Eberron- And why I cannot jump onboard? A different take

[Felon]

Nothing about it has really "wowed" me yet either. I still kind of fail to understand the central "hook" of the setting.

Really? So, saying "Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Lord of the Rings by way of the Maltese Falcon" doesn't really convey much meaning much to you??? Geez.

Well, me neither! It's like listening to a writer pitch his movie to some Hollywood exec whose intelligence he has no respect for, by saying his idea's a mixture of a bunch of familiar successful things that in truth have little to do with it. They even go to the effort to slip in a Raiders reference that's only vaguely tangential to the discussion of Eberron organizations in this web enhancement

However, the preview of the Artificer core class in the most recent Dragon mag did kind of pique my interest -- it looks really different and fun and yet still fitting into D&D. So I may be able to use pieces of it the way some folks use pieces of FR books.

That's pretty much how I look at it.

I'll say I liked Eberron from the first art booklet(I'm an art sucker). I think it looks really interesting, and the idea how how would magic affect a developing/developed world.

Feh. Sounds like they're just taking the path of least resistance, providing magical analogues to technological devices, i.e. continual flame streetlights and lightning rail subways. Basically like playing cyberpunk with magic. Spellpunk.

 

[hong]

Feh. Sounds like they're just providing magical analogues to technological devices, i.e. continual flame streetlights and lightning rail subways. Basically like playing cyberpunk with magic. Spellpunk.

Are you having fun, sludgepunk boy?

 

[megamania]

The first book will be a make it - break it book. I suspect it will cost me 40 dollars (good thing b-day is in July) but I'll buy it. If it sucks...Then the hell with it. If I like it...I get more.

Based on the Dragon articals I've read, it has possibilities but as many have suggested already- is it really new? The next queation- is there anything yet to be done?


time will tell.

 

[Felon]

Are you having fun, sludgepunk boy?

Life is good, thanks for asking,

So, just how little thought goes through your head before you issue an insult on this board? Guess the house rules don't apply to you, eh? Ah well, I did say something you don't agree with, so I guess I had it coming!

 

[hong]

So, just how little thought goes through your head before you issue an insult on this board?

As little as the insultee merits.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, I'LL BE HERE ALL WEEK.

Ah well, I did say something you don't agree with, so I guess I had it coming!

Cognitive dissonance is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

 

[maddman75]

Not for me. Higher magic is a big turnoff. And as far as mixing technology with magic, I didn't like it when it was called shadowrun and I don't like it now.

 

[megamania]

If there is a good and proper reason for the magic and tech feel I'm okay with it. If its about guardians and airships I'm okay with it. If is about garbage disposal systems and flushing toilets...no.

If you are truely opposed to magic and tech then don't ever use a golem. That is what they are in many ways- worked metal that is animated through magic to perform a set programmed task.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Its tough to get excited about something that there seems to be so little known about. All I see is that it will have high magic, lots of steampunk kind of stuff, traditional D&D fantasy, lost world (dinosaurs), yadda, yadda yadda. Is it going to be like going to DisneyWorld? "Hey, we're in Tomorrowland, let's take the train over to Fantasyland" Or will it actually be integrated in an intriguing way that will set it apart?

I think you hit the nail on the head! Do you remember the first round of the Setting Search Contest? You'd describe your world in one page and answer a bunch of simple questions. I guess what Keith (is this his name?) typed was:

"The world is like Disney World right down to the personnel emptying trash cans in Mickey Mouse-costumes. The heroes are Bogey and Indy. There are sub-parks which can house anything; lost world, train robbery-land, pirates of the Carribean or anything else Hollywood coughs up. Bogey and Indy comes from civilised lands (the Parade Avenue) and they go to the various sub-parks and try to collect trinkets, gadgets and artifacts. A dungeon is a resettable attraction (the MMORPGS are going to love this)" LOL

I'm not entirely serious and I don't want to come off like I hate the idea - it's actually pretty nice. I guess this could have been what caught the suits' attention - Disney World.

So now we have:

Faerun - The Forgotten Realms
Krynn - Dragonlance
Athas - Dark Sun
and
[drumfill]
Eberron - Disney World

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

*Shrug*

I'll judge when it comes out. What I've seen so far doesn't fit my taste -- too high magic and high technology. I *like* gritty low-magic pseudo-medieval, 'cause that's what D&D means to me (though, arguably, Greyhawk ain't really that low magic).

But then, we've got worlds that do that. We'll see when it comes out.

 

[Frostmarrow]

*Shrug*

I'll judge when it comes out. What I've seen so far doesn't fit my taste -- too high magic and high technology. I *like* gritty low-magic pseudo-medieval, 'cause that's what D&D means to me (though, arguably, Greyhawk ain't really that low magic).

But then, we've got worlds that do that. We'll see when it comes out.

A problem I've noticed is supposedly low-magic settings are still shockful of magic. Sometimes even more so than high-magic ones. The thing people seem to be looking for when wishing for a low-magic world magic being fantastic and not common-place. They wish for magic to be around in the hands of player's and DM's but almost unheard of in the hands of NPCs.

Now when it comes to Eberron it is labeled as high-magic but there is one interesting thing about it. On the WoTC boards I found this (typed by one Kravell):

Most NPCs use NPC classes. Seems to make sense but FR and GH, both good worlds, seem made up mostly of PHB classed NPCS. In a nutshell, the player characters matter more than any NPC.
Villains still use PHB classes or are monsters. Therefore, the player characters are needed to take on the villains since most NPCs aren't as tough as the PCs.

This seem to imply that PCs will have access to high-magic but most other folks will not. If they (WoTC) sticks to this it might create the feel a lot of the low-magic camp looks for but still allow for fantastic stuff to exist.

Still, I'm with you Olgar. I'll judge it when it comes out. I'm not against this DisneyWorld-approach and it can make for a really terrific world - catering to all kinds of tastes. I mean, Indy goes to the jungles of the South America, to the pyramids of Egypt, to a gothic castle in Germany and a whole slew of other interesting places. In D&D everything will of course be exaggerated but it might still allow for anyones particular style. I'm looking forward to a gothic, werewolf, vampire, Ravenloft kind of subpark and if there is one I might never leave - or maybe I'll pop over to the pyramids to fight mummys with the night train.