a DM's guide, and only all that relevant if you spend time in or thinking about Xen'drik. Good general dungeon-creation stuff that you can use elsewhere, though. Dragonmarked seems like it's more geared to players, and has a decent spread of feats and *interesting* prestige classes, along with some in-depth information on the Dragonmarked houses. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Poorly Adapting Other Books to Eberron Player's Guide to Eberron. I think a lot of that stuff can probably be better done by homebrewery. There are elements of adventure hooks in them, but don't shy away from adapting them heavily if you go for that book. Magic and Faiths are two books I'd also put in the "useful, but feel free to adapt heavily" category. Faiths, in particular, can easily be done without, just based on extrapolation from other supplements. And most of the rest depends on what, specifically, you are planning on focusing on in your campaign. 5 N is a bit weak, but a good source of setting info, and the Explorer's Handbook is a pretty good book for a DM to look at with a mind to designing adventures. Also, with all the talk of adapting, I forgot one: Manual of the Planes. Barring an actual *book* on Eberron's planes, the information in MotP -particularly with regards to some of the variant planes, which correspond to a few of Eberron's more unusual planes- is the best we've got. So, my ranking: Dragonmarked Sharn (depending on how much time you spend there; it's a *very* nice level of detail, though) SoX (ditto) Explorer's Handbook. MotP :P RoE (particularly for using the Quori) Magic, 5N PGtE Faiths
Logos7 01-05-07, 02:22 PM	My Ranking ( based roughly on usefullness to me and players) Dragonmarked Players Guide Magi of Eberron ( This books seems really hit or miss check it out first) Secrets of Xendrick Faiths of Eberron ( Lots of Fluff i found , good stuff but not great all inspiring stuff) 5 Nations If you plan on staying on Khorvaire, bump 5 nations up maybe above faiths of eberron, but in general that's the orrder i'd recommend them Logos
ccerose 01-05-07, 06:09 PM	My order of usefulness as a DM (and yes, I own them all): Five Nations Sharn: COT Explorere's Handbook Dragonmarked Player's Guide to Eberron Secrets of Xen'drik Magic of Eberron Faiths of Eberron Races of Eberron
Merifluous 01-07-07, 03:03 PM	I have all eberron books but Faiths of Eberron, and I really have liked all of them for the most part. I would probably suggest five nations first, then after that it totally depends on what you want your game to focus on. If you have dragon marked PCs, dragon marked is useful. If you want to go to Xendrik, SoX is useful (though I must say I was a little disappointed in that book, though I had high expectations). As a DM, I would purchase in this order: ECS FN RoE EH PGtE MoE Then pick up Sharn, Dragonmarked, and SoX based on need. One last note - I've recently ran the first three adventures, and except for some ridiculously tough fights in the last module, I was very very pleased with the results, so I would consider those as well (this from someone who rarely runs modules because they usually aren't up to snuff).
mhacdebhandia 01-07-07, 06:19 PM	Either Five Nations, if you're going to concentrate on those countries, or the Player's Guide to Eberron - it's an excellent resource for fleshing out some of the topics covered by the Eberron Campaign Setting. The section on the Church of the Silver Flame is very helpful, for instance, as are the sections on monastic orders, Khyber, and the Demon Wastes.
Jhilahd 01-08-07, 02:21 PM	As a new DM to Eberron, I have exactly the same set of books you do. Or rather did. Half-price books in my area seems to be teeming with Eberron and FR books. Of what I have right now, I place the books in this order. Not counting the Core and Sharn: Five Nations Explorer's Handbook Player's Guide(because its in the mail to me now) I have held off on Faiths and Magic, only because I picked up the FR versions when they came out and felt... lacking. Like there was more or not enough of what I wanted, and I didn't want to make that same mistake. Now having said that, you need to really consider this forum and the Eberron Bestiary website as classic sites for "must have" stuff. Tons of fluff, ideas, and other goodies that I yoink and can't seem to fill up my binder fast enough. Good luck to you, and let us know what you decide on. J
WNG_pfoster 01-08-07, 04:27 PM	most useful in decending order Five Nations Magic of Eberron Players guide Races of Eberron Faiths of Eberron Dragonmarked least useful Explorers handbook City of Sharn I'd put them in the following order, personally: Magic of Eberron - good crunch wrapped in fluff. Crunch included elemental binding, some more spells, PrCs, monsters, treasure, more information on dragonshards and dragonshard using items. Five Nations - I really liked this sourcebook and the way it was organized; fluff, but good fluff. It gave a good feel for the Five Nations. Faiths of Eberron - still need to read through it, I liked the organization of the chapters and sub-sections in them. Lots of talk about the religion, how they view others and how others view them (and more) - good fluffy detail from the looks. Dragonmarked - still need to read through it, but given the other books' content I think this has a lot of potential. City of Sharn - about on par with the Explorer's Handbook, IMO - location crunch. Explorer's Handbook - crunchy stuff about travel in Eberron, some useful maps of common 'vehicles' and I think a PrC. Also described an organization, I'm a little hazy. I wasn't too impressed. Races of Eberron - not overly impressed, a lot of the crunch was already available in the ECS and a lot of the other stuff didn't really seem to be needed. Player's Guide - I was annoyed at the organization of the book; alphabetical - /cry. I'm so used to having organization to the books. It should have been "The Eberron Dictionary". Topics were laid out okay, giving decent details and some extra sidebars on knowledge skill results (still, had a hard time with the alphabetical layout). Not really needed as a DM. I reserve the right to change my mind as I read through more of these books.
