D&D General Eberron - why don't you run it? [-]

[Valetudo]

Yeah the British Empire was just tending it's gardens

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I find people with this sort of power fantasy quite scary.

Is it a British thing that we would rather go home and tend our little gardens?

Legit question, what is gardening if not playing god to a bunch of creatures you think you have the power of life and death over, who can never understand your power?

 

[earthsea_wizard]

To the initial question: I don't run Eberron because I don't know how to portray that "swashbuckling noir" feeling the setting is supposed to have. I love Eberron, and I always steal stuff from it, but my inability to grasp its tone and feel makes me avoiding playing in the setting.

If you love the setting why not just run it as best you feel it should be run and if you develop your own vibe for it over time then more power to you? I imagine Keith Baker would be supportive of that in every way.

 

[Emerikol]

I've got a + thread going about the Realms, thought I would even it out with a - thread! I recently fell for Eberron after mostly ignoring it for 21 years, but am curious what it is by 2025 that has people not enjoying it? It is now more difficult for me to look at most other D&D fantasy settings without considering how applying the Eberron approach is so much more immersive and gameable. I've seen people say Eberron ruined every other setting for them because of this, and I can see why. But still, I know many aren't into it.

I can guess at some of the general turnoffs, most of them probably aesthetic (that was my hurdle), but lets hear it.

I'd say it's mostly just the nature of the world. It's kind of steampunk, note I said kind of, and that appeals or doesn't. Personally my favorite setting is traditional fantasy and I'd run my own world but I'd probably play anything as a player.

 

[Emerikol]

I'd say it's mostly just the nature of the world. It's kind of steampunk, note I said kind of, and that appeals or doesn't. Personally my favorite setting is traditional fantasy and I'd run my own world but I'd probably play anything as a player.

 

[Voadam]

To the initial question: I don't run Eberron because I don't know how to portray that "swashbuckling noir" feeling the setting is supposed to have. I love Eberron, and I always steal stuff from it, but my inability to grasp its tone and feel makes me avoiding playing in the setting.

Noir does not come as naturally to me either. I find the other half of the Eberron tone, pulp, much easier to do. I just imagine how Indiana Jones I can make a D&D session feel and I have done that a bunch and find it fun.

The closest I come to noir is probably Cthulhu type urban investigations in D&D. More gritty urban stuff than epic fantasy kingdom or god type plots and focus. So Lankhmar would probably be a decent model as well. Maybe conceptually emulating Bladerunner, or Shadowrun and Cyberpunk.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Noir does not come as naturally to me either. I find the other half of the Eberron tone, pulp, much easier to do. I just imagine how Indiana Jones I can make a D&D session feel and I have done that a bunch and find it fun.

The closest I come to noir is probably Cthulhu type urban investigations in D&D. More gritty urban stuff than epic fantasy kingdom or god type plots and focus. So Lankhmar would probably be a decent model as well. Maybe conceptually emulating Bladerunner, or Shadowrun and Cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk has a lot of noir, so you can always look at that. It’s pretty much the same as regular D&D apart from the questgiver will at some point betray the party.

 

[pukunui]

If you love the setting why not just run it as best you feel it should be run and if you develop your own vibe for it over time then more power to you? I imagine Keith Baker would be supportive of that in every way.

This! My players wanted a “light-hearted” campaign, so I’ve mostly chucked noir out the window and have focused on the pulp adventure instead with plenty of whimsy thrown in (a number of adventures have involved Thelanis). We’re having a great time!

 

[cbwjm]

I'm not sure I even realised noir was part of Eberron, but I guess I haven't looked too much into it so may have missed it when reading through what books I have.

 

[Zeromaru X]

If you love the setting why not just run it as best you feel it should be run and if you develop your own vibe for it over time then more power to you? I imagine Keith Baker would be supportive of that in every way.

If I can't get the intended flavor of the setting, I don't think I would be playing Eberron. Or that's how I think.