Eberron? No way - I'm old school.

Destan

Citizen of Val Hor
I’ve got a story to tell.

The UPS guy arrived a couple days ago, and changed my gaming life forever.

He was delivering four, fairly large boxes. I knew their contents without looking – my books. Ever see the movie The Jerk? In it, Steve Martin runs around joyfully shouting “The new phonebook’s here! The new phonebook’s here!” Well, that was a little bit how I felt. Finally, after months of writing and editing and second-guessing, my Valus campaign sourcebook had arrived.

But…the UPS guy wasn’t finished. There was something else for me as well.

He handed me a thin, brown box. Just one book was inside: Eberron. It seemed Wizards of the Coast had been foolish enough to release their campaign sourcebook the same time I released mine. Haha! Some heads were gonna roll within WotC's marketing department, I had no doubt.

As I turned to go inside, I saw a thin guy riding his bike down the road in front of my house. It was Keith Baker. He held up a finger at me. I guess he was letting me know he was my “number one” fan. Slightly confused, I closed the door.*

I needed a quiet place to review the contents of the packages. My wife – let’s call her Iggwilv – and our cambion children ensured there was not a moment’s peace on the ground floor. So I needed to go to my secret place. I grabbed a knife, cut into the boxes, and pulled out a single copy of the Valus. I tucked it and my copy of Eberron under one arm and lightly tip-toed down the stairs.

I opened the door to a back room off our basement. Sepulchrave was there, as usual.

“Hi, Jim,” I called cheerfully. “How’s the update coming?”

“W-water…” He moaned weakly. Sep held hands toward me, causing the manacles chaining him to the computer desk to go taut.

“You’ll get water – and food – when you finish that update.” Honestly, that Sepulchrave was such a kidder; he’d make things so much easier on everyone if he just updated his story hour more often.

I didn’t feel like listening to Sep’s feverish whining so I closed the door and headed down the hallway. I passed Hong and Hypersmurf along they way. One of them had the other in a headlock, and I heard a muffled voice shouting that it was an illegal grapple check, per the rules. Those two…jeesh.

Finally, I reached the end room. Closing the door behind me, I flicked on the light and sat down at a desk. Eberron vs. Valus. We all knew who would win this one, huh?

Yep – Eb didn’t stand a chance.

Keith Baker made a comment about his campaign setting on these very boards. Or, rather, he commented about some of the negative criticism he had seen prior to Eberron's release. Seems some folks were comparing Eberron, sight unseen, to “st00pid Dinotopia with trainz.” That made me laugh when I first read it, and it makes me laugh now.

I was fairly certain there was no way I’d like Eberron. I’m not a fan of steampunk or technomagic or whatever they’re calling it now. I’m old school, man! Old school!** In my books, the “he” pronoun is still gender-neutral! I game with opaque dice! Give me a black-and-white sketch by Jim Holloway any day over the anime stuff they’re using now.

But, as I hid in the corner of my basement, I began to sweat. My face grew flushed as I flipped through the pages, one by one. I looked at the pictures first, then read the text. In short, I looked and felt like a kid covertly thumbing through an adult magazine.

Eberron, my friends, is good. I said that aloud, in my basement, and I felt guilty. My own campaign sourcebook looked at me with hurt in its eyes. I like him, too - don't get me wrong. But I knew I liked him.

I had no idea that I'd like Eberron as much as I did.

This realization has – at the fear of sounding over-the-top – rocked the foundation of my D&D world. I needed stability. Someone had to ground me - this was too scary, too different. I went over to hear what Sean K. Reynolds had to say – he’s always complaining about something – but even he likes it. Oh, no.

A very strange transformation began to occur. Suddenly “old school” began to feel a bit primitive. Heck, the Forgotten Realms had always been my measuring stick of "too new" for me. Yet, now, even FR seems...well, old. Maybe even outdated. Perhaps bland?

In my opinion (and all of this drivel, of course, is just my opinion) Eberron has propelled the gaming industry forward. Like it or not, we’re all along for the ride. Now, instead of pitting the Valus sourcebook against Eberron, I'm wondering how I might fit my little island into the wonderful tapestry Keith Baker has weaved.

I had every reason in the world not to like Eberron. But the guilty little secret is that I do. Very much so. It’s washed away my ‘old school’ skepticism with a freshness that stems from more than just novelty.

Gaming, suddenly, feels new again.

Thanks for reading.

D



* Honestly, Keith didn’t make an obscene gesture at me. Nor was he riding a bike. He was in a Mercedes SUV with a bunch of his WotC minions, and the guys in the back kindly showed me a couple of Eberron’s moons as they passed.

