Eberron Campaign Setting

[IronWolf]

An entirely new campaign setting for the D&D roleplaying game.

During the spring and summer of 2002 Wizards of the Coast put out a request to the gaming community for propasals for a new D&D game setting. 11,000 propasals and two years of development later, the Eberron Campaign Setting is the result of that search. This brand new setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is an avenue for any D&D fan to experience swashbuckling adventure laced with intrigue and explore mysterious new territories ravaged by war. At its heart, the setting remains true to the D&D game, yet brings it to life in a way never before imagined.

Designed to introduce a fresh, new world with unlimited possibilities for exploration, the Eberron Campaign Setting includes everything needed to develop characters and run campaigns in this exciting new arena. It includes new character races, monsters, prestige classes, feats, organizations, and equipment to the world, and it introduces a new base class to the D&D game. It contains substantial information on new elements of magic, including spells, domains, items, artifacts, and more. Also included are historical and cultural details of the world, along with extensive illustrations and a wealth of maps that put the setting into vivid context. This title will also include both adventure hooks and a full adventure so players and Dungeon Masters can immediately begin enjoying everything this rich new setting has to offer.

 

[Trickstergod]

So you know something?

I really, really wasn't looking forward to Eberron. It seemed everything in the previews was purposely looking to draw out my disdain for their new campaign setting. Between dinosaurs and prestige classes bearing names such as "Extreme Explorer," everything I saw regarding it gave me a less then delightful picture of it.

Now that I've actually read it? Ho boy, was I wrong.

Having finally finished reading through it, I have to say that I'm fairly impressed and surprised by the campaign setting. It fits so very many types of stories, games and themes into it that it that it seems it should come across as clunky and crowded, yet, near as I can see, has blended a variety of elements together quite well indeed.

The world of Eberron picks up two years after the great, century-long civil war known as the Last War has ended, during which time a merchant house was split into two, one nation become five then twelve, a race of sentient, living constructs came into being and, by the time it was finished, an entire country and likely millions of people were all destroyed in a mysterious cataclysm that finally brought an end to the conflict.

I'm not even sure where to begin. There's simply so much that can be said about the book, that I want to say and I'm sure I'll miss some things. So, I'll go roughly by its chapter breakdown:

The first thing the book establishes is the tone of the setting, most importantly in the "Ten Things You Need To Know" section. This is a general run-down of the book, going over the key points of the setting. If it's in the core books, it's in Eberron, magic is pervasive, morality isn't so clear cut, it's a world of adventure and so on. A handy little resource for those who don't want to pour through the entire book all at once before making up a character (or for that matter, browsing through it in a bookstore while deciding to buy it).

From there it follows up with the character races, both how those from the Player's Handbook fit into the setting as well as the new races unique to Eberron. The write-up on the Player's Handbook races is a good thing to have included, establishing their role in the world, but it's Eberron's four new races that are most likely to draw your interest. These are the changelings, kalashtar, shifters and warforged.

Changelings are the descendents of dopplegangers and humans, a race of shapeshifters that bear a touch of both races to them. Their powers aren't quite so potent as dopplegangers, but they still retain the ability to change shape, innately possessing disguise self, making them consummate spies, actors and assassins amongst other things.

Kalashtar also represent a melding of human and another creature, but in this case, it's come about from a form of willing possession that, over the course of the centuries, has shaped the human hosts into something else. A blend of refugee outsiders from the plane of dreams and nightmares with simple mortals, the kalashtar are a naturally psionic race of a goodly nature, escaping from beings far more alien and evil-natured than they.

Keeping with the theme of one race blending into another, we have the shifters. Herein are the off-shoots of lycanthropes and humans, the legacy of the werecreatures that were nearly hunted to extinction. Just like with the changelings, while they're not quite so potent as their progenitors, they possess some unique ability to shift for a limited period of time, calling upon their lycanthrope heritage and primal hearts.

Lastly, there are the warforged. While personally I think I liked the changelings more, the warforged are definitely going to stick out the most to many people. They're the most out there of the four new races here and could be discussed extensively. The warforged have only been in existence for thirty years, the culmination of the Last Wars war efforts. Originally constructs designed with some intelligence to be more adaptable on the battlefield, the warforged grew to become truly sentient creatures, with a spark of life to them. Warforged aren't quite constructs - they have a Constitution rating, for one - but bear a number of similarities to them. They can be healed, but not quite as effectively as humanoids, but can also be repaired. Being sentient, they're vulnerable to mind-affecting spells, but, being made of metal, wood and stone, naturally possess light fortification. Bred for war, in lieu of peace they find themselves without the purpose they once had, freed from being property by the same treaty that ended the Last War. They're abilities are slightly questionable - they receive a number of advantages as well as disadvantages - but don't seem too over-powering, in light of the detriments to being a warforged.

Oh, and to those who question just why anyone would have paid to have these beings made instead of just relying off of a good, old standard living soldier who didn't need thousands of gold to be produced, keep in mind that warforged don't need to eat or sleep and can be trained within a year as opposed to fifteen. Also, what would you rather lose - some gold, or a loved one?

Once through with the character races, we head into the PC classes of Eberron. Again, just like with the character races, all the Player's Handbook classes are shown their place in the setting and we also have one new core class to add in that takes advantage of the magic as industry theme that runs through the book - that of the Artificer.

The artificer, as the name suggests, is focused on the enhancement of items as well as the creation of them. They receive points every level that can be used for creating items, bonus feats centering around item creation and spells that center around enhancing items. In fact, while spellcasters, the artificer can't actually cast spells directly - they first have to be cast onto an item, granting it an "infusion." Though some might see this as a disadvantage keep in mind first off, it's in line with the theme of the class and, secondly, the artificer spontaneously cast spells while having complete access to his spell list just like a cleric does. Furthermore, they can directly cast spells on constructs.

Now, as I said, the other classes all are given their setting write-ups but one in particular is most noteworthy: that of the cleric. In most settings, the gods are close, even if only a plane shift. Here? Not so. The gods are distant and it's not even known if they're real. There's faith and religion, but no one can actually contact the gods. Because of this, in part, the alignment restrictions on clerics are eliminated. That is to say, the more goodly churches are open and subject to corruption in the form of evil clerics. Detect evil still gets around this, showing that these individuals are corrupt but, keep in mind that they're still wielding divine power in the name of a goodly faith. This makes things much more interesting for those who take an interest in faith in their campaign settings...

Chapter three brings us to Heroic Characteristics, such as feats, amongst other things. Among these would be Action Points. Action Points aren't particularly original but do add to the pulp-hero flavor of the setting, granting a PC an extra needed oomph when they're really trying to accomplish something.

Then there's the aforementioned feats. They're nice, for the most part, particularly the dragonmark feats that I'll go into in just a moment, as well as the warforged and shifter-specific feats. However, I was rather displeased with the Investigate, Research and Urban Tracking feats all. What do these feats do? They let you do extra stuff with your Skills, such as find clues, specific information in a book, or trail someone in a city. My problem with these feats? These were things I'd already considered to be covered under skills without needing feats to do them. I feel the presence of these feats ultimately weakens Skills even further, something I think to be a poor move. I think the feats could have been done away with in favor of just offering new uses for the Skills without needing to throw three new feats at them.

