Straight Dope on Eberron . . .

[Dirigible]

*Sob*

I thought I was strong... that I could resist the siren-like lure of another new campaign setting... "Halflings on dinosaurs?" said I; "No thank you, my man! We'll have none of this fantapulp around here! You may take your nazi orcs and depart, sir!" And twirl my elegantly waxed moustache, I did.

And then I saw the Lightning Rail.
Glory
*Sob*
It must be mine.
It must be mine.

 

[Numion]

....though this does reinforce my idea that published campaign settings are mostly regular campaigns that get lucky. Certainly this isn't the first concept for a pulp/noir/acheo-adventure campaign setting, but it's the first one that was worded well enough to a bigwig to be accepted....

This is true of about every thing that ever comes popular. Like the dude to whom you yesterdays said "Bic Mac with fries" might be the next big actor or singer or whatever. But yesterday you thought nothing much of him.

Maybe it's the same with settings

 

[TiQuinn]

Yeah, it sounds like I'm definitely going to dig Eberron!

But I have one main questions/concern:

What does it mean that Eberron will be cinematic? I understand the pulp noir feeling, and I like the idea of D&D meets Indiana Jones, The Shadow, or Terry and the Pirates. But what does this mean in terms of new rules? For example, one of the things that I associate with all of those inspirations is high speed chases. Think Indiana Jones trying to escape the cultists in the minecart sequence of Temple of Doom. IMO, this kind of action is something that hasn't been duplicated well in the rules yet. However, I would think it integral to the tone of the setting being described.

 

[Michael Tree]

....though this does reinforce my idea that published campaign settings are mostly regular campaigns that get lucky. Certainly this isn't the first concept for a pulp/noir/acheo-adventure campaign setting, but it's the first one that was worded well enough to a bigwig to be accepted...

With any sort of creative writing, it's a truism that ideas are easy to come by; it's the execution that's hard. It isn't the "concept" of a pulp/noir that makes a setting unique, it's how the setting is designed and written to make it work.

For an example, look at the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There's nothing at all original about the concept. Ooo, another story about pirates with some supernatural elements thrown in. It's the fun characters and the interesting twists in the storyline that make it a good movie.

 

[wally]

What can I say? Instead of subraces, we decided to focus on drag races. VROOOM!

I almost started to post a question about cross-dressing races, but I have decided against it.

 

[XCorvis]

I have to admit, I like the looks of this setting. If anything, I wish they would have increased the level of "magical technology" even more. I wouldn't call it steampunk - not from what we've seen - because there isn't any steampower, just magicpower. The pulp archetypes are intriguing. I find myself asking, Is this too far out there to be D&D, and then I find myself answering, Who cares, it's really cool.

Arcanopunk.

And yes, it sounds really cool.

Keith: Will there be air-pirates?

 

[Vaxalon]

Arcanopunk! Great name. Did you make it up, or did you get it from somewhere?

 

[Hellcow]

When Eberron comes out, I expect a story hour outta you!

I'll second that!

Although in the interests of clarity, I should note that the description of the "hard-drinking dwarven detective who always falls for the wrong dame" was taken directly from my 1-page setting submission. The setting evolved as it went from one page to 10 to 100, and from 100 to the actual campaign setting, holding to the core ideas but with a few twists so as not to completely alienate people who like traditional fantasy. If you look at the artwork that's been released, you'll note a lack of trenchcoats and fedoras. So while it adds the feel of pulp and noir, and some aspects of a more advanced society, it's not just Shadowrun in the sense of being "dwarves with magic guns." Hopefully it will be exotic enough for those of you who want exotic -- but for those of you who think it sounds too bizarre, keep an eye on future previews. It's still D&D, not D20 Modern.

Unfortunately, I really need to go back to lurking and writing, as I have a big deadline to deal with. I'll just say that there are certainly places in the world where you might have to deal with air pirates, and leave it at that. I'll try to write more as time permits, but for now, talk amongst yourselves!

-Keith

 

[XCorvis]

Arcanopunk! Great name. Did you make it up, or did you get it from somewhere?

I saw a class called Arcanopath Monk in (I think) Mongoose's Ultimate PrC book. Arcanopath seems to mean "one who hates magic", so arcanopunk would be "magical, uh, punk". Seems to work.

 

[Nightfall]

Gee, SL wasn't at the top of the list of campaign settings I was thinking of. I'm thinking more of Arcanis, Mindshadows, and (dare I forget) FR.

Yeah well someone has to Psion!