Will there be any mechanical difference in the rules in the Eberron setting book?
Or is the basic core books just fine to use as it is for now? Like the powers in the different classes and so forth.
Will the PG1 and PG2 races be fully usable or are they totally different or non existent in the Eberron world?
Do any of the Dungeon or Dragon Magazines give a good look in the 4th ed Eberron world?
Any thing else I should now of released 4th ed info?
Thanks for any help
"Everything is core" is 4th edition philosophy, and Eberron's philosophy has always been "If it is in D&D it has a place in Eberron." Not saying everything that has ever been in D&D has an explicit or canon place in Eberron, just that everything ever could be placed somewhere in the world with a little conversion without ruining the setting's integrity.
So do not expect anything saying "WARLOCKS AND TEIFLINGS DON'T EXIST IN EBERRON!" there is a place for them. There may be an Eberron twist to things... as Drow in Eberron are nocturnal jungle people with varried cultures from Volkur who worship a scorpian god to the Sultar who bind fire elementals and bring the plane of fire to Eberron and burn the whole place down.
Mechanically speaking though they will be the same. There may be new rules (dragonmarks), and new races, and the artificer class, but do not expect them to throw anything out.
Dragonmarks, what exactly are they? What did they do in 3.5?
You're kidding right?
You haven't read the Eberron Campaing Setting???
If you haven't maybe you should have started there. It's the best setting ever.
But I'm wanting to host a more relaxing game, and thats what D&D are for my group.
I'm, reading the Grand History of Eborron pdf, but just started to set my mind to the setting.
Half of the power in dragonmarks came from the spells they granted, the other half is from magic items that have been constructed to let dragonmarked characters use their powers more often or for other, related effects.
It's generally expected at this point that some dragonmarks in 4E will grant you powers (utility powers, most likely), and some of them will give you the ability to cast certain rituals.
Wizards, Warlocks and Sorcerers have theyr own place to I suppose, and what about rituals?
One of the philosophies behind Eberron constructed on the idea that low level magic is plentiful and common, and has been applied practically to make life better. They do not have electricity in Eberron, however most large cities are lit up at night by everbright lantern, elementals have been harnessed and bound to create things like the lightning rail, fire and air elementals have been bound to lift ships into the skies as airships.
In 3rd edition spells were a limited commodity, which lead to the advent of an NPC class for Eberron NPCs called the magewright which essentially was able to cast a very limited number of first level spells very often, they'd never be able to cast high level spells.
Now in 4th edition we have rituals, wonderful rituals. Which mean anyone with the proper level and the right skill trained could learn the ritual (for PCs this means the ritual caster feat, for NPCs that's just something you write into their stat block).
So now in the world of Eberron, from a mechanical perspective we have the practice of ritual casting being very commonplace. It is not a long lost secret, or some estoic mistery, its a trade. However, as with the previous edition I would imagine that higher level rituals will be rare, and likely in the hands of the Dragonmarked Houses (or at least Dragonmarked individuals will be able to cast said rituals easier.)
So in Eberron people don't fear the arcane, its quite common, and used practically in peace and war (The Aundarian Wand artillery units for instance). However wizards, bards, sorcerers, artificers, warlocks, and swordmages are special people with an advanced aptitude for magic. Extremely talented individuals who are a good step above simple ritualists.
This is why their services as adventures will be in high demand. Of course the same could be said for all PC classes. A fighter is no ordinary soldier, they are elite fighting men and women who have more talent in their sword arm than most people have in their whole bodies.
How big is the Eberron world? Numbers of cities? Are they plentiful, lots of people, or many small hamlets.
The landscapes, are they more unique then say in Forgotten Realms?
Khorvaire is considered the main land of the setting. Khorvaire is an old land once seat to the great goblin empires of Dhakaan, but those fell shortly after an extraplaner war with Xor'iat the realm of madness 9,000 years ago. In the time since humans have immigrated and made the land their own.
The height of human civilization came roughly 1,000 years ago with the rise of the continent spanning kingdom of Galifar, peace and whatnot reigned until about one hundred and two years before the current time. The kingdom of Galifar splintered as a civil war broke out over rights of succession. Nations rose and nations fell further splintering the land. Four years ago a magical cataclysm befell the land of Cyre, the dead grey mists spread across its land and when scouts breached the mists they found Cyre was no more. In its place the land had been twisted into a nightmarish hellscape where the rules of existence start to fall apart. To this day no one knows how or why it happened.
The destruction of Cyre, and paranoia over how it happened slowly lead to the end of hostilities, culminating in the Treaty of Thronehold officially ending the war, now known as The Last War, recognizing twelve sovereign nations.
