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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Patrick O'Duffy" data-source="post: 3500674" data-attributes="member: 11490">Here's a bit from the handout I sent my Eberron players, focusing on mood and tone rather than hard setting details; I think that's more useful as a selling point than explaining how elves are different.--There are four key elements to Eberron’s tone and feel.Heroic Fantasy: A band of adventurers brave an ancient tomb in search of treasure and glory. A righteous paladin faces down a battalion of evil cultists to protect a village. Brothers put aside their grudges to fight a deformed monster in the ruins of a Mournland city. This is what D&D does best – high fantasy action, dungeons, swords, spells, monsters and everything else. Heroes are larger than life and able to make real changes in the world by taking up arms against their foes.Pulp Adventure: A masked sorceress wages a vigilante war against the crimelords of Sharn. A two-fisted scholar dodges deathtraps to retrieve an ancient artefact for study. A world-weary detective battles a madman on the deck of an airship to prevent his plan for world domination. This style of adventure is usually associated with 1920s pulp movies and books, but it translates perfectly into fantasy. Eberron isn’t a pastiche or parody of pulp adventure, but draws earnestly upon the same inspirations and aesthetics.Noir Intrigue: A courtier plots to reignite the Last War so that his king might take control of all the Five Nations. A dragonmarked aristocrat arranges the assassination of his rival, not caring who is hurt in the process. A secret society turns allies against each other at the command of a shadowy, inhuman figure. Eberron isn’t a simplistic world, despite its focus on colour and adventure; it’s also a world of moral greys and uncertainties, where heroes need both brains and brawn, and where actions have consequences.Widespread Magic: An artificer plants dragonshards into an amulet in a workshop illuminated by an ever-burning lantern. A warforged soldier with runes etched into his body buys a sword while his human partner stocks up on healing potions. A traveller flies across Khorvaire on an elemental-powered airship, while her rival boards a carriage on the Lightning Rail. Magic is a constant presence in Eberron, and even though most people have no magical skills, they still benefit – or suffer – from its power every day.</blockquote>

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