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Will 4E Eberron be as bad as FR?
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<blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 4693007" data-attributes="member: 5143"><p>I'm alright with it to, but mostly because my games aren't about the setting, they are about the adventure. The setting is simply a backdrop for the adventure. It might determine a couple of small details, but a D&D adventure should be portable to nearly any setting with little change.</p><p></p><p>For instance, the last Eberron adventure I ran was using a published Eberron adventure. Other than some place names, some people names, and some group names, the adventure could have been run in Greyhawk or FR with no problems.</p><p></p><p>To me, this is a great strength. Only a couple of the people I play with can be bothered to involve themselves in a campaign setting beyond what I explain to them WHILE playing the game. They won't read through a campaign setting or novels. When I run an Eberron game and I say, "A bunch of Emerald Claw soldiers attack", they ask, "Who are the Emerald Claw?" I like being able to say, "They are an evil organization that has been disowned by the country they used to protect." And move onward with the game. Heck, I was trying to remember a better description of them and I realized that I can't even remember what the Emerald Claw stands for right now. Because it wasn't important to any of the games I ran.</p><p></p><p>Adventures in FR were getting so bogged down in the details of the setting that they were no longer understandable to people who didn't know the setting. It was all about: These are followers of Bane, who died during the Time of Troubles when Cyric took over. The followers of Bane are trying to bring him back, but they are at odds with the followers of Cyric who wants to keep his power. A number of Banites have infiltrated the clergy of Cyric, however. The followers of Mystra often oppose both of them, due to the grudge between Cyric and Mystra also dating back to the Time of Troubles. Now that you know that you might be able to understand why the plot of the adventure involved followers of Cyric that appeared to be attempting to bring back Bane, why that follower of Mystra showed up at the last minute to help you, and why there appeared to be a civil war between followers of Cyric.</p><p></p><p>And it made it very difficult to explain to those who didn't already know the history behind it.</p><p></p><p>Eberron has a couple of quirks that you need to understand to get really into the setting, but the setting can be run in "generic D&D mode" with no problem at all. I have a feeling that 4e will deemphasize those portions. Which will cause a lot of people to also complain about the setting being ruined. I find it easy to explain the simple parts of the setting: There was a big war that they built warforged for, when it ended they became free. One country became a wasteland. There is a continent of psionic people called Kalashtar. There are trains called Lightning Rail that were built a long time ago that quickly get you from place to place, but they are expensive. There are airships, but they are expensive and rare.</p><p></p><p>And I think that makes a good summary of the setting. However, some of the complicated parts of the setting are a little more difficult to, say, explain to a 14 year old who has just joined your D&D group. And we have a number of 10 through 16 year old kids who show up for our Living Forgotten Realms games days at our local gaming store. They are able to play the games, understand what is going on, and have fun. None of them have read the Realms books.</p><p></p><p>And that, to me, is what is key about a setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Majoru Oakheart, post: 4693007, member: 5143"] I'm alright with it to, but mostly because my games aren't about the setting, they are about the adventure. The setting is simply a backdrop for the adventure. It might determine a couple of small details, but a D&D adventure should be portable to nearly any setting with little change. For instance, the last Eberron adventure I ran was using a published Eberron adventure. Other than some place names, some people names, and some group names, the adventure could have been run in Greyhawk or FR with no problems. To me, this is a great strength. Only a couple of the people I play with can be bothered to involve themselves in a campaign setting beyond what I explain to them WHILE playing the game. They won't read through a campaign setting or novels. When I run an Eberron game and I say, "A bunch of Emerald Claw soldiers attack", they ask, "Who are the Emerald Claw?" I like being able to say, "They are an evil organization that has been disowned by the country they used to protect." And move onward with the game. Heck, I was trying to remember a better description of them and I realized that I can't even remember what the Emerald Claw stands for right now. Because it wasn't important to any of the games I ran. Adventures in FR were getting so bogged down in the details of the setting that they were no longer understandable to people who didn't know the setting. It was all about: These are followers of Bane, who died during the Time of Troubles when Cyric took over. The followers of Bane are trying to bring him back, but they are at odds with the followers of Cyric who wants to keep his power. A number of Banites have infiltrated the clergy of Cyric, however. The followers of Mystra often oppose both of them, due to the grudge between Cyric and Mystra also dating back to the Time of Troubles. Now that you know that you might be able to understand why the plot of the adventure involved followers of Cyric that appeared to be attempting to bring back Bane, why that follower of Mystra showed up at the last minute to help you, and why there appeared to be a civil war between followers of Cyric. And it made it very difficult to explain to those who didn't already know the history behind it. Eberron has a couple of quirks that you need to understand to get really into the setting, but the setting can be run in "generic D&D mode" with no problem at all. I have a feeling that 4e will deemphasize those portions. Which will cause a lot of people to also complain about the setting being ruined. I find it easy to explain the simple parts of the setting: There was a big war that they built warforged for, when it ended they became free. One country became a wasteland. There is a continent of psionic people called Kalashtar. There are trains called Lightning Rail that were built a long time ago that quickly get you from place to place, but they are expensive. There are airships, but they are expensive and rare. And I think that makes a good summary of the setting. However, some of the complicated parts of the setting are a little more difficult to, say, explain to a 14 year old who has just joined your D&D group. And we have a number of 10 through 16 year old kids who show up for our Living Forgotten Realms games days at our local gaming store. They are able to play the games, understand what is going on, and have fun. None of them have read the Realms books. And that, to me, is what is key about a setting. [/QUOTE]
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