I wanted to know if the new novels like Son of Khyber and Legacy of Dhakaan are heavy in the the 4th edition Eberron fluff or if I can read them without problems of understanding.
Thank you.
I can’t site specific examples but I can tell by reading Son of Khyber, Word of Traitors and Dragon War especially that they included some 4th Edition ‘stuff’ in there but the novels still read well and are Eberron all the way.
I know that for Word of Traitors you don't have to worry about it at all -- but then again it shouldn't matter rule edition you've got it you just want to enjoy the novels. 
There are a few 4e elements in Word of Traitors, but as someone else said, it's not like there's been an event like the Spell Plague in Eberron.
So you should be fine with the novels regardless of what version of Eberron you're familiar with. There haven't been any major changes to the world.
Oh, and Mr. Baker, I just finished Son of Khyber today; when're you going to continue the story of The Dreaming Dark bunch?
They're usually subtle things like that, though, as well as the occasional appearance of new 4e races, like dragonborn, eladrin, and tieflings.
EDIT: Ditto Ogiwan's question. I remember looking at the pic on the cover, and thinking, "Wow, Mr. Baker really likes House Denieth. TWO characters with that sort of sword!"
Will we be seeing Lei or Pierce any time soon? What happened in Riedra?
Show
Will Daine get his soul back and be restored to life?
Oh, and Mr. Baker, I just finished Son of Khyber today; when're you going to continue the story of The Dreaming Dark bunch?
I've certainly got stories I'd like to tell; it's simply a question of if and in what format WotC would like to publish them. I know the WotC website occasionally does online fiction, so hey, send an email or start a petition. Who knows?
I've read all the Eberron books save Word of Traitors....which I will probably get to today. I've ran both 3.5 and 4e Eberron. The only characters that I can tell their classes are really the ones where it flat-out says what class they are.
I try to be true to mechanics, which makes it a pain in the ass when they change. In Queen of Stone, Thorn is basically a Rogue/Assassin. She uses Death Attack a few times - studying an opponent before making a lethal attack. She casts a few arcane spells (disguise self, spider climb, pass without trace) and goes so far as to use the material components required... leaving me having to decide if she still needs to eat a spider to spider climb in Son of Khyber or if reality has mysteriously shifted. Meanwhile, in The Dreaming Dark, any time Lei does something I know exactly what it is in game terms (usually spell-storing object used to mimic a different spell). She doesn't SAY "I just used armor infusion to give my armor the invulnerbility quality" - but I have it in mind.
goes so far as to use the material components required... leaving me having to decide if she still needs to eat a spider to spider climb in Son of Khyber or if reality has mysteriously shifted.
4th Edition is abstract enough that (apart from the fact that it might be tricky for a non-warlock to come by the power) spider climb might still require the eating of a live spider. Frankly, many if not most (if not all) powers in 4th Edition could be described in a novel in a way that would make it impossible to tell what they "really" were.
Are there many new races and lore in the new novels? Are there many new places that are not mentioned in the 3.5 campaign book?
Well, really, there weren't many changes to Eberron; no spell plague or whatever. Concerning the new races.....well, it would be....dragonborn? Tieflings were in the last edition, as were changelings, 'forged, and kalashtar....also, only like two, three books have come out since the introduction of 4th, and those would have been largly written and based on the 3.5 world, which again, didn't change much.
I have to ask, though, do either Mr. Baker or Mr. Bassingwaithe have a character they'd really love to write a story about, but just don't have a story to write?
I have to ask, though, do either Mr. Baker or Mr. Bassingwaithe have a character they'd really love to write a story about, but just don't have a story to write?
Do you mean that we don't know what to write about them, or that we don't have an opportunity to write?
Personally, I'd love to do more with Tolar & Zaehr from "Principles of Fire" (Dragons: Worlds Afire); and I'm somewhat interested in doing something with Sheshka from The Queen of Stone. And hey, I'd hoped to continue the story of Eye of the Wolf.