Of the most note, though, would be the dragonmarks. What are dragonmarks? Dragonmarks are a visible manifestation of magic, vaguely reminiscent to a tattoo, that randomly appear within certain families (all of these families being members of the Player's Handbook races). These marks grant the bearers a few minor spell-like abilities at the cost of a feat. The families holding these marks have become merchants beyond compare thanks to this edge. It's not much, but has been enough to grant them greater leverage over other experts and aristocrats who have tried to compete. Seeing as how even a priest isn't necessarily a cleric, as the cleric class represents saints and crusaders while the town priest is probably an expert, even the Mark of Healing has gain prominence for what it has to offer. Wizards are devoted to their studies, clerics to their faith, but those bearing the various dragonmarks are simply born with an advantage and have developed accordingly. The thirteen dragonmarked merchant Houses help define the setting and place more emphasis on industry and economy than past settings have while still keeping things interesting - these Houses developed the warforged, the lightning rail (akin to a monorail or train, but running on elementals) and airships and, at least with the last two, still control them. The addition of merchant families actually being major players in the setting is one of the draws Eberron has for me.

Sadly, it seems a book isn't published these days without at least a couple prestige classes and the Eberron campaign setting certainly doesn't differ in this. Thankfully, the prestige classes fit, in part. I do have a few complaints, such as the name of the Extreme Explorer....argh! Really, I'm just going to take a moment here to say that whoever gave it that name and let it stick should really get a good swift boot in the keister. It's a horrid name and was one of the reasons I'd dreaded the release of Eberron.

With that said, though, most of the prestige classes, for one, integrate the Action Point mechanic into them, making them a more integral part to the setting as well as making the Action Point mechanic something that matters instead of just kind of "being there." I think that some of the prestige classes point could be accomplished with the base classes, such as with the Extreme Explorer and the Master Inquisitive, but the others fit in rather well.

There are two prestige classes devoted to Dragonmarks, the Dragonmarked Heir and the Heir of Siberys. Both of these focus on granting power based on Dragonmarks. In the case of the Dragonmarked Heir, it grants greater power to the normal feat array of Dragonmarks and works as an aristocrat or expert based prestige class, which many Dragonmarked NPC's will have, but also offers up enough to a PC looking to take it with its three good saves and bonus dragonmark feats and uses. The Heir of Siberys, on the other hand, offers up a high-level spell to those willing to forego the feat based Dragonmarks. As with most of the prestige classes in this chapter, the Dragonmarked Heir is all of five levels, whereas the Heir of Siberys is limited to only three.

Furthermore, the warforged get the Warforged Juggernaut prestige class, and a brutal, door-kicker kind of prestige class it is and shifters get the Weretouched Master, that lets them attain a closer bond to their lycanthrope heritage. One thing about the Weretouched Master, though - it's 5th level power certainly is not balanced within itself. You have the choice of being able to shift into the form of another animal and gain ability bonuses based on the type of lycanthrope whose heritage you bear. This becomes problematic as a bear is, obviously, stronger then a boar, and the stat increases reflect this. A Weretouched Master bear is just about in every way superior to every other form you could take. I realize this is for flavor and making sense, but I don't think a player should be punished just because their interests don't coincide with what would be most beneficial to take. I think a bonus feat or the like for the weaker forms would have helped balance the prestige class out a bit. As is, it needs some work.

The remaining prestige classes are the Eldeen Ranger, suited for ranger/druids that follow one of the various druidic sects within Eberron, the Extreme Explorer, a rough and tumble class that focuses on Action Points, the Exorcist of the Silver Flame, members of a Lawful Good church that devote themselves to eliminating extraplanar threats and, finally, the Master Inquisitive for those looking to take up a detective angle with their characters.

The planes in chapter five really are a delight. Why? They completely step away from the Great Wheel cosmology here. The two look nearly nothing alike. While some might gripe that it means you can't have kender and modrons roaming around Eberron, at least with ease, I say: Great! I want Eberron to be its own setting, not something that tries to port into Dragonlance and Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. That does mean for some that Eberrons planar cosmology will have points taken off for it when it comes to purchasing, but for me, is a bonus, not a negative.

Just thinking about the planes has me going: neat! I really did enjoy reading this book. The planes are divided into thirteen and lack ready correspondences to alignment, the elements or any of that. What they do correspond to, though, is thirteen Dragonmarked Houses oh, and...thirteen moons (one of them hidden). When I first saw the planar lay-out, my first thought was that the thirteen planes were also, in turn, the thirteen moons of Eberron. As it turns out, that answer isn't definitively given, nor the link between the planes the moons and the Dragonmarked Houses. But if there isn't some link there, well...I'll be a monkeys uncle. Just one more thing that drew me into the setting.

That, as well as the way the planes become coterminous and remote with Eberron. You don't need to go plane hopping for the planes to matter. They're not just window dressing and a world unto themselves; the planes occasionally come into alignment with the planet Eberron and, when they do, the world reflects that. Two great invasions came about due to a planar alignment with Eberron, letting in mind flayers, rakshasa's and other fell creatures. Even now, when the planes align, creatures can slip on through certain parts of the world, such as fey entering in through enchanted glades or ghosts appearing when a resurrection spell is cast.

Similarly, just as a plane can be coterminous, it can also grow remote. When this happens, effects related to the remote plane are diminished. Summer isn't quite so warm, or the grass doesn't grow quite so tall.

The charts of these planar happenings are known, for the most part, but the book doesn't actually set them out for you. The DM is free to do let these planar occurences happen whenever they so like, for the most part. A DM looking to have a true disaster could have all the beneficial planes go remote just as the more harmful ones became coterminous...

Following the planar write-up comes the one on outsiders, where the possession and channeling mechanics are integrated into the setting. Getting in touch with your god might not work, but a fiend can possess you and a good soul in need can possibly channel an angel.

The rest of this chapter is devoted to the new spells and domains. These tie into the new faiths, the artificer and the like, but don't really make the setting, so I'll breeze on through them to focus on Eberron itself. Most of these are new versions of standard stuff; heal and damage spells for constructs.

Chapter six, more mechanics. New exotic weapons, new special materials, new mundane items and so on. Some of this is standard stuff, but a lot of it serves to grant more flavor to the setting as well. We've got letters of marquis, identification papers with a House Sivis (the House of scribes) mark upon them, the various services the Houses offer, details on the lightning rail, airship and so on.

One thing that got to me, though: two new damage reduction types. I hate the golf-bag syndrome of needing this type of weapon or that type and this only exasperates it more.

Chapter seven finally brings us to the world itself, the nations and culture of Eberron. It starts with a few of the basics, such as how the world relates to the three supposed creator dragons of the world, that of Siberys, the Dragon Above, Khyber, the Dragon Below and, of course, Eberron, the Dragon Between. Then it sweeps over the world itself before finally stepping ito Khorvaire, the center of all the action, the land where the Last War occured, the main center of influence for the thirteen Dragonmarked Houses. It details the rudimentary details, the calendar, the moons, economy, education and so on, at least as it applies to the continent of Khorvaire as a whole. Then we get to see the various nations laid out, from Aundair to Zilargo. This takes up a substantial portion of the book, about eighty pages worth. Here we get to meet the various rulers of the world of Eberron, the way religion interacts with society and how the Dragonmarked Houses do as well. There's really a lot here to go over, but I'll try and give a fair enough taste.

