Campaign Guide vs Player's Guide - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Campaign Guide vs Player's Guide

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Mand12
Mar 22, 2011 13:31:30 So I'm interested about the setting and am planning on getting some reference material to get a sense of what's going on and how we might incorporate things in my group. The Campaign Guide seems like a no brainer, as it clearly would have a large amount of stuff we'd need to run a game in Eberron.

My real question is how useful is the Player's Guide? Note that I do have Insider, and as such have access to things like the artificer and feats and items and things like that. How much other good content is in the book that I can't get via DDI? Am I correct in assuming that the Campaign Guide is chock full of goodness?
#2
Juums
Mar 22, 2011 14:02:13 As an old 3.5e hand of the setting, while I picked up both the Eberron Campaign Guide and Eberron Player's Guide, they've been gathering dust on my bookshelf. If you've got access to DDI, there's not much in the EPG that isn't duplicated in the ECG: The latter just provdies a macro-level view of the world, while the EPG gives a ground-level view of it.

If you're interested in picking up reference material, I cannot recommend tracking down the 3.5e sourcebooks enough: The one book that every Eberron DM, regardless of edition, ought to flip through at least once is Sharn, City of Towers. Dragonmarked, Five Nations, and Races of Eberron also provide copious amounts of world-building fluff and probably are your best bets in terms of getting the most usable content for your time invested.
#3
m4kitsu
Mar 24, 2011 20:39:20 Overall I agree with Juums: If you can get your hands on the 3.5 materials, do so. There's MUCH more detail in those than in the 4e books.

With that out of the way; the 4e books aren't bad by any means. The primary difference between them is that the EPG is "player safe," while the Campaign Guide is not. You can safely hand the Player's Guide to your group and say "here, read this. This is everything you need to know about the world" without cluing them in on some of the setting's big secrets.

Also, the art in both books is gorgeous. But I'm a sap for pretty pictures, so YMMV.

Both books provide a "bird's eye" view of the campaign setting -there's enough detail to paint the setting in broad strokes and then let the group fill in the gaps. If you want the "street level" view of the full detail of the setting, you'll have to hunt down the 3.5 collection.
#4
Madfox11
Mar 25, 2011 4:33:36
As an old 3.5e hand of the setting, while I picked up both the Eberron Campaign Guide and Eberron Player's Guide, they've been gathering dust on my bookshelf. If you've got access to DDI, there's not much in the EPG that isn't duplicated in the ECG: The latter just provdies a macro-level view of the world, while the EPG gives a ground-level view of it.

It is a good way to differentiate between what the PC might know and what not. I tend to use the 4E guide quite a lot since some stuff changed, but also because adding knowledge DCs is a great tool to quickly check whether a PC knows something, although admittedly, that is mostly only needed when all players at tables have read every book on Eberron ;)

#5
Ogiwan
Mar 25, 2011 8:48:51 I have to say, though, the ECG had a lot of hooks that the ECS never had. I mean, the Thousand Yard Stare? That is a cool hook on its own, but even cooler if you know what a Thousand Yard Stare looks like. The Jade Hand? Jorasco healing the land? That could be cool!

Now, I would also echo grabbing the bulk of the 3.5 Eberron books (save Secrets of Sarlona and Dragons of Argonessen; I had very little use for either.), but I would also still recommend getting the 4e books.

Oh, and also, Madfox, while knowledge DCs are handy in preventing players from using OOC knowledge in-game, I figure they would be more handy with people who are unfamiliar.
#6
Juums
Mar 25, 2011 11:16:22
It is a good way to differentiate between what the PC might know and what not. I tend to use the 4E guide quite a lot since some stuff changed, but also because adding knowledge DCs is a great tool to quickly check whether a PC knows something, although admittedly, that is mostly only needed when all players at tables have read every book on Eberron ;)

My 4e Eberron stuff has been gathering dust not due to any great disagreement I have with it, but because I've had trouble coaxing my group to try 4e. (Our experiences with 4e involved things like the Yogi Hat Ranger near launch and that left a lot of bitterness for the new edition.) As 4e Eberron preserved the contours of the 3.5e incarnation of the setting, there's just been no overwhelming need to break it out and scour it for usable material. (Lord knows I've got too much of that as it is.)

Now, I would also echo grabbing the bulk of the 3.5 Eberron books (save Secrets of Sarlona and Dragons of Argonessen; I had very little use for either.), but I would also still recommend getting the 4e books.

I would wax indignantly at this besmirching of one of my favorite books, but I sadly concur with your judgment. I love Dragons of Eberron to death, but I've still yet to find a use for the bloody thing. I'd like to run a game set in Argonnessen some day, but that is likely to not occur for a long while.

