Now that you have Eberron - will you run it?

[der_kluge]

First, let me just state that I looked through the Eberron book at my FLGS, yawned mightily, and placed it back on the shelf.

That said, I have to wonder why so many people here rushed out to buy it sight unseen. I admit, the book looks impressive - color art, nice hardbook. Give me a budget of what WoTC put towards that, and I guarantee that anyone's campaign world would look just as cool.

But, I was thinking - I already made everyone in my group shell out $30-$90 for the 3.5 books when I started my campaign last fall. And some of them couldn't really afford that, either. But, I would have to feel somewhat guilty, if I were the DM, and I said, "we're gonna play in Eberron - go spend $40 on this book." I can't justify that. And you can't really run it unless everyone has it, and from gauging the responses on here, some of you are lucky to get your players to buy a PHB, let alone campaign books that cost $40.

So, I have to ask - now that you have Eberron, are you going to use it?

 

[Kabol]

Ordered it Online and will get it some time this week. It inspired me enough from what I have read and seen so far, to put back on the DM helmet for the first time in like 4 years.

 

[haiiro]

And you can't really run it unless everyone has it, and from gauging the responses on here, some of you are lucky to get your players to buy a PHB, let alone campaign books that cost $40.

Why do you feel you can't run Eberron unless everyone in the group has the CS, die_kluge? Is this something you see as being unique to Eberron, or common to other campaign settings as well?

I ask out of curiosity -- most times I've run an established CS, at most one or two of the players had any setting material.

 

[Basin?]

I bought it and am running the first session tomorrow. Hopefully someone else will buy the book so we have more than one, but who knows.

 

[Cam Banks]

Why did you specifically state "homebrew" in the poll? What if I bought Eberron, really love it, but will continue to run my Dragonlance campaign?

I've been very tempted by it, as have others in my group, but at this stage dropping a setting which I'm contributing to (I'm a freelance designer with Sovereign Press) seems like a really good way to miss an opportunity. And, as one of my players says, it's not going anywhere.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[nonamazing]

I'm planning on running it, but I'm not going to require that my players each own a copy. I think the theme of exploration (one of the central attractions of Eberron) would be kind of ruined if they all knew everything about the setting. I want to kind of guide them through the continent, showing them new things.

I'll let the players read parts of the book, of course, but not the whole thing. I can copy out small parts for them if I need to.

 

[der_kluge]

Well ok, replace homebrew with "your current campaign setting" - whatever that might be.

haiiro - I think it would be for the best for everyone to have the CS. If you only had a handful of copies, and continually passed them around all the time, that would get old. But, you bring up a philosophical point - if everyone in an Eberron campaign plays characters straight out of the PHB, is it really an Eberron campaign?

Things that make you go, hmmm.

If my DM wanted to run a store-bought campaign setting, and intended to do so "by the book", I would really feel compelled to get the CS. Especially if I were playing a religious character, or a Bard, where knowledge of the pantheon, and/or background information on the setting was necessary for proper role playing.

Otherwise:
DM: "You're in the street, and you see the King and his court nearby."
player: "I yell out - Long live the King!"
DM: "But the king is an evil tyrant that oppresses the masses, the people nearby you glare at you with great suspicion and disgust.
player: "uh..."

That might be an exageration, but you get the idea.

 

[VorpalBunny]

Bought it, read it, pleasantly suprised. My next campaign might or might not be Eberron, but I'll still get a few games worth out of it at the very least.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I wouldnt say you cant run it if the player's dont have the book, I ran a FR campaign for two years without asking a player to ever purchase the set. I was the only one with the FR boxed set, and gave out information to the players as necessary. It's not the perfect solution, but marginally workable. Back on topic, I agree with your general sentiment that Eberron didnt seem to be all that grand when I took a gander at a friend's copy last week. I, too wonder what all the fuss is about. Are we all so hungry for campaign related material, or did I just not give this book a fair shake?

 

[haiiro]

Back on topic, I agree with your general sentiment that Eberron didnt seem to be all that grand when I took a gander at a friend's copy last week. I, too wonder what all the fuss is about. Are we all so hungry for campaign related material, or did I just not give this book a fair shake?

I'm certainly not generally hungry for new setting material, but there's something exciting about Eberron that comes accross in the book.

One the main things I'm enjoying so much about it is that it takes a simple, powerful idea -- the world advances because of magic, not science -- and explores it in depth. Not only that, but it does so in a way that (so far - I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book ) is still very much D&D. There's all sorts of other cool things about it, but that's the biggie for me.

So far, I love it.