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UPDATE: this isn't greenlit : Jeff Grubb's Lost Mystara Sourcebook To Be Released
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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 8330999" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>That's precisely the reason. The Eberron setting is full of potential adventure, and full of things that can go either this way or that way. Adding metaplot to that would necessitate collapsing those waveforms into actual events, thereby closing off potential plots. But by instead freezing the setting's point in time and instead (at least in 3e) spending development resources delving into what the status quo is, they leave it open to each DM to determine what happens to it.</p><p></p><p>Just as an example, in the 3e version of the setting the Dreaming Dark (one of the setting's major villain organizations) was quietly working to infiltrate local divisions of House Deneith, the setting's major source of mercenaries, by using the psionic power <em>mind seed</em> on key personnel (<em>mind seed</em> basically replaces their mind with a copy of yours, but lower level). If you were to advance the setting, you would by necessity see House Deneith either fall deeper under the sway of the Dreaming Dark, or have someone expose the corruption and fix the problem. But by keeping the setting frozen, this remains a thing the DM can do, and if the DM wants to use this plot thread they can do so at their own pace. And if they don't want to use the plot thread, well, there are plenty of other things going on.</p><p></p><p>Basically, Eberron is a place designed to inspire the DM to tell their own stories, not a place for Wizards to tell theirs. And hey, if you do like metaplot, the Realms are just over that way.</p><p></p><p>Many other settings, not just for D&D, have a metaplot that ever advances onward. The effects tend to be twofold:</p><p></p><p>1. Plot hooks originally presented are resolved. But that's no good, because an RPG setting always needs things for heroes to do. So that leads to:</p><p>2. New! Big! Threats! Shadow wizards from the ancient past pop up in Anauroch and set about conquering stuff! A dead god returns! Drow invade! The Cult of the Dragon converts to worship of Tiamat for no good reason and starts robbing and pillaging!</p><p></p><p>The effect is one where all of a sudden, the setting is rocked by a dozen major events all at once, which creates a weird dissonance for players entering late.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 8330999, member: 907"] That's precisely the reason. The Eberron setting is full of potential adventure, and full of things that can go either this way or that way. Adding metaplot to that would necessitate collapsing those waveforms into actual events, thereby closing off potential plots. But by instead freezing the setting's point in time and instead (at least in 3e) spending development resources delving into what the status quo is, they leave it open to each DM to determine what happens to it. Just as an example, in the 3e version of the setting the Dreaming Dark (one of the setting's major villain organizations) was quietly working to infiltrate local divisions of House Deneith, the setting's major source of mercenaries, by using the psionic power [I]mind seed[/I] on key personnel ([I]mind seed[/I] basically replaces their mind with a copy of yours, but lower level). If you were to advance the setting, you would by necessity see House Deneith either fall deeper under the sway of the Dreaming Dark, or have someone expose the corruption and fix the problem. But by keeping the setting frozen, this remains a thing the DM can do, and if the DM wants to use this plot thread they can do so at their own pace. And if they don't want to use the plot thread, well, there are plenty of other things going on. Basically, Eberron is a place designed to inspire the DM to tell their own stories, not a place for Wizards to tell theirs. And hey, if you do like metaplot, the Realms are just over that way. Many other settings, not just for D&D, have a metaplot that ever advances onward. The effects tend to be twofold: 1. Plot hooks originally presented are resolved. But that's no good, because an RPG setting always needs things for heroes to do. So that leads to: 2. New! Big! Threats! Shadow wizards from the ancient past pop up in Anauroch and set about conquering stuff! A dead god returns! Drow invade! The Cult of the Dragon converts to worship of Tiamat for no good reason and starts robbing and pillaging! The effect is one where all of a sudden, the setting is rocked by a dozen major events all at once, which creates a weird dissonance for players entering late. [/QUOTE]
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UPDATE: this isn't greenlit : Jeff Grubb's Lost Mystara Sourcebook To Be Released
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