Eberron-as corny as I think?

[Glyfair]

I'm not sure that I agree about Eberron being like early twentieth century fantasy - I'd need a pretty thorough list of examples before I'd accept that premise.

There are strong elements of it, but also elements of the medieval assumptions as well

It is the most navel-gazing of D&D settings in that it takes the rules of the game and builds a world around them - since I'm not a fan of many of the core D&D assumptions about how the world works, it follows that the setting doesn't appeal to me.

I've heard this a lot recently, and I think it's wrong. Eberron wasn't built by taking the core D&D rules and building a game around them. It doesn't have that feel.

However, I do think Keith (and the other designers) did understand that the fewer things that break your willing suspension of disbelief in a setting, the better the campaign. Thus, they limited the number of things that break that.

For example, one thing that tends to seem odd in D&D settings are the number of high level characters (especially magic-using types) who don't seem to actually do anything. Keith and company could have said "this world should work on the D&D principles, so we'll make sure they are prominant in the campaign." They didn't. Instead, they tweaked the demographics and made PC classes rare, and high level characters rarer. No more running to find a high level archmage when you need a wish spell to save the kingdom, because there aren't any that are handy (there's that guy isolated in the country run by monsters, who seems to be Dr. Moreau type, that might not be safe to bother him).

Keith developed the feel he wanted for the world, then the designers developed the world, keeping the rules in mind. They didn't start with the rules and then developed the setting they thought would arise from that.

 

[Soel]

I take it you're not terribly familiar with the 'pulp' literature of the early 1900s?

I don't see the connection between pulp and Eberron, except for the fact that the ad copy tells you that it has a pulp feeling. Piratecat's summation of pulp-" larger than life heroes, non-stop action, dastardly villains, cinematic fights," seems to fit just about every setting I've ever seen (seems more of a play-style than a "setting" issue.)

As far as how good it is, well, I played in a short campaign there, and thought it was ok. Seemed to be missing something, but what, I cannot determine. I'm not too keen on some of the asthetics, either.

 

[The Shaman]

There are strong elements of it, but also elements of the medieval assumptions as well.

Could you be more specific? What early twentieth-century writers would you say inspire Eberrron? H.G. Wells, perhaps? Edgar Rice Burroughs? Abraham Merritt? If any of these click, could you explain a bit about how Eberron incorporates concepts from these writers?

I'm trying to get a handle on where this opinion comes from, because as Soel notes, the repeated pulp comparisons in the hype machine ad copy don't make much sense to me.

I've heard this a lot recently, and I think it's wrong. Eberron wasn't built by taking the core D&D rules and building a game around them. It doesn't have that feel.

To you, perhaps - it feels very contrived around the core rulebook to me.

Keith developed the feel he wanted for the world, then the designers developed the world, keeping the rules in mind. They didn't start with the rules and then developed the setting they thought would arise from that.

I disagree - one of the constraints from the initial search was that the setting needed to be playable using the core rules, which means there had to be elves and dwarves and orcs, fire-and-forget magic, divine magic and its dedicated practitioners, paladins and monks, and so on. The setting seems to follow the recent trend in the fantasy genre as a whole of extrapolating what aworld would be like with safe, reliable magic as technology, but because that magic is required to be the magic of Dungeons and Dragons, there are certain inherent limitations on what the final product would look and feel like.

 

[rounser]

It doesn't have that feel.

Eh? It brags about how it turns magic into industry (like that's a good thing or something).

 

[jasin]

I just posted this on another forum the other day:

What I first heard about Eberron, sounded either really silly or uninspired. There was a Last War. There's dungeons to explore, monsters to kill, and treasure to take. There are hard-boiled dwarf detectives, but they use battleaxes instead of handguns. Meh.

But it works.

Eberron manages to consider the impact of magic on everyday life without going too far and devolving into The Flintstones with magic standing in for rock. The political map looks natural and grounded in the history of the world and not just the fact that "we wanted to have an Egyptian-inspired adventuring area, and also a Russian-inspired adventurgin area, an also..." and yet, it's easy enough to tack our world sterotypes onto people of Eberron, so that it's not "eh? Aundair? Karrnath? what's the difference, they're all kingdoms in Eberron". It brings an interesting twist to the elves while still keeping the core (for D&D at least) concept of tree-hugging warrior-mages intact. It has dungeons, dragons, demons, multinational corporations that don't defer to state authority, Dr. Fu Manchu, the Man in the Iron Mask, air pirates, German/East-European vampires, Joan of Arc, evil Joan of Arc, Nazis and goblin ninjas... without being a parody!

What's not to like?

 

[blargney the second]

I thought "meh" right up until I actually sat down at the game store and read through some of the book. The introduction chapter was what really sold me on it.

 

[glass]

Well, I don't play it or "love it", but I certainly don't think it's "corny."

What he said. I didn't vote.


glass.

 

[GSHamster]

I like Eberron, and I think it's a good, unique, and interesting setting.

However, if all we had was Eberron, and no Forgotten Realms/Greyhawk/more traditional setting, I would be unhappy.

But as they say, variety is the spice of life.

 

[Drowbane]

Originally I was Anti-Eberron. First of all, I scoffed at the notion that anything could rival my beloved FR (Planescape doesn't count... since I consider it part of my FR ). Then I was standing in Borders (or was it Barnes and Noble?) thumbing through the Races of Eberron book. The write up for the Warforged grabbed me, and I bought the book on a whim. Shortly after I found myself shelling out the cash for the ECS. Then I found myself in San Diego with a new group rolling up a Talenta Halfling Druid (I came in at 4th or 5th level)... with a *dinosaur* (clawfoot + natural bond... sweet!) Animal Companion!

I guess you could say I'm a convert. There will always be a spot in my heart for the older settings, but Eberron has taken hold as well (In fact, ya know those unindentified continents in the FRCS map towards the back of the book? Yeah... Khorvaire, Xendrik, et al).

Edit: Random thought: I love how Eberron-haters mock the Airships, Elemental-Trains, and "Robots"... but they're perfectly cool with D&D's Golems, FR's Airships (Halrua is silly with them), and teleportation magics (Beam me up, Scotty!).

 

[green slime]

I don't know what you think.

As to whether I think Eberron is corny? No, I do not. More beany, actually. Or perhaps like a Tomatoe. But then again, tomatoes and beans go together quite well, so maybe it is just me getting old and confused.