I need a crash course on Eberron

[sniffles]

Eberron has different Outer Planes from normal D&D, and there are some areas on Eberron that are strongly linked to particular Outer Planes; these are called 'manifest zones', as a particular Outer Plane overlaps partially (mildly, for the most part) with each of those zones. Sharn, the City of Towers, situated in the nation of Breland, was built in a manifest zone of the plane of air (which I forget the Eberron-ish name for), which is why the towers of Sharn can reach so high and not collapse, because of the strange air-magics in the vicinity.

This is one of the "flavors" of Eberron that makes it particularly interesting to play in. In Sharn, for example, as well as having tremendously tall towers (taller than real-world skyscrapers), PCs can jump off of things and feather fall for great distances. So combats or chases taking place in Sharn can quickly become multilevel.

The relation of Eberron to the Outer Planes also has an impact on the ability to raise the dead. If Eberron isn't close to the appropriate plane of the dead, it's impossible to have anyone raised. This is something you should really be aware of if you want to play in that setting as written. My group has had to adapt our usual style of play to suit that setting, since we typically don't often have to deal with character death in other settings.

Eberron also implicitly includes the use of action points. The setting books include several feats that allow more flexibility with action points, so if you don't currently use action points you may want to familiarize yourself with that.

All of the standard races appear in Eberron, but their flavors are quite different than in most D&D settings. There are no racial variants of elves such as in Forgotten Realms, but there are two elven nations, once in which it's considered an honor to be raised from the dead to serve the nation, and the other devoted to invoking the spirits of their ancestors through martial prowess. That's right, good-aligned undead elves. No dreamy tree-hugging elves here.

Gnomes are like a nation of master spies. Halflings are tribal nomads who ride dinosaurs. Half-orcs are not outcast products of rape, but ordinary citizens. Goblins are common too, and many other monstrous creatures can be found dwelling in any city side-by-side with humanoids. The lack of emphasis on alignment means you can run into a mind-flayer or beholder and not automatically assume he's your enemy.

I'd agree with WayneLigon's opinion that you should really try to get a look at the setting book before you start. Eberron isn't just different geography and throwing in some airships. It has significant differences in history, cosmology, economics and social organization from any other published D&D setting. Unless you want it to end up looking like generic D&D with an Eberron label pasted over it, you should familiarize yourself with what makes it unique, IMO.

 

[Stone Dog]

Wikipedia is actually a very good resource for this as well.

 

[MarkB]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.blunden/dnd/eberron.htm

Wow, I had no idea anyone still remembered that one. It must be two or three years since I put it up, as it's still on my old webspace. It's a pleasant surprise to see it again.

 

[Simm]

Thanks, just to clarify, I'm playing in rather than running the game. I must admit that when the setting first came out I more or less dismissed it off hand, prefering a more traditional fantasy, but reading into it I begin to see where I could make it work for me. I must remember to reread some of my Raymond Chandler in prearation.

Thankfully the game has been pushed back to at least a week so it looks like I'll be able to gather some proper reasources.

 

[Rechan]

Wow, I had no idea anyone still remembered that one. It must be two or three years since I put it up, as it's still on my old webspace. It's a pleasant surprise to see it again.

I had to hunt the damn thing down and bookmark it for future reference because it's solid.