D&D 5E Does Eberron need to be high fantasy?

[Staffan]

I ran an adventure based off the Great Train Robbery. It turned out pretty well. I wish I would have had time to turn it into an ongoing thing.

Some day, I want to run a Murder on the Orien Express.

 

[Uchawi]

I would just take a perspective from the real world in reference to the farther removed you are from the "civilized or technologically adept" part of the world the more likely you can subscribe or practice different ideals; or magic in this case. So just focus on a part of Eberron that is farther removed for less high fantasy. The same principal applies with any setting.

But you do have a perception of a setting that must be overcome, either as a player or DM, to make it what you want. And usually that is half the battle.

 

[sunshadow21]

The thing about Eberron and high magic is that while powerful magic exists, it's almost always in the hands of organizations, not individuals, so it wouldn't be that hard to tone it down for 5E. The high magic of the airships, the trains, etc, can still be there, but it's not in the hands of the PCs and it's not going to be readily available via magic shops. Even if PCs are part of a larger organization like one of the Dragonmarked Houses or one of the governments, they are not going to be simply handed that level of magic and told to go have fun with it. If they get it all, it will be either for specific missions or after a long time of showing loyalty to that organization and the causes that organization, with extremely strong expectations of continuing to actively do so in the future; the cost in freedom of action is often not going to be worth it to many players. This is personally how I handled it in 3.5, when it was first released. Just because the world has that level of magic doesn't mean the PCs are going to have free access to it. Access is the part about magic and magic items that made that edition seem so broken; limit the access, and suddenly the rest of the rules weren't so bad. The party as a whole may have an airship, but it's going to take the whole party, along with several additional NPCs to boot, to get much use from it.

 

[Herobizkit]

I was always of the opinion that Eberron had 'pulp noir' as one of its influences. To that end, I don't see why a city-based campaign with lots of inter-house intrigue and skulduggery would also necessitate high fantasy (Warforged notwithstanding, but hey, Atomic Robo!).

Heck, the OP could go out of his way to create such a 'berg where some folks just don't get access to that everyday magic... we'd call it 'The Slums'.

 

[Amatiel]

After initally playing the Rise of Tiamat in a Faerun setting, the one thing my players disliked the most was the low magic setting that prevails in 5e and Faerun. When we started playing PoA I changed the setting to Eberron, and everyone much prefers the high magic-tech base/ steam-punk feel that prevails in Eberron. But it is a choice not ewvery group will go for. I even re-instated a limited "magic-shop" avaiblility in big cities (eg., Sharn). Gives the PCs some goals for their treasure, and they aren't as limited by what they find.

 

[ad_hoc]

After initally playing the Rise of Tiamat in a Faerun setting, the one thing my players disliked the most was the low magic setting that prevails in 5e and Faerun. When we started playing PoA I changed the setting to Eberron, and everyone much prefers the high magic-tech base/ steam-punk feel that prevails in Eberron. But it is a choice not ewvery group will go for. I even re-instated a limited "magic-shop" avaiblility in big cities (eg., Sharn). Gives the PCs some goals for their treasure, and they aren't as limited by what they find.

You found HotDQ to be low magic?

We have very different ideas of what that means.

I do think it is interesting that I am getting very different responses in this thread. Some people have posted that Eberron is meant to be more like Indiana Jones than typical D&D while others have said that it should have way more magic.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I do think it is interesting that I am getting very different responses in this thread. Some people have posted that Eberron is meant to be more like Indiana Jones than typical D&D while others have said that it should have way more magic.

That's because these are both true, and not necessarily in conflict. It depends on where you are in the setting, and how you use the broad/common magic. The standard Eberron "everyday" magic should take the place of the tech in the Indiana Jones movies. The trains, the planes, the lamps, the mining equipment. But the "adventuring magic"--enchanted swords, figurines of wondrous power, wands, etc.--can still be quite rare and represent the equivalent of some of Indy's artifact finds.

 

[TwoSix]

I tend to think of Eberron as the D&D equivalent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Depending on the villain and portion of the setting you set your adventure in, you can do something as zoomed-in and low-powered as Jessica Jones and Daredevil or as high-powered and cosmic as Guardians of the Galaxy. The best part of Eberron is that all of those kinds of stories have NPCs and hooks already made and placed in the setting.

 

[S'mon]

I think it can definitely be a "common magic, low fantasy" setting. As said above, just cut out the adventurer/battle magic, make common/industrial magic that simulates modern life ca 1930 cheap and plentiful. Airships and 'electric' lighting, not wands of fireballs.

 

[Mephista]

One thing I feel that is important to note is that, even in 3e, Eberron was assumed to be lower powered than other settings - even the most powerful spellcaster in the game, Jaela Daran, head of the Silver Flame, is a level 16 cleric, but only while inside the main church, severely limiting her power. No NPC that I'm aware of is stronger than her; I doubt anyone has access to level 9 magic. And there are books that specifically state that Eberron was never designed to use epic levels.

So, in that respect, we're very much talking about a much lower level of magic than FR or Greyhawk, where we have several archmages and epic warriors freely wandering the world. In fact, I would argue that Eberron is very much an ideal setting for many games, in terms of level - most games end around level 11 or so, which is roughly the higher end of much of Eberron as well.

Honestly, my biggest gripe with Eberron is the same one I have with most other D&D settings - they're almost all stuck in the Age of Man, with humans dominating so much of the space. How about some variation?