Tinkering with Eberron...

[LoneWolf23]

So.. Planning on continuing my group's Eberron campaign, but I have to admit, I'm not 100% satisfied with the default version of the Eberron campaign setting. I do have ideas for tinkering with it, though...

1: Not wholly satisified with the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six. I am thinking of swiping ideas from Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous to add more character and mythology to the religious landscape of the setting. I might also alter Druidism, giving it some animistic elements, with variations from shamanism to a more shinto-like approach.

2: I want to add elements from Oriental Adventures and the like here and there.. Without necessarily having to create actual oriental cultures for use in Eberron. Maybe simply adding a slight "anime-style twist" to Eberron elements, like giving a Knight a swordsmanship style similar to that of a katana-wielding samurai, for exemple. ...Eberron already includes Monks, so I don't see why other elements can't be added as well.

3: Not fully satisified with the default cosmology.. At the least, I'd alter Shavarath to make it more of a Hell realm for the Demons and Devils.. ...With the Archons as their "jailors".. Or at least, that's how the realm was planned to be, until the demons and devils triggered the Endless War... Of course, even in the Endless War, there would be those less interested in the conflict and more in pursuing personal goals such as wealth or influence.. Thus, a reason to interfere with the mortal world of Eberron..

(Mostly because I think that in the current setting, there's little reason for Demons and Devils to actually bother with Eberron, what with the Shavarath War... Which makes abilities like Possession pretty superfluous.)

4: I might add a few wuxia-flavor elements to the campaign for mid-to-high level characters, using the genre flavor rules from Dragon #289: As soon as you become 7th level, you've acquired a reputation for your skills, and starting at level 10, everyone gets a flight-like ability.. ...Ok, maybe just the reputation...

5: I've also got all of the Dragon issues with "Campaign Component" articles, for that matter.. And Eberron sounds like the perfect setting to have chivalric campaigns, swashbuckling campaigns, gladiator campaigns and espionnage campaigns.. Maybe even a little of everything... ...Think Karnath might have some gladiator arenas? 'Or maybe Darguun and Droaam are the way to go...

6: Definetly going to add more races.. For starters, my usual players tend to like furry races, and one of them already imagined an origin for some, making them into former Silver Flame Inquisition test subjects in experiments on altering lycantropes.. Although I'm having my doubts about that, I am aiming to add many more races to the setting, with various origins..

So, what do you guys think of doing with the Eberron campaign setting? Anyone else planning on customizing it?

 

[Henry]

When I used it, I was pretty much satisfied with it as-is, and so were the players, so I changed little. Sould we play there again, most of my work will likely go to expanding the geographic detail. Sounds like you have some pretty interesting and ambitious plans for it, though.

 

[megamania]

I agree with Henry for the most part.

I have thus far changed very little within the Eberron game.

However, as it is your game, you can change things to better suit the enjoyment of your players and yourself. Your thoughts on the devils has crossed my mind but not enough to act on it.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[The Sentry]

I wouldn't change much if I were you. A couple of flavor changes to suit your style or your desired campaign angle. I'll address each point seperately :

1 - Religion in Eberron is different than in FR or most setting for that matter. Deities are remote, mysterious beings and nobody knows for sure they even exist. The only tangible divine force in Eberron is the Silver Flame. But adding myths and legends around the pantheon seems a really good idea to me. Druids and their sects are already plenty flavorful in my opinion.

2- I can't give an unbiased opinion on this point as I despise anime (99% of it anyway) and anything remotely resembling samurais.

3- I think demons and devils have plenty enough reasons to possess and influence the folk of Khorvaire : they used to rule the place 'till the dragons kicked their evil butts out. But again, the changes you propose are minor and do not alter one of Eberron's unique aspects : a moving planar structure. Heck, it could add a level of complexity to the setting (a group of demons attempt to bring about a planar movement that would put Shavarath in alignment with Eberron and allow them to possess willing cultists and helpless victims alike. The PCs strike a deal with a rival gang of devils to stop the demons' plans).

4 - Reputation is good. Adding a mechanic to an already abstract system isn't always bad.