#7
Madfox11
Mar 25, 2011 11:20:57 If me using a book would be a proper indication of it being good or useful than very few of the Eberron books would be so ;) I love Eberron, but most of my games either stuck to Sharn or never came that far. I think I only used Sharn a lot, with the Dragonmarked Houses being a close second. All other material I have just read and someday I will use the material contained in them. The only book that I dislike is the Explorer's Guide. It contains way too little useful information on Xen'drik and just having Stormreach would be enough ;)
#8
Ogiwan
Mar 25, 2011 15:08:14 I freaking LOVED the Explorer's Handbook! I would play a Thunder Guide in a heartbeat, and a lot of the stuff from chapters 3, 4 and 5 (Points of Origen, Midpoints, and Endpoints, respectively) I found to be fantastic possibilities.
#9
Javagamer
Mar 27, 2011 12:24:28 I am new to Eberron, I have the EPG & Campaign Guide for 4E. A buddy of mine has loaned me his 3-3.5 books about Eberron. As I sort threw them I realize how much I like the structure of the 4E stuff. Thats my take on it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Mand12 Mar 22, 2011 13:31:30	So I'm interested about the setting and am planning on getting some reference material to get a sense of what's going on and how we might incorporate things in my group. The Campaign Guide seems like a no brainer, as it clearly would have a large amount of stuff we'd need to run a game in Eberron. My real question is how useful is the Player's Guide? Note that I do have Insider, and as such have access to things like the artificer and feats and items and things like that. How much other good content is in the book that I can't get via DDI? Am I correct in assuming that the Campaign Guide is chock full of goodness?
#2 Juums Mar 22, 2011 14:02:13	As an old 3.5e hand of the setting, while I picked up both the Eberron Campaign Guide and Eberron Player's Guide, they've been gathering dust on my bookshelf. If you've got access to DDI, there's not much in the EPG that isn't duplicated in the ECG: The latter just provdies a macro-level view of the world, while the EPG gives a ground-level view of it. If you're interested in picking up reference material, I cannot recommend tracking down the 3.5e sourcebooks enough: The one book that every Eberron DM, regardless of edition, ought to flip through at least once is Sharn, City of Towers. Dragonmarked, Five Nations, and Races of Eberron also provide copious amounts of world-building fluff and probably are your best bets in terms of getting the most usable content for your time invested.
#3 m4kitsu Mar 24, 2011 20:39:20	Overall I agree with Juums: If you can get your hands on the 3.5 materials, do so. There's MUCH more detail in those than in the 4e books. With that out of the way; the 4e books aren't bad by any means. The primary difference between them is that the EPG is "player safe," while the Campaign Guide is not. You can safely hand the Player's Guide to your group and say "here, read this. This is everything you need to know about the world" without cluing them in on some of the setting's big secrets. Also, the art in both books is gorgeous. But I'm a sap for pretty pictures, so YMMV. Both books provide a "bird's eye" view of the campaign setting -there's enough detail to paint the setting in broad strokes and then let the group fill in the gaps. If you want the "street level" view of the full detail of the setting, you'll have to hunt down the 3.5 collection.
#4 Madfox11 Mar 25, 2011 4:33:36	As an old 3.5e hand of the setting, while I picked up both the Eberron Campaign Guide and Eberron Player's Guide, they've been gathering dust on my bookshelf. If you've got access to DDI, there's not much in the EPG that isn't duplicated in the ECG: The latter just provdies a macro-level view of the world, while the EPG gives a ground-level view of it. It is a good way to differentiate between what the PC might know and what not. I tend to use the 4E guide quite a lot since some stuff changed, but also because adding knowledge DCs is a great tool to quickly check whether a PC knows something, although admittedly, that is mostly only needed when all players at tables have read every book on Eberron ;)
#5 Ogiwan Mar 25, 2011 8:48:51	I have to say, though, the ECG had a lot of hooks that the ECS never had. I mean, the Thousand Yard Stare? That is a cool hook on its own, but even cooler if you know what a Thousand Yard Stare looks like. The Jade Hand? Jorasco healing the land? That could be cool! Now, I would also echo grabbing the bulk of the 3.5 Eberron books (save Secrets of Sarlona and Dragons of Argonessen; I had very little use for either.), but I would also still recommend getting the 4e books. Oh, and also, Madfox, while knowledge DCs are handy in preventing players from using OOC knowledge in-game, I figure they would be more handy with people who are unfamiliar.
#6 Juums Mar 25, 2011 11:16:22	It is a good way to differentiate between what the PC might know and what not. I tend to use the 4E guide quite a lot since some stuff changed, but also because adding knowledge DCs is a great tool to quickly check whether a PC knows something, although admittedly, that is mostly only needed when all players at tables have read every book on Eberron ;) My 4e Eberron stuff has been gathering dust not due to any great disagreement I have with it, but because I've had trouble coaxing my group to try 4e. (Our experiences with 4e involved things like the Yogi Hat Ranger near launch and that left a lot of bitterness for the new edition.) As 4e Eberron preserved the contours of the 3.5e incarnation of the setting, there's just been no overwhelming need to break it out and scour it for usable material. (Lord knows I've got too much of that as it is.) Now, I would also echo grabbing the bulk of the 3.5 Eberron books (save Secrets of Sarlona and Dragons of Argonessen; I had very little use for either.), but I would also still recommend getting the 4e books. I would wax indignantly at this besmirching of one of my favorite books, but I sadly concur with your judgment. I love Dragons of Eberron to death, but I've still yet to find a use for the bloody thing. I'd like to run a game set in Argonnessen some day, but that is likely to not occur for a long while.
#7 Madfox11 Mar 25, 2011 11:20:57	If me using a book would be a proper indication of it being good or useful than very few of the Eberron books would be so ;) I love Eberron, but most of my games either stuck to Sharn or never came that far. I think I only used Sharn a lot, with the Dragonmarked Houses being a close second. All other material I have just read and someday I will use the material contained in them. The only book that I dislike is the Explorer's Guide. It contains way too little useful information on Xen'drik and just having Stormreach would be enough ;)
#8 Ogiwan Mar 25, 2011 15:08:14	I freaking LOVED the Explorer's Handbook! I would play a Thunder Guide in a heartbeat, and a lot of the stuff from chapters 3, 4 and 5 (Points of Origen, Midpoints, and Endpoints, respectively) I found to be fantastic possibilities.
#9 Javagamer Mar 27, 2011 12:24:28	I am new to Eberron, I have the EPG & Campaign Guide for 4E. A buddy of mine has loaned me his 3-3.5 books about Eberron. As I sort threw them I realize how much I like the structure of the 4E stuff. Thats my take on it.