Sharn: How is it?

[MerricB]

The difference between the warforged and the drow is pretty simple:

Drow were mysterious, manipulative enemies that stayed in the shadows, and then became ubiquitous.

Warforged have begun in the spotlight as a known race - though where they'll end up is unknown.

Cheers!

 

[Shadowdancer]

I bought the book, and I plan to use Sharn in a non-Eberron setting. Using it in another setting, such as Halruaa as someone else said, shouldn't be too difficult. Especially if you use planar travel in your game.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

BTW, I agee on other people's take on the levels of NPCs-they should be low-to-mid. If I wanted Elminster types, I'd be playing in the Realms.

Precisely why I've excised all those high-level Greenwood- and Salvatore- created NPCs from my Realms (except for rulers of nations who don't play much of a part and don't go out adventuring). Makes the setting much more to my liking (cut the magic shops and the item level a bit, and it's just like Greyhawk!).

I applaud Keith Baker for starting there to begin with.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I like it but feel it is not a city book in the way Bluffside, Freeport and other are city books that list locations and NPCs, which it does do but it is a diffrent presentation, it talks of wards and districts, it give insight into what is going on in Sharn and the movements of people, power and such that is happening as a backdrop in the city.

It is a source book for Eberron and if I had to compare it to any other city would say the Planescape Sigil more than any other but again that may just the way it is presented and I am reading it.

Maps are not detailed and a lot is left up to the DM.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Now that makes sense, I'll give you that until you hit Sharn. I'm thinking there needs to be a lot of work done on the DM's part to put the big hitters in there, which is fine but I just don't see a city like that without them.

One of the principles of Eberron is that you don't need lots of levels to be a "big hitter" - merchant princes and nobles might not have two attacks per round in melee but they have enough money, enough connections, enough power through their networks to qualify as "big hitters" from the point of view of ruling a city.

And here comes the problem again, what or who can challenge PC's who reach those levels? I can only assume that Wizards was paying attention to thier audience (who mostly plays low level) and taylored a setting for them?

There are some challenges which are in the book as specifically for the highest level PCs (dreaming dark, Daelkyr, Lords of Dust) as well as others who are currently put at a level above the PCs and with the intention that they can grow in level as the PCs do, enabling them to be ongoing foes. The Lord of Blades is certainly one such. Vol and King Kaius could possibly be considered as such too, I'm sure there are plenty of others too.

Cheers

 

[Mystery Man]

One of the principles of Eberron is that you don't need lots of levels to be a "big hitter" - merchant princes and nobles might not have two attacks per round in melee but they have enough money, enough connections, enough power through their networks to qualify as "big hitters" from the point of view of ruling a city.

This is true but can be said for any setting, I just don't see how this separates it from the pack. High level characters need high level NPC's to challenge them.

If I seem adversarial it will only be because a. the setting intrigues us (my group) b. if I or any one of my players are going to run a campain using these questions have to be straightened out in my mind. And c. there are just too many similarities to those setting that have come before to convince me that it's anything remotely close to "new" and "different".

The rakshasa rajhas, the dreaming dark, the daelkyr and a few others can reasonably challenge high level characters, possibly into epic level. The dragons of Argonnessen may switch from friend to foe, or vice versa.

If these it true and you have a world of low level weenies running around they would have been dominated a long time ago.

I just hope the warforged doesn't become the new drow... Too late!

And there's drow! Perhaps relegating warforged to an NPC only monster type....

 

[Glyfair]

Maps are not detailed and a lot is left up to the DM.

Actually, even if they wanted to do so, I think it's close to a insurmountable task with Sharn (at least if you wanted it usable). Sharn is very much a 3D city, with parts of the city being as high as a mile. Maps to detail even a single ward would probably take a lot of pages and a lot of cross-referencing.

If these it true and you have a world of low level weenies running around they would have been dominated a long time ago.

A few things go against this, First, there are a lot of mid-level characters. If a high level adversary would to start something, then they would gang up against them.

Second, the high-level groups tend to have less simplistic goals than "trying to take over the world." Well, the Quori are trying to take over the world, but their first goal is to get here, since they can't travel here themselves.

Also, the groups tend to keep each other in check, too. If the Dreaming Dark were going to make a major move, that wouldn't sit well with the Lords of Dust and they'd do something about it. That doesn't make war between the groups a common occurance, it makes caution a part of those groups (especially since both groups are immortal or close).

 

[megamania]

There is astrong push for starting low and building higher in Eberron. The fact that several NPCs are shown at different levels clearly is an example of this.
I hope to get the book this weekend.

 

[NiTessine]

Hmm. Looks promising. Must buy once it hits my gaming store. I have great plans for that soundtrack CD. Great plans. I'm planning a narration sequence with the music playing in the background to start an introductory adventure that'd cover all the major bases of what makes Eberron Eberron... Sharn, the warforged, the Last War, the dragonmarks, the planes...

So, how would you say that flavour to crunch ratio of the book is?

 

[Morpheus]

Hmm. Looks promising. Must buy once it hits my gaming store. I have great plans for that soundtrack CD. Great plans. I'm planning a narration sequence with the music playing in the background to start an introductory adventure that'd cover all the major bases of what makes Eberron Eberron... Sharn, the warforged, the Last War, the dragonmarks, the planes...

So, how would you say that flavour to crunch ratio of the book is?

The soundtrack is easily one of the best ever produced for a game. Not quite up to par with the LotR soundtracks, but very good.
The fluff-to-crunch ratio is about 70%-30%. The main reason is because of all the description needed for the various districts, wards and neighborhoods. The description of the NPCs also includes their starting reaction (i.e. Hostile, Friendly, etc.) along with a description of their actions. Very cool and useful...