D&D 5E Will we realistically see a 5e campaign set in Eberron from WOTC?

[Shasarak]

An interesting point to discuss, as I've anecdotally found that people dislike timeline updates - but this might a confirmation bias at work due to my personal distaste for them. Hmm... I've never really considered it before.

I guess it really depends if you are a fan of the novels and the rpg or just the rpg, because personally I find it neat that the novels actually do have an effect in the rpg and the story evolves like the Zhents imploding then rebuilding and the Shades invading.

In any case, I wouldn't mind a small timeline update for Eberron. A big part of the setting was the explicit understanding that it was taking place in a period of relative calm between two massive wars. Although I wouldn't want the next conflict to have started (too big a change), having Khorvaire creeping a bit closer to world war could be entertaining.

There are probably a couple of new or extended meta-plots that could be started or ramped up to make sure that everything is not too peaceful and boring. =;o)

 

[delericho]

I disagree that fans do not like timeline updates.

It was specifically the Eberron fans who rejected a proposed timeline update - WotC had intended to move the timeline on about 2 years but shelved that plan after protests.

Edit: Here's an ENworld thread from back when it happened. The blog from which the announcement came seems to have been deleted.

 

[Shasarak]

It was specifically the Eberron fans who rejected a proposed timeline update - WotC had intended to move the timeline on about 2 years but shelved that plan after protests.

That is understandable considering what had been done to the Realms I do not really blame them for protesting.

 

[Bad Fox]

It was specifically the Eberron fans who rejected a proposed timeline update - WotC had intended to move the timeline on about 2 years but shelved that plan after protests.

Edit: Here's an ENworld thread from back when it happened. The blog from which the announcement came seems to have been deleted.

Interesting, my takeaway from that old thread is that most people didn't seem to have a big problem with a modest advance in the Eberron timeline. Skimming through, I caught a few references to the plans being axed due to the efforts of a vocal minority.

It's stuff like this that makes me glad that Wizards actually polls players now. I waaay prefer surveys to the alternative of making policy decisions based on what a handful of loud people are saying on the interwebs.

 

[Gradine]

I would resolve the magic economy changes required by 5e in one of two ways, depending on what direction I wanted to take the campaign.

First, there's the "Dragonshard Shortage" scenario, which I would use if I wanted to advance the timeline a bit and play up faction/nation tensions as everyone fights over limited resources. All currently existing technologies should still be operating fine (though maintenance/repairs would be a concern) but consumer goods (personal magical arms) would be at a premium.

Second, if I wanted to play up the fallout of the Last War, and specifically the Mourning, the point was made earlier that mostly the only magical technologies that would be of interest to adventurers are "instruments of war." That said, do you know what caused the Mourning? Does anyone? Does an exceptionally paranoid society begin practicing magical weapon control?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Ah okay, gotcha. My Ebberon knowledge is fairly limited. I know of the Warforged and of siege weapon type magic tech, but were these magewrights also producing +1 swords en masse?

If that's the case, the default assumption about magic would have to change a bit to accommodate the setting. But I would imagine it could be down pretty easily.

As I mentioned, I cover this by having most of the magewrights having switched from weapons of war to quality of life items catering to the new middle class rather than the military/murderhobo complex. The existing magical weapons and those in the process of being made are being picked up and stockpiled in case of new hostilities by large groups rather than individual civilians. There never was much of a market for +1 magic swords, but the people who are producing them generally do it under contract.

This means that the best bet a bunch of murderho . . . ahem. Adventurous civilians have to acquire a magical weapon might be to research potential existing ones that were never recovered from tombs and/or battlefields. Then mount an expedition to recover them.

I disagree that fans do not like timeline updates. In fact Forgotten Realms fans are used to regular timeline updates and Realm shaking events etc. The resistance to the 4e update was probably more to do with the disrespectful way that it was done in order to cater to people that did not actually like the Realms in the first place.

