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

[Remathilis]

I really think that is part of the problem some people have with the setting. Noir has no business fitting in with the perceived setting and mood of Eberron.

I get it, the lore does have elements of noir. But almost all of the D&D setting do. So to use it as a focus, seems out of place for someone perusing the 5e Eberron book.

Noir in Eberron is basically defined as mystery and intrigue. Spy thrillers, detective mysteries, espionage, etc. Stuff that digs into Sharn underworld or political machinations of the new Cold War after the Day of Mourning. It also is part of the whole "alignment isn't strictly defined" elements, the emphasis on shapechangers, and the notion that good people can still be your enemies. A lot of that seeped into other settings and was influenced by other settings, but the point was you could run Eberron as a thriller and not just as a good vs evil setting.

 

[Scott Christian]

Noir in Eberron is basically defined as mystery and intrigue. Spy thrillers, detective mysteries, espionage, etc. Stuff that digs into Sharn underworld or political machinations of the new Cold War after the Day of Mourning. It also is part of the whole "alignment isn't strictly defined" elements, the emphasis on shapechangers, and the notion that good people can still be your enemies. A lot of that seeped into other settings and was influenced by other settings, but the point was you could run Eberron as a thriller and not just as a good vs evil setting.

Thanks for the clarification. I know you are this forum's resident expert on Eberron, so I will take this information and place it way up front so I remember it. Thanks.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Am I wrong for basically saying that the "tone" of Eberron can best be approximated with the last few Discworld novels (Particularly the ones about social and technological progress like Feet of Clay or Going Postal), and then remove like 75% of the humor?

 

[Vael]

Admittedly, playing a Changeling has never been as fun as I had hoped. The two times I've played one in Eberron campaigns (A sorcerer in 3.5 going through the chain of Eberron Adventures, and a 5e Mystic, I think using AL material) ... the rest of the party aren't Changelings, so as soon as we gain notoriety, I'm kinda locked into a form that is known to be with that party. So I don't get to play with the shapechanging nearly as much as I think I will when I pick that species. Heck, that 5e Mystic felt the most like a Changeling when I'd talk about my side gig of being a private inquisitive, when I'm not stuck with these brash, attention grabbing solids that are the rest of my adventuring party.

Am I wrong for basically saying that the "tone" of Eberron can best be approximated with the last few Discworld novels (Particularly the ones about social and technological progress like Feet of Clay or Going Postal), and then remove like 75% of the humor?

I don't think you need to take out the humor, that's a table dynamic, one can still have a beer and pretzels fun time with Eberron. Vimes' classic shoe theory of economics is pointed humor that will play well with the social and class dynamics of Eberron. For all the talk of noir, there are still ... Indiana Jones style villains to punch. Noir and Pulp.

Which is admittedly, the challenge for me with Eberron, it really is a buffet of options, which can be overwhelming. Dark Sun or Spelljammer, I'd say, are more locked-in and specific with how they want to work. One of my favourite series of Eberron novels is the Thorn of Breland series, which is pretty much an attempt to do James Bond spy drama in DnD, and it fits and works.

 

[Faolyn]

The fact that the tech is magic would actively harm the vibe that Eberron is trying to foster, for me. It wouldn't look right to me.

...but Eberron already has tech is magic. It's full of tech is magic. I mean, it has trains powered by elementals, for goodness' sake.

 

[Faolyn]

I really think that is part of the problem some people have with the setting. Noir has no business fitting in with the perceived setting and mood of Eberron.

I get it, the lore does have elements of noir. But almost all of the D&D setting do. So to use it as a focus, seems out of place for someone perusing the 5e Eberron book.

I don't think you're using the term noir correctly. What Eberron has is film noir--it's set in the equivalent of the 30s, after all. No other setting actually does that.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think you're using the term noir correctly. What Eberron has is film noir--it's set in the equivalent of the 30s, after all. No other setting actually does that.

One of the defining characteristics of film noir is that it’s literally dark. It’s the aesthetic that is important as much as the plot.

 

[Epic Meepo]

Admittedly, playing a Changeling has never been as fun as I had hoped. The two times I've played one in Eberron campaigns (A sorcerer in 3.5 going through the chain of Eberron Adventures, and a 5e Mystic, I think using AL material) ... the rest of the party aren't Changelings, so as soon as we gain notoriety, I'm kinda locked into a form that is known to be with that party. So I don't get to play with the shapechanging nearly as much as I think I will when I pick that species. Heck, that 5e Mystic felt the most like a Changeling when I'd talk about my side gig of being a private inquisitive, when I'm not stuck with these brash, attention grabbing solids that are the rest of my adventuring party.

Personally, I've had more fun playing a changeling against type. My changeling character was honest to a fault and refused to use shapechanging to deceive others. Instead, the changeling wore the same, identifiable face at all times, modified in small ways to reflect their current mood.

(The rest of the party didn't think to ask why the changeling wasn't using any false identities. Eventually, they devised a plan to infiltrate a villain's lair by having someone impersonate a guard, only to discover at the last minute that the party's lone changeling was expecting one of them to do the impersonation.)

 

[pukunui]

I don't think you're using the term noir correctly. What Eberron has is film noir--it's set in the equivalent of the 30s, after all. No other setting actually does that.

If there was a “things people get wrong about Eberron” thread, this would be my number 1 item.

Yes, there are post-WW1 elements, but they’re more 1920s than 1930s.

But the Cold War aspect is more post-WW2. What happened to Cyre on the Day of Mourning was the magical equivalent of nuclear annihilation, and now everyone’s paranoid about it happening again.

The Last War, which was an on-and-off war of succession that lasted for a century, also takes a lot of inspiration from Europe’s various lengthy medieval wars and dynastic squabbles, particularly the Hundred Years’ Wars and England’s War of the Roses. Lots of shifting alliances, territory changing hands over generations, and so on.

Pre-war Galifar was kind of like the UK with a mix of the Habsburgs. Very 1500s onwards. (Yes, WW1 was the ultimate unraveling of the complex and fragile web of alliances the Habsburgs had created over centuries.)

Yes, there are trains and airships and magical street lamps. But magewrights are more like pre-industrial artisans than factory workers. They’re blacksmiths and carpenters with cantrips. More magical renaissance than magical industrial era.

Sharn looks kind of like NYC with its skyscrapers, but those towers are medieval castle towers made of stone, not concrete or steel. They’re impossibly tall because magic!

Post-war Breland is in a pre-American Revolution era, with its on-the-nose Swords of Liberty agitating to overthrow the king. Very 1700s.

The dragonmarked houses are a weird mix of corporate monopolies, Mafia syndicates, and aristocratic houses.

So Eberron is really a mishmash of various time periods and genres.

Yes, the 1920s are a major influence, especially since that’s when a lot of the pulp adventures from which Eberron draws inspiration were written, but it’s still wrong to say “Eberron = 1920s D&D”.

 

[earthsea_wizard]

If there was a “things people get wrong about Eberron” thread, this would be my number 1 item.

Was going to say similar. Keith Baker has explicitly stated over and over that the 1920s-30s was the original plan but they thought that this was far too late to also keep the medievalism, so the assumed tone is much earlier. This and "steampunk" are the two biggest misconceptions I see.