Eberron: Is it *really* a swashbuckling kind of campaign setting?

[Wraith Form]

Han - Half-Elf Rogue with the Mark of Storm. He's the captain of the Centennial Falcon, a very fast airship.

Chewbacca - Shifter Barbarian. Owes a life debt to Han.

Luke - Wide-eyed paladin of the Silver Flame.

Obi-Wan - Elder, retired paladin.

Leia - Princess of Cyre in exile (and incognito).

Artoo - Gnome artificer who keeps arguing with.

Threep - Warforged diplomatic unit (bard)

Oh good Lord.

That's quite enough.

(Don't get me wrong, you're absolutely spot-on...but we don't need a major thread hijack right now, lol)

(If you do need to carry on--because I'm pretty sure I can hear the SW fanboys beginning to salivate as I type this--at least come up with the "How Would You Shoehorn Star Wars into ___(insert favorite TSR/WotC campaign setting here___?" thread. I'm afraid of the "King Azoun is just like Qui Gon Jinn" or "Al Qadim the 'Til Death Do Us Part with Dave and Carmen remix" posts, you know?)

 

[Glyfair]

Actually, there was a Dragonshard about swashbuckling in Eberron. It seemed very focused on Combat.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040803a

 

[Faraer]

Funny thing is, the Forgotten Realms is swashbuckling as anything -- read the Shadow of the Avatar trilogy or the forthcoming Knights of Myth Drannor novels, or the short stories of Mirt and Durnan -- and as for pulp, while I don't believe 'pulp' or 'pulp fiction' are meaningful, coherent adjectives, I dare say Ed (and Gary Gygax too) was at least as strongly influenced by pulp writers as Keith was...

So for the Eberron marketing to claim these things for that setting is odd.

 

[Nightfall]

I always felt Scarred Lands could be swashbuckling. I mean we do have a sea in blood and plenty of pirates there.

Oh and Shelzar is kind of like a more "enlightened" Arabic type city for you Sinbad fans.

 

[Paragon Kobold]

If nothing else one could always make it a bit more swashbukclery (swachbucklerish?)
by allowing the Swashbuckler class from Complete Warrior.

 

[Acid_crash]

If nothing else one could always make it a bit more swashbukclery (swachbucklerish?)
by allowing the Swashbuckler class from Complete Warrior.

True. How can we have a swashbuckling campaign setting without the core swashbuckling class?

 

[Testament]

Swashbuckling? No. Only 7th Sea, as far as RPGs go, has ever really captured the Swashbuckling feel.

What Eberron does well is Pulp. Two fisted, old-school action as you hunt criminals through Sharn, fistfights on the lightning rail, stopping the evil mastermind in his Cannith forge, exploring Xen'Drik. You get the idea.

 

[Klaus]

Which begs the question: can there be a pulp-swashbuckling style of play? Like retired Musketeers being hired by a lady-in-waiting of the Queen to retrieve a compromising letter to the de facto fuler of an enemy country before it reaches the hands of the evil priest of the good state religion? And one of said Musketeers had to turn his own wife to the authorities for murder and believes her dead, only to have her turn out to be the very person delivering the compromising letter?

 

[Allanon]

I'm wondering why everyone is so hung up on attaching labels like 'swashbuckling' and 'pulp' to a campaign setting? As far as my experience goes it's the DM and his players who disctate the feel of a campaign. 7th Sea may be better at conveying a 'swashbuckling' feel through it's rules and setting, a good DM should be able to play a pulp noir type game with it just as easy.

In the end a setting only provides the backdrop to a world, and the rules the toolset. Only the DM and the players have any influence in the 'look and feel', thus Eberron, Forgotten Realms, Iron Kingdoms, Scarred Lands, etc. are all equally capable of being used for a Swashbuckling, pulp noir, etc. type of game.

 

[feydras]

Tales of the Gold Monkey? Ahh, now THAT brings back memories. Wonder if they have those on DVD yet?

Great old show. Influenced me more than Raiders... I found it for sale here...

http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-zshop/S9KARQ6ZVCB2N/104-4877483-6967160

- Feydras