Post/Author/DateTime	Post
boblikesoup 10-14-05, 09:07 PM	I've not played D&D in a couple years but am current with the new rules. I'm starting a campaign with my friends and there will be 5-6 of us. Would you recommend Forgotten Realms or Ebberon? I'm 16 and currently in in High School with work and afterschool activities. I've got little/moderate free time. Which campaign is more simple? I looked into the Forgotten Realms book and it seems very advanced and like one would need to read up tons on many sources to have knowledge of the world. Whereas Eberron it seems one would mostly need the mian book and the 5 Nations thing. Overall what would you recommend. What are the pros/cons of each? How are they differant?
GothicDan 10-14-05, 09:56 PM	If you don't want to spend a lot of time/effort/thought/reading, I'd reccommend you play Eberron. But that's just because I'm of the mindset, "If you're not going to do something right, don't do it at all." Which is why I'm continuing to make my own world, which I now have about 700 pages of material on....
Thysl 10-14-05, 10:04 PM	Eberron blows. FR all the way. Course I am pretty biased... :D Thysl in Silver
Zevox 10-14-05, 10:09 PM	Simply put, you don't need any more books to run a Realms campaign than you do to run an Eberron one. You can pick up the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and/or Player's Guide to Faerūn and just play using one or both of those if you wish - its all you really need at a basic level. The Forgotten Realms just happen to have far more sourcebooks written and a far greater amount of lore available than Eberron does by virtue of having been around for decades longer than Eberron has. Overall, I'd of course recommend the Realms (you asked this question on the Realms boards, you're not going to get that many impartial opinions here - its like asking wether Star Wars minis or D&D minis are better over on the Star Wars boards ;)), but thats because I've found them to be the perfect campaign setting to my tastes and hence have never bothered picking up an Eberron book. As such I also can't tell you the differences in any reliable detail (just what I've heard in passing around these boards, which isn't much) - for that you'll need to find someone who has played in both worlds. Zevox
Dark Wizard 10-14-05, 11:29 PM	I would look more into the atmosphere of each setting. Eberron is more like Indiana Jones meets a less fantastical Final Fantasy in a pseudo-Renaissance world with widespread magic (magic = technology), but not so much high magic. It emphasizes an underlying ambiguity and grittiness. There is no proof that gods exist, there are few competent heroes other than the PCs, and it has a very pulpy feel to it with a tinge of film noir. Forgotten Realms is the archetypal high fantasy setting. It's in the same vein of what most people think of initially when they hear D&D. It's a classic. It is a place filled with history, layers upon layers of civilization. It can have high magic, suspensful intrigue, incredible action, pretty much everything even gritty sword and sorcery. You can have any fantasy flavor you want in it. There is extensive lore but also from the sheer size of it there are places are left undetailed, but aren't just names dropped in a vacuum, there are places nearby that are detailed. So a DM can do what he wants. But of the two, I feel FR is the more versitile. That is FR can emulate Eberron to varying extents, but Eberron's main premise falls apart if it tries to pull off FR. But go with what you feel works for you. And maybe ask your group.
The ShapeLess One 10-15-05, 01:54 AM	I would go with Forgotten Realms, but thats just me and almost anyone on this forum. If you want simple just go with the jungles of Chult, very fun to play and run.
boblikesoup 10-15-05, 03:03 AM	Alright, thnx for the info all. I think I'm gonna go with Forgotton Realms but try to make it a very broad world at first, focusing it as I read through the books(s), when if I like certain other parts concerning fluff and languages and stuff then I'll implement them. I posted this in the Forgotten Realms area because I think the people in this forum would be a bit more educated D&D-wise. Thnx again.
Lonesome Drow 10-15-05, 12:25 PM	Realms!! Ebberon is aweful.