The nations range from the more human, "normal" countries such as Aundair, Breland, Karrnath and Thrane, to monstrous nations ruled by goblins, hags and rakshasa's in the form of Darguun, Droaam and the Demon Wastes. Even the human nations have their appeal, though. I'd go so far as to say as they're the more appealing of the bunch, between the vampire kings seeking freedom from the bonds of liches to the eleven year old theocrat who serves both as the spiritual leader of the Church of the Silver Flame in addition to governing as a temporal ruler for Thrane. My initial reaction to the eleven year old leader was a mixed one, but I've come to appreciate it; faith is a curious thing at times and, especially considering the tension between the former leaders of Thrane and the chuch of the Silver Flame, I saw great potential in would-be rebels needing to contend with the fact that they very well might have to kill a child to reestablish the rule Thrane once had. Eberron, in part, is about tough decisions and this highlights that fact.

Some of the nations do skimp a bit when it comes to being detailed, though. I noticed this particularly with the non-human Player's Handbook races. Both Zilargo, gnomish, and Q'barra, seemed rather short to me. Other then that, though, there are adventure ideas a plenty, from the Breland town of New Cyre, where the dispossed natives of the destroyed nation of Cyre seek to reclaim their former glory, to the Valenar elves who seek to let their ancestors live through them again by seeking in glory in combat, making their presence deadly to any who shares a border with them.

Another thing I liked while reading through the nations was the lack of high-leveled NPC's. The warlord and minister of magic for the nation of Aundair, for example, is only a 3rd level fighter, 3rd level wizard. Very few of the NPC's break the double digit mark; many of them are 9th level or lower. There are no Elminsters or Raistlins to constantly overshadow the PC's. In Eberron, the PC's are the heroes, capable of changing the world and challenging even the greatest of temporal powers. I've always found the idea of 20th level kings to be silly, anyway. Who do you honestly think would win in a fist fight, anyway? The president or the average soldier?

By that same token, while magic is also plentiful, this helps to show that most of it is fairly low level. Death actually means something because, even if the local priest isn't an adept or expert (which he probably is), then he's still likely going to be no higher than 5th or so level. This is part of what I love about Eberron - its contrasts. Yes, magic is plentiful, even powerful, but it certainly isn't cheap or conveniently had, at least at high levels. Somebody being able to cast identify might not be hard to find, but trying to find someone with limited wish will be damn hard to do. Even the largest city on Khorvaire, Sharn, only boasts, at the moment, an eleventh level wizard to its name. There are a few high level NPC's, such as the half-dragon lich Vol, who's a 16th level wizard, but these people are few and far between and generally lay low, anyway. As someone who disdains the Forgotten Realms, Eberron proved to be a breath of fresh air.

Before the chapter quite wraps up, though, it also offers a few pages to the remaining continents of Eberron. We have the Deathless revering, death obsessed elves of Aerenal who, while essentially good, bear an undeniable creepiness to them, for one. There's also the continent of Argonnessen, where dragons rule and keep away all intruders with the help of the native barbarians. The land of Frostfell, where dwarves came from, Kyber, Eberron's version of the underdark, Sarlona, the human's homeland now subject to the rule of the kalashtar's enemies the Inspired and, at last, Xen'Drik, land of the giants, land of mystery. Just after this comes a timeline then onto chapter eight...

After the Eberron Campaign Setting goes into the nations, it follows with the various organizations and power groups of the world. This more fully fleshes out the Dragonmarked Houses and their various subguilds as well as the various religious sects (clerical and druidic), secret societies and the like. It also offers up a few sample NPC's for all of them, for when your PC's go up against them as enemies or meets up as allies. The groups described within are a rather diverse lot, from blood cults to psionic outsiders bent on wiping out philosophical dissidents (amongst other things) to simple explorer societies and newspaper producers for the PC's to be a part of.

Chapter nine starts off with general tips for the DM; the use of villains, of timing a story, various types of stories to run with, etc, with a focus on Eberron and the types of stories it's conducive to. It also offers up a few details on the NPC classes and how they fit in, with a tweak here and there to them, as well as offers up a new NPC class, the magewright, which is somewhat like the NPC class equivalent of the artificer.

Magic items pop up in chapter ten, ranging from the role of dragonshards in magic item creation to standard, universal PC stuff, to more focused things, such as items specifically for the warforged or the Dragonmarked Houses. For those fans of psionics, those have some mention here as well.

Continuing along the book flows into the monsters of the setting. The first one that pops up is a familiar one - the Deathless type from the Book of Exalted Deeds. I didn't like them in there but, here at least, I can accept them a bit more where, while positive energy does play a part, so too does the reverence of the elven people that they can be found amongst. The remaining monsters are more unique to the setting, such as the monstrously powerful, CR 20 Daelkyr that lurk in the Khyber, to their much less powerful aberration minions, along with 1/2 CR dinosaurs and a number of beasties in between to help make an Eberron campaign stick out at all the characters levels.

Of the monsters within, the most curious one would be the Living Spell template. Instead of applying it to a monster, it's applied to a spell. Living Spells come about during magical disasters, such as the one that destroyed the entire nation of Cyre and turned it into the Mournlands. The spell level determines the general power level of the monster and the Living Spell has a number of abilities based off of the spell it comes from. A curious monster and one I think I'll make use of outside the campaign setting.

As with the character races and classes, this chapter also spends some time explaining how normal Monster Manual monsters fit into the setting, such as dragons, giants and lycanthropes, detailing their place in history and their role in the world today.

At the last we reach the final chapter in the book, chapter twelve. What is it? Why, a simple 1st level adventure now that you've got your hot little hands on the book, so you can run it right after you've finished reading it instead of toiling over an adventure, trying to get things just "right." A nice little bonus.

All right, with all that said, I still think I've missed a lot. However, I'll see if I can offer a few parting words.

As said, Eberron really does include a lot into it and does it quite adeptly. It's pulp-action mixed with swashbuckling adventures with a renaissance flavor that extends to Victorian Europe as well as the medieval Old World. I couldn't help but think of the League of Extraordinary Gentleman (the comic, not the movie) as I read through it, as well as the obvious correlaries it has to Indiana Jone. There's room enough for Medici's, Torquemada's, Lancelot's and John Carter's. It has shades of the Hundred Years War, World War I and even the current war on terrorism. While it doesn't make a show of it, it's a more adult-oriented campaign setting than the Forgotten Realms, that deals with issues and morality a bit more closer to home. Still, action is certainly there, escapism. Eberron offers a lot and chances are there's something you'll be able to find here.

The artwork, almost without exception, is excellent, particularly the full page, comic book-like pieces, which really help the feel of the book.

Furthermore, this book has everything, everything that a campaign setting book should. Races, classes, countries, monsters, magic items, history, feats and even an adventure! You could buy this book and need nothing else.

It's also one of the few campaign settings written with revised third edition in mind and while it adds its own touches, it really doesn't alter the core material.