5 - I think Droaam and Darguun are the way to go. The Five Nations are too civilized to allow gladiatoral matches in their cities. Though I am sure Thrane and Karnnath have jousting matches on regular basis. Espionnage and Swashbuckling are both good also and are aspects I emphasize in my current Eberron campaign.

6 - The four new races in the setting are plenty enough if you ask me. Shifters can be considered slightly furry, warforged are just plain cool (you know it's true ), changelings are alien and mysterious and the kalashtar are as unique as they are powerful. I would add one or two races to that mix tops (my picks would be half-giants and the Elan, but to each is own I guess).

I hope this helps.

 

[SteelDraco]

I'm customizing it to a certain extent.

I'm starting a campaign set in the Lhazaar Principalities, and am fiddling with some of the NPCs and locations there. It will be more of a contested area, with Prince Rygar ir'Wynarn still trying to solidify his claim on being High Prince, rather than having everybody more or less accept it. The PCs will be mercenaries in the employ of the Princes who don't want a unified nation. It should be interesting to see how the PCs react when they find out that neither side is really good, or right - they're just on different sides, with good and evil people fighting for both causes.

I'm planning on adding some material from the Legend of the Five Rings Rokugan books, simply because I'm a huge fan of the mechanics. In particular, I'm going to add fighting styles that emulate the Void stuff, with different groups getting different styles based on how they fight. For example, the dwarves of the Mror Holds have a fighting style that uses the Crab clan technique feats, with action points instead of Void points. I'm probably going to have a mechanic for adding temporary action points to your pool for each fighting style, sort of a combination of the tokens from Iron Heroes and the Raging Luck feat from Eberron.

I suppose I've also added the rilmani from Planescape as the constructors and directors of the inevitables, but I don't consider that a particularly significant change - just an explanation.

 

[Glyfair]

Do as you, and perhaps your players, choose. However, a few comments on how some of these changes relate to the campaign setting.

1: Not wholly satisified with the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six. I am thinking of swiping ideas from Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous to add more character and mythology to the religious landscape of the setting. I might also alter Druidism, giving it some animistic elements, with variations from shamanism to a more shinto-like approach.

One of the themes of Eberron is that the gods are untouchable. No one can "prove" they exist ("The High Priest used Plane Shift to go to his deities home plane to consult with him.") While clerics and worshippers believe in them, they have to go on faith.

This also helps allow the "evil cleric of a good diety" that Eberron has as an element. If the gods are really here, a lawful good good would likely do something about the lawful evil priest that is high in the hierarchy.

2: I want to add elements from Oriental Adventures and the like here and there.. Without necessarily having to create actual oriental cultures for use in Eberron. Maybe simply adding a slight "anime-style twist" to Eberron elements, like giving a Knight a swordsmanship style similar to that of a katana-wielding samurai, for exemple. ...Eberron already includes Monks, so I don't see why other elements can't be added as well.

Keith has suggested that some of the hobgoblins might be samurai. I seem to remember some comments about ninja goblins, too. It seems the goblinoids are the culture that touches on the OA cultures and ideas the most.

(Mostly because I think that in the current setting, there's little reason for Demons and Devils to actually bother with Eberron, what with the Shavarath War... Which makes abilities like Possession pretty superfluous.)

I think the outer planes are the most undeveloped areas in Eberron right now. I hope there is a book that touches on them, or at least a series of Dragonshards.

6: Definetly going to add more races.. For starters, my usual players tend to like furry races, and one of them already imagined an origin for some, making them into former Silver Flame Inquisition test subjects in experiments on altering lycantropes.. Although I'm having my doubts about that, I am aiming to add many more races to the setting, with various origins..

I'd recommend not making any new races be a major race. Keep them few or very specific to a small area.

 

[derbacher]

The only "change" I've made to Eberron is to try and increase the psionics level. I know, it's supposed to be a high psionics setting, with the Kalashtar and Inspired, but for the most part the published stuff doesn't explore this very much. (I do like the kalashtar info in Races of Eberron).

I figured since I've been doing this for 27 years, it was time to explore psionics! I never used them in my 1st edition games, and no one wanted to play them in Greyhawk 3.x games.

