What races do you allow in your Eberron campaign?

[Rel]

I've now managed to bag both the campaign setting and Sharn: City of Towers as early Christmas presents and I've been busily reading both and begun forumulating some ideas about what sort of campaign I'll eventually run with this setting. One thing I noted was that the main campaign book offers up the idea of allowing several other non-humanoid races as options beyond the standard races (and those specifically included in Eberron). Things like Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Gnolls, etc.

Have any of you opened up these races to your players for your Eberron campaigns? Which ones? How did it work out?

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I'm in the "Everything under the sun" boat for Eberron. If you have a good story, I'd probably allow it, though I do prefer +0 races only.

 

[Creamsteak]

In Eberron, I think it's pretty easy to give a "creative allowance" to players that you might not offer up in Greyhawk or even the Forgotten Realms. I would allow almost anything that wasn't too alien in nature, or at least nothing spawned in Khybar. Half-spawned however, I might allow.

 

[shadowlight]

Anything with an ECL less than 13

 

[dravot]

I'll prolly just allow PHB and the Eberron PC races.

 

[Henry]

For my current Eberron game, I allowed only the core Eberron races, but if someone had asked, I would have likely allowed the Goblin races too (minus bugbears, since we were starting at level 1, and all the PCs were Cyran military or conscripted).

I would go so far as to say if I were doing it over again, and starting in Sharn, I'd DEFINITELY allow the goblin races (maybe do a Savage Species-type treatment on a "leveled" bugbear) since they are such an integral part of the story of the mainland Khorvaire. Orcs might fit in that category too, because in Eberron, especially in the Eldeen and the Shadow Marches, there are non-evil orcs with less of a bestial nature and more of a "wise noble savage" feel. Remember that the orcs were the first race taught the Druidic arts.

Gnolls, ogres, orcs, or any other monstrous races I would be far less inclined to allow, because Droaam (their homeland) is typified as an "enemy" nation even more than Darguun is.

*quick note* don't know if it matters to anyone, but on the WotC forums Keith offered up is campaign's Goblin nomenclature of "Dar" (people, brethren) for Hobgoblins, "Il'dar" (little brothers) for goblins and "Ul'Dar" (big brothers) for Bugbears. I thought it was cool and co-opted it.

 

[shadowlight]

*quick note* don't know if it matters to anyone, but on the WotC forums Keith offered up is campaign's Goblin nomenclature of "Dar" (people, brethren) for Hobgoblins, "Il'dar" (little brothers) for goblins and "Ul'Dar" (big brothers) for Bugbears. I thought it was cool and co-opted it.

Ooooh. Nice! I'll definitely use this (I'm a fan of the Bugbears).

 

[Henry]

Yeah, I liked it myself because almost NO culture calls itself what other cultures call it. I can't imagine a bunch of goblins discussing "the bugbear next door" in native tongue.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Just about anything as long as it fits.

 

[Desdichado]

I think the goblinoids definitely make sense as PC races, and orcs work as well. If you're starting at 1^st level, though, the other monstrous races are problematic without a Savage Species-like racial level progression.

However, in our campaign it's not an issue. We have a human (who wishes he was a dwarf -- the character, not the player) a warforged, a shifter and a kalashtar in our group. Clearly we were more interested in trying out the uniquely Eberron-ish elements of the setting first.