Hairfoot said:
But it's not about edition wars. I simply believe that Eberron, with Dragonmarks, PC election, etc. implies that type of super-fantasy more than other settings.
This just really baffles me because, as has been noted, the assumption is that your average people (even folks who fought in the Last War, maybe even decorated veterans) are primarily going to have NPC classes. Yes, the PCs are going to go beyond that, as will a number of people that they interact with. But even considering that, I don't see them going as far beyond the average person as you see in any other setting.
Once you get in to the higher levels in Eberron (anything in double digits qualifies for me, though you could certainly look at a higher point), it gets hard to find credible threats that won't alter the balance of power in the setting. Unlike other settings, where there are always bigger threats out there, and high-level PCs are merely powerful individuals, not nearly mythic. Me, I think that someone who can do the stuff you're uncomfortable with should be a near-mythic character, not half the folks at the local tavern. For me, Eberron embraces that. If you're a 14th level adventurer in FR, you're special, sure, but there's dozens of other folks out there that could do your job. If you're a 14th level adventurer in Eberron... assuming you're getting any sort of recognition at all, your name is probably plastered all over the papers, there may be plays and songs about you across Khorvaire... you're unique.
As far as Indy... no, he wouldn't be qualifying for classes like that in the real world, because he's a real person. For the way he prefers to adventure, he probably would avoid most classes that give him a supernatural edge like that, in the same vein that he doesn't use any technological gadgets or gizmos. That's because that's how Indy adventures.
But say we wanted to look at James Bond instead. I think there's certainly a place for a James Bond character in Eberron - a member of Breland's Dark Lanterns or one of the Royal Eyes of Aundair, or maybe an elf bearing the Mark of Shadow. I'd personally say Bond is an Artificer, and if he isn't, then Q certainly is. At the very least, he has an outrageously high Use Magic Device bonus. Bond relies on technological gizmos in our world; in a world like Eberron, he would rely on a
Handy Haversack full of magical items. And I could see him going in to a class that gave him magical abilities, to replace some of the skills Bond has in a world based on technology.
I also don't get how dragonmarks are super-fantasy, but sorcerers apparently are ok (since you said you only really have a problem with skill and martial folks, but not spellcasters). I mean, the common backstory for a sorc seems to be a bloodline that has magic flowing through it, giving them an innate ability to cast spells. But dragonmarks, those are... bloodlines that have magic flowing through them, giving an innate ability to cast spells.
Now, it really does sound like you have more of an issue with the rules of 3E than anything else, and, yes, if you run Eberron precisely as its written, you might not be happy, since the setting was designed around those rules. But if you implement more 'realistic' rules, whatever they may be for you, I don't think you have to make more than minor changes to the setting, since nothing I've seen you mention is actually related to Eberron.
