Why are you looking forward (or not looking forward) to Eberron?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I like what I've seen so far. Well, not everything... I'll throw out the MagiTek (tm) if I run it.

 

[BryonD]

From the preview material, I get the impression that the scales of peace (on both a local and international scale) are balanced ever so carefully. It want take much to ignite political conflict and the PCs are sure to be in the middle of it.

Point taken.



We'll see. I may still pick it up just to scavenge. But it looks like the things that I was hoping would go to my personal taste are not going to be there. At least not in the manner I was hoping.

I will continue to look at the previews and revise my opinion based on that.
But there is a lot out there to buy.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Thanks for the feedback.

No problem. Keep in mind, there is evidently a LOT we haven't seen yet. Some of those mystery nuggets may yet address some of your issues.

 

[D+1]

So why are you looking forward or not looking forward to Eberron?

Because the more I hear about it the more I believe I will be raiding it heavily for rules and flavor in my next campaign. If I weren't insanely keen on using Judges Guild for my next setting (which by the very prinicples held keenly by Judges Guild itself I am encouraged to scavenge ruthlessly whatever rules and flavor from any source) I'd actually be intent on starting up an Eberron campaign, even without yet knowing fully what it will be.

What I know it won't be is FR. Despite having run or played at least a dozen campaigns in various parts of FR and knowing I COULD run dozens more there, it's so familiar, so OVERdone that it bores me. I suppose I could delve into any number of other D20 settings but none of them have INTRIGUED me the way Eberron has begun to.

 

[Hawkshere]

In my mind, the best thing Eberron has going for it so far is the inherent elevation of the importance of PCs and PC classes. The emphasis on using NPC classes for NPCs (how wacked is that?). The idea that the vast majority of spellcasting NPCs are adepts or magewrights. I particularly like this idea for religions, where your typical parish priest is simply an expert with ranks in Heal, and that full PC-class healing power is very rare.

It seems to me that although very low level magic (zero and 1st level spells) has become fairly common as conveniences, anything higher than 3rd level spells are exceedingly rare. So on one hand it looks "high magic" and on the other its much lower than say, FR. It actually turns the usual expectations on their heads. What does "high magic" mean, when you need a rez, your party's 4th level cleric is the highest level healer for 200 miles, and (once you get there) that guy is going to ask for a lot more than the simple gold cost of a scroll?

I also very much like the de-emphasis on alignment.

All of this could be done in other, more conventional settings - but it's interesting to me that this is coming from a major WotC product line.

 

[d4]

So, WotC bombed $100000+ on stuff that everyone's seen already? I wouldn't bet on it.

i would.

think of it this way: gamble the money on something completely new and untested that no one's seen before (and you're not sure the market will like) or invest the money in something safer that you know will sell because elements of it are already out there in the market...

(and also consider that when the Setting Search began, the instructions specifically said WOTC was looking for a setting like Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance...)

so far, i haven't seen any element of Eberron that i haven't seen before somewhere else.

that's not a bad thing, really.

a) i didn't expect to.
b) familiar things sell better than unfamiliar things.
c) they might be holding back the really new ideas for when the book actually comes out.

so all in all, i think Eberron will do quite well in the market, although not because it is "totally new" and "fresh" -- whatever that means. i think it'll do well because it'll have a lot of familiar elements that appeal to gamers.

FWIW, i wouldn't claim Midnight is "fresh" either -- evil conquers the world... how many times have we seen that before?

 

[Belen]

Actually BelenUmeria, I'd like to know why you have this opinion. Why do you think Eberron will be more "crunchy" than...lets say... Forgotten Realms?

So far, the previews, IMHO, have shown a wonderful mix of crunch and role-playing material.

See..I have not been comparing it to other game worlds for a reason. I am not a fan of FR or greyhawk either. It seems that WOTC kept the most bland worlds possible.

So far, the previews have shown me that Eberron will be a mega-showcase for WOTC shinies.

As for roleplaying material, I have not seen anything that would make me sit up and notice Eberron. I do not see any unique cultures. In fact, most of it feels like things that we have seen before, just advanced further along.

Even the cosmology is the same thing done slightly differently.

In any event, I am not arguing that you should not like it. I am saying that it does not appeal to me. I doubt there is anything that could convince me to like Eberron.

 

[BryonD]

So, WotC bombed $100000+ on stuff that everyone's seen already? I wouldn't bet on it.

Despite the claims, all anyone of has seen thus far have been a few pages from a 300+ page book. I could take the same amount of pages from both Midnight and Forgotten Realms setting books and make justified claims similar to yours, that neither setting is notably different from each other or could offer anything new when compared.

How about an opposing question: could there possibly be a setting that included all the pieces you've seen thus far of Eberron, that was something completely fresh? Awfully many people claim that Eberron can not be fresh based on those few pieces.

Midnight did just that, BTW. Mostly by fluff created a completely 'different' D&D setting from a normal low-magic D&D setting. I think we should give the Eberron fluff a chance to see how it really shapes the setting in to a whole.

Um, I never said the Eberron was not notably different.

I said that I have not seen anything that gives Eberron a special claim to games with inter-nation strife, multi-dimensional organizations and "intrigue, mystery and back-stabbing".

 

[Numion]

i would.

think of it this way: gamble the money on something completely new and untested that no one's seen before (and you're not sure the market will like) or invest the money in something safer that you know will sell because elements of it are already out there in the market...

Well, I didn't mean completely new and untested in all parts, but I was rather talking about the pieces we ain't seen yet. This was in response to the claims that the setting cannot be something new because it has dinosaurs and pirates. I'm just saying that the feel or the 'whole' of the setting might very well be something new, and it would be surprising if WotC had spent 100+K$ dollars on something that has been done before.

Think about it. If the setting has been already seen in another form and name, they could've just bought the rights with 100K$. RPG properties aren't that expensive, sans the major ones. And Eberron won't be a rip-off of a major fantasy world because the backlash would be just too great.

FWIW, i wouldn't claim Midnight is "fresh" either -- evil conquers the world... how many times have we seen that before?

I haven't. I've seen many worlds threatened by evil but those where the evil has already won and the PCs can't do nothing about it? .. doesn't come to mind. Could you cite some examples? Because my point kinda was that Midnight is an example taking the cliched fantasy elements and rolling them into something intresting and fresh, counter to the claims that elements we've seen before (dinos & air pirates) make for a setting that we've already seen.

 

[Belen]

But this is the internet and it's our god-given right to judge things beforehand, I know, but claiming to judge the whole product instead of the previews is BS.

You're right. I have a right to an opinion. However, you have not noticed me saying that your excitement for Eberron was wrong or sarcastically implying that you are a moron because you like what you have seen.

If you like it, then fine. I am hapy you have a shiny new campaign world.

I do not like it. I will create my own, so that I can get the things that I want out of a gaming world. The whole point of this thread was to explain why you like the world or why you do not.

I am happy that Eberron does it for you. Flaming someone because they do not hold the same opinion as you is just not cool.