-Aundair; one of the original 5 sub regions of Galifar that still holds to the old monarchy (or at least that their Queen is the rightful heir to the throne of Galifar...) a land with a deep history of arcane study, swashbucklerish swordplay, and a love of wine.
-Breland; Another land formerly an official region of Galifar with a King from the old bloodline. He is old and well respected however there is a movement for democracy growing n Breland that is just waiting for the old king to die to come into its own. Breland is the most cosmopolitan of the nations of Khorvaire, also home to its largest city Sharn:The City of Towers (a vast metropolis with towers raising a mile or more into the sky, to say nothing of the floating neighborhoods). The Brels have a fierce independent streak and value freedom.
-Darguun; The nation of goblins. Lesh Haruuc a charismatic hobgoblin used the Last War to unite the splintered and scattered goblinoid clans and tribes and carved out this nation from what used to be southern Cyre. They see themselves as the rightful rulers of Khorvaire, but Lesh Haruuc was canny enough to realize they were not strong enough to conquer the whole of Khorvaire, he reigned in his forces to ensure Darguun was recognized as equal among the Thronehold nations. Still Darguun is a harsh land where the rule of law is nominal at best.
-The Eldeen Reaches; A region that broke off from Aundair, a vast stretch of forest lands taking up a large portion of the northwest. The people of the Eldeen tend to be simple farmers who harken back to the old ways who were tired of Aundair's exploitation. If anyone can be said to be a leader here its an ancient Treant druid. The various druidic sects all listen to his council.
-Karrnath; is one of the old regions of Galifar, King Kaius the First was one of those who started the Last War by not recognizing the rights of succession. As the war turned ill for him and his holdings he turned to the Blood of Vol and their secret Lich Queen for aid. She taught him secrets to raise Karrnath's brave slain into undead more powerful then common stock, though this came with a price. Kaius still rules Karrnath, having taken the place of his own grandson as Kaius the third, his vampiric condition being a closely kept secret. Karrnath is a cold, harsh land. The use of the undead as the nations protectors is a matter of patriotic pride, many (though not all) Karrnath's soldiers expect to be turned to undead should they fall.
-The Lhazzar Principalities; a loose confederation of pirate cities, each with its own prince, that came together to claim independence when Galifar fell apart. The harsh northern seas has tempered these sailors into a force to be reckoned with.
-The Mror Holds; The ancestral dwarven lands. Once they were conquered and swore fealty to Galifar, however Galifar is no more. No longer bound by the oaths of their fathers the dwarves have taken back what's theirs, and woe be to anyone that tries to take it from them.
-Q'barra; or 'New Galifar' as they like to think of themselves. Pacifists and conciseness objectors left their home enmass to follow a dream of a land where the ideals of old Galifar would be upheld. They traveled past the blade desert and the Endworld Mountains to the uncharted shores of Q'barra a jungle region civilization had yet to penetrate to start their lives over. Unfortunately the local lizardfolk had other ideas. Though they stayed out of the conflict of the Last War they've had their own troubles trying to colonize this jungled region.
-The Talenta Plains; ancestral home of the halfling race, a vast plain that was nominally part of old Galifar but never colonized by humans. The plain is home to a large number of thrunderlizards (dinosaurs) whom the halflings hunt and breed (halflings barbarians riding velociraptors). Like the dwarves the halflings decided they no longer wanted to be 'ruled' and fought for their independence (with dinosaurs).
-Thrane; was one of the old regions of Galifar. Still held to the old monarchy until the last generation when the religion of the Silver Flame was made official, and the Keeper of the Flame was made leader of the country. Thrane is now a theocracy. The Silver Flame is a good aligned religion but its followers often fall short, the addition of politics to matters of faith has not helped. The current Keeper (selected by the Flame itself) is an 11 year old girl Jeala, but the political power of the country currently rests with the all too pragmatic Cardinal Krozan.
-Valenar; a new nation conquered by elven mercenaries who turned on their employers. Formerly a section of Cyre. The Valenar elves seek to emulate the great warriors of the past... and are flat out the best light cavalry in the world. See Aerenal section below.
-Zilargo; ancestral home of the gnome race. One it was part of Breland, declared its independence without a single battle. They did it by declaring itself free but still an ally of Breland during the darkest days of the Last War and Breland was in no position to argue. Zilargo is an amazingly orderly society thanks largely to their secret police known as The Trust.... in Zilargo it is safe to assume you are being watched, because you are.
There are other regions of Khorvaire that are not considered sovereign nations.
