D&D 5E Please Support Eberron!

[ranger69]

I would love to see Eberron supported sooner rather than later by WOTC. Perhaps a players guide so that awesome things like Dragon Marks, artificers and warforged are officially presented in 5E
. (That list is not exhaustive, if I have missed your favourite Eberron thingy then please feel free to add it.) Eberron had a different flavour to the other D&D campaigns, and the world was barely explored properly.

Plenty of great adventure arcs are needed.

 

[DM Howard]

[MENTION=15800]Hellcow[/MENTION] How are we actually counted though? Are the links you posted going to tag our donations as "Eberron Donations"? I'll probably donate, but I'm not sure how this will really give WotC any quantitative data about the potential market for Eberron.

 

[KarinsDad]

On the other hand, just to play Devil's advocate for a moment, do we really need a new Eberron sourcebook? I still have my 3e and 4e sourcebook and using these, it would be relatively effortless to run an Eberron campaign for 5e.

Yeah, I have to admit that I do not see the need for another Eberron sourcebook.

Personally, I never got into the whole "magic is not special, it's technology" of Eberron.

I like the fact that the PCs are some of the most visible spell casters in a fantasy setting (shy of the real shakers and movers behind the scene) and the reason NPCs call to them for help is because magic is not technology and is not mundane. It's special and it's rare (except for PCs and a few NPCs), just like the PCs. One cannot just move an entire army down the lightning rails to solve a problem, the NPC leaders have to call in specialists (i.e. PCs).

If Keith is really interested in how much support there is, he should do a poll here.

All the best to Keith and his effort, but been there, done that, got the tshirt when it comes to Eberron. And many of the other settings. The game system should be playable with all settings, but WotC should probably focus on official support for just one setting, even if that is not my preferred setting. I'd rather they do a great job with one campaign world than spread out their resources and do an ok job with multiple settings. Just my preference.

 

[Zaran]

I donated but I would like to ask. Is it really up in the air that Eberron wouldn't be supported for 5e? Eberron is one of the best settings out there.

 

[Hellcow]

Thanks again to everyone who's jumped in!

[MENTION=15800]Hellcow[/MENTION] How are we actually counted though? Are the links you posted going to tag our donations as "Eberron Donations"? I'll probably donate, but I'm not sure how this will really give WotC any quantitative data about the potential market for Eberron.

This is most definitely a straw poll, and I'm not trying to suggest that "WotC will DEFINITELY support Eberron if X people jump in!" In part, it's a poll for MY benefit; I'm just personally curious how many people are out there who would like to see more support, in part so I know if it makes sense to continue the unofficial support I do on my site. Essentially, if I put out a call like this, do five people respond? Fifty? Five hundred?

I donated but I would like to ask. Is it really up in the air that Eberron wouldn't be supported for 5e?

It's something that I have been discussing with WotC for a long time now. I am fairly confident that it WILL happen; it's just a matter of when, and anything that shows that there's people out there that want to see it will help to promote that. I'm actually playing with the WotC team for Extra Life, and if I come in with a hundred donations - even if each donation is only a dollar - it still says something. So in other words, this is NOT a do or die thing; it's just something that could give me another rallying point.

If Keith is really interested in how much support there is, he should do a poll here.

There's been polls here before; what I'm trying here is something different. To begin with, there's a big difference between someone who's willing to click on a poll and someone who's willing to spend a dollar to make a point; I am literally asking people to vote with their dollar. So far around 700 people have visited my website, and around 70 have donated to one of the two causes. Beyond that, I'm asking people to pass it along to people who might not follow a website. I KNOW roughly what to expect from any particular forum; but I don't know how many people are out there who never post on forums or respond to polls, but are interested nonetheless... and at the end of the day, it's also about raising money for charities. Both of these are causes I support, so I'm trying to kill a few birds with one stone - to get a sense of how many people are willing to put a dollar down for Eberron, to get a rallying point for my ongoing discussions with WotC, and to support two good causes.

But it is absolutely true: this is NOT a scientific poll, and it is not the case that this is any sort of absolute determiner for future support!