I still don't like the dinosaurs. I still think the name for the Extreme Explorer is lame. However, other then that, I really do like this book. Eberron surprised the heck out of me. As someone who hates psionics usually, simply for the fact that it never seems to fit in, Eberron portrays it well enough that, should I ever run a game set in it, I'll be allowing psionics (though for true psionic fans, you might be a bit put off by it; to you I say, keep in mind there really is a lot in there and the setting acknowledges psionics more then most others do, at least). It's not, say, Midnight, but the setting is more conducive to different types of stories as well as playing a wider variety of character concepts in.

Really, I was pleasantly surprised. The previews didn't do the setting justice. My review doesn't do the setting justice. All I can say is that I enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

[Vanuslux]

It amazes me that it took this long to get an Eberron review up on ENWorld.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'm still looking through my copy now. It's one of the reasons I had a little contest to begin with.

 

[Trickstergod]

I was amazed when I saw there was no review here, either. I'd actually intended on writing one up, anyway, because of that (about half of my reviews were inspired partially because they weren't reviewed at the time), but the contest offered nudge enough for me to actually get around to doing it.

As I glance through it, I do think it could probably do with some editting, as I semi-rushed it. I'd have figured a review would have already popped up by the time I finished mine; apparently, though, there really is a problem getting people to review books at times, even when there's something to be gained for doing it.

 

[Neuro]

Nicely done, Trickstergod. I've been a bit weary of Eberron, especially after reading that it was created "in a new way to address a new breed of roleplayer". Oh boy... power ups, bind points, and spawn zones. This after the Legacy of the Green Regent campaign and it's "Level Up!" crap. But after reading your review I have a new outlook on it, and I will probably give it a second look.

 

[Anthraxus]

I was pretty apathetic about Eberron up until a week or two ago, but I've heard good things(good reviews, too). Just ordered the campaign book the other day, and looking forward to it. Great review!

 

[Trickstergod]

Much obliged.

Typically I try to be rather critical, perhaps overly so, in my reviews because I'd feel responsible if someone bought a book in part for what I'd written only to turn around and feel like they'd wasted their money. However, Eberron proved at least my initial thoughts on the setting wrong.

 

[JoeGKushner]

The Eberron Campaign Setting is the newest setting from Wizards of the Coast. It has a long and interesting history before ever becoming a print product, but I’m not getting into that here.

For me, the Eberron Campaign Setting can be broken up into two parts. Now I know, it’s really broken up into several chapters and each chapter has it’s own focus, but really, with a new campaign setting, it’s about two things. The first is how interesting and different the world is, and what goodies have the authors brought us to use in our own campaigns. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about crunch and fluff.

In terms of crunch, everything both a player and a GM could need to start an Eberron campaign is here. The standard races, as well as the new races, are detailed here. Much like the new races in Monte’s variant, the races here have background information that ties them to the campaign setting, but in most cases, not tight enough that you couldn’t lift them out. I see that in the Monster Manual III for example, the Warforged are present.

Speaking of Warforged, they are one of the new races here. They are living constructs. It’s a neat idea and I find them an interesting take of a human machine. Now it’s not the first time I’ve seen such a creature. Philip Reed has a PDF that allows you to customize a much more powerful character that’s a machine and there was a book, Mythic Races, by Fantasy Flight Games, that has a web enhancement with a similar style race. However, the Warforge are still neat. There are some great illustrations here and the relative newness of the race, not just to the D&D system, but to the setting itself, allows players to help shape what the Warforge can become.

Other races include changelings, master spies, kalashtar, beings who originally came from the alien plan of Dal Quor, and shifters, people with also called “the weretouched.” Now once again, I’ve seen some of these ideas before, but they’re nicely done with excellent illustrations for the most part and some game mechanics that’ll take time to test.

The mix of crunch and fluff, of racial traits and background, continues in other areas. For example, the section on character classes provides the reader with information on how the standard classes fit into this setting and they provide a new core class, the Artificer, a master crafter who can infusion items with magic energies. I like the example where it details how an Artificer couldn’t cast a bull’s strength on his ally, but could cast it on an item that his ally is wearing.

One of the things that comes across in the cleric section is that someone was paying attention when books like Divine and Defeated and Book of the Righteous came out. The gods here don’t sprawl all over the place and cross each other with similar portfolios and some of the gods aren’t gods at all but rather, mystical forces like the Silver Flame.

The biggest switch in thinking here has to be that a cleric’s ranking in the church is held up as something to strive for and that the gods really aren’t that close to their followers and that characters can cast spells with any alignment description. This opens up all sorts of ideas that players from other settings have already been enjoying.
One thing I like but found strange was Action Points. These aren’t exactly the same as those found in Unearthed Arcana, but are similar in most aspects. These points help a character stay alive and help turn the tide of the tyranny of the dice. I found it strange because it’s another variant so soon after one was introduced in another WoTC book.

Player’s have a wide variety of options in this book. There are new options for races, spells, and prestige classes. In terms of feats, instead of regional feats as the new toys, we have Dragonmarks. There are twelve dragonmarks. A long time ago, there were more of them but one has been lost to time. The dragonmarks have different levels of ability ranging from least, lesser, greater to siberys. In some cases, a feat alone isn’t enough to achieve the higher levels of power. These feats generally allow you to use a spell like ability. For example, the Mark of Detection, the least mark, grants you detect magic 2/day or detect poison 2/day in addition to a +2 bonus on Spot checks.

Another thing that’s interesting is the use of feats to augment action points. Something not really touched on in Unearthed Arcana. Other options help the new races out. For example, a shifter can take the Beasthide Elite feat and increase his natural armor bonus when shifting while a warforge can select either an adamantine or mithril body at character creation.

The prestige classes work off on some of the new concepts introduced. This includes PrCs like the Draognmark Heir and the Heir of Siberys, two PrCs that focus on mastering their dragonmarks, as well as individuals like the Warforged Juggernaut and the Weretouched Master, classes that help some of the new races stand out from other core classes and races. For those who are more interested in fine investigation, the Master Inquisitive is a 5 level PrC that has numerous abilities focused on uncovering the truth.

The nice thing about the spells selection is that spells are separated by class and for sorcerer/wizards, by school, then level. New domains are included and a new spell list for the artificer is included. Standard domains have the native Eberron deity listed. For example, under Death, The Keeper and the Blood of Vol are listed. The new domains included deity, granted power, and domain spells from 1st to 9th level. Some of these domains are focused on the new fields introduced in this book like the Deathless domain while others could easily be used in any setting like the Decay domain. Perfect for those attempting to create a domain for Nurgle or another god of disease.

While most of the new domains are interesting, the new sorcerer and wizard spells are weak as they focus on curing damage to constructs for the most part. Repair Light, Moderate, Serious, and Critical Damage with only a few that do other things. Outside of the new domains, clerics only get one new spell, Feast of Champions, a 9th level spell that creates food for one creature/level that heals and grants bonuses to those who partake of the feast. Good thing that many of the domains have their own new spells to help showcase the differences in the lists.