-The Demon Wastes; are not a nice place to visit. A vestige from the Age of Demons hundreds of thousands of years ago, it is a blasted land where there are demons and worse. Home to demon worshipers, but curiously its borders are guarded by fierce clans of orcs whom seek to contain the taint of the demon wastes. These are good orcs and boast a good number of paladins, but they will kill anyone and anything that tries to go in or out of the wastes.
-Droaam; the land of monsters. Once considered a large uncolonized frontier of Breland, three hags known as the Daughters of Sora Kell came together, gathering forces of orges, gnolls, harpies, medusa, and lycanthropes to carve out this nation for themselves during the last war. The sisters were... upset, when their envoy was refused entry to the peace talks at the Thronehold accord.
-The Mournland; what used to be known as Cyre. The event of its destruction has come to be called the Day of Mourning. Four years later the bodies of those who died there have not rotted. Healing magic and natural healing refuse to work within the confines of the dead gray mists (at least it did in 3rd edition), living spells, ghosts, and horrible abominations roam the land. However warforged are largely immune to the effects of the Mournland, and the Lord of Blades, a warforged supremacist is gathering an extremist army in this blasted land far from the eyes of the Thronehold nations.
-The Shadow Marshes; ancestral home of the orcs. The shadow marshes are inhabited but no nation has ever really tried to claim them, human, orc, half orc, and shifter clans carve out a living in this land, alternatively following the druidic Gatekeeper tradition, that tries to guard against extraplanar invasion, and the Cults of the Dragon Blow which is just fine with its masters from the plane of madness.
Aerenal is more of a subcontinent than a continent. Aerenal is home to the elven race, after they freed themselve from enslavement by the Giant Empires on Xen'drik (see below) they migrated here. Elves venerate their ancestors, but how they do has split down two lines. The Aerenal have found a way to preserve the greatest members of its race as undying (positive energy undead), most of Aerenai life is spent trying to become worthy of becoming undying themselves. These undying do not flat out rule the Aerenal (they have twin kings for that) but they offer advise and insight to their decendants. The Tairnadal (and their offshoot the Valenar) venerate those that died freeing the elven race from the giants and seek to emulate their ancestors though battle with worthy foes.
Xen'drik is the DM's toybox. 10,000 years ago there was a Giant Empire whose arcane knowledge was second only to the dragons. Their culture grew to excess, enslaving lesser races (like the elves) and changing them to suit their own needs (like the drow). After a war that shook the heavens (literally it blew up one of the moons) the dragons could not sit idly by and let the giants continue to grow and use their magic recklessly... when the giants threatened to unleash their most devastating magics to stop an elven slave uprising the dragons struck and shattered the giant empire, ground it to dust.
The giants of today are little better than hunter gatherers... and in the time since the dark continent of Xen'drik has given rise to many... small hidden cultures... and many of the giants arcane secrets remain hidden waiting for discovery. Xen'drik is a place designed with the intent of the DM being able to put pretty much whatever they want down there. Its a big "Here be monsters" space on the map.
Sarlona the birthplace of the human race. Sarlona has its own history of empires and wars, rising and falling... as empires are wont to do. Everything changed though 1,800 years ago. Refugees from the plane of dreams sought to escape the nightmare overlords of their plane. In their search for refuge among the minds of the slumbering they came across monks from Adar, whom allowed these beings refuge in their minds. So began the Kalashtar race. The nightmares of Dal Quor the plane of dreams could not follow them, as they had no one to willingly let them in. So they manipulated the people of Sarlona, breeding a special race who were easy to possess the 'chosen' who became the Inspired when possessed by the agents of the Dreaming Dark. In time the inspired ended all the wars in Sarlona and birthed the nation of Reidra, whose people they control psionically. The mountainous region of Adar remains free thanks to the kalashtar... however their secret war has started to spill over to Khorvaire... not that anyone on Khorvaire knows this.
Argonessen here be dragons. The dragons of Eberron are not like most fantasy dragons. They study The Prophecy, which is written in the wind, the waves, the land, and in the flesh of the mortal races (specifically the dragonmarks). The Prophecy tells of everything that will happen, how it will happen, how it can be stopped, what will happen if its stopped... everything. The dragons study the prophecy, no one, not even the oldest dragon, can ever know the whole of it. When they move beyond their boarders it may be to search for more of the prophecy, to see it in action, or to manipulate events. Whatever the case, they know more than you. They do not appreciate visitors.
Thanks, it looks like a very thought out setting, and less a jumble of "lets just put 1000 of races and see what happens approach".
To be fair, a lot of that is because it's new and hasn't really had the opportunity to become the clusterfrell that FR had become before 4e.