Setting Secrets to be Revealed

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm just now starting to explore the Eberron setting. How does it rate in your respective minds?

Not perfect for every game or every character concept, but wonderful at the things it does, many of which are very new for an official setting.

Xendrik, Sharn and the Mournland nicely sum up the range of new/different sorts of things in the setting -- you can do Indiana Jones, Sam Spade or All Quiet on the Western Front in the context of D&D, and do them well. (The Mournland practically screams out for an adventure based on "Three Kings," for instance.)

I think Eberron stands up well to any major setting produced for the game, ever. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but neither were any of the other greats, and that sort of idiosyncratic nature makes it stronger for those who like it, IMO.

 

[DanMcS]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm just now starting to explore the Eberron setting. How does it rate in your respective minds?

Fun and very playable. It has the complex political setup of a Birthright type game, enough newish elements to have novelty (airships, lightning rails), I love the warforged, dragonmarks kick in my creativity gears, there are three whole continents which can be drawn up by DMs and explored by PCs. The artificiers and shapeshifters are nifty but don't grab me the way some of the other elements do.

 

[A2Z]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm just now starting to explore the Eberron setting. How does it rate in your respective minds?

I just got the book as well. So far... I'm loving it! It's just oozing atmosphere and adventure. Don't know when I'll get a chance to play but I'm certainly enjoying reading through it.

 

[Staffan]

The standard (Least, Lesser, Greater) Dragonmarks are effectively Eberron Marks.

The impression I've gotten is that even the lesser marks are linked to Siberys - mainly, because you can use Siberys dragonshards to enhance them in various ways. The aberrant marks are either just corrupt versions of the normal marks, or are really the Least dragonmarks of a type based on links to Khyber instead of Siberys (note that there are thirteen different aberrant marks possible) - there have been some indication that the War of the Mark had to do with Khyber dragonmarks (though I think that was in Keith Baker's responses on the Thread over at WOTC's boards).

 

[Quickbeam]

Whizbang, DanMcS, and A2Z:

Thanks for the helpful reply messages. I've been holding off making my purchase of Eberron until I had a "good" reason to spend the dough, and thus haven't really done more than peruse its pages. Now that I've signed up to play in an Eberron game (albeit a gameday one shot), I have a "good" reason to buy the book and wanted some objective feedback from fellow EN Worlders.

 

[megamania]

I have been DMing Eberron for a few months now. So far everyone is having a blast. The group is made of veterans and newbies alike and each find something in it they like.

They are really caught up in the story started in the campaign book with the seven sigils of creation. I generally am asked about finding more sigils each time iI bump into a player outside of the house.

I am currently hoping to relaunch an Eberron Story Hour once I get far enough ahead on it that I don't write / add in a month (kills readership).
It will deal entirely with the Dragon marks and the abberations.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

And that's why I'm making my own dragonshard jammers. Khyber shards bearing earth elementals for gravity, fire for heat, air and water for life support, and a siberys shard for propulsion. Works for me.

Currently all "magical vehicals" in Eberron are propelled by bound elementals.

The elementals are bound in Khyber Shards.

The skys above Eberron are Siberys realm.

Khyber Shards may not work (or may stop working) in Siberys realm.

 

[DanMcS]

Currently all "magical vehicals" in Eberron are propelled by bound elementals.

The elementals are bound in Khyber Shards.

The skys above Eberron are Siberys realm.

Khyber Shards may not work (or may stop working) in Siberys realm.

My initial thought was, Khyber shards don't get their power by being close to the Khyber realm, they get it by being part of that ancient broken-up dragon. After all, Siberys Shards work even though they aren't up in the sky.

But that would be cool, too. Their bound elementals are propelling them upward until they reach the edge of the atmosphere, and then suddenly there are four free and angry elementals battling the PCs as they all plummet towards the ground again.

 

[fafhrd]

I had my doubts about Eberron. I'd never bought into psionics, dinosaurs, steampunk and the like. I was distressed when Eberron modules showed up in Dungeon(more useless filler! I thought). Then I decided to see if my prejudices were valid and I found that they weren't. I've been reading and rereading it and really enjoying most of it. It almost has me ready to try out psionics, something I've sworn repeatedly I'd never do; that's how profoundly wrong my instincts were on Eberron. When I got my most recent issue of Dungeon and looked to next months issue, I actually grumbled that there wasn't an Eberron module listed.

The designers did a great job of making it so regionally distinct that you can play just about any sort of game you want in that selfsame world, as another poster said. If you haven't taken a look at it yet, try it. It might surprise you as it did me.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It almost has me ready to try out psionics, something I've sworn repeatedly I'd never do; that's how profoundly wrong my instincts were on Eberron.

Ha! I'm the same way -- I'm actually pondering getting the XPH purely as an Eberron supplement.