How good are the various supplements to Eberron?

[cmanos]

Eberron Campaign Setting is EXCELLENT

Sharn is a good resource book, but a pretty dry read.

Races of... is excellent. definitey shows that the normal core races are NOT the same in Eberron.

Shadows of the Last War is OK, not great but OK.

Whisper of the Vampire's Blade was a fun read and I am looking forward to running it.

Grasp of the Emerald Claw is OK.

The dragonshard trilogy in the latest three Dungeon Mags (Crypt of the Crimson Stars, Temple of the Scorpion God and Pit of the Fire Lord are all very short adventures, probably could be accomplished in one sitting each. Very interesting mods. I plan on using them but flushing them out a bit.

Steel Shadows was a lot of fun.

 

[Digital Archon]

Thanks for the in depth breakdown, Graf. Very informative.

I've very much enjoyed running the adventures.

This is the kind of praise that i like to hear, since sometimes an adventure reads somewhat poorly but is a blast to play/run.

I'm sorry to hear that Races is relatively weak, but nobody is sayig so far that it's utter crap yet, which is good.

 

[Nightfall]

I pretty much echo what everyone else said.

The CS is a great and interesting read but not up to everyone's taste.

Sharn, I liked but gave me headaches trying to read it. Major selling points though were the hooks and especially details about the city. Other than than not the most inspired city but certainly far from bland.

Races, was more than decent and CERTAINLY a step up from the other Race books. It was a much more interesting read but not sure if it was as fun in some ways. Overall I'd say Sharn 4 out of 5, Races of Eberron 4.5 out of 5)

 

[cmanos]

I'm sorry to hear that Races is relatively weak, but nobody is sayig so far that it's utter crap yet, which is good.

Races is not weak at all, espeially after seeing the other Race books. It is an excellent supplement to the Eberron Campaign Setting and if you picked up one supplement, I'd suggest Races...

 

[diaglo]

the Campaign Sourcebook is a necessary

Sharn too.

Races not so much. but it definitely helps

all three adventures.. suXX. can you say all aboard the train...


and the novels are surprisingly good for a first time author. not great literature. but good enough for an escape.

 

[VorpalBunny]

My two coppers:

Shadows of the Last War: Good.

Spoiler

My players were sufficiently freaked by the Mournland to make the journey to the Cannith enclave VERY enjoyable. The enclave itself and Garrow's vampire disguise also made my players very nervous.

Whispers of the Vampire's Blade: Meh. Some nice set pieces, but otherwise a largely forgettable adventure that really does nothing to advance the story from the SotLW.

Grasp of the Emerald Claw: Very Good. Very "pulpy" and action-packed, but can be railroadish.

Spoiler

My players enjoyed Xen'drik and the "new" take on drow, and they enjoyed the "Indiana Jones" feel of the adventure. The final battle with the schema/warforged caught them by surprise - having thought Garrow was the BBEG in this adventure, they loaded up on vampire/undead spells. The look on their faces when they discovered he was a changeling was priceless.

Sharn: Excellent. A great resource for the city. I can run a thousand campaigns from this book alone.

Races of Eberron: Good. Cover aside, it's too generic. I was expecting something similiar to Races of Faerûn and was a little disappointed.

 

[Nightfall]

VB,

I agree the cover is kind of lame but the content was nailed down solid goodness!

cmosos is right, Races of Eberron is in no way weak, ESPECIALLY compared to the drek that we got in Races of Destiny. Believe me, the stuff it covered for Warforged, Shifter, Changeling and even Kalasthar, VERY, VERY good.

 

[VorpalBunny]

VB,

I agree the cover is kind of lame but the content was nailed down solid goodness!

I agree the content is good - I'm in no way sorry that I purchased the book. It's just not as comprehensive as Races of Faerûn.

 

[Nightfall]

Oh I agree few Race suppliments are. But then Races of Faerun was truly an exceptional piece of work.

 

[MadMaxim]

"Sharn - City of Towers" is an excellent book. As others have mentioned, it's somewhat dry but that goes for anything that's described in such detail as cities. It has some great plot hooks and some nice prestige classes to finish it off. I wouldn't know how to do a campaign without it

"Races of Eberron" is an excellent book as well. I agree with the others that the warforged and changeling chapters were the strongest parts of the book, but the chapter on the common playable races was almost as great. There is a different kind of atmosphere to Eberron than Greyhawk and I think that this chapter helps describe this difference. The crunch is solid, some prestige classes, substitution levels, feats and spells finish off a perfectly good book.

I must say that I'm very much looking forward to "Five Nations". I SO long for some more detailed information on the different countries. As for the adventures, I don't have them so I will not comment on their value.