 

[Mark Causey]

I've done some work adding psionics, half-giants, and dromites in the game. I've made the Dark Six much scarier (Cthulhu-ish) and the Traveler plays a big part in my games (not that anyone knows that yet).

 

[MadMaxim]

This also helps allow the "evil cleric of a good diety" that Eberron has as an element. If the gods are really here, a lawful good good would likely do something about the lawful evil priest that is high in the hierarchy.

That's a part of Eberron I really love. Now it's actually possible to have corrupted clerics within a good-aligned deity's ranks and not have them stripped of their spellcasting abilities. It also helps reinforce the slightly paranoid feel of not knowing whether the NPCs are on the players' side or not.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

1: Not wholly satisified with the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six. I am thinking of swiping ideas from Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous to add more character and mythology to the religious landscape of the setting. I might also alter Druidism, giving it some animistic elements, with variations from shamanism to a more shinto-like approach.

I like Eberron's religious structure as is, but more myths to flesh out the belief systems would be very welcome!

2: I want to add elements from Oriental Adventures and the like here and there.. Without necessarily having to create actual oriental cultures for use in Eberron. Maybe simply adding a slight "anime-style twist" to Eberron elements, like giving a Knight a swordsmanship style similar to that of a katana-wielding samurai, for exemple. ...Eberron already includes Monks, so I don't see why other elements can't be added as well.

No reason at all, and I think it's a good idea. Keith Baker (Eberron's creator) placed most of the oriental-themed classes among the hobgoblins, but I can see several of the Five Nations deploying them as well. Frankly, the fight styles aren't that different, so why wouldn't the classes fit...

3: Not fully satisified with the default cosmology.. At the least, I'd alter Shavarath to make it more of a Hell realm for the Demons and Devils.. ...With the Archons as their "jailors".. Or at least, that's how the realm was planned to be, until the demons and devils triggered the Endless War... Of course, even in the Endless War, there would be those less interested in the conflict and more in pursuing personal goals such as wealth or influence.. Thus, a reason to interfere with the mortal world of Eberron.

(Mostly because I think that in the current setting, there's little reason for Demons and Devils to actually bother with Eberron, what with the Shavarath War... Which makes abilities like Possession pretty superfluous.)

Possession isn't superfluous - it's for Quori! And, I suppose, for creatures trapped in Khyber.

The lack of extraplanar garbage mucking up the material plane is one of my favorite aspects of Eberron. I'm glad the demons and devils of Shavarath have less reason to interfere, leaving room for (IMO) more interesting enemies like the aforementioned Quori.

4: I might add a few wuxia-flavor elements to the campaign for mid-to-high level characters, using the genre flavor rules from Dragon #289: As soon as you become 7th level, you've acquired a reputation for your skills, and starting at level 10, everyone gets a flight-like ability.. ...Ok, maybe just the reputation...

Don't care for it, particularly the flight bit, but then, I'm not at all fond of that genre.

5: I've also got all of the Dragon issues with "Campaign Component" articles, for that matter.. And Eberron sounds like the perfect setting to have chivalric campaigns, swashbuckling campaigns, gladiator campaigns and espionnage campaigns.. Maybe even a little of everything... ...Think Karnath might have some gladiator arenas? 'Or maybe Darguun and Droaam are the way to go...

Darguun and Droaam for gladiators. The others all fit perfectly all across Eberron.

6: Definetly going to add more races.. For starters, my usual players tend to like furry races, and one of them already imagined an origin for some, making them into former Silver Flame Inquisition test subjects in experiments on altering lycantropes.. Although I'm having my doubts about that, I am aiming to add many more races to the setting, with various origins..

I'm always a fan of the various "furry" races. However, unless you want to set a campaign during or immediately after the actual lycanthrope purge, I'd give a different origin. Possibly as extreme forms of shifters with purer lycanthropic bloodlines, in which case they could still take shifter feats.

So, what do you guys think of doing with the Eberron campaign setting? Anyone else planning on customizing it?

Incorporating it into Spelljammer, mostly, and possibly tying its hobgoblins to the Scro in some manner. In a straight Eberron campaign, I would also play up the Lovecraftian aspects of Xoriat and Dal Quor.