Players looking to arm themselves with strange and unique weapons won’t find a lot of overpowered material here. Some of the weapons like the Valenar double scimitar and the Xen’drik boomerang look cool, but aren’t overly powerful and are exotic, requiring a feat to use. Of more interest to me are the various special materials like bronzewood and flametouched iron. These new items have different minor abilities like mithril or adamant and make nice touches to the campaign setting.

Something that player’s love but rely on GM’s to place, magic items, also include new types of magic items, such as the Dragonshard items, as well as new options for the new races like warforged components. What’s that you ask? Well, the warforged on the cover doesn’t have one hand, in it’s place, he has a massive sword.That would be an armblade.

In terms of GM tools, there are those that rely on crunch, like the numerous NPCs scattered throughout the book and the new monsters, as well as advice. There are NPC’s fully detailed in several areas and in some cases, with full statistics. They range from how the classes work in the setting to the organizations. GM’s shouldn’t run out of characters for a little while.

A wide range of monsters can be used to insure that no player forgets that he’s in a new setting. These range from the Deathless Type, a creature that has died but returned with traits of both a living and an undead being, to the Warforged Titian, a huge construct that isn’t a warforged, but perhaps is in that family line of constructs. The art in this section is very evocative of the monsters and some, like the Tsucora Quori, showcase their alien nature. My favorite is probably one of the most powerful, the Daelkyr, outsiders who rule over the plane of Xoriat, the realm of Madness.

Another nice touch, one I think that Wizard’s noted other publishers doing, is a section on how the standard or Iconic monsters fit into this setting. Since Wizards owns all of the IP in this case, like say Beholders and Mind Flayers, they’re able to touch on areas that some companies haven’t been able to. It’s not a vastly detailed section, but it does have important information as to how the creatures here are different than in a standard campaign. For example the giants actually had a civilization some eighty thousand years ago and the Couatls are a race that fought alongside dragons against the rakshasa in times past.

For those GMs that need a little more help, there is a starter adventure, The Forgotten Forge, that uses some of the themes of the book as well as some of the mechanics. For example, how often does a story start with the characters coming across a murder and having to fight against the murderer, who in this case, happens to be a warforged? How about the patron who helps them but is looking for further aid? How about a hunt through a dungeon (well, ruins and a sewer) that pits the characters against another warforged and almost has an ominous “To Be Continued” sign hanging over it? (And it is in Shadows of the Last War, a separate adventure.)

The campaign setting itself has its own feel. Due to the Last War being over just recently and the various countries still not trusting one another fully and numerous factions moving to take advantage of this lull, the book has a feeling of being suspended in a very important time. The main thrust of the campaign takes place on the continent of Khorvaire.

The book includes all of the details you need to know about the setting. This includes the days of the week, months of the year and Constellations. It includes information about the outer planes and how they work with the setting. It’s interesting that the book doesn’t use all of the default information from Manual of the Planes but rather has some of its own cosmology going on here.

This doesn’t mean that every city is mapped and that every character is described more than a whisper. Rather, it means that the various countries have an up close map section, much like they did in say Serpent Kingdoms for the Forgotten Realms, and have information on the capital, population, exports, and language. This is followed up by background information, industriers, life and society, government and politics, power groups, religion, and major settlements. Other useful information includes important sites, adventuring information and adventure ideas.

Because of the sheer scope of information, that of a whole continent, the information isn’t very detailed. While several sections have enough to get a feel for the region, don’t expect more than a few paragraphs for each of the numerous power groups or city maps for the capital cities or major settlements. The adventure ideas are basically seeds of a few sentences, enough to get the juices flowing and sometimes obvious hints.

One of the nice things is that there are several areas that a character could spend his life in and never fully know. One of my favorites is Darguun simply because it’s a land of goblinoids whose exports are just mercenary services. This ties into the fact that the goblinoids used to control the entire continent but had long ago fallen onto hard times. Now Wizards isn’t the only company to use goblinoids as a military race with their own lands and abilities. Kenzer and it’s Kalamar campaign has long had an ancient Hobgoblin empire that seeks to energize itself and reclaim their former glory.

The other place that stands out in my mind is the Mournlands. Surrounded by Dead-Gray Mist and home to a dangerous warforge known as the Lord of Blades, the Mournlands has enough potential adventure to challenge all levels of characters. Heck, Piazo through Dungeon Magazine has already provided the statistics for the Lord of Blades in addition to much of the background found here.

One thing I love about the setting that many other settings don’t have going for them, is that the campaign has more than one continent. I love Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms, but the bulk of their details are on one huge landmass. Here, we have other lands like Aerenal, home of the Undying Court of elves, Salona, Argonnessen and Xen’Drik. Not a lot of detail on any of those settings but the potential is there. It’d be nice to see a world that didn’t just have one Pangea style land going for it.

In terms of utility, a GM has a lot of tools here. The section on organizations for example, provides lots of background details along with typical members. Need a quick write up for The Blood of Vol or the Crunch of the Silver Flame? No problem. Need to know general information about the various houses and typical individuals of that house? No problem.

In terms of psionics, the campaign uses them, but doesn’t force them down your throat. For example, a typical Dream Dark Spy is a seer psion. One of the materials here, Riedran Crysteel, provides a bonus to damage rolls if the user has at least 1 power point. The Kalashtar have some psionic ability. However, the material does not overwhelm the reader. At no point did I feel I must open my Expanded Psionic’s Handbook to get the most out of this product. It’s kind of a half solution to incorporating psionics but I understand where Wizards is coming with this.

In terms of the campaign embracing magic, it does to a point. It does it in the cities where various items of magic are able to be found. It doesn’t follow it completely through to it’s logical conclusion though. After all, in the real world, we don’t have people who are lawful good that would erect various things of magic in the wilderness to help others. In a game setting where paladins are possible, we do. Is it assumed then that when a paladin goes into the wilds and provides a community with various magic items that those items are broken or suffer theft?

Don’t misunderstand me. I love the technology that is embraced through magic here. The use of the Magecraft spell to create quality items, the Airships of House Lyrandar, the Lighting Rail of House Orien, and the various elemental powered vehicles like the Galleons that use water elementals or the Adepts of House Jorasco that provide inexpensive healing. There are all good things that help give the campaign more flavor.

Is the book perfect? Nope. I think that perhaps too much effort went into giving it an edge. Take the name of the Extreme Explorer. Come on let’s not get silly eh? “Well Bob, it looks like Travis has his powerboard 5000. He should easily make it across that Chasm. Please, fire up the Static-X eh?”

Another odd thing was that there were no regional feats. Now these are part of the official standard as Dragon magazine provided several for numerous settings including Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide updated the ones that originally appeared in that setting’s campaign book. Why are they missing here. And this is just my opinion, but despite how fantastic this book looks, I still think that the Forgotten Realms books look better.

The last thing that really bothers me is the map of the setting. All of the internal maps have the internal details but the large map doesn’t have any. Now don’t get me started on the fact that there is no pull out map. If you were lucky enough to get your pull out map from Dungeon, you’d still notice that there are no locals on that map. Bad Wizards of the Coast, no cookie for you.

On an outside angle, another thing that’s going to bother me are the various things that will tie into the setting. I already know we’ve got video games and novels and I’m sure each will have it’s own impact on the setting.

