Eberron...is it worth picking -up?

[blargney the second]

Eberron's awesome. There's good adventuring to be had in that world. The lightning rail actually helps the PCs get there faster, which I love. I think Cut To The Chase ought to be the motto of Eberron. (I red-line the PCs to their adventures all the time, a la Indiana Jones.)
-blarg

 

[ajanders]

If you like Doc Savage or the Shadow better than Conan, you will like Eberron.
If you like Indiana Jones better than The Lord of the Rings, you will like Eberron.
If you'd rather be the Detective Comics Batman than Elminster, you will definitly like Eberron.

Eberron is pulp and four-color comics, not heroic fantasy or swords-and-sorcery. If you don't like pulp...or if you've never read Doc Savage or the Shadow...you either won't like it or not know what to do with it.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I don't see anything preventing heroic fantasy or swords and sorcery. I see more of the latter than in some other settings, in fact.

 

[Glyfair]

I don't see anything preventing heroic fantasy or swords and sorcery. I see more of the latter than in some other settings, in fact.

I agree, but remember that heroic fantasy and swords & sorcery started in the pulps and have very close ties to the heroic pulp fiction genres that Eberron does so well. However, those genres work well in most D&D campaign worlds, so Eberron is nothing special there.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

It's a blast to play in. You need a good DM who can capture the themes the setting goes for and you need to have a good imagination and a flare for the pulp adventure style....if you can do/have that, you're all set.

J. Grenemyer

 

[Phlebas]

I play Eberron, and think its definitely the best bought setting i've seen for some time, mainly because it allows so many plot options for the DM, background options for the PC's, and allows new options without removing the classics. Plus it actually has 4 new races, and to be honest the warforged are probably the most boring of them. Shifters, Changelings and kalashtar all have amazing role-playing possibilities and the other races are all refreshed to the stage where even the gnomes are interesting! My favourtie bit though is the fact that there is a distinct flavour to each nation and race that doesn't feel like they've just copied a country from the real world (they might have taken ideas, but it doesn't feel like a Cut & paste which was a real criticism of some older settings)

I started with Races of Eberron (as a player) and moved into ECS. The ref has those, plus a Sharn sourcebook and a few other bits and pieces but i think a few ECS and Races in the group is all you need to get going.

Of course, i think my own homebrew is better, but what DM wouldn't....

 

[Nightfall]

Thry,

I like Eberron for one reason: It's not Forgotten Realms. Honestly it's alright by me. But then again, it's no Scarred Lands either.

 

[Pants]

I like Eberron for one reason: It's not Forgotten Realms.

So that's why you like the Scarred Lands...

 

[Nightfall]

Pants,

No I liked FR. I just got tired of them treating Orcus like a chew toy.

When Scarred Lands came out I was like "YES! Finally! A world that allows druids NOT to be nature clerics!"

 

[Deadguy]

As the DM running Phlebas' game I can say honestly it's the very first campaign world that I have actually wanted to use rather than creating and running a setting of my own creation. It's a refreshing take on the D&D tropes. All the things you are used to are still there, but they are given twists at make them unexpected. And mechanically the setting is pretty sound, with mechanics reflecting flavour (rather than the other way around).

Players seem to take fairly well to the setting, and there are plenty of options to help embed their chosen characters in the setting.

And to eb honest, even if you never run a game specifically of Eberron, there are hundreds of nice idea that can be ripped off... errr... borrowed for other games: gods, religions, races, racial niches, locales, history and myth. I don't think you'd regret investing in a copy of the Eberron Campaign Sourcebook.