Are you planning on running an Eberron campaign when it comes out?

[Storminator]

My gaming life can be easily summed up as "so many games, so little time." I expect I won't get a new campaign in the queue for at least 2 years.

PS

 

[Morrow]

And while the dinosaur riding halflings interest me not at all, the hardboiled dwarfen gumshoe makes me want to rush out and buy a dwarf miniature and a package of epoxy putty! Dang it, I want to play that!

The Auld Grump, dwarfen eye for hire...

I'm with you. "Anvilbreaker and Sons is a full service detective agency. We'll find out if your lady is cheating on you, or track down your missing business partner. For a slightly higher fee we'll even retrieve that mystic doodad hidden in a forgotten temple somewhere in the middle of the Jungle o' Death."

Morrow

 

[The_Gneech]

You know... Conan is pulp and so is Elric right? How about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser??? D&D is more influenced by pulp fantasy than Tolkien or literary fantasy when you look at the core of it. Alignments come straight from Elric man...

I think you're confusing "pulp magazines," the publishing category, with "pulp adventure," the faux-genre. Conan was published in pulp magazines, yes; but when people refer to pulp in reference to Eberron, they're referring to '30s-style Jack Armstrong/Indiana Jones cliffhangers.

-The Gneech

 

[teitan]

Pulp as a genre is not defined by an era but by a style of writing. A little cursory research will reveal that...

Pulp has been confused with an era because of the popularity of Doc, SHadow or Indiana Jones but Doc and Shadow are not all there is to Pulp, just the most recognizable aspects. Indiana Jones, while pulp inspired (Doc), takes more of a serial based influence, like Jungle Jim, in the same way Star Wars was inspired by Flash Gordon serials and Buck Rogers. Why is it so many people confuse Flash Gordon with Pulp when it isn't so focused on a particular era (even the strip today is set in the NOW, not 1930s) and never appeared in a Pulp Magazine as we know FLash Gordon? Because Pulp is a style of writing and not an era as I said above. James Bond is considered a pulp hero in spite of his exploits being 1950s and 1960s. The Destroyer novels are pulp novels (y'know, Remo WIlliams).

Now Pulp is a loaded word these days amongst RPG players because of games like Adventure or even Gangbusters, but they aren't the majority who will look at you and say "what is pulp". You talk to some pretty hardcore Pulp fans, it is pretty much just the era in which the books were written that informs the fiction than a particular fictional era or genre.

WOTC used the wrong word though...

Jason

 

[MDSnowman]

Hi, out of curiosity, what were your new reasons for disliking FR, give that the only 'product' was the book and the actual execution of the campaign was the responsibility of you and your players? Perhaps you dislike the way said campaign turned out or you became burned out on the setting. But please don't fall back on any sort of objective experience you have with what is essentially a piece of fluff that relies on massive amounts of interpretation ingame.

It was mostly the same reasons, for a new system. I found that me and my players only got inspired in play when I was throwing newer realms material at them... the old stuff, like our trip through Myth Dranneor got old quickly. Only I spent more time running this campaign than I did running a FR campaign in AD&D. It wasn't meant as a flame or anything just making an observation that campaign worlds like FR and Greyhawk don't really do anything for me and that I'm always willing to try something new.

 

[buzz]

WOTC used the wrong word though...

From the overview on the WotC Eberron site (emphasis added):

The features that most set Eberron apart are its tone and attitude. The setting combines traditional medieval fantasy with pulp action and dark adventure. Make no mistake -- the world of Eberron proudly takes its place among the D&D worlds that have come before, with a cinematic flair and an eye toward the best action-adventure movies ever filmed.

This seems to fit.

As for me, I voted "yes." I agree with Painfully et al. that we can't assume too much until we've seen the actual product, however, everything I've seen so far has really impressed me, not to mention inspired a lot of campaign ideas. Much moreso than most other published campaign settings I've seen. I'm already planning the campaign in my head.

(The only other settings I've felt compelled to purchase are FR --as the books are gorgeous and pretty much all-purpose D&D supplements IMO-- and Midnight, which simply has the best, most adventure-laden premise of any setting I've seen.)

Basically, I am Eberron's bitch.

 

[Hamburger Mary]

Nothing i've seen of Eberron so far reminds me of those writings (Elric, Conan). At all.

Really? Conan isn't an adventurer who stands head and shoulders above the other men of the world, a traveler who discovers forgotten civilizations and lost temples, a warrior who fights despicable villains and their nefarious plans?

I guess we've been reading different stories... or looking at different information about Eberron. For what it's worth (and it may not be much) the author has specifically mentioned Conan as something to read to help get a sense of the flavor of the setting.

 

[teitan]

Originally Posted by PJ-Mason
Nothing i've seen of Eberron so far reminds me of those writings (Elric, Conan). At all.

Alignments are a very important part of Elric but so are shades of grey, which is an important part of Eberron. Elric, much like some themes of Eberron, was a morality play and exploring what morality meant to the world at large.

Visually, Eberron seems to have a strong FF (particularly Amano) influence but visuals are not what makes Eberron partake of Elric or Conan, heck I have seen Elric look like the world of Conan. Early Conan art had him in a pair of shorts similar to modern jungle shorts! So which Elric is the real one man, P. Craig Russell or Brom? What about Chris Ariello (is that right?)? Didn't Elmore do some Elric work?

Lets not discuss visuals as what provides influence but STYLE.

Jason

 

[Belen]

Lets not discuss visuals as what provides influence but STYLE.

Style?

Pulp anime seems to be the style for Eberron, which is blended by magitech/ punk anachronisms.

It seems that some people are huge fans of a setting that they have never seen, while arguing with those people who have been turned off by the material that has been released.

Generally, I disagree with people that say that you have to wait and read the whole thing before making a decision. WOTC releases what they feel is the BEST representation of the setting. If the best is a turn-off, then why waste your time?

I do not mind people who like what they have seen, but sometimes it can go a bit far.

For me, the setting is a huge turn off. It's an excuse to showcase WOTC crunch, the mini rules, and the horrible "action-point" system. It's a setting that was written FOR the rules.

Eberron serves the rules, the rules do not serve Eberron.

 

[buzz]

...the horrible "action-point" system.

What the heck is wrong with action points?

IMO, D&D needs action points like a fish needs water.