Why then does this product get five stars? I like the energy behind the product. I like the comic book style art between chapters. I like the full color art throughout the book. I like the feel of having a book that uses psionics but doesn’t embrace them so much that you need to have the Expanded Psionics Handbook. I like the twelve Marks. I like the fact that while you can’t shove everything into the setting, that there aren’t a horde of characters who make 20th level characters look like sissies. I like the official Action Points. I like a lot of the new races and other mechanics behind the book. In short, I think that it has a lot going for it.

Perfect? No.

Fun? Yes.

 

[Khur]

Alignment
Before you read this, it’s important to know a few things about me. I do some freelance editing for Wizards of the Coast. I had no involvement with the making of the Eberron Campaign Setting, nor do I have any true stake in its success or failure (though I hear it's doing very well). If you think this biases my review, please ignore.

Initiative Round
Eberron Campaign Setting is the long-awaited publication of the winner of Wizards of the Coast’s campaign setting search contest. It is a 320-page, hardcover tome with a full-color interior. Created by Keith Baker, Eberron was developed by game design veterans like Bill Slavicsek, Jesse Decker, and James Wyatt. The book retails for $39.95.

As one might expect, the Eberron Campaign Setting book is largely a beautiful one. The cover, depicting in color a warforged fighter battling restless spirits (other frames show the warforged’s companions in black and white), captures one of the core differences between this and other worlds. While it might have been better, from a graphic designer’s point of view, to vignette this scene without the others on the front of the book, so as not to repeat the image of the shifter wizard, the graphic work inside the book is nearly impeccable. The art is also great, including work by industry bad-asses, such as Wayne Reynolds and Sam Wood, mixed with good stuff from relative newcomers, such as Steve Prescott, David Bircham, and Kalman Andrasofszky. The maps, while serviceable, are not as excellent as the world map included with Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. No poster map is included with the book. This is unfortunate, because the maps included in Chapter 7: Life in the World are hard to visualize as a whole, making the physical relationship of geographical borders sketchy and the charting of lightning rail an mundane thoroughfares a difficult task.

The races of the main continent of Eberron are the usual fare for D&D with a few alterations and additions. Humans are much as always, and there has been no real change made to dwarves, gnomes, half-orcs, and half-elves (besides the latter’s status as a “true-breeding” race). Halflings, raised in their land of origin, resemble a cross between dinosaur-riding nomads and cave-dwelling Native Americans, but more traditional D&D halflings are certainly possible. The biggest (and most exciting) change comes with the elves, who in their homelands are either fierce and bloodthirsty warriors or members of an ancient and magical society ruled by good and neutral undead.

Four new races inhabit the world of Eberron. Much like a creature found in the Palladium Role Playing Game, changelings are humanoids descended from doppelgangers and humans, which have minor powers of shapechanging (really no more powerful than disguise self). Changelings are distrusted for obvious reasons. More original are the kalashtar, a race of spirits born in the plane of dreams who have bonded with humans and thereby become a true race. These humanoids are psionic in nature and seek to block the machinations of a more sinister force that also comes from Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams. Shifters come next. These beings are the descendants of lycanthropes and retain a small portion of shapechanging ability and animal savagery. Finally, there are the warforged—artificial, sentient beings or living constructs. The warforged are intriguing, and they open up storylines that are more often seen in science fiction. The only problem with the warforged is that the designers took too much care in trying to balance them so they have no level adjustment (LA), making them less believable as artificial soldiers while probably leaving them a bit too powerful for a LA +0 race. (Feats tend to mitigate the former problem [most veteran warforged were probably warriors or fighters that had the Adamantine Body or Mithral Body feats], but the latter quandary still sticks.)

Speaking of fighters, the core classes of D&D all have a home in Eberron. There’s a place for everyone, and a few classes get special treatment (usually via feats, see below) that makes them great choices for this magic-is-technology world. Clerics are a specific example of a new twist without any sort of feat. A cleric need not have an alignment that is related to his or her deity’s alignment. These “knights of the churches of Khorvaire” can follow a specific god, a whole pantheon, or a spiritual ideal. New domains fill in some special niches, and punishment for transgression (if any) is in the hands of the church, not the gods. Monks are built into the Eberron Campaign Setting as well (unlike more Eurocentric fantasy settings), with a specific evil sect of monastic warriors that flay the flesh from their enemies. Every class is explored in a fashion that reveals more and more about how Eberron works, including an out-of-the-ordinary twist. One of the sample characters is a shifter wizard, and while shifters aren’t necessarily suited for arcane spellcasting (they get –2 to both Int and Cha), their physical abilities can make up for some of an arcane spellcaster’s shortcomings—especially at low level.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your tastes) psionic classes are still largely marginalized in Eberron. Though they are given a nod with the kalashtar, that race’s homeland (a continent across the sea from Khorvaire, the focus of the setting), and their enemies, psionic powers are neatly and artificially compartmentalized “off screen” from the campaign’s central locale. More marginalized is the sorcerer, whose general weakness in core D&D is exacerbated by the fact that the class gains no special treatment in Eberron. The power of the sorcerer is further dampened by the inclusion of another spellcaster-like class.

This new class is the artificer. Along with the magewright (a new NPC class), artificers are the backbone of Eberron insofar as magic equals technology. The class itself is balanced, resembling in many ways the bard, but centered on item creation instead of music. The artificer appears powerful at first glance, with a middle base attack bonus progression, good Will saves, access to a number of bonus item-creation feats, and access to “infusions” (magical, item enhancing powers like spells). Really, though, the artificer works (in mechanics terms) and one reason is the fact that many infusions take a while to apply and the artificer has a limited number of them. The only thing unsatisfactory about the new class is the lack of any good explanation of the metaphysics that provide for the artificer’s abilities, beyond the ubiquitous and nameless magical ointment used as a material component.

Also new in the Eberron Campaign Setting are action points (like d20 Modern). Heroes (only PCs or very unique NPCs) use action points to positively affect the outcome of d20 rolls. Such an addition really punches home the pulp aspect of the setting, and it allows the DM to push the envelope a bit when it comes to challenges. Certain dramatic instances allow the player characters to really shine or, at least, appear exceptionally lucky or blessed. Several also feats alter how action points are accumulated or work.

In general, the feats in the Eberron Campaign Setting excellently serve to flesh out the world and give substance to the setting’s unique points. So good are most that you should read Critical Hit below for more on them. Only a few leave something to be desired, and these include: Knight Training, Investigate, Monastic Training, Research, and Urban Tracking. The two training feats are poor choices (from a play standpoint), because they really offer a player no benefit other than circumventing multiclassing restrictions in the Player’s Handbook that were bad ideas to begin with. Certainly, there are orders of paladins and monks in any world that need to combine skills or do so based upon specific teachings. Neither situation should call into question a character’s devotion to a way of life, nor should they require a player to take a feat with a class already starved for such options. It was a poor choice to so hamstring the paladin and monk classes on multiclassing to begin with, and the 3.5 designers had access to material that suggested a change, such as Oriental Adventures and “Class Combos” in Dragon 289. Investigate, Research, and Urban Tracking are explored more fully in Critical Fumble below.

