Dungeons & Dragons Online is slowly changing my mind about Eberron

[amerigoV]

Will a Wizard's college really waste valuable class space on somebody who will never improve? Will a clerical order take a novice that isn't wise enough to see the deeper mysteries?

In words of wisdom learned from the Font of all Knowledge referred to as Animal House: "We need the Dues."

 

[Storminator]

Eberron isn't as much the "1920's redone with magic-as-technology" as I thought, but I still think people who assume that because the rules say something is possible that it is mandatory.

Eberron is deep and broad enough that you can run a lot of different games in it without feeling contrived. But it certainly ALLOWS "1920's redone with magic-as-technology" if that's what you want.

In my current game the PCs are goblins (goblin civilization is 20,000 years old with dreams of reviving the Empire). I've done an underdark exploration adventure, a raid on a goblin warren, a very personalized noir-ish city mystery adventure, and I have a pure dungeon crawl coming up. I have a plan to do a Sharn crime spree (generally, wherever I send these goblins eventually becomes a crime spree...) and a western in Eldeen Reaches. There are so many options available in Eberron I doubt I'll touch half of them in this campaign (frex, I won't get to the awesome Heart of Darkness in Q'Barra idea...).

And the Sharn book is one of the best supplements ever. Easily my favorite setting ever.

PS

 

[Siberys]

There are still train-commuting bugbears punching steam-timeclocks in Sharn.

See, this is the sort of thing that can give people odd ideas about the setting. There's a major misconception about the setting as being steampunk, for example; it really isn't, IMO, but that sentence heavily implies that it is. Yes, there're monstrous workers and trains (though I'd argue they're rare enough and expensive enough that a commuter train wouldn't exist; i.e. Mostly either a luxury for the rich or a fast means of transport between fairly large cities.), but saying that is saying something very different than the quote.

My point being that it's VERY easy to misrepresent the setting with a single errant word. The above sentence comes loaded with a huge number of setting expectations that may or may not be true. Which is not to say that if you did want 9-to-5 bugbears you couldn't do it, just that it isn't really assumed you have to. Which really says a lot about the setting; it covers so many different genres while staying consistent and 'feeling' D&D-y.

[Not to pick on you, WayneLigon, just that that was an easy sentence to use as an example.]

 

[Klaus]

See, this is the sort of thing that can give people odd ideas about the setting. There's a major misconception about the setting as being steampunk, for example; it really isn't, IMO, but that sentence heavily implies that it is. Yes, there're monstrous workers and trains (though I'd argue they're rare enough and expensive enough that a commuter train wouldn't exist; i.e. Mostly either a luxury for the rich or a fast means of transport between fairly large cities.), but saying that is saying something very different than the quote.

My point being that it's VERY easy to misrepresent the setting with a single errant word. The above sentence comes loaded with a huge number of setting expectations that may or may not be true. Which is not to say that if you did want 9-to-5 bugbears you couldn't do it, just that it isn't really assumed you have to. Which really says a lot about the setting; it covers so many different genres while staying consistent and 'feeling' D&D-y.

[Not to pick on you, WayneLigon, just that that was an easy sentence to use as an example.]

Re: cheap trains: The lightning rail has stripped-down coaches with cheap seats, but you don't get any food, security or a place to sleep (you sit on a wooden bench throughout the trip). But there's not much in the way of a true commute, the stations are far apart, and the rail, despite its name, travels at about 40 miles per hour.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Heh - I was kind of the opposite of the OP in regards to Stormreach. By picking a place without so many of the elements that make Eberron unique I felt that they were missing the point.

Trains and airships are mostly for the wealthy, but adventurers are often richer than kings. I like the fantasy noir of the setting, and the 1920s 'End of Empire' vibe caused by the Last War while the next war can be seen on the horizon.

I want the trains and airships. I want to steal the plans for a slowly moving land fortress then scheme a way to rescue a political prisoner from its depths. I want to be able to go to the office and have a message sent by crystal that the package is safe, and waiting delivery to the Cyre remnants. I like that magic is replacing technology, but that the modern age is dawning.

On the plus side - being able to jump up and grab a ledge with your fingertips is great - movement in Stormreach is excellent.

The Auld Grump

 

[Siberys]

Re: cheap trains: The lightning rail has stripped-down coaches with cheap seats, but you don't get any food, security or a place to sleep (you sit on a wooden bench throughout the trip). But there's not much in the way of a true commute, the stations are far apart, and the rail, despite its name, travels at about 40 miles per hour.

Well, yeah; my point was that I wouldn't call that a commuter train. Great place to hide if you're running from the law, though!

 

[amerigoV]

Originally Posted by wingsandsword
Will a Wizard's college really waste valuable class space on somebody who will never improve? Will a clerical order take a novice that isn't wise enough to see the deeper mysteries?

In words of wisdom learned from the Font of all Knowledge referred to as Animal House: "We need the Dues."

Although I did answer flippantly in my original reply, at least in 3.x you can improve via the stat boost every 3 levels. So a level 1 wizard with an 11 INT can raise that up to a 17 INT by level 18. He will not be the best wizard by far, and likely to be eaten by Grue long before reaching L18, but the implications by the system is that people can improve. Throw in a magical stat boost and you you might keep pace.

Heck, even a 10 Int wizard might make if he hangs out in the forest and kills enough boars with a stick!

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Heck, even a 10 Int wizard might make if he hangs out in the forest and kills enough boars with a stick!

I am reminded of an article on Lichie the Lich.

 

[wingsandsword]

Although I did answer flippantly in my original reply, at least in 3.x you can improve via the stat boost every 3 levels. So a level 1 wizard with an 11 INT can raise that up to a 17 INT by level 18. He will not be the best wizard by far, and likely to be eaten by Grue long before reaching L18, but the implications by the system is that people can improve. Throw in a magical stat boost and you you might keep pace.

Heck, even a 10 Int wizard might make if he hangs out in the forest and kills enough boars with a stick!

So, how is this an improvement from AD&D in terms of making there be more Wizards and hence more magic items and enchantments?

In AD&D (2e at least, I don't have my 1e books handy) all it took to be a Mage was a 9 INT, and you could cast up to 4th level spells with that. All 3.x did in this regard was standardize the math about requirements for spellcasting, instead of unintuitive tables in the back of the PHB, and those requirements were sometimes higher.

Given you didn't need to spend XP in AD&D to make magic items (and sources waffled if you had to lose CON points to make permanent non-consumable items or not), mechanically it would be far easier in AD&D for there to be wizards cranking out potion and scrolls in bulk as the requirements for being a Wizard were lower and there is no mechanical impediment to mass production, just a "fluff" requirement to use various rare and exotic components at DM's discretion.

 

[Klaus]

It must be noted that Eberron had the NPC class "magewright" to account for all the minor magic items.