eberron's core races

[megamania]

Eberron: Gives Demihumans Their Balls Back.

ahhh....well put.

All in all, Eberron took most of the races and gave them a slight twist that makes them seem so unique yet it still kinda follows the traditional feel of the race. You just have to love it.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

Glad to help. Eberron junkie here, as my story hour may indicate
From your title, I would never have guessed you'd have that opinion.

hell yes! i've been playing the dark side of gnomes for years now. it's just nice to see a setting where it's the rule instead of the exception. i also like what i've seen of the artificer class. perfect for the tinker gnomes!

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Never read that article on Zilargo at the Wizards' site until now (and come to think of it, I'm not sure if I've read the section on Zilargo in the ECS). The Trust sounds an awful lot like the Minutemen of DC Comics' 100 Bullets fame. Gonna have to go back and read the ECS again, apparently.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

hell yes! i've been playing the dark side of gnomes for years now. it's just nice to see a setting where it's the rule instead of the exception. i also like what i've seen of the artificer class. perfect for the tinker gnomes!

There aren't any tinker gnomes in Eberron. There might be gnome tinkers, but they're not different (except in terms of species) from human tinkers, dwarven tinkers, warforged tinkers, etc.

 

[Dragonbait]

The orcs of the Demon Wastes are the closest thing to the orcs of traditional D&D...worshiping the Lords of Dust and the imprisoned Rajas, they are the most savage and evil of the orcs. Yet even here there are exceptions...

What about the orcs that live in the mountains of the Mror Holds? Weren't those your traditional CE orc barbarians? Afterall, the dwarves retained their bonus to attack orcs. I read this little idea somewhere. Maybe it was Keith himself, or maybe it was someone else that said it.

 

[Glyfair]

All in all, Eberron took most of the races and gave them a slight twist that makes them seem so unique yet it still kinda follows the traditional feel of the race. You just have to love it.

Also, half-elves are more like a separate race rather than a half-race. Yes, they can be a cross between human and elf. However, those crosses are rare and most have come from half-elven (the khoravar) stock. The fact that they have two Houses that are exclusive the half-elves (no humans, no elves) and they are both quite powerful houses (especially Lyrander) helps give them that boost.

No, orcs are not part of the old empire, they are mainly from the Shadow Marches and the Demon Wastes, also Droaam.

Also, note that orcs are much less common than orcs in other campaign worlds. The goblinoid races sort of take their role.

 

[Dragonbait]

Also, note that orcs are much less common than orcs in other campaign worlds. The goblinoid races sort of take their role.

And, thus, half-orcs are uber-rare.

 

[MarkB]

One thing worth noting regarding the Shadow Marches is that a lot of the Gatekeeper-aligned tribes consist of a mixture of humans, orcs and half-orcs, who define themselves far more by their tribes than their races - and in fact, one of the Dragonmarked Houses, House Tharashk, is composed of several such tribes, and includes humans, orcs and half-orcs in its membership.

One result of this is that it's relatively easy being a half-orc in Eberron without the traumatic origin-story. Chances are, your parents were in a relationship no less stable or ordinary than any other character's.

What about the orcs that live in the mountains of the Mror Holds? Weren't those your traditional CE orc barbarians? Afterall, the dwarves retained their bonus to attack orcs. I read this little idea somewhere. Maybe it was Keith himself, or maybe it was someone else that said it.

It's certainly true that the Mror dwarves have had a lot of trouble with Orc tribes. Whether that means the orcs are the standard evil raiding tribes or not is another matter. One thing to bear in mind is that the dwarves were originally sent to the surface in exile from the mountains' vast subterranean caverns, and whilst I don't think it's ever been specified, it's entirely possible that they emerged to find the orc tribes already in place, and promptly displaced them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's a lot of history between the orcs and dwarves in the Mror Holds, with plenty of mistakes made on both sides.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Eberron: Gives Demihumans Their Balls Back.

QFT. I love what Eberron has done with the core races. IMHO, it's somewhat a shame that the changelings and the shifters don't have quite as cool stuff going on, culturally speaking. With the new races, it's mostly internal cool stuff (the changelings' search for identity, the shifters environmental terrorism, the warforged's pinocchio complex).

I also think the dwarves got kind of gypped with this, because I don't think their world was given as much detail. They're still pretty stereotypical military-industrial mountain men.

 

[Dragonbait]

It's certainly true that the Mror dwarves have had a lot of trouble with Orc tribes. Whether that means the orcs are the standard evil raiding tribes or not is another matter. One thing to bear in mind is that the dwarves were originally sent to the surface in exile from the mountains' vast subterranean caverns, and whilst I don't think it's ever been specified, it's entirely possible that they emerged to find the orc tribes already in place, and promptly displaced them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's a lot of history between the orcs and dwarves in the Mror Holds, with plenty of mistakes made on both sides.

I like this idea. It gives more of that "gray area" that exists in Eberron. It's not a simple matter of "They orcs. They evil."

it's somewhat a shame that the changelings and the shifters don't have quite as cool stuff going on, culturally speaking.

I can see why most changelings do not have a culture. They blend into other race's cultures. However, do the shifters have much of a culture? I don't see a lot about it if they do. I could just be looking in the wrong places.