Well, really, there weren't many changes to Eberron; no spell plague or whatever. Concerning the new races.....well, it would be....dragonborn?
Devas? Goliaths? Slightly more intelligent half-orcs?
For devas, I prefer not to add them as a new race of white-and-purple-skinned folks, but rather use them in a manner similar to revenants, to the degree of letting them use the revenant racial emulation feats. So a "Valenar Deva" is valenar with a close link to the ancestral spirits, whose memory of a thousand lives are their memories. Another deva might be a human who survived the Mourning and now channels the meories of others who died in it. Another might be a kalashtar with a spiritual link to others of his lineage. Another might be a human with a close touch to the Silver Flame - itself an amalgam of spirits. Again, not adding an entirely new race to the world, but rather adding a new dimension to various existing spiritual phenomena.
As a side note, to anyone who has read or is reading Son of Khyber, here's a link to the online book club starting up at Worlds of D&D:
worldsofdnd.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
And hey, I'd hoped to continue the story of Eye of the Wolf.
I'll agree that the Queen of Stone was a pretty interesting character, but I would like to most definitely agree with wanting to see more of the Laughing Wolf in comic form. I made a thread asking who would like to see an Eberron comic in Dragon, and the response was uniformly positive.
Now, what's this "World's Afire" thing?
Other than that, I've only noticed some subtle differences in the way that Thorn uses her spells. In the new novel, it mentions that she has spell components on her, but its doestn't describe her using them to cast anything. As a reader, I'm perfectly comfortable when an author skips over some mundane elements of life (like using components), so I've not been bothered in the least.
On an aside, Mr. Baker, I was pleasently surprised by the Dreaming Dark link!
Also, I'd love to see some 4e stat blocks for these characters!
worldsofdnd.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
As for "Worlds Afire" -
www.amazon.com/Dragons-Worlds-Afire-R-Sa...
There's used copies for under a dollar, so hey, check it out!
Keith Baker's newest novel in the Thorn of Breland series, Son of Khyber has recently been released.
Join Eberron fans and the author in a bookclub discussion of the novel and its implications on the realm of Eberron.
Link to the WorldsofDnD site to sign up:
worldsofdnd.com/forum/index.php
Link to the Bookclub Discussion page:
worldsofdnd.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
Wizards product page for novel:
ww2.wizards.com/books/Wizards/Products/?...
I'm reading Son of Khyber now, and I did see that the Feywild was mentioned. That's the first time I've seen a pure 4e term used in a novel
Other than that, I've only noticed some subtle differences in the way that Thorn uses her spells. In the new novel, it mentions that she has spell components on her, but its doestn't describe her using them to cast anything. As a reader, I'm perfectly comfortable when an author skips over some mundane elements of life (like using components), so I've not been bothered in the least.
On an aside, Mr. Baker, I was pleasently surprised by the Dreaming Dark link!
Also, I'd love to see some 4e stat blocks for these characters!
Ew.
I'm reading Son of Khyber now, and I did see that the Feywild was mentioned. That's the first time I've seen a pure 4e term used in a novel
Feywild? Is that Thelaris? Is it only mentioned or discussed in detail in the novel?
Personally, I just consider the goliaths of Eberron to be the previously established ogre-descended eneko of Sarlona; we don't have stats for the eneko in 4E, and I'd rather use the relatively appropriate goliath stats for them than add an entirely new race into the setting.
For devas, I prefer not to add them as a new race of white-and-purple-skinned folks, but rather use them in a manner similar to revenants, to the degree of letting them use the revenant racial emulation feats. So a "Valenar Deva" is valenar with a close link to the ancestral spirits, whose memory of a thousand lives are their memories. Another deva might be a human who survived the Mourning and now channels the meories of others who died in it. Another might be a kalashtar with a spiritual link to others of his lineage. Another might be a human with a close touch to the Silver Flame - itself an amalgam of spirits. Again, not adding an entirely new race to the world, but rather adding a new dimension to various existing spiritual phenomena.
