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

[pukunui]

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.

Indeed. And I think this is one of the main reasons I bounced pretty hard off the art previews for the delayed Eberron book. It felt like they were really leaning into the 1920s art nouveau aesthetic too much for my tastes. I want less 1920s in my Eberron, not more.

 

[Micah Sweet]

...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.

I know. It harms the vibe that Eberron is trying to foster, for me, because I don't associate that vibe with omnipresent magic, but rather with modern-ish technology.

 

[Micah Sweet]

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.

The omnipresent magical technology makes it less than equivalent to me.

 

[Scott Christian]

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.

That is not noir, that is time. Noir is a mood that houses character motivations. Its 30's feel, is just setting. The two are very different. Perhaps noir shouldn't be used at all, which was part of my (and other's) criticism.

 

[Remathilis]

Indeed. And I think this is one of the main reasons I bounced pretty hard off the art previews for the delayed Eberron book. It felt like they were really leaning into the 1920s art nouveau aesthetic too much for my tastes. I want less 1920s in my Eberron, not more.

I'm actually interested in seeing how they play that up in the art. The one thing I can say about older Eberron art was it didn't have a strong theme.. Well rather it did but that theme was WAR and his dungeon punk aesthetic.

It's funny though; 1920s art nouveau is 100 years old. For context, that's as old as Ravenloft's Victorian gothic style when it was being published in the 90s.

 

[Remathilis]

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.

It's funny we consider 100 years ago "modernistic" when it comes to Eberron's tone but less so when Ravenloft used heavy Victorian tones and that's also about 100 years ago..I guess that the gothic style and horror masks the fact many domains are very anachronistic.

(It probably also explains why those two are my favorite settings).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I know. It harms the vibe that Eberron is trying to foster, for me, because I don't associate that vibe with omnipresent magic, but rather with modern-ish technology.

It’s a world where scientists have studied magic and turned it into engineering, there isn’t more magic, any more than the real world has more electricity than other worlds. It’s just that the magic is understood and applied to solve practical problems. And, since form follows function, those solutions are going to look like real world solutions to the same problems until you look under the hood.

Give the Forgotten Realms another couple of hundred years and it will look much like Eberron.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Indeed. And I think this is one of the main reasons I bounced pretty hard off the art previews for the delayed Eberron book. It felt like they were really leaning into the 1920s art nouveau aesthetic too much for my tastes. I want less 1920s in my Eberron, not more.

Do you really think everyone should dress in the same ren faire outfits in every single fantasy world?

 

[Lanefan]

Why don't I run (or like) Eberron?

Warforged. PC-playable quasi-constructs without the drawbacks inherent to all other constructs (e.g. constructs can't usually be cured, Warforged can). No thanks.

The cosmology...or lack thereof. Rather than Eberron's distant aloof deep-background deities I want in-your-face Greek or Norse types that sometimes willingly meddle in mortal affairs and that take a direct interest in what's going on; and I want Clerics to be the mortal agents of said deities.

The technology. Had they fully leaned into gunpowder-less Victorian-era steampunk I'd be much more keen, but the art-deco post-WW-I tech - and aesthetic - does nothing for me.

All that said, one thing Eberron does do well - and that really should be ported to all mid-to-high magic settings - is the magic-for-the-masses piece. I mean, for example it just makes too much bloody sense that city streets in Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms would have Continual Light streetlights, etc.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's funny we consider 100 years ago "modernistic" when it comes to Eberron's tone but less so when Ravenloft used heavy Victorian tones and that's also about 100 years ago..I guess that the gothic style and horror masks the fact many domains are very anachronistic.

(It probably also explains why those two are my favorite settings).

And for some reason no one ever seems to refer to Ravenloft as Steampunk. It's like it has a magical aura of tech blindness!