 

[Boarstorm]

and at the end of the day, it's also about raising money for charities.

Quoted for emphasis.

I like Eberron, but that's not why I made my donation.

 

[Hellcow]

Personally, I never got into the whole "magic is not special, it's technology" of Eberron... I like the fact that the PCs are some of the most visible spell casters in a fantasy setting (shy of the real shakers and movers behind the scene) and the reason NPCs call to them for help is because magic is not technology and is not mundane.

Just to explain the philosophy behind Eberron in more depth, because hey, I like Eberron...

What inspired Eberron was the fact that in 3E D&D - the core system when Eberron was developed - arcane magic behaves like a science. It is 100% reliable unless you get punched in the face while casting a spell. It is repeatable. It uses a system of physical and verbal components. One wizard can learn a spell from another wizard, or create a new spell on his own. Given these facts, it seemed strange that magic is never used in a more scientific manner and applied to the same sort of problems we solve with technology - transportation, communication, medicine, warfare.

With that said, another of the core principles of Eberron is that player characters are rare and remarkable. It's not a world where the bartender might be a 10th level fighter or where there's a bunch of 15th level wizards hanging out playing cards. The bulk of the world have a level or two of commoner or expert. Most professional spellcasters are adepts and magewrights. And even beyond that, it's rare to encounter any magic over third level. Eberron is "wide magic" as opposed to "high magic". The streets are lit with continual flame and there is a lightning rail, but teleportation is still a remarkable thing. Tied to this is the idea of creating new spells. While it's POSSIBLE, it represents the sort of genius most people simply don't have. You may be able to send an army down the lightning rail, but it's an army of 1st-level warriors and there are many problems they simply can't solve; and that's where the amazing player character comes in.

So your player character wizard IS one of the most important spellcasters in the world. You are a person who could make innovations and do things that have never been done before. You are marked by your limitless potential, and by the time you're tenth level the powers you wield will amaze people. Sure, they understand the PRINCIPLES of what you're doing - but they may have never met anyone who could do what you do.

Anyhow, I'm not trying to change your opinion about Eberron - but it is certainly the case that it's a setting driven by the idea that the players ARE big damn heroes and the only people who can solve the big problems.

 

[KarinsDad]

Anyhow, I'm not trying to change your opinion about Eberron - but it is certainly the case that it's a setting driven by the idea that the players ARE big damn heroes and the only people who can solve the big problems.

Yes, I get it. But, there are so many big problems that military technology can solve in Eberron that would traditionally be solved by the PCs. Want to soften up an enemy army, village or town? Fly an airship over it our of arrow range and drop bombs. Want to quell some bandits? Put 200 troops on a lightning rail and take them close to the problem. Walking through a town late at night in the dark? No problem, light stones are a dime a dozen and every street corner has them. With airships, castle walls are not a problem. Without airships, only a few NPCs can fly. It's so much easier to kill a flying gryphon with a rider than it is to stop an airship with a couple of dozen boarders.

I prefer 15th to 16th century medieval settings with magic, not early 20th century settings with magic. Eberron just has an even greater suspension of disbelief than many other settings because technology really can be used in so many ways. "Why exactly are we called in to solve this problem? Why not just use your magic phone to call ahead or send troops?" "Err, um, it's because all of our airships are down or far away at the moment, our lightning rail is under repair and, House Sivis won't let us talk today. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. We are out of transport and communications." High technology is fine in technology genre games, I just don't like in D&D because it allows the PCs to solve a lot of problem by spending money at one of the houses. Peanut butter in my chocolate. To each their own.

 

[Hellcow]

Peanut butter in my chocolate. To each their own.

Absolutely! Eberron has a very distinctive flavor, and it's definitely NOT what you want when you're looking for a classic high-fantasy flavor.

 

[GameDoc]

I'm interested to see the 5e take on artificers. Will it be a seperate class or a wizard subclass? As others have alluded to, Eberron is a large world with a unique cosmology, most of which is yet to be explored. It's potentially as big as Forgotten Realms, just not as thoroughly catalogued. I think it provides a nice contrast to the high fantasy default of D&D.