Is Eberron a dead world yet?

[Vocenoctum]

I always say that you can never have enough bigots in a campaign setting. After all, then you have people that the PCs can slaughter without having to feel guilty about it...

I do like the hatred vs the warforged, just because it's so obvious why folks would hate and envy them.

But seriously, the gnomes just scream out as the targets for this kind of bigotry. The Triumvirate is damn scary to anyone who has heard about it, and gnomes have a nasty tendency to gather all sorts of inconvenient information about just about everyone. And just why was Zilargo allowed to secede from Breland without any outcry?

All of this is why I don't think the gnomes are the right focus. There really is a secret gnome conspiracy and such, so revealing it isn't as worthwhile IMO. Also, no one ever suspects the gnomes. (bwahaahaaaa!)

I can see all too well a human agitator (funny-looking mustache optional) holding speeches in the lower- and middle-class human neighborhoods of Sharn that begin with "Trust not the gnome..."

I put forth the elves. Always so advantaged, always in power. I think the parallels are closer, and you can see people being jealous of the elves. In addition, the elves carry a broader appeal of having members that are part of a conspiracy (Houses) as well as a seperate "elven homeland" forceably carved and surrounded (Valanar) from other nations.

Besides, then it can be the gnome on the street corner screaming "the elves, the elves are taking over society!"

I think the gnomes are better parralled by an actual secret society really. Perhaps one that includes investigating the "vast elven conspiracy".

 

[Wolfwood2]

You act as if Eberron, or any campaign setting has a wizard down every street corner, constantly screwing things up with their magic. Other campign settings deal with it with wizards of suffiecient skill to even attempt most of the equivalents of our world beign isolationist and sitting in big towers trying to take over the world.

There are still only so many spellcasters in Eberron as that the only way they make themselves known is through big civic undertakings. Sure, a magewright probably could churn out the magic equivalent of an ipod if he wanted to, but would it be as profitable as having the city pay him to light up the streets with everburning torches?

Heck, if you really want magic equivalents of modern day stuff, use the items from Dragon 327's Bazaar of the Bizzare, featuring magic PDAs (slate folios), video phones (mirrors of communication) and Memory crystals (cameras).

Another point, just as important as not having enough mages, is that in many cases they don't do it because they don't know how to do it, or even if it would be possible to do it.

Just because you could theoretically use the D&D rule set to design a magical item doesn't mean that it's possible to create such an item in Eberron. Throughout the setting info, the text is always careful to note that they have to use 'cheats' to create the most impressive magical effects. Almost all magical items require Dragonshards to make, and most of the more impressive items also require a Dragonmarked individual to operate them.

Why don't they have magical machine guns and magical lawnmowers and magical I-Pods? Because nobody has yet figured out how to make those things, or at a minimum how to make those things in a cheap manner that costs less than the utility you actually get out of them.

It's like pointing at the modern world and asking where the personal fusion reactors and flying cars are. It's not that these things are physically impossible, but that serious engineering challenges remain to be overcome before they could be created for practical use.

 

[DaveMage]

Eberron hadn't grabbed me, but reading through this thread makes me want to give it another look...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

All of this is why I don't think the gnomes are the right focus. There really is a secret gnome conspiracy and such, so revealing it isn't as worthwhile IMO. Also, no one ever suspects the gnomes. (bwahaahaaaa!)

Hey, it works for my own setting:

Page 6:

“Trust not the gnome. Do not listen to his witty banter. What he lacks in stature he more than makes up in malice for humankind. Do not take his money, for then he will cast you into debt and force you to sell your own children into slavery...”
- Anti-gnomish pamphlet, signed by “Veritas”

 

[Odhanan]

Eberron hadn't grabbed me, but reading through this thread makes me want to give it another look...

Make yourself a favor, Dave, and have another look, will you? All that Eberron goodness is true!

[pause as I see Jürgen came up with a PDF for Urbis]

... Cool, man! Thanks for the link, Jürgen! I didn't notice that one before!

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

[pause as I see Jürgen came up with a PDF for Urbis]

... Cool, man! Thanks for the link, Jürgen! I didn't notice that one before!

Glad you like it. I've actually put up PDFs for Urbis before - but the earlier versions were just quick hack jobs with OpenOffice. This one has actually semi-decent formatting (done with LaTeX) - as well as a Table of Contents and an index!

 

[shilsen]

Hey, it works for my own setting:

Page 6:

“Trust not the gnome. Do not listen to his witty banter. What he lacks in stature he more than makes up in malice for humankind. Do not take his money, for then he will cast you into debt and force you to sell your own children into slavery...”
- Anti-gnomish pamphlet, signed by “Veritas”

That's beautiful! Unfortunately, I can't use it in my campaign, since I've got the PCs (and players) so freaked out about gnomes that they'd be first in line for the pamphlets. They've fought dragons, mind flayers, rakshasas and daelkyr, but absolutely refuse to ever go up against a gnome

 

[LordofIllusions]

I know a lot of us are playing still in Eberron, but is it considered a "dead world" yet in regards to true product support for it's future?

I just dont' see it surviving much longer with what's happening in gaming today...

Thoughts?


jh

IMO Eberron was never really a good setting. I tried DMing it several times and each time I almost died of boredom.

~~~

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

IMO Eberron was never really a good setting. I tried DMing it several times and each time I almost died of boredom.

~~~

Well, it certainly must have made an impression on you, if you only registered to this board to tell us that.


But still, I must admit that I am curious. How is it even possible for a DM to get bored while running a campaign? Did the players all insist on playing accountants who refused to travel for their jobs?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

That's beautiful! Unfortunately, I can't use it in my campaign, since I've got the PCs (and players) so freaked out about gnomes that they'd be first in line for the pamphlets. They've fought dragons, mind flayers, rakshasas and daelkyr, but absolutely refuse to ever go up against a gnome

Heh.

From a cartoon for Retro MUD.
The Auld Grump