Mula 10-15-05, 12:55 PM	Eberron is a more modern fantasy setting. Forgotten Realms is a very traditional fantasy setting. Do yourself a favor and buy both. :)
Beppo 10-15-05, 02:03 PM	As far as I know Eberron is a new setting within D&D. So there is not that much detail written about every country / kingdom / nobility et cetera. So, if you know that your players won't ever reach epic levels or will need at least a year for epic range, you will have much fun with Eberron (if you like the world). Of course it will be great fun too, if you want to shape this blank world the way you imagine. You will be discovering the new setting while new and interesting stuff gets published. The Realms, on the opposite, are filled with material since dozens of years. You'll find interesting and complex stuff for every kind of player from 1 - 40 and beyond. You "only" need the idea for your campaign and adventures and can stick to all the published sourcebooks. It's filled with classic fantasy kingdoms, adventures and lots of tradition. Your group has the chance to cross blades with or talk to famous NPCs known from novels. It depends on just two things: The way you like each setting and how much work you want to invest into your campaign.
Shike 10-17-05, 01:58 PM	I'm going to go with the majority here and say the Realms, but I love the fact that there is som much information about it. If you are a little short of cash, but still want info. WOTC has free downloads of old 2e material (ignore any mechanics) which gives good history and background info. As well as the plethora of novels written in the setting. I don't have eberron and haven't looked at it so I can't give an informed opinion on it.
Duke Lenethar 10-21-05, 02:01 PM	I say go FR all the way. My beef with Eberron is that, as I look it over, realize that it is not just inspired by Final Fantasy; it IS Final Fantasy. Now, Final Fantasy already dominates the video game RPG world (personally, I think the Shin Megami Tensei games are better in playability and plot), so why should it become the hub of the pen-and-paper RPG world as well? WOTC decides to make such a strange setting the CORE setting? Please, for the core, lets just stick with Greyhawk, and leave Eberron and Forgotten Realms to the niche players.
sazisme 10-21-05, 03:19 PM	Eberron isn't Final Fantasy. It's not even close. It would have to have a completly different magic system to ever possibly be Final Fantasy. It's magic as technology, it's not like it hasn't been done before. Planescape had flying airships is space, Earthdawn had magic as technology to a much greater extent then Eberron does, and still managed to stay quite fantasy based. The other posters were right when they said it comes down to what you want. FR's gives you a wealth of source material that you can pull from, and a well established setting. That's not always a good thing though, as it gives your players a wealth of source material, and an established setting. Something they can read about, and something where they can start spouting off knowledge because of some book they read that you didn't yet. Eberron doesn't have that. It doesn't have much source material, so there isn't a lot of help for you. You'll be pretty much stuck figuring out a lot of things, and a lot of settings for adventures. But you also won't have to worry about PC's knowing that you're headed to waterdeep, and they can try to get in good with the local thieves guild and whatever else. In the end, it's a choice. You're probably on the wrong forums to get much advice beyond either "FR is the way to go" or "It's too different settings, which are you more interested in?". If you went to the Eberron boards you'd get "Eberron is the best". You know what I recommend? Go to your local game store ... or in my case since there isn't one go to Borders, grab a coffee, and sit down and flip through them. See which one actually pulls you more. They are both great products and either one is worthy of being played. And for the record, I play in FR and love FR ... but Eberron is a lot of fun to read about and I love the artwork in those books. I'd buy them just for the artwork.
Mr. VanderMeer 10-22-05, 07:07 AM	Eberron is a more modern fantasy setting. Forgotten Realms is a very traditional fantasy setting. Do yourself a favor and buy both. :) I second that motion. Both settings are great in their own way. Only problem is splitting your resources up to remain up to date.
GothicDan 10-22-05, 12:39 PM	Spelljammer had the spaceships. Not Planescape. ;) At least, they were presented first and detailed in Spelljammer.... Since, technically, everything in AD&D was a "part" of Planescape.