Edymnion 01-08-07, 06:37 PM	I only point this out to say that while most of the time, Edy is right, his opinions still aren't law. :PDepends on if I'm the DM or not, then my opinions are above law, they are the very fundamentals upon which all of reality operates! ... :PSo, my ranking: Dragonmarked Sharn (depending on how much time you spend there; it's a *very* nice level of detail, though) SoX (ditto) Explorer's Handbook. MotP :P RoE (particularly for using the Quori) Magic, 5N PGtE FaithsMy order of usefulness as a DM (and yes, I own them all): Five Nations Sharn: COT Explorere's Handbook Dragonmarked Player's Guide to Eberron Secrets of Xen'drik Magic of Eberron Faiths of Eberron Races of EberronYup, I own them all too. :) My list, from best to worst: ECS Player's Guide to Eberron Sharn: City of Towers Five Nations Dragonmarked Faiths of Eberron Magic of Eberron Races of Eberron Secrets of Xen'Drik Explorer's HandbookSecrets and Explorer get the bottom spots on my list because, for me, they are the most useless of the books. As a DM, I prefer to make my own adventures and locations, I don't want them handed to me on a silver platter. IMO, they're no differant from just plain playing a module. Sure, it takes a lot of the work out of running the game, but it takes a lot of the fun out of it too. They're good to read through once or twice for ideas, and then to put them on the shelf and never open them again. And you can see from the top places on my list, I put the most value in books that actually expand the flavor of the core setting. Screw Xen'Drik and Sarlona and Reidera, I want information on freaking Khovaire. I wanna know more about how the default locations work, not give them a brief hand wave and then go to the other side of the planet.
DargonSwift 01-09-07, 01:10 AM	Be sure to review the Eberron errata publushed on the website too. The artificers level chart is incorrect in the ECS, and those lovely artificer feats (Extraordinary, Legendary, etc.) can NOT be take more than once (despite what the book says).
Bluenose 01-09-07, 10:42 AM	My list, from best to worst: ECS Player's Guide to Eberron Sharn: City of Towers Five Nations Dragonmarked Faiths of Eberron Magic of Eberron Races of Eberron Secrets of Xen'Drik Explorer's HandbookSecrets and Explorer get the bottom spots on my list because, for me, they are the most useless of the books. As a DM, I prefer to make my own adventures and locations, I don't want them handed to me on a silver platter. IMO, they're no differant from just plain playing a module. Sure, it takes a lot of the work out of running the game, but it takes a lot of the fun out of it too. They're good to read through once or twice for ideas, and then to put them on the shelf and never open them again. I think I'd swap Five Nations and Sharn around. It's not that Sharn isn't excellent, but my players tend to spend more time travelling around than they do in any one place. Personally I'd recommend both, if you can get them. The three books of Magic..., Faiths..., and Dragonmarked are also useful, but the order I'd put them in depends rather more on the players interests. None of my players have yet wanted to take dragonmarks, so that book hasn't been useful to me so far. On the other hand, there have been two artificers in the groups I've run and Magic... has been much more useful for giving them new options. And you can see from the top places on my list, I put the most value in books that actually expand the flavor of the core setting. Screw Xen'Drik and Sarlona and Reidera, I want information on freaking Khovaire. I wanna know more about how the default locations work, not give them a brief hand wave and then go to the other side of the planet. That's also my opinion, though again if your players really want to get involved in exploration then Explorer's... and SoX become more important. The one book that I really would buy would be a book of "The Other Nations", covering the bits of Khorvaire that weren't in 5N, especially Dharguun, the Valenar territories, and the Lhazaar states.