after a very long break from Eberron (and DnD as such - damn you WoW...) I decided to come back (after bit of research, I didn't like what they did to FRCS thus ECS became my go-to setting). That's it for the background, now for the gist:
what ever happened to all the druid sects I recall from 3.5E? Gatekeepers received a PP sure enough, but what of Wardens of the Wood and Greensingers (they get hardly any mention), Children of Winter and The Ashbound (both of which seem to be pictured as anti-PC groups)?
Now, I'm not a DDI subscriber, so any information in it is unavailable to me. Any insight into the above would be very welcome
what ever happened to all the druid sects I recall from 3.5E? Gatekeepers received a PP sure enough, but what of Wardens of the Wood and Greensingers (they get hardly any mention), Children of Winter and The Ashbound (both of which seem to be pictured as anti-PC groups)?
The Wardens of the Wood seem to be generic druids (ie. take anything from the PHB2 and apply as needed) and are the protectors of the Eldeen Reaches. The Greensingers are hanging out with the fey in the Reaches as well. Paragon Paths and whatnot do not currently exist as far as I'm aware for their of those groups. The Children of Winter and the Ashbound are definitely setup as antagonists for 4E Eberron, but the were the same in the previous edition as well. They don't exactly lend themselves to PCs very easily.
Now, I'm not a DDI subscriber, so any information in it is unavailable to me. Any insight into the above would be very welcome
Quite a bit of Eberron stuff through DDI, and I'd recommend it myself, and I'd expect more Eberron goodness to be appearing there fairly constantly.
The Wardens of the Woods are still protecting the Eldeen and fuction as a defacto law o the land up there.
The Children of Winter are still crazy an trying to create an apocalypse they see as 'the natural order of things'.
The Ashbound are still a terrorist organization attacking arcane installations of Vadalis and Aundair. Mostly because they're the closest.
Greensingers are still dirty hippies that like to expand their planar horizons. Hanging out with Eladrin and other transients from Thelanis.
There are other lesser known druids as well, from the old Dragonshardseries on Druids.
The druids of the Talenta Plains are still spiritual leaders and weavers of the Talentan spirit masks.
The Siyal Marrian are still raising those amazing Valenar horses
We don't have awesome sect feats like we did in the original ECS but these sects haven't gone anywhere. Sadly they go without a mention in the 4e Player's Guide but they're in their proper regional locations within the Eberron Campaign Guide. None of the old information is invalidated, they just didn't get as much screen time, but hey now these sects also get barbarians, wardens, and shamans mixed in.
The Children of Winter and the Ashbound are definitely setup as antagonists for 4E Eberron, but the were the same in the previous edition as well. They don't exactly lend themselves to PCs very easily.
Actually, I've had more CoW PCs in my campaigns than any other druidic sect. It's all a matter of extremism - just as a moderate SF paladin is a better PC than a fanatical follower of the Pure Flame. The extremists of the CoW may run around spreading plagues and paving the way for a second Mourning. But at its core, the sect simply believes that death is a natural part of life and should be accepted; that nature should be allowed to take its course, and that the weak should not be kept alive if they wouldn't be able to survive without the hand of civilization. Yes, they believe that a terrible apocalypse is coming. But it's not necessarily coming NOW. Some believe that the signs that have been read (such as the Mourning) have nothing to do with the Winter, and are trying to find proof of this to pull the others back from their destructive behavior. Beyond this, the CoW place great value on the balance of nature, meaning that they do hate aberrations and especially undead.
So Winter PCs may be grim and creepy and talk to bugs and rats. But they can still want to save the world by uncovering the secrets of the Mourning, and they'll battle the Emerald Claw and the Daelkyr to the bitter end. If necessary, they may even battle other Children of Winter. They believe that the Winter is inevitable and good, paving the way for the rebirth of the world. But if this is not the time, this is not the time.
So where are your feats, paragon paths, and the like? They didn't make it into the ECG/EPG, so DDI is your best bet.
I submitted a Primal Power in Eberron pitch to DDI, but nothing ever came of it. They probably didn't want to trust such an important topic to an unknown like me. (Hint hint.)
I submitted a Primal Power in Eberron pitch to DDI, but nothing ever came of it. They probably didn't want to trust such an important topic to an unknown like me. (Hint hint.)
I've been pushing for it for a while myself, and it was certainly a topic that people showed interest in at GenCon. So i'll keep trying.