Eberron-as corny as I think?

[WarlockLord]

Also, two things about industrialized magic:

1. Who pays all the xp? I mean, when a wizard crafts a magic item, he pays XP. This is described as paying soul energy. Who wants to do all that?

2. It cheapens magic. Magic should be something cool, unique. This setting just kind of makes magic...blah.

 

[Desdichado]

So.. What defines corny, then? Did I miss someone defining it earlier in the post? I'm too lazy to read every post.

I don't know. So am I. I think all those things are corny though, based on the m-w.com definition of it: "3 : mawkishly old-fashioned : simple and sentimental <told corny jokes>" since it's (and the movies I listed) are all harking back to old-fashioned pulp and noir themes. It doesn't bother me much, though. I guess I'm a mawkishly sentimental person at heart.

Then again, in many ways exactly the kind of fantasy the Original Poster seems to prefer seem to be corny as well, as they're also "mawkishly old-fashioned; simple and sentimental" as well.

If those things you listed are corny, J-Dawg, then I share opinion. If not, then I must fight you. We will appear in different areas on an alien planet and have to battle it out with just the weapons that evolution gave us.

YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT, DRAGONBAIT! Nature has "endowed me" [size=-2]if you know what I mean[/size] with godly natural weapons.

 

[Klaus]

Also, two things about industrialized magic:

1. Who pays all the xp? I mean, when a wizard crafts a magic item, he pays XP. This is described as paying soul energy. Who wants to do all that?

2. It cheapens magic. Magic should be something cool, unique. This setting just kind of makes magic...blah.

Here's an example of who pays the XP: http://www.bossythecow.com/Golan Dol.pdf . This is Golan Dol, a dwarf Magewright 19/Warrior 1, legendary weapon maker. To quote the text: "Little is known of his activities over the next century; he moved from village to village, supporting local militias and battling invaders, but rarely revealing his full talents."

So unless you're an Artificer, you have to risk yourself to gain XP and then turn that into magical items. An Artificer has his Craft Reserve, and can add to it by consuming the XP used in creating items (destroying them in the process).

 

[Dragonbait]

YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT, DRAGONBAIT! Nature has "endowed me" [size=-2]if you know what I mean[/size] with godly natural weapons.

Hm. In that case I guess I'll need to learn how to make gunpowder just from what I can find in a typical alien landscape, a tube, and some sharp rocks..

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I think Eberron is great because it's not the pseudo-medieval, Tolkienesque, "traditional fantasy" setting that Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, and even (to a lesser extent) Dragonlance exemplify for D&D.

It's something new and different for D&D, and a very smart move on Wizards of the Coast's part inasmuch as it provides a setting for D&D that people like me - people who are sick of Tolkien's ing books dictating "the way it is" for so many players - actually want to buy into and play.

 

[Staffan]

Elves, Dwarves, Orcs: Krynn - Check. Athas - Check.

Actually, no.

OK, Krynn has elves and dwarves. It doesn't have orcs though. The same goes for Athas, plus their elves and dwarves are so different from the norm they should probably be called something else.

 

[MarkB]

Also, two things about industrialized magic:

1. Who pays all the xp? I mean, when a wizard crafts a magic item, he pays XP. This is described as paying soul energy. Who wants to do all that?

I consider that all characters - PCs and NPCs - earn XP by doing well at their chosen trade. For PCs, that trade is adventure, so they earn XP by killing monsters and completing quests. For an NPC whose trade is magic items, it would be making a particularly successful trade, or gaining a lucrative new client. They'd only earn XP at a very slow rate from such activities, but it'd be sufficient to keep their item-creation work ticking over.

2. It cheapens magic. Magic should be something cool, unique. This setting just kind of makes magic...blah.

But the fact is that magic in any standard D&D setting isn't cool or unique. Characters are fully expected to be snowed under with acquired or purchased magic items by the mid-levels, and by the DMG demographics tables the average hamlet contains around 4-5 wizards, plus assorted other spellcasting classes.

At least with Eberron, unlike other settings, you don't have to pretend that these things are hard to find even as the PCs start purchasing bags of holding just so they can carry them all, and the setting even tones things down a bit - low-level magic is widespread, but because NPC levels in the general population are generally low, and almost all NPCs take at least some NPC class levels in addition to - or instead of - PC classes, there's very little high-level magic available - it's as rare and mysterious as you could want.

Plus, since clerics of most major deities do not trade their wares or spellcasting services, and most priests are Experts or Adepts rather than clerics anyway, divine magic is, if anything, rarer than in other settings.

 

[Drowbane]

Um, ok. Golems actually have a mythological basis. They're a Jewish legend. As for teleportation, how do you think Gandalf got out of the Balrog pit? As for airships, I don't use them.

And warforged are alot more like Golems than they are Robots. My warforged PCs are still waiting for thier computer programs and built-in laser beams, damnit!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Corny and unappealing. Sorry, Keith, but I'm just not into ninja detectives, robots, dinosaurs, or flying airships.

I play D&D.

You might want to take a look at some of the books Gygax has said were influences on D&D. Like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jack Vance, especially his "Planet of Adventure" stories.

Besides that, dinosaurs aren't D&D? Come on now.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Um, ok. Golems actually have a mythological basis. They're a Jewish legend.

That just sounds like you're trying to rationalize an untenable position. Golems are robots in everything but name only. Besides, as far as I know, golems from legend were only made of mud.

As for teleportation, how do you think Gandalf got out of the Balrog pit?

He followed the Balrog up the Endless Stair of Zirak-Zigil. They ran up a flight of stairs, essentially. It's right there in the book.

As for airships, I don't use them.

But they're certainly fantasy.