Ruin Explorer
Legend
Hobo said:
Whilst you're spot on about the other stuff (I mean rofl FR more consistent than Eberron? On what planet? It sure ain't Toril!), I'm not sure you can make as strong a case for this. In fact I'm quite sure that you can't.
Eberron starts off very strong thematically, with a very distinct, as you say "D&D + Indiana Jones + The Maltese Falcon" sort of vibe, and strong pulpish and Steamcrunk (cause there ain't punk in Eberron, that's fo' sho') elements, and so on.
Then you actually read the setting book in detail, and the race books, and the other setting books, and slowly, during the process, 99% of the "Indiana Jones" and 85% of the "Maltese Falcon" vibes evaporate. I mean, there's nothing of either, nor indeed any "Pulp" vibe at all to say, all the Elves in Eberron (undead-worshippers or otherwise). Not that they're not cool. They are awesome, even. But they could be from almost any moderately daring fantasy setting. There's nothing that screams "pulp" or "Indiana Jones" or "Maltese Falcon" or even "Steamcrunk" about them.
The same goes for most of the nations. Whilst you have awesome, consistently Steamcrunk stuff like Sharn, and the Lightning Rail, you also have other nations, like the one secretly ruled by the Blood of Vol (I do apologise for forgetting the names - I read a huge amount of Eberron stuff, but it was mostly 2-3 years ago), which just seem like they could have been from any fantasy setting. They're almost, though not quite, generic. Sarlona seems similarly "not-so-pulp". It's more like something from a mid-twentieth-century Sci-fi novel than anything else, though maybe there's the tiniest hint of Shangrila and The Shadow, at least.
What am I saying? That I think the "Pulp" angle of the setting was rapidly forgotten as people beyond Keith Baker wrote for it, and that he often seemed to leave it out of certain places/races/etc. entirely. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but it seems to me like Eberron ended up being somewhat more coherent/consistent and BARELY more themed than the Forgotten Realms (once you get out of the "this is supposed to be pulpish, guys!" intro - show us, don't tell us, Keith!). Maybe 4E can re-condense it and reinforce the "Pulp" angle and other thematic elements of Eberron, but I suspect as we have to cover the ENTIRE large setting again (albeit in two books instead of one), just in case no further support is forthcoming, then we'll see a similarly "nearly themed" setting as opposed to one with a strong, clear, theme (I think Dark Sun and Planescape's themes, however irritating and DEEPLY 90s, are much clearer/cleaner than those of Eberron, even though one is arguably a "showcase" setting, and the other, a "kitchen sink" setting).
Perhaps Eberron would have been stronger, thematically, if we'd just started off with Khorvaire (I god I wish they'd rename that, though, chrome bumpers fill my mind every time I say it!).
) Steam technology is, as I am aware, not a part of Eberron.