As a side note, to anyone who has read or is reading Son of Khyber, here's a link to the online book club starting up at Worlds of D&D:
worldsofdnd.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=36
I like those ideas a lot. Especially since I hadn't found a good goliath use as of yet. The devas I just keep their connection to the Rhakshasa and use them as allies of the Coatl (some may even be Rakshasa's that were redeemed or saved), but I may change to your description, will have to think on it.
On topic discussion: Eladrin, Dragonborn, and Teiflings all play a role of varying importance in Dragon Forge, haven't gotten to Dragon War yet, but I assume the tiefling is still important if not the others. Haven't gotten to Son of Khyber, or Word of Traitor's yet, so can't comment on those.
Any new races appearing in the new novels? Don, Keith, are you going to use 4th Eberron races in the third books of your trilogies?
The third Thorn book is called "The Fading Dream". If you read the ECG, you'll see that's an eladrin reference. But you could read it without having read any 4E Eberron material. Other than that, no - no devas, goliaths, dragonborn, or tieflings in my books.
Feywild? Is that Thelaris? Is it only mentioned or discussed in detail in the novel?
The Feywild is just another word for Thelanis, along with "The Faerie Court".
No dragonborn, yet.
I have to ask, though, do either Mr. Baker or Mr. Bassingwaithe have a character they'd really love to write a story about, but just don't have a story to write?
Not as such - if I have a character I want to write a story about, I generally have a story (roughly) in mind. Of course, as Keith says, it's a matter of opportunity.
I've variously had ideas for revisiting Singe and Dandra, Natrac the half-orc, Orshok the orc Gatekeeper, and a few other characters from The Dragon Below. Actually, I usually finish a novel with 2 or 3 characters begging me for more story time.
Any new races appearing in the new novels? Don, Keith, are you going to use 4th Eberron races in the third books of your trilogies?
As superdeadsmurf mentioned, yes - there is a tiefling character in Word of Traitors (and without much by way of spoilers in The Tyranny of Ghosts). Otherwise, not really. The third book of a trilogy isn't the best place to introduce new characters. And to be honest, I've having to much fun with goblins to get into other races!
On the subject of the thread at large - James Wyatt presents kinda-sorta-but-not-really Fourth Edition material in his Draconic Prophecy series. The dragonborn have been mentioned, but there's also a couple of eladrin that show up.
(There's also a tiefling in the Demon Wastes, but he could have been there in Third Edition.)
The third Thorn book is called "The Fading Dream". If you read the ECG, you'll see that's an eladrin reference. But you could read it without having read any 4E Eberron material. Other than that, no - no devas, goliaths, dragonborn, or tieflings in my books.
Is this a general rule for your future novels, or just in reference to the fading dream?
Is this a general rule for your future novels, or just in reference to the fading dream?
It's a matter of personal interest as much as anything else. I personally use the goliath stats for eneko and use deva as a metarace like revenants, and as such I'm unlikely to go out of my way to do something with either race as it stands; if I were to set a story in Riedra, I might use an eneko, though. Tieflings or dragonborn could certainly appear if I came up with a good story involving them.
Other than that, no - no devas, goliaths, dragonborn, or tieflings in my books.
I haven't had many in my Eberron games either now that you mention it :P To be honest, I haven't really felt there is any major difference between 4E Eberron and the 3rd edition version of it except for those races and such. Generally they are rare enough that it doesn't make a huge difference to me. It wouldn't be out of place if they appeared in a novel or create any world inconsistences with previous ones I can think of (It has been a long time since I read them).
Personally the thing I love best about Eberron is the novels can be sources for ideas but can't impinge on the world or your campaign. It's the finest win/win IMO. Lots of ideas and none of the drawbacks!