FR has the rule that everything in the novels is canon. Thus the timeline has to advance in response to all of the worldshaking events that the novels depict, just as the mechanics have to add in new rules every time someone does something in the novels that isn't covered.

Eberron doesn't have that. Nothing in any of the novels is considered canon, even the ones written by the setting creator, unless a DM decides that they are.

An interesting point to discuss, as I've anecdotally found that people dislike timeline updates - but this might a confirmation bias at work due to my personal distaste for them. Hmm... I've never really considered it before.

In any case, I wouldn't mind a small timeline update for Eberron. A big part of the setting was the explicit understanding that it was taking place in a period of relative calm between two massive wars. Although I wouldn't want the next conflict to have started (too big a change), having Khorvaire creeping a bit closer to world war could be entertaining.

Khorvaire was already close enough that one of the big movers and shakers doing something stupid could spark things off again. However, bear in mind that the period of recovery was specifically chosen as the current age because of the scope it gives to adventuring. If you want a war story, you can just backtrack a few years. After the war gives a lot of combat-trained people a need to find a new way of life (adventuring!) and a lot of movers and shakers of the world a need for people not directly connected with them to do risky jobs (adventuring!).

 

[lkj]

Recent tweet from Mearls may shed insights on this topic:

Question: "Inquisitives are prominent in Eberron.The latest UA includes Inquisitives, may we see Eberron 5e?"

Mearls answer: "the inquisitive was 100% designed with Eberron in mind...."


Not a direct yes, but clearly a hint that they are doing something with Eberron that would involve class options and such.

AD

 

[Bad Fox]

Recent tweet from Mearls may shed insights on this topic:

Question: "Inquisitives are prominent in Eberron.The latest UA includes Inquisitives, may we see Eberron 5e?"

Mearls answer: "the inquisitive was 100% designed with Eberron in mind...."


Not a direct yes, but clearly a hint that they are doing something with Eberron that would involve class options and such.

Yep, the ellipsis at the end of the quote and the fact that Mike Mearls also sent it out to Keith Baker - it gives the tweet the tone of a sly wink. Clearly they're working on something Eberron related, but are probably a ways off from a formal announcement.

In any case, excitement is an appropriate response!

 

[AverageCitizen]

Eberron was always about taking the quirks of a system and making them into strengths. I really feel like people over-emphasize the magic item differences. In 4e, they shoe-horned the setting into the "points-of-light" concept and it still worked fine. To fit 5e, they could remove some of the more egregious examples of ubiquitous magic, like self-propelled farm implements, and it would be fine. As long as there magic equivalents of gas-powered lamps, trains, and flying ships, it will be fine. They could do a more-than-adequate update of the magic item economy in 2 well-written pages.

 

[Jester David]

Eberron is cool but as I said last time, it strikes me as a low update priority.

The Realms gets a new setting book each edition. So it's a must. Plus the land changed with the Sunder, so people need to know what's what and where's where.
After that, things get fuzzier.

Eberron and Dark Sun were both upated in 3e, so that makes them less of a priority. Adding to that, Eberron hasn't changed since 3e, with no timeline advancement or alterations. And since the world is fairly new and books well printed, you can pretty much buy the 3e and 4e books for fairly cheap. You could get both 4e Eberron books for the same cost of buying a theoretical new campaign guide. Or 2-3 books for 3rd Edition. Or probably 5-6 in PDF format.
As the old information is still valid, there's less incentive to buy a new book since it has less to offer. It's a reiteration of what is known.

After that is Ravenloft and Dragonlance. Popular settings, but updated as licensed worlds in 3e. Slightly more likely, but still available.

Higher priority might be something that hasn't been updated in a while that could benefit from a full colour professional product, having not seen a hardcover product since 2e. Like Greyhawk. Or Mystara. Plus, WotC might need to begin worrying about their trademarks for their older settings.

Planescape would be a good choice since that could be folded into a Manual of the Planes product.
Also a good idea would be Kara Tur and Al Qadim, since those are different but technically expansions of the Realms.