Prestige classes serve to accentuate some distinctive elements of the Eberron Campaign Setting. Two work with dragonmarks (bodily marks that impart spell-like abilities in varyin degrees of power) and the power they offer—the dragonmark heir, an influential dragonmarked person, and the heir of Siberys, a character that manifests the most powerful of dragonmarks. Two others focus on the divine—one, the Eldeen ranger, on nature’s power, and the other, the exorcist of the Silver Flame, on the powers of a devotee of the Silver Flame. (The Church of the Silver Flame is a lawful good religion. It stands apart from typical D&D religions as one without an actual god. Other religions of this type exist in other parts of Eberron, such as the Undying Court of the elves or the wicked death cult The Blood of Vol.) Another pair centers on the pulp action of the setting—the extreme explorer, an Indiana Jones type that centers on luck and daring (action points), and the master inquisitive, a detective extraordinaire. The final two put the spotlight on narrowing racial powers—the warforged juggernaut becomes an unstoppable adamantine warrior at the expense of his “living” nature, while the weretouched master is a shifter that has gotten in touch with her ancestral birthright to shapechange into animal and hybrid form. All of these classes serve the setting well.

The cosmology works similarly. Eberron has a fascinating planar structure where the planes orbit around the Material Plane. Each of these planes is unusual when compared to those found in Greyhawk’s Great Wheel. Further, each plane can have some effect on Eberron itself, depending on where that plane is in its orbit of the world—though some planes touch the Material Plane at all times in certain regions called manifest zones. Evil outsiders can possess mortals, while good ones may honor a creature by channeling through it. Problematic, though, is the fact that all mortals’ souls go to a realm of apathy and despair after death. Perhaps this part of the cosmology is to give impetus for powerful mortals to seek immortality and a reason for many spirits to linger on the Material Plane, but it seems lame for a virtuous person to suffer pseudo-oblivion right alongside his evil counterpart. Of course, the game is really about the world of the living.

Life in the world of Eberron is, in some ways, like that of other D&D worlds. Time is marked much the way it is on Earth, albeit with different names for days and months. Common (and uncommon) races clash with monstrous foes, wealthy aristocrats and merchants rule over a middle and lower class, and cities are centers of trade and underworld activities. The majority of persons in the world are simple folk who farm the land—but in Eberron those folk usually have at least some education and their lands are generally safer.

Other differences include the proliferation of industry and magical travel. The binding of elementals has allowed many wonders, including trains that travel on currents of energy, boats that provide their own wind, and flying ships powered by fire. Those with a comfortable amount of wealth can afford to use such conveyances regularly, allowing the adventuresome to cover a lot of territory in a single quest. The only thing that prevents this from being truly viable is the fact that all of the modes of transport are well beyond the financial means of all but the richest citizens. This error makes things like the lightning rail out of any low-level character’s reach without a wealthy patron, and it calls into question the economic viability of the mage-tech transportation (despite the lightning rail’s original government subsidies).

The lands themselves are unified in the remembrance of that old government (the continent-spanning kingdom of Galifar) that was shattered with the death of its last king and the beginning of a succession war (the Last War) that lasted over one hundred years. During this war, the human nations clashed to decide who would rule the continent of Khorvaire. Nonhumans of various types, though originally ruled by Galifar’s king, took various opportunities during the Last War to form nations of their own. In the end, sixteen territories, two of which are mostly barren, emerged from the Last War—seven predominantly human, one dwarf, one gnome, one elf, one halfling, one hobgoblin, one orc, and one monster (ruled by hags). Of the desolate lands, one was destroyed by a mysterious arcane disaster during the final battle of the Last War, and the other is an ash-covered, volcanic wasteland that is the remnant of an ancient empire once ruled by rakshasas. (Here is one of the good examples of how epic play is built into Eberron, for the rakshasa rajas are imprisoned in this blasted terrain, awaiting their release.)

The descriptions of these expanses hold many interesting facts and more than a few great plot hooks for adventure (along with a some dull ones). Regions beyond Khorvaire, for there are three other continents on Eberron (not including the frozen land of Frostfell) and an underworld of darkness (called Khyber), are also defined. None of them is as richly described as Aerenal, the land of the Undying Court.

Yet, many of the descriptions of the realms of Eberron seem shallow. The workings of the nations of Khorvaire and the world beyond are at once interesting and hard to believe. Everything seems a little too tidy. Just about every major race has a homeland (or a conquered or usurped region) and the way of the world is currently that all of these forces at least tolerate one another. Dragonmarked houses neatly control all trade, remaining neutral in conflagrations between nations (including the Last War). Dragons are carefully sequestered on their own continent of Argonessen, and giants and drow on Xen’Drik. Humans and the other common races exist predominantly on or near Khorvaire, while Sarlona (once the “cradle of human civilization”) is the domain of the kalashtar and their quori enemies (though the quori and kalashtar have humans among them). After a while, the exposition on the setting starts to feel like a “top down” creation instead a truly living world, meaning it seems like an effort to fit this or that D&D element into the world rather than an attempt to make the world a dynamic entity into which D&D elements naturally flow. Evidence for this point includes things like the almost complete lack of clear ethnicity in any race, besides the elves and despite the illustration of Caucasians with various shades of skin on the first page of the races chapter. Minor blunders in consistency don’t help, like the fact that Karrnath exports ale, grain, livestock, and dairy products yet is also said to have to import food or regularly face the threat of famine.

This slight failing doesn’t really mar the setting that much. It’s just a vague, uneasy, and pervading feeling one gets when reading about Khorvaire and its contents. The Eberron Campaign Setting has plenty to offer, and there’s bound to be more to come than can be squeezed into 320 pages. Certainly, future Eberron products may prove this feeling wrong.

The information on the lands of the world is supplemented by concise but useful material on organizations, such as the dragonmarked houses, institutions of learning and religion, and more conspiratorial groups. Possibility for villainy, mystery and conspiracy abound—unfettered by normal alignment restrictions. Some of these institutions make great patrons for adventurers, fledgling and master alike. This type of material is wonderful for any DM who needs a quick idea or campaign theme.

The DM is also given a set of great tools on how Eberron is supposed to work. Tips on action, history, and the use of magic help a referee get into the feel of Eberron’s pulp style. The importance of story pacing and theme is explored, as well as the satisfying recurring villain. Finally, to couple with the myriad plot hooks in the description of each and every kingdom of Khorvaire, some plot themes are given a show. All of this stuff compares favorably to the GMing section of d20 Modern—it’s useful stuff, especially for the newer DMs, but even a tired old hand like me can get some inspirations and help.

Beyond the aforementioned devices given the DM, the Eberron Campaign Setting’s mini DM guide continues with unique and fantastic magic items, monsters, and even a short adventure. In these sections, one finds the magnificent powers of the dragonshards and the bound-elemental items one form of shards allow to be built. Warforged components are pretty remarkable, being items that are inserted into or attached to the anatomy of a warforged, but more remarkable still are wondrous locations (which are almost always tied to manifest zones). Monsters include extremely powerful outsiders (another epic possibility), dinosaurs, unique templates like the living spell or horrid animal, and even a new type—a form of positive-energy undead called the deathless (also found in Book of Exalted Deeds). The deathless add a whole new dimension to the D&D environment, though one has to wonder why the Undead type couldn’t have included the option for good undead all along (they exist in folklore).

