Monsters of Eberron?...again. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Monsters of Eberron?...again. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lord Doombringer
11-19-05, 03:20 PM Okay, a month ago or so, I posted the idea for a Monsters of Eberron book in the Future Releases section of the D&D boards. Many people either said that it was stupid or that MMIII was basically the same thing.
a) Eberron isn't stupid.
b) MMIII, as helpful to Eberron as it was, was NOT Monsters of Eberron.

So, I decided to post the idea here where the people who read about it are all presumably Eberron fans.

Basically, I think that WotC should write a full, hard-cover, Eberron-style book full of the many monsters of the world of Eberron. There are so many places to expand into:
-the Quori
-monsters on the various other countries of Eberron
-monsters of the various planes of Eberron
-more creations of the Daelkyr

What does anyone else think?
MarkB
11-19-05, 03:51 PM Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel.

What I would like to see is a Five Nations style book dedicated to the more wilderness areas of Eberron - the Demon Wastes, the Shadow Marches, the Eldeen Reaches, Droaam, much of Darguun, Xen'drik, etc. (I was hoping for some of this in Explorer's Handbook, but it turned out to be far more concerned with how and why than with where). Such a book could then introduce new creatures for each area examined as part of the content.
DBlizzard
11-19-05, 04:22 PM Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel.

While I agree with this, much of Monsters of Faerun consisted of monsters that had no strong tie to Faerun. While I don't think a Monsters of Eberron book is needed, I do think there is room for it and precedence.
Lord_Of_The_Savages
11-19-05, 04:44 PM Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel.

What I would like to see is a Five Nations style book dedicated to the more wilderness areas of Eberron - the Demon Wastes, the Shadow Marches, the Eldeen Reaches, Droaam, much of Darguun, Xen'drik, etc. (I was hoping for some of this in Explorer's Handbook, but it turned out to be far more concerned with how and why than with where). Such a book could then introduce new creatures for each area examined as part of the content.

I could not agree with you more. I think 5 nations is such a great supplement; and to do so with the rest of Eberron would create a lot of great source material.
polt
11-19-05, 06:03 PM With MM, MM2 and MM3 + other source book monsters (like in 5N, Sharn and so on) I don't really need a Monsters of Eberron, there's many other books I'd much rather see.
Edymnion
11-19-05, 06:11 PM No, I'd rather not see a Monsters of Eberron. Its covered just as well in the other monster books, and there's always a dozen or so critters in the other expansion books. Monster of Eberron just sounds like overkill, especially when there are so many other good books that need to get made first.
ieattrollsforbreakfast
11-19-05, 06:49 PM As much as I love monsters and Eberron, I wouldn't look forward to a Monsters of Eberron as much as other releases. I'd rather see something more important in the setting, like the other nations, the planes, Sarlona etc.
Besides, I have plenty of new Eberron monsters ready to use right here (http://www.eberronbestiary.com). :D
HarmonysTwilight
11-19-05, 07:11 PM Trolls is right about that site. Great stuff!

AND MM4 was announced for 2006. Undoubtedly it will contain plenty of nasties for Eberron in the same spirit of MM3.
Uller999
11-19-05, 11:19 PM I hadn't heard about MM4 and if that has alot of Eberron beasties great. The monsters that have come out of other sourcebooks like MoE have been great and if a Monster of Eberron book contained that quality of creatures than I'd be all about it. I would much rather see a Faith of Eberron book, A Non 5 nations nation sourcebook and a Sarlona book before that though. A faiths book would be really nice.
Lord Doombringer
11-19-05, 11:30 PM So basically, I'm the only one who thinks this would be cool? :(
Isran_Imrador
11-20-05, 06:46 AM Well we like your idea of a Monster book for Eberron it just we would like to se other stuff first :D

But somehere along the way there will be Monsters of Eberron, just not now.

When trolls got enough monsters to fill a huge hard cover it will be out ;)
Splendide
11-20-05, 07:35 AM I would like Monsters of Eberron.
Majorafire77
11-20-05, 09:21 AM I'd get it, but I don't think it should be considered high on WotC's list of priorities considering that afaik we don't even have confirmation of a FN-style book for the other countries of Khorvaire. It'd also be nice if WotC puts out a paperback (T&B style) book that is basically like a big thing of Eberron Expandeds, providing information on how to integrate material from other sources into Eberron.