Kid SixXx 10-23-05, 11:22 AM	What other answer other than "FR" would you expect when posting on the FR boards? :rolleyes: If you wanted a general, unbiased answer, you could have at least posted on one of the general boards. ;) Both settings are worth your time and effort, but if you want Eberron myths debunked, post in the "Ask Keith Baker" thread on the Eberron boards. The set designer himself will be happy to address your concerns about the setting. If you don't want to spend a lot of time/effort/thought/reading, I'd reccommend you play Eberron. Here we agree somewhat. Depending on your school of thought, FR scholars will pretty much count the entirity of the older material as part of the necessary library. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing given the enormous wealth of quality material generated under the FR logo. If all sourcebooks read like Cloak & Dagger, the RPG world would be a better place. If you want to arguably spend more time gaming and less time mulling over what is or isn't canon, then play Eberron. I have to disagree with the notion that Eberron doesn't require much thought, as it is a known fact that quite a few key Eberron concepts (ie. the Draconic Prophesy, the events leading to the creation of the Mournlands, the reasons behind the war between the Giants & the Quori, etc.) have been left by design to DM interpretation and will never have an "official" answer. All creativity concerning these matters have been left up to individual campaigns, and to imply that Eberron is a no-brainer campaign setting is quite incorrect. If anything, IMO, the FR is the "no-brainer" campaign. Not because the setting requires no thought, but because just about any concept in the setting you can imagine has probably been covered somewhere in some form or fashion, and has probably been debated to death nine ways from Saturday in these very forums. I believe that stating that the new cosmology isn't quite so bad is still a hanging offense 'round these parts, isn't it?
Kuje31 10-23-05, 12:29 PM	I believe that stating that the new cosmology isn't quite so bad is still a hanging offense 'round these parts, isn't it? As is saying that we like the old cosmology and that we wish WOTC would just come up with an in game reason for the change. So it goes both ways, since the lovers of the tree jump on us just as much as we jump on them. :)
Old Sage 10-23-05, 12:38 PM	As is saying that we like the old cosmology and that we wish WOTC would just come up with an in game reason for the change. So it goes both ways, since the lovers of the tree jump on us just as much as we jump on them. :)Echoes this. All we need is a reason... Until then, I'm happy with the Great Wheel.
Mula 10-23-05, 01:31 PM	The Lady of Pain rewrote the planes and reality?
GothicDan 10-23-05, 06:20 PM	The Lady of Pain wouldn't have the power to do that, actually. At least, we havent' seen her perform any action that would hint at the fact that she could do so. But more importantly, there's absolutely no reason why she would WANT to do so. All she cares for is the integrity of her Cage.
Old Sage 10-23-05, 08:50 PM	The Lady of Pain wouldn't have the power to do that, actually. At least, we havent' seen her perform any action that would hint at the fact that she could do so. But more importantly, there's absolutely no reason why she would WANT to do so. All she cares for is the integrity of her Cage.Ah, but that's the beauty of it. If She did in fact have that power, and the change was subtle enough... would we even realise what had happened? Most likely... but then, who truly knows what She is capable of.
GothicDan 10-24-05, 11:06 PM	We would, if that was the reasoning behind the planar cosmologies changed printed by WotC. ;) Hence me being against the idea.
Mr. Wilson 10-25-05, 12:55 AM	I'm slightly amused a which is better thread got hijacked by the Tree Debate. Now I can get both stomach turning arguments at once, thanks guys! :D
Old Sage 10-25-05, 09:13 AM	I'm slightly amused a which is better thread got hijacked by the Tree Debate. Now I can get both stomach turning arguments at once, thanks guys! :DWe aim to please ;).