The short adventure adds still more dimension to Eberron and its most prominent city setting, Sharn, The City of Towers. While the scenario itself relies too much on serendipity, contrived player motivations, and one-dimensional villains, it does one thing well. It reveals to the reader how Eberron works. Allies and patrons with mixed agendas, villains with sympathetic goals, police stretched too thin, the mysterious motivations of living constructs, cosmopolitan settings, racial integration, financial segregation, the power of money and information, underworld economics, long-lost secrets buried beneath one’s nose, magic as technology, and swarming vermin that consume flesh all find their place in this action-packed world.

Critical Hit
Options, options, options! Choices are said to be one of the core principles of the D&D system, and the system even allows a player to make bad choices (that’s life). Eberron is full of selections that not only make the idea of playing in this world captivating, but also make the campaign setting tome a treasure trove of ideas for home-brew worlds. It is clear Eberron was built to support most, if not all, modes of D&D play.

Each new race has it’s own exclusive place in the Eberron milieu, adding new possibilities to the traditional fantasy worldview. The warforged, for example, allow the exploration of artificial life and the desire such beings have to fit in, find their own natures, or prove their superiority over their creators (ala Blade Runner). Further, the idea of monstrous heroes is not a tertiary one in Eberron; it’s built in. Since there are entire nations ruled by monsters, monster mercenaries and adventurers have real solid footing in the cosmopolitan continent of Khorvaire.

The presence of such unusual characters is further supported by an alignment system that is more flexible than the core D&D ideals on the same subject. Monsters may still be evil, but there seems to be a lot more exceptions in Eberron, such as the lawful neutral king of the hobgoblins (in fact, most of the hobgoblin leaders are some form of neutral). Clerics need not be of an alignment anywhere close to the faith they profess, allowing for stories of intrigue and corruption in church halls. (Ladyhawke, anyone?) A paladin’s detect evil ability may work well, but evil races are still protected by law unless they cross the line, and many have neither the strength nor the courage to engage in anything but the pettiest of evil acts.

Feats in the Eberron Campaign Setting allow for exceptional customization and bring to life many options that D&D has long needed. A warforged can have a body plated with adamantine or mithral, and druids can summon and wild shape into vermin (so long as they belong to the proper druid sect, one of five). Bards can expand their performance capabilities, while shifters can delve into their lycanthropic heritage, becoming more potent and more bestial. Item creation, so essential to the core ethos of Eberron, is expanded to include many new feats, while the equally indispensable dragonmark feats add a whole new level to character development.

Eberron’s broad options don’t leave the DM out in the cold either. Despite s few minor problems mentioned earlier, there’s plenty of adventure to find in this complex setting. With inspiration from great stories like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and The Maltese Falcon, how can it miss? There’s no iconic evil in Eberron either, but plenty of wickedness to go around, from the infernal Lords of Dust to the dream-born Inspired. Good power groups may have reason to oppose other good forces, whether as a result of corruption or simply differing goals. Good may find itself aligned with evil as well.

Critical Fumble
Investigate, Research, and Urban Tracking are particularly poor feats (from a design standpoint), because all three restrict the ease with which play progresses in a similar way, even though the three also introduce necessary subsystems to the Eberron world. (Two of these systems are part of d20 Modern, but as skills and as part of a rule-set that offers a PC not only more skill points, but also more feats.)

The Investigate feat can be held up as an example, with the understanding that both Research and Urban Tracking create similar problems. Investigate actually serves to thwart simple (and entertaining) gameplay by suggesting that someone should need a feat to successfully examine a crime or mystery scene, instead of creating a good subsystem that acknowledges the value and use of existing skills and is usable in all such situations. With the feat, a character can use the Search skill to uncover “clues” and make an analysis of such hints. Without the feat, one presumes, a character cannot search for these clues. There’s a gaming table logjam in the making, as well as a problem for an adventure designer.

Three other reasons show why the choice to make this type of activity a feat thwarts gameplay. First, anyone with the appropriate skills (presumably Search, a few relevant Knowledge skills, and perhaps even Heal) should be able to use this skill-set to investigate a crime scene and recover clues—the level of proficiency in the suitable skills determines the character’s expertise in so doing. With the Investigate feat, this obvious fact of skill application is longer true if one wishes to follow the official rules. Secondly, the Investigate feat creates a useable subsystem for itself, but that subsystem is accessible only by virtue of the feat. This type of “specialized subsystem” may make sense for Track (and some piloting feats in d20 Modern), because it represents the particular way of using Survival that not every survivalist can pull off. Tracking, however, is not a necessarily an essential part of most roleplaying game campaigns, while investigation almost always is. It doesn’t make sense for such an integral part of a roleplaying game to be relegated to a feat, particularly when, unlike d20 Modern, feats are in relatively short supply. This is especially true when one considers the aforementioned fact that investigation is really the use of multiple skills in a clever way, rather than a specialized use of one skill. Investigate, however, deigns to focus on one skill (Search), creating a gross oversimplification that is another problem in and of itself. (Urban Tracking has similar but lesser problems, while the subsystem for Research is pretty good.)

The subsystem for Investigate is inferior for a few reasons. First of all, the designer’s choice to focus on a single skill is inappropriate for what it really takes to study a crime scene, as mentioned above. Appropriate Knowledge skills only offer a +2 synergy bonus on a Search check to analyze a clue, when the Knowledge check itself is what should be required. The DC to find a clue is only modified by whether or not someone or something disturbed the scene. (This may be an effect of the fact that the Search skill itself offers no real clarity on whether the DC increases to find small or hidden items [other than traps and secret doors]. One presumes it does.) Further, a character can’t make a roll to determine the authenticity of a clue; the player has to figure that one out.

As a DM, when I referee Eberron at home, I’m throwing all three feats out the window, but I’m keeping the subsystems as options available to those with the proper skills. Of course, I’ll have to shore up the holes in the Investigate subsystem. What truly breaks my heart (really) is the fact that this faulty design is now part of the official Eberron environment, and future game developers must conform. In fact, the master inquisitive class requires Investigate and the sample master inquisitive, Creilath Movanek, on page 83 of the Eberron Campaign Setting, is the earliest victim of this sad course.

Coup de Grace
The Eberron Campaign Setting is a solid and exciting product that is made for 3.5e D&D. The game mechanics are sound, except for the serious failing of a few feats, and the product honestly succeeds at making some of the old seem new again. Other parts are, unfortunately or not, simply just the same old stuff, different place. The core campaign setting for Eberron is essential for anyone who wants to play in that world, of course, but it is also a trove of material that can be looted for one’s personal campaign. The book is handsome and worth its price even for just a read. I will not only play a game in Eberron, but I’m happy to own the campaign setting and I may just end up as one of those abovementioned looters. Unlike Forgotten Realms, which has evolved into the fine setting it is today from, in this reviewer’s opinion, a rough start, Eberron sprouts anew and presents wonderful choices and elements that make D&D’s reality more vibrant and cohesive. If you have the desire to get a copy of this book, don’t fight it. You’ll enjoy the ride.

Review originally appeared at d20 Magazine Rack.