If there was a Monsters of Eberron, I wouldn't want it to be in the same format as the other manuals. I'd want it to include information on monster organizations (Harpy flights, Cold Sun tribes, etc), more details on previously established ones (The Nightswift, for example), and other cool stuff. We have tons of monsters; now the focus should be shifted more towards detail.
Edymnion
11-20-05, 02:40 PM So basically, I'm the only one who thinks this would be cool? :(Yup, 'fraid so.
We get plenty of Eberron monsters in the other Eberron books, we've got ways to use generic monsters in Eberron as a default addition to the new monster books, and there is a long list of books we need to get published for Eberron before we waste one on something thats already been covered a dozen times before.

Argonessa, Sarlona, Xen'Drik, Droam, the Demon Wastes, Zilargo, the Eldeen Reaches, the Silver Flame, the Blood of Vol, there's just *SO* much that we know very little on that should be covered before we resort to "Here's a bunch of stat blocks, enjoy!" books.

Off the top of my head, the books I'd want before Monsters of Eberron would be: Wilds of Eberron: Book about the Eldeen Reaches, the Demon Wastes, Droam, and all the other "uncivilized" portions of Eberron. Religions of Eberron: Structures and Rituals of the Silver Flame, Blood of Vol, the Sovereign Six, etc. Sure, we know they're out there, but what do you call a priest of the Silver Flame? Or the Dark Six? Is it just Priest, or Cardinal, or Father? Do all religions share the same naming system? What are the holy days for these religions? What do they consider taboo? Heck, what are the holy symbols for the gods and religions that didn't have them presented in the ECS? Principalities of Eberron: Like Five Nations, but for the Lazaar Principalities, Zilargo, the Valenaar, and all the other "civilized" nations of Eberron. Far Reaches of Eberron: A book with information about Sarlona, Argonessa, Xen'Drik, and all the other non-Khovaire landmasses of Eberron.Aka, lets finish fleshing out the things we don't know before we start asking for something as silly as yet another monster stat book.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord Doombringer 11-19-05, 03:20 PM	Okay, a month ago or so, I posted the idea for a Monsters of Eberron book in the Future Releases section of the D&D boards. Many people either said that it was stupid or that MMIII was basically the same thing. a) Eberron isn't stupid. b) MMIII, as helpful to Eberron as it was, was NOT Monsters of Eberron. So, I decided to post the idea here where the people who read about it are all presumably Eberron fans. Basically, I think that WotC should write a full, hard-cover, Eberron-style book full of the many monsters of the world of Eberron. There are so many places to expand into: -the Quori -monsters on the various other countries of Eberron -monsters of the various planes of Eberron -more creations of the Daelkyr What does anyone else think?
MarkB 11-19-05, 03:51 PM	Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel. What I would like to see is a Five Nations style book dedicated to the more wilderness areas of Eberron - the Demon Wastes, the Shadow Marches, the Eldeen Reaches, Droaam, much of Darguun, Xen'drik, etc. (I was hoping for some of this in Explorer's Handbook, but it turned out to be far more concerned with how and why than with where). Such a book could then introduce new creatures for each area examined as part of the content.
DBlizzard 11-19-05, 04:22 PM	Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel. While I agree with this, much of Monsters of Faerun consisted of monsters that had no strong tie to Faerun. While I don't think a Monsters of Eberron book is needed, I do think there is room for it and precedence.
Lord_Of_The_Savages 11-19-05, 04:44 PM	Whilst Eberron does have a lot of unique monster niches, I'm not sure it has enough for an entire hardcover to be dedicated to filling them. Part of the setting's selling point, after all, is that you can just plug standard D&D creatures into it and portray them in new and unusual ways - if we start giving the setting too much of its own exclusive fauna, we run the risk of losing that feel. What I would like to see is a Five Nations style book dedicated to the more wilderness areas of Eberron - the Demon Wastes, the Shadow Marches, the Eldeen Reaches, Droaam, much of Darguun, Xen'drik, etc. (I was hoping for some of this in Explorer's Handbook, but it turned out to be far more concerned with how and why than with where). Such a book could then introduce new creatures for each area examined as part of the content. I could not agree with you more. I think 5 nations is such a great supplement; and to do so with the rest of Eberron would create a lot of great source material.