Telathidar_Mhaelin 10-25-05, 09:52 AM	The Lady of Pain wouldn't have the power to do that, actually. At least, we havent' seen her perform any action that would hint at the fact that she could do so. But more importantly, there's absolutely no reason why she would WANT to do so. All she cares for is the integrity of her Cage. actualy, we have. At the end of the 2nd edition adventure Die Vecna Die, the Lady Speaks the Words Once Spoken and re-writes the entire planar cosmology. This adventure was one of three (the others being the Apocolypse Stone and something else- i don't remember) intended as "closure' to 2nd edition and a bridge to 3rd. So if you need justification for the tree cosomology, there you have it. personally, I'd go with the planescape approach and say that the clueless primes just don't understand the Great Wheel, and their lack of comprehension shapes their perception of the true cosomology (the Wheel) into a false cosomology (the Tree). by the by- if you still play any 2nd and you want a really fun high level adventure and a good excuse to stop playing second and get into third, check out Die Vecna Die. We sure had fun (and set a group record for Ressurections due to lots of DM mods on the fly).
Kuje31 10-25-05, 11:32 AM	actualy, we have. At the end of the 2nd edition adventure Die Vecna Die, the Lady Speaks the Words Once Spoken and re-writes the entire planar cosmology. This adventure was one of three (the others being the Apocolypse Stone and something else- i don't remember) intended as "closure' to 2nd edition and a bridge to 3rd. So if you need justification for the tree cosomology, there you have it. personally, I'd go with the planescape approach and say that the clueless primes just don't understand the Great Wheel, and their lack of comprehension shapes their perception of the true cosomology (the Wheel) into a false cosomology (the Tree). by the by- if you still play any 2nd and you want a really fun high level adventure and a good excuse to stop playing second and get into third, check out Die Vecna Die. We sure had fun (and set a group record for Ressurections due to lots of DM mods on the fly). Apocolpse Stone has never been made canon and it's never been mentioned ANYWHERE in any material except that one module. :) Die Vecna Die didn't happen exactly like that module said it did either. And it wouldn't have mattered for FR anyways since we were told, by the game designer that changed them, that FR's planes have never been the wheel/ring and they have always been the tree. But this is way off topic. :)
Cli' San Aquanova 10-26-05, 07:00 PM	Heh, I've yet to familiarize myself with this Great Wheel. I'm a 3e starter, so I only know the tree. I think I may prefer the Wheel, seeing as I have a preference for a lot of 2e things. Anyway, really, boblikesoup, ask this question in the D&D General board, at least. You'll get biased answers here and in the Eberron forum. Eberron has some cool things going for it, but I prefer FR, if only because in FR characters above level four exist. :rimshot: -C'SA :u:Bring Back Merfolk!!!:u:
The_Gryphon 10-27-05, 10:21 PM	I had the same question when I got back from school, FR or Eberron. A fellow in the class started up an extremely basic D&D campaign to help pass the time. Now that I had people to game with, I figured while I'm back home to pick up the 3.5 core books and run a campaign when I go back up. I chose Eberron because it's a new world and I'm new to D&D so I can grow with it. But, in reality, I wanted to do FR, so maybe next paycheck I'll just go buy all the FR books and the rest of the Eberron books and have both at my dispossal. BTW, anyone in the San Diego area that plays on some Saturdays, possibly even at Game Empire? I can get away to play every other saturday for about 4 hrs. I want to learn how to play D&D "by the book", and even more-so, get some experience to DM games when I get back up to Stockton.
