Your thoughts on this idea: Jhereg in Eberron

[Rel]

So I just got the Eberron Campaign Setting as an early Christmas gift earlier this week and I've been reading through it and enjoying it very much. One thing that struck me was how the Dragonmarked Houses are, in some ways, similar to the seventeen houses represented in the Jhereg books by Steven Brust. I'm a big fan of those books in general and I've made a couple of half-hearted attempts at running games in a similar (though certainly not identical) setting. I'm wondering if Eberron would be my best bet of running something that captures the feel and some of the particulars of the Jhereg world while requiring the fewest modifications (i.e. least extra work) on my part.

In addition to the Houses being a similar concept, I also think that the Sharn/Adrilankha comparison would be apt in that both comprise cities with a very modern metorpolitan feel. Add to that the pervasiveness of magic, the big blighted Mournlands (shades of the Sea of Chaos there) and some of the other, superficial similarities (floating castles, outlying wilderness lands of magic and strange races) and I'm feeling my curiousity piqued.

In a general, "brainstormy" way, what are your thoughts on this?

 

[Len]

I haven't read Eberron, but my gut feeling is that you'd be better off basing the game on the "Jhereg" setting itself, rather than some other setting. The more "flavourful" aspects of Eberron (e.g. Dragonmarks) are the ones least likely to fit with another setting. Unless the Dragonmark Houses correspond pretty closely to the Dragaeran Houses, the details won't do you much good. Your players will expect Dragons, Jhereg, Dzur, etc. to act like they do in the books.

The Jhereg books provide all the setting info you need. Why use Sharn for Adrilankha when you've got so much description and history of the real Adrilankha? For the Houses, you could require each player to choose a house that roughly matches their character's personality. Then think up some adventure hooks related to the houses, let them ask for help from their House, whatever. And assign a House to all "speaking" NPCs and make sure they act appropriately. I don't think any actual game mechanics are needed for the races and Houses. You could give each House some minor special ability, but that would be work.

I think that flavour goes a long way. I'm currently playing in a campaign set in Stackpole's Dragoncrown world. The DM didn't change any game rules, the setting is all "fluff": the world map, laws & customs of various nations, monsters who take their appearance from the novels and their stats from the MM.

I've never read the Dragoncrown books though, so my character isn't based on them...

[OT] I'm playing a rogue/Shadowdancer. A while ago, I designed my character's "estate" (just a stucco house) using the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. I equipped and paid my secretary as a guard, and set it up so the only way into my office is through the reception room and past the "secretary's" desk.

The DM asked if my secretary was named Melestav. "Gee, how'd you know?"

 

[SemperJase]

One big difference in Dragaera (the world of Jhereg) is that there is no difference between arcane and divine magic. It is a world of sorcery (and to a lesser extent witchcraft).

I think a Dragaera setting would be great though - especially for those who like to see elves kick butt and not just get +2 to run away.

 

[Rel]

I haven't read Eberron, but my gut feeling is that you'd be better off basing the game on the "Jhereg" setting itself, rather than some other setting.

I think you make a compelling point here. But the kicker is that Jhereg is not exactly what I'd call a "ready made campaign setting". What I mean is that we have a lot of information about how things are in a very small part of the world (Adrilankha) and how one of the houses works (House Jhereg) but only some general guidelines about the other parts of the world and some stereotypes about the other houses.

What I really need is for one of the d20 publishers out there to do the work for me and put out something similar to the Black Company books that gives similar treatment to Dragaera.

 

[Rel]

One small bump for the Friday AM crowd.

 

[drothgery]

After nine Vlad books and five Khaavren books, I'd think one ends up knowing House Dragon at least as well as House Jhereg (and there's probably enough about Dzur, Lyorn, Yendi, Orca, Athyra, Issola, and Tiassa to play one; there'd be enough about Phoenix, but there aren't any other than Zerika).

 

[Desdichado]

I haven't read Eberron, but my gut feeling is that you'd be better off basing the game on the "Jhereg" setting itself, rather than some other setting.

Apparently you missed this:

similar (though certainly not identical) setting

I think you've got a good point, though. Although it also depends on what from Jhereg (the only one I've read) you want to focus on. You'll have an easy time getting the house intrique and politics going on, although keep in mind that Eberron has a lot of other power groups that are unrelated to the houses. You'll have a hard time getting the whole "humans are a foreign and repressed underclass" feel unless you focus on goblinoids, or possibly warforged. And what do you do about creating an analogue of witchcraft? Use psionics? You'll have to change that too, since psionics aren't really mistrusted or marginalized in Eberron.

 

[Rel]

I've reached the conclusion that I'm very muddled on exactly what I'm looking to accomplish here. This isn't a huge problem since I'm in no danger of starting up a campaign in the immediate future (I've probably got at least 3-4 months before that happens, maybe longer).

What I observed was that there are a lot of similarities between the world of Eberron and that of Jhereg, primarily in themes. The way the Jhereg novels are written is in that "first-person, gumshoe detective" style that brings to mind a lot of the film-noir stuff that Eberron hopes to emulate. Both also have a supported system of stereotypes in the form of the Houses and the intrigue between these houses and their members can be a source of conflict. And, as I've pointed out, both have a modern/urban feel to them thanks in part to the magic that pervades both worlds.

The trick is that I'm not sure where this leaves me. If somebody put out a d20 Jhereg sourcebook then I'd snap it up in a minute. But this is not likely to happen, at least in the near future (though I'd honestly be surprised if nobody has contacted Mr. Brust about this - he used to be a gamer and it was from these games that Vlad and the world around him initially came). It is obvious to me that I could run similar kinds of adventures in Eberron as I could in a "World of Dragaera" setting. A big part of that will hinge on the number and types of PC's though.

So I guess that I'm left wondering if I want to try and "Jheregize" the world of Eberron at all or just appreciate that they have some similarities and leave it at that. Thus the "brainstormy" nature of this thread. Sorry I'm not offering much in the way of guidance on its direction but I appreciate what has been posted and I'm still hoping that something will jump out and grab me to put an end to the wishy-washy feelings I'm having.

Thanks.

 

[Henry]

It sounds like (warning: no knowledge of the Jhereg books) the Jhereg world contains a subset of the themes present in Eberron. You would have a fairly easy time of capturing its underlying themes, though a faithful recreation or similarity might be a stretch. Eberron is intentionally more wide open than the setting a specific novel series would give you (kind of like gaming in Dragonlance or Middle-earth; some DM's have a hard time making the players feel like they aren't conscribed to certain mindsets and actions).

The best bet is to either take Eberron for a spin as-is (using some of Brust's underlying themes)and see what the players think, or use the mechanics you CAN use to build your own version where the whole is more like the Jhereg world.

Assuming its the imagery and themes that grab you more, are there specific things you can describe that we might help you find Eberron analogues for?

 

[Ruined]

I think you should have me in those games.

ruined, a big fan of the Jhereg books and excited from what he's read about Sharn and Eberron.