And the maps...geeze you could've used the opportunity to give us some great Eberron style maps but instead we got a generic poor city section, a forest road, and a generic temple setting. Yeah as if we don't already have enough of those poster maps. You threw in an airship combat out of the blue, why not give us an airship poster map? That alone would've sold your adventure.
Make an Eberron adventure or don't. Don't try to criss cross the two and make a generic Eberron adventure that can be run in nonEberron campaigns, because it'll just fall a part and be bad, much like this product. I'm not happy about spending money on the adventure.
The story... I hate adventures that are just in-your-face Eberron. This is a good amount of "sprinkle", as you say. To be a very Eberron-ee Eberron adventure, you don't need to be fighting a warforged on top of a lightning rail in the Mournland while standing nearby is a gnome agent of the Inspired, Trust, Lords of Dust, AND Aurum who is twirling his Snidely Whiplash mustache while telling you he's your best friend.
There exists a world of D&D outside of Eberron. If every encounter was taken from the monster index in the ECG, if every fight took place on the edge of a creation forge/airship/eldritch machine, this would ignore the rest of D&D's available options. Which seems like a silly idea to me, so I really don't get your complaint. "This adventure is horrible because it only uses a portion of Eberron's enemies and terrain! Likewise, it's not Eberron because it uses lots of other core material!"?
As for your complaints about the poster maps being insufficient... maybe I'm just used to my wet-erase battlemat, but I don't really care about that.
To me, reading the Ashen Crown is entertaining and exciting, I want to run a group through it, and I feel as though it varies from being good Eberron material, good D&D mtaerial, and a good launching point for my own stories and side treks.
If you're dissatisfied, I'm sorry to hear that, but I personally think it's great.
If you're dissatisfied, I'm sorry to hear that, but I personally think it's great.
QFT
Seems like Eberron to me. I only read the first book, hadn't looked at the second book as I'm not DMing right now, in a few months when the DM rotation gets back to me I'll read it in deapth before I run it but overall I thought it looked pretty good.
The genericness of the maps is likely intentional so that you can use them for other situations.
BTW the changeling uses a cell phone term when talking over the sending stones. That wasn't cool.
Oh it's an alright adventure on it's own, I just don't feel like it's good enough to deserve the official Eberron tag...
BTW the changeling uses a cell phone term when talking over the sending stones. That wasn't cool.
"Don't call us; we'll call you?" That isn't a "cell-phone" term. It's been around probably since telephones were invented, and since sending stones are essentially the Eberron version of telephones...
You make it sound like he said "lol" or something.
Oh it's an alright adventure on it's own, I just don't feel like it's good enough to deserve the official Eberron tag...
BTW the changeling uses a cell phone term when talking over the sending stones. That wasn't cool.
Play Eberron with all the campiness of good pulp fiction and you'll see the true strength of the world and this adventure.
In its previous incarnation, calling on someone often meant showing up unexpectedly at their home. As in, "LuAnn, a gentleman courter has come calling."
Against a dragon in Droamm of all things. Yeah that fits into Eberron real nice guys.
Why couldn't there be a dragon in Droaam?
2) eberron is meant to be like "what would have happened if someone had invented magic instead of our science" - so using the same terms for stuff that is quite similar - it's essentially the base of the whole setting.
if you don't believe me, go to gencon and ask keith himself. he's very very open on that kind of things...
- wb, the royal chocolateer of eberron
Make an Eberron adventure or don't. Don't try to criss cross the two and make a generic Eberron adventure that can be run in nonEberron campaigns, because it'll just fall a part and be bad, much like this product. I'm not happy about spending money on the adventure.
I am a newcomer to Eberron. I don't pretend to be experienced with it, because I'm not. I've only recently become heavily interested in Keith's brainchild, so maybe I'm missing the "disgrace" aspect of a setting-adventure falling flat that veterans may feel. But in all fairness, the motto of 4E is "Everything works anywhere if you want it to." Even the campaign-specific adventures are meant to be accessible to groups who play in other worlds. I don't think this was meant to be a slight in any way to Eberron, but rather an open door for those who don't play Eberron. A way for non-Eberron players to incorporate Eberron elements, and possibly become invested in the actual setting after enjoying what they liked in an adventure. Anyhoo, that's just my two cents (so says I, the Eberron rookie).
If you're dissatisfied, I'm sorry to hear that, but I personally think it's great.
I'll admit to not having read it in detail yet, but I have to agree here. To me it seems like a very good Eberron adventure. It has more than enough Eberron elements (Sharn, Morgrave University, Kings Citadel, changelings, Dhakaani goblins, an airship), while still also having a lot of more traditional D&D elements. And unlike pretty much every other 4e adventure WotC have released, it isn't just one big long linear dungeon crawl - it has a good plot with sensible use of skill challenges, puzzles and exploration. Plus a lot of continent spanning travel which is a very Eberron feature compared to traditional low-mid heroic tier D&D adventures.