VedicDragon 10-28-05, 02:02 PM	The Lady of Pain rewrote the planes and reality? Ummm . . .nope. Being a proud 2nd edition cosmology buff, lemme see if I can clarify The reason Wizards released a bunch of "world-ender" adventure books during the twilight of 2nd edition was to provide a seemless jump-start into the new 3rd edition cosmology. Most of their main campaign cosmologies remained unaffected, and there was only one of these that was "Assumed" to have happened a specific way (with the options to explore the possibilities by running the adventure with your local group). That was Die Vecna Die. It is assumed that Vecna, upon ascension (however brief) to Greater God status, at the Planar Nexus that is Sigil, and with the knowledge of the Three Words given to him by Asmodeus (the Same Three Words that causes so much havoc with Orcus / Tenebrous in the PS adventure "Dead Gods") had the ability and did indeed temporarily re-order the planes of existence to something more his liking. Why would he do that? Well he is the God of Secrets . . . .I guess we'll not know til much later what goal he was going for and if he suceeded before being busted back down to his current status and 'booted from Sigil by 4 demigods. As for Eberron vs FR . . . there's already been quite eloquent discussion on the merits and flaws of each above, so no need for me to be redundant. That being said, it's also been stated Ad Nauseum that posting this on the FR boards will of course give you a less-than objective perspective. That being said, heck, try em both if you can bankroll it. Just by the campaign settings for each, study up, run a campaign one-shot in each and see which your players and you enjoy more. That's as good a gauge as any before spending more loot. I find that Eberron is quite a rich setting, but there are a few more kinks in their rules that you will have to familiarize yourself with (action pts, artificers, dragonmarks, etc) than with FR, or basic D&D. However, FR tends to get cracktastically more powerfull far to quickly if DM's don't keep an even hand on the keel and closely monitor what's being encountered and Challenge Ratings, given the epic nature of the world and high magical levels pervading their backdrop. So like I said, it really all depends on what fits best for you, given the style of play and basic preferences of your group. That being said, as a world-hopping DM who's in love with the Planes and Planar travel, I tend to use more than one campaign setting as the story-arc broadens and my players get more powerfull. My standing rule is this: "IF your character has both reason, opportunity and the gumption to begin planar travel, expect me to get out my other books, and we'll see where you end up".
Majorafire77 10-28-05, 04:11 PM	Eberron has very minor rules changes (such as the easy-to-understand action points, the dragonmark feats, and the artificer base class), but has more of a distinct flavor when compared to FR, which seems (to me) to be rather basic LotR-style fantasy. That said, there is a place for almost everything in Eberron, and most adventures that you could run in FR could probably be run with few changes (including the names of locations) in Eberron. FR has tons of information, and I think that you'd need to be a person who's really dedicated to the setting if you wanted to know everything there is to know about it. While Faerun is more detailed than Khorvaire is, this is both a blessing and a curse; being required to read tons of material to really get into a setting isn't something that I'd want to do. Plus, FR has everything mapped out for you; DMing in it isn't much more than knowing in which book to find the information for the place the players are at. Will this happen to Eberron? Yes, I think that just like Faerun, Khorvaire will be mapped out in excruciating detail (except for certain things like the Mournland, what event created it, and stuff like that). That's why you should get in on Eberron while there's still room for stuff that you want to use to set your campaign apart from everyone else's. Pick whichever one you want, you'll probably have fun with either one. Just please, don't become like this guy: Realms!! Ebberon is aweful.
Shike 10-28-05, 06:02 PM	Eberron has very minor rules changes (such as the easy-to-understand action points, the dragonmark feats, and the artificer base class), but has more of a distinct flavor when compared to FR, which seems (to me) to be rather basic LotR-style fantasy. That said, there is a place for almost everything in Eberron, and most adventures that you could run in FR could probably be run with few changes (including the names of locations) in Eberron. FR has tons of information, and I think that you'd need to be a person who's really dedicated to the setting if you wanted to know everything there is to know about it. While Faerun is more detailed than Khorvaire is, this is both a blessing and a curse; being required to read tons of material to really get into a setting isn't something that I'd want to do. Plus, FR has everything mapped out for you; DMing in it isn't much more than knowing in which book to find the information for the place the players are at. Will this happen to Eberron? Yes, I think that just like Faerun, Khorvaire will be mapped out in excruciating detail (except for certain things like the Mournland, what event created it, and stuff like that). That's why you should get in on Eberron while there's still room for stuff that you want to use to set your campaign apart from everyone else's. Thank you. :) This is one of the best posts I've seen on these boards. Cheers :pint:
Mula 10-29-05, 04:35 AM	I'm just going to repeat that I like Eberron and Forgotten Realms equally. People who can like two different things do exist. I also like Dragonlance and Planescape. I have very little experience with other settings, but many of them look interesting.