** I’m not really old school. I’m thirtyplus. But my mindset and my sentiments rest firmly with the days of 1st Edition AD&D. I know, I know – some of you will raise your Ziploc bags containing the Chainmail rules and claim 1st Edition isn’t “old school”. Whatever.
 
Last edited:

log in or register to remove this ad

Sellout!

If you were really old-school elf would be a class in Valus and there would be a small -- but statistically possible -- chance that a kokbold could have a +5 vorpal sword in a neat treasure pile occupying the corner of his 10'x10' room. A room, I might add, that would be ONE SQUARE large and none of this 5' nonsense. You think you're cool because your dice are meerly opaque! HA! I use chits my friend! And I keep them in a series of carefully marked Dixie cups. Bah! Kids!

And Eberron is only good if you like good things. The rest of us know better.
 

Destan said:
** I’m not really old school. I’m thirtyplus. But my mindset and my sentiments rest firmly with the days of 1st Edition AD&D. I know, I know – some of you will raise your Ziploc bags containing the Chainmail rules and claim 1st Edition isn’t “old school”. Whatever.


Ziploc bags :confused:

that is way too new for the real olde skool grognard.

i still use my Chainmail rules. :D


(yeah i liked it too)
 
Last edited:

Well, I may not have a Piratecat quote about me in my .sig (Well, not one that's Eric's grandma could read), but I think Eberron is swell. However, I have it on good authority that Keith hid secret messages in the Dragonmark pictures....that's how it sells so well. Remember the old Farrah Fawcet posters? Same thing. Look at the Sibberys marks, I tell you...it's like looking into the mouth of madness.

Of course, I love the Valus, too...so I guess I'll just have to force you and Keith to have a knife fight. We could get, I dunno...Teflon Billy to referee. I heard he killed a man once. With a d4. Honest.

(I mean, those things are nasty. Really. They're pointy and everything.)


 
Last edited:

Hmm.... well, changing the industry I don't know about, but it is definately fresh... it left me with a similar feeling as reading the Unearthed Arcana (the first edition one) for the first time with all its cool stuff (triple proficiency in the bow!!!)...

I am a homebrewer at heart, and I buy other settings mainly to rape an pillage them for cool ideas. With Eberron however, for the first time I am considering how to fit my own ideas and stuff into this world in stead of the other way around...

It definately has potential. More so then the more limited worlds such as Ravenloft, Dark Sun and Dragonlance. This could well become 'the next forgotten realms' in size (in terms of sourcebooks etc.) and popularity.

I for one excited and curious as to how this thing will develop over the coming years...
 

Regarding Eberron and "old school" I've had people balk at my assertion that Eberron has a lot in common with old-school Greyhawk, a la Gary's descriptions of such in his Soapbox articles. For goodness' sake, Robilar tried to go to the moon in a carriage pulled by geese! When people realize that Greyhawk and Eberron were influenced by some of the same sources (some pulp sources for one), it's not a far cry between some of the powerful magics of Eberron and the Magics of Oerth. The Mournland has more in common with the Sueloise/Bakluni Wastes than with Anauroch - the only difference is in the timing.

It's not wrong for old-schoolers to like Eberron - in fact, it's reminder of what keeps the old settings fresh, and what concepts that live on and work well in the newer materials.
 

Just wanted to say I caught sight of your Story Hour in this thread and started giving it a read. Great stuff. Glad to see a talented writer like yourself with a published setting. Congratulations :)
 

Although I am going to run my own Old School homebrew campaign setting (but with Grim tales), it looks to me that Eberron is good and that given a bigger rpg shelf I could buy it, even if only for the read.

As for Valus, where can we see more about it? Is there some reviews? Where? Give us an URL!


elf would be a class
I remember very well when elf or dwarf was a class in itself. But... is not the elf, dwarf, etc. paragon the same sort of thing after all???
 
Last edited:

Well, you'd be hard pressed to find reviews of it, since it hasn't hit the stores, yet. Destan will be, afaik, signing copies of it at Gencon, if you'll be there. You can read more about it, and see a small preview at the Different Worlds Publishing website.

You'll see a couple of maps, the introduction and some highlights of the book, including a table of contents.

If you haven't read Destan's Story Hour, go there. Now. You're in for a treat. Don't take my word for it: check out what Piratecat and Sepulchrave think of it, too.
 
Last edited:

Ravenloft limited? If you think that is true then you do not "get" Ravenloft. I can take any campaign setting, including Eberron, and import it into Ravenloft and have the best of Eberron AND Ravenloft, and everyhting else I want to have in my Ravenlfot campaign, whether Dungeon World, Oathbound, and even Midnight.

Ravenloft is far from "limited". Eberron is limited, Ravenloft allows for anything, any time period, and they can even all exist in the same world at the same time. That is not limited.
 

Remove ads

Top