Though I have to agree with the OP about the maps. The marketplace is acceptable, as is the dungeon chamber (if only because it's used 2 or 3 times in the adventure), but the generic wilderness - which is only used once in the adventure? We have more than enough of them already, and as an Eberron adventure, I'd much rather have a cool re-usable Eberron map, like an airship (perfect for this adventure), lightning rail, Sharn street scene (probably rejected because of the one in the ECG) or even a Mournland wilderness map... very disappointed with this aspect of the adventure.
It's just a generic adventure with bits and pieces of Eberron thrown in a blender and sprinkled lightly into it.
I would say, welcome to 4E Eberron (just to make things clear: I'm hating on the 4E interpretation of Eberron, not the 4E rule set) where they turned Eberron into a bland and "generic" (so it fits everyone's style!
) setting. This is symptomatic of 4E ebberon.And don't get me started on the "points of light" crap, this is Eberron, not Toril!
I would say, welcome to 4E Eberron (just to make things clear: I'm hating on the 4E interpretation of Eberron, not the 4E rule set) where they turned Eberron into a bland and "generic" (so it fits everyone's style!
And don't get me started on the "points of light" crap, this is Eberron, not Toril!
Maybe it's just me but, having read through the EPG and ECG fairly well but... what are you even talking about? To my observations, Eberron's changed very, very little, if the Eberron flavor hasn't gotten even stronger.
I would say, welcome to 4E Eberron (just to make things clear: I'm hating on the 4E interpretation of Eberron, not the 4E rule set) where they turned Eberron into a bland and "generic" (so it fits everyone's style!
And don't get me started on the "points of light" crap, this is Eberron, not Toril!
No offense, but why would Eberron be spared the same treatment as Toril? It's a golden hen, to be sure, but then again so is FR. Just because you're a golden hen doesn't mean you're above change. If they announce compatibility is their main goal, and one setting is updated to reflect this goal, why wouldn't the rest also be?
To my observations, Eberron's changed very, very little, if the Eberron flavor hasn't gotten even stronger.
While I personally am new to Eberron, my Eberron-loving friends have said the same thing whenever it's come up.
And don't get me started on the "points of light" crap, this is Eberron, not Toril!
I personally felt stifled and unable to run many adventures in Karrnath. This was due to my understanding of the 3.5e ECG (I may have completely missed the point/misunderstood the write-up) saying it was fairly well protected by the undead zombies roaming around. 4th ed solves that problem for me.
While it might not be your cup of tea, I quite like it and I do feel Eberron is completely different to Toril. My players also agree that Eberron is completely different to what they've played in the past.
I personally felt stifled and unable to run many adventures in Karrnath. This was due to my understanding of the 3.5e ECG (I may have completely missed the point/misunderstood the write-up) saying it was fairly well protected by the undead zombies roaming around. 4th ed solves that problem for me.
While it might not be your cup of tea, I quite like it and I do feel Eberron is completely different to Toril. My players also agree that Eberron is completely different to what they've played in the past.
You see, I feel the opposite way. It's (or was?) nice to have a setting where stepping outside a village doesn't mean you'll get attacked by robbers, ogres, goblins and drows. I know it's a DnD staple but, why are roads so unsafe? And why do people keep living in dangerous places like that? It made no sense.
Eberron was a breath of fresh air in that it felt more "real", more "logical" and more civilized.
I personally felt stifled and unable to run many adventures in Karrnath. This was due to my understanding of the 3.5e ECG (I may have completely missed the point/misunderstood the write-up) saying it was fairly well protected by the undead zombies roaming around.
I always figured the 5 nations were protected, but not invincible. You can travel in Karnnath without worrying about random orc attacks. However, a lord of dust plot or an attack by the emerald claw is always possible and even likely. It's just that the land is tamed and civilized after 2000 years of human civilization.
And for savage places, Darguun, Droaam, the Lazhaar principalities and such were more fitting for "traditional" DnD encouters. My point of view.
My beef is mainly with the "point of light" thingy, Eberron had done away with that idea (in the 5 nations that is) and made Urban adventures not only more interesting, but more likely. The setting itself just felt more thought out and not just an excuse for random encouters. I see it as a step back in the wrong direction.
Pardon my words but: 4E Eberron is taking us back to 2E mentality! ;)
I always figured the 5 nations were protected, but not invincible. You can travel in Karnnath without worrying about random orc attacks. However, a lord of dust plot or an attack by the emerald claw is always possible and even likely. It's just that the land is tamed and civilized after 2000 years of human civilization.
Strange...after a 100 years of war and with so many bandits and outlaws(from Jungle Boys to Sutger to the Black Highway), not to mention sideffects of mystical forces employed and undermanned fortresses, tamed and civilised is certainly not the way I saw it. Tamed and civilised died as the Last War raged on and it's too soon for its return.
So no, I don't feel that the setting has changed much. Yes I can see the focus change over to a more dark and gritty world. But to me that is a welcome step, because I used to neglect that.
I have no Idea if the Ashen crown is a good or bad adventure, I haven't had the time to look it over yet. But as said, I feel that this version of D&D and Eberron mesh so well it is almost spooky.
Or to quote the council of robot elders in Futurama:
Silence... I concur!!