Eberron

[delericho]

First, traditional monster/NPC alignments can differ and so the DM has to fight assumptions about a monster/NPC.

I keep hearing this, but they always could. As far back as the 3.0e Monster Manual this was spelled out. Even "Always Evil" was stated as having the occasional exception.

 

[Alexander123]

an uprising of warforged peace activists

Oh the irony.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I keep hearing this, but they always could. As far back as the 3.0e Monster Manual this was spelled out. Even "Always Evil" was stated as having the occasional exception.

True, but Eberron goes out of its way to make the line as blurry as possible. In baseline D&D, you could reasonably start with the assumption that a black dragon was evil; in Eberron you can't.

I do disagree with another post upthread about alignment. Eberron doesn't invalidate alignment; a person who consistently behaves as described for chaotic and evil will still be CE in alignment. Conversely, a person who's just basically a prick, but doesn't consistently do stuff that chaotic and evil, will not be CE.

As in any modern D&D, alignment in Eberron is descriptive, not prescriptive. The uncertainly of alignment in Eberron isn't "someone can be X alignment even if they don't act X," but rather, "it's dangerous to assume that because someone is associated with an X alignment group or organization (fully and legitimately), they must be X alignment."

The Church of the Silver Flame is a LG religion, but there are members in good standing, with full clerical powers, who genuinely worship the Silver Flame ("wrongly" or not), who are LE.

 

[amerigoV]

The Church of the Silver Flame is a LG religion, but there are members in good standing, with full clerical powers, who genuinely worship the Silver Flame ("wrongly" or not), who are LE.

That's one of the keys. The gods are remote -- clerics suddenly do not lose spells just because they take a "different approach" to a situation. It allows for the rotten apple in the barrel without immediately giving them away.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

When I ran Eberron, it was as a magical variant to world war 2. My history degree gets used rather heavily when I run an Eberron game, which I like.

Heh - I ran with it being the equivalent of WWI, with WWII visible on the horizon. It is in some ways very much a 1930s Pulp setting - complete with lost continents and dinosaurs!

The setting is great for espionage and intrigue, I even ran a direct theft of 'Strangers on a Train' as a mystery adventure and 'The Third Man' for an espionage adventure. Another adventure centered around the team, including a Paladin, being hired, through cut outs, by the above mentioned LE Vampire seeking peace' to find an agent that was trying to trigger a war.

I highly recommend reading Raymond Chandler and mining his stories for ideas, heck, one of the adventures goes so far as to paraphrase his line 'When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.'

Dashiell Hammett is another excellent source, going for a noir and pulp tone. The Continental Op in particular, for a more intrigue and espionage flavored game, without dabbling your toes into the James Bond - Mary Sue Super Spy genre.

Good people can perform some of the nastiest acts with the best of intentions, be it in the name of gods or for love of king and country. Sometimes there is a good reason why the victim of a horrible murder was killed. And sometimes, they were just in the way.

The setting assumes that if magic is as common as it typically is in D&D then it will be used to solve some of the same problems that were solved by technology in our own world - the train, the zeppelin airship, rapid communication and the attending commerce.

Trips into the Mournlands can be pretty damned grim, especially for those who came from Cyre, a bit like how a post apocalyptic setting might feel to the survivors, seeing a recognizable landmark torn apart and changed by whatever fell energies destroyed that nation....

The Auld Grump, He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus.
I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.

 

[megamania]

There is no limit to the type of stories you may wish to do. The weakest style is perhaps the overhanded antics and actions of gods which if that is your preferred playstyle go to FR.

There is spy nets of countries and Dragonmarked familys.

There are war villains / criminals to seek out for past / present and future evil

there is the hardship of the unwanted warforged

There is the turning of age psionic / dream nation

There is economic battles of city vs nature (Everyone vs Eldeen)

Xen drik.... too much DM goodness to describe here

Elemental ships which create new types of stories and battle conditions

Mournlands.... what happened anyway?!? and the battle of ownership between the Lord of Blades, undead and the remaining Cyre people

Emerald Claw whom is about eternal life.... only the inner circle understands it as the power of undead.

So much but so little time to describe.

 

[hamishspence]

I do disagree with another post upthread about alignment. Eberron doesn't invalidate alignment; a person who consistently behaves as described for chaotic and evil will still be CE in alignment. Conversely, a person who's just basically a prick, but doesn't consistently do stuff that chaotic and evil, will not be CE.

True- though there's a little grey area even there- it mentions scheming advocates, and unpleasant innkeepers- who might qualify as Evil-aligned- and yet not deserve to be attacked by the PCs.

Consistantly doing minor evil acts- and never (or almost never) doing Good ones- can make for a "evil NPC"- even if the NPC is not a violent criminal.

 

[The Antra]

When people talk about Eberron, they always point out the coolness of warforged, the nomadic bad-ass elves, flying ships and dinossaur-riding halflings. Yes, that is all very cool, but I never actually managed to get a grasp of the setting itself. I always looked at it as an amalgamation of cool elements, not a setting.

I couldn´t be more wrong.

The cool part about Eberron is its backstory. The history of the world is amazingly rich, the complex relations between the kingdoms are thoroughly detailed (they are totally believable) and all-in-all it JUST MAKES SENSE.

When I first read the history of the world I was hooked. I tell you, even if you don´t plan on running an Eberron game, the book itself will leave you brimming with ideas!

BUT, if you´re planning on running an Eberron game, I suggest you go and also buy the Forge of War book, specially if you have the intention of exploring the "post-war/cold-war" theme. It´s an amazing book with TONS of fluff material (I bought it even though I only have the 4e version).

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