polt 11-19-05, 06:03 PM	With MM, MM2 and MM3 + other source book monsters (like in 5N, Sharn and so on) I don't really need a Monsters of Eberron, there's many other books I'd much rather see.
Edymnion 11-19-05, 06:11 PM	No, I'd rather not see a Monsters of Eberron. Its covered just as well in the other monster books, and there's always a dozen or so critters in the other expansion books. Monster of Eberron just sounds like overkill, especially when there are so many other good books that need to get made first.
ieattrollsforbreakfast 11-19-05, 06:49 PM	As much as I love monsters and Eberron, I wouldn't look forward to a Monsters of Eberron as much as other releases. I'd rather see something more important in the setting, like the other nations, the planes, Sarlona etc. Besides, I have plenty of new Eberron monsters ready to use right here (http://www.eberronbestiary.com). :D
HarmonysTwilight 11-19-05, 07:11 PM	Trolls is right about that site. Great stuff! AND MM4 was announced for 2006. Undoubtedly it will contain plenty of nasties for Eberron in the same spirit of MM3.
Uller999 11-19-05, 11:19 PM	I hadn't heard about MM4 and if that has alot of Eberron beasties great. The monsters that have come out of other sourcebooks like MoE have been great and if a Monster of Eberron book contained that quality of creatures than I'd be all about it. I would much rather see a Faith of Eberron book, A Non 5 nations nation sourcebook and a Sarlona book before that though. A faiths book would be really nice.
Lord Doombringer 11-19-05, 11:30 PM	So basically, I'm the only one who thinks this would be cool? :(
Isran_Imrador 11-20-05, 06:46 AM	Well we like your idea of a Monster book for Eberron it just we would like to se other stuff first :D But somehere along the way there will be Monsters of Eberron, just not now. When trolls got enough monsters to fill a huge hard cover it will be out ;)
Splendide 11-20-05, 07:35 AM	I would like Monsters of Eberron.
Majorafire77 11-20-05, 09:21 AM	I'd get it, but I don't think it should be considered high on WotC's list of priorities considering that afaik we don't even have confirmation of a FN-style book for the other countries of Khorvaire. It'd also be nice if WotC puts out a paperback (T&B style) book that is basically like a big thing of Eberron Expandeds, providing information on how to integrate material from other sources into Eberron. If there was a Monsters of Eberron, I wouldn't want it to be in the same format as the other manuals. I'd want it to include information on monster organizations (Harpy flights, Cold Sun tribes, etc), more details on previously established ones (The Nightswift, for example), and other cool stuff. We have tons of monsters; now the focus should be shifted more towards detail.
Edymnion 11-20-05, 02:40 PM	So basically, I'm the only one who thinks this would be cool? :(Yup, 'fraid so. We get plenty of Eberron monsters in the other Eberron books, we've got ways to use generic monsters in Eberron as a default addition to the new monster books, and there is a long list of books we need to get published for Eberron before we waste one on something thats already been covered a dozen times before. Argonessa, Sarlona, Xen'Drik, Droam, the Demon Wastes, Zilargo, the Eldeen Reaches, the Silver Flame, the Blood of Vol, there's just SO much that we know very little on that should be covered before we resort to "Here's a bunch of stat blocks, enjoy!" books. Off the top of my head, the books I'd want before Monsters of Eberron would be: Wilds of Eberron: Book about the Eldeen Reaches, the Demon Wastes, Droam, and all the other "uncivilized" portions of Eberron. Religions of Eberron: Structures and Rituals of the Silver Flame, Blood of Vol, the Sovereign Six, etc. Sure, we know they're out there, but what do you call a priest of the Silver Flame? Or the Dark Six? Is it just Priest, or Cardinal, or Father? Do all religions share the same naming system? What are the holy days for these religions? What do they consider taboo? Heck, what are the holy symbols for the gods and religions that didn't have them presented in the ECS? Principalities of Eberron: Like Five Nations, but for the Lazaar Principalities, Zilargo, the Valenaar, and all the other "civilized" nations of Eberron. Far Reaches of Eberron: A book with information about Sarlona, Argonessa, Xen'Drik, and all the other non-Khovaire landmasses of Eberron.Aka, lets finish fleshing out the things we don't know before we start asking for something as silly as yet another monster stat book.