Eberron Campaign Setting Excerpts

[Larry Latourneau]

Now that the EPG is out, it is time for the Eberron Campaign Setting excerpts.

Looks like each excerpt will tackle a brief overview of one of the nations/areas within Eberron and one addition topic.

First up is Aundair and the World of Eberron:

The kingdom of Aundair combines pastoral straightforwardness with intellectual scholarship. Vibrant cities overflow with commerce, thinkers, and magic, while a patchwork countryside of farms and fields surrounds the castles of the land’s nobility. Farmers make up the bulk of the population, but Aundair has no shortage of scholars and thinkers, mages and mystics. The clash of customs and cultures breeds a unique people, proud and self-sufficient, working together to put the last violent century behind them as they march into a new future.

They then give the Lore of Aundair with both Common Knowledge and the knowledge gleamed from Aracana checks.

The World of Eberron is a 2 page intro that talks of the 3 parts of Eberron (Siberys, Khyber and Eberron) and has a detailed map of Eberron provided by House Sivis.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

June 19th: Breland & Threats to Eberron
June 22nd: Karrnath & Travel in Eberron
June 26th: Mournland & Monsters of Eberron
June 29th: Thrane & Dragonmarks
July 3rd: Xen'drik & Religions of Eberron
July 6th: Droaan & Sample Encounter
July 10th: Q'barra & Table of Contents

[Larry Latourneau]

Newest Excerpt is up: Breland and Threats to Eberron.

It contains a breif description of Breland and the relevant History checks to reveal even more.

Even crunchier, it contains the write-up and stats block for one of the Lords of Dust: Durastoran the Wyrmbreaker.

[Larry Latourneau]

The next excerpt is up: Karrnath & Travel in Eberron.

As usual, it gives a brief description of Karrnath and the relevant DC checks for the lore of Karrnath.

The travel part gives a brief blurb on travel and mounts, and provides the Stats block for the Magebred Destrier.

[Matthew Morris]

Larry,

Are you familiar enough with Eberron to sum up any historical retcons or how the mechanics retcon things? Like Dragonmarks were altered, for example.

[Larry Latourneau]

Matthew Morris wrote:

Larry,

Are you familiar enough with Eberron to sum up any historical retcons or how the mechanics retcon things? Like Dragonmarks were altered, for example.

Yes...and no :)

I have read all of the novels set in Eberron, and I have the orignal Campaign Setting, along with a couple splat books (Adventurer's Guide and Secrets of Xendrix), but I don't have a lot of the other splat books, so there could be much that was released there that I would not be aware of. (For instance, the Self-Forged paragon path, which I thought was brand-new, is apparently very similar to a prestige class in one of the splat books)

Once the Campaign setting is released, I would have no issue comparing the two and see what I come up with. The good thing for me is that my group wasn't as in to Eberron as I was, so they really won't notice any of the changes.

[Matthew Morris]

Ok, I'm 4th on the list, but checking out the Eberron PG from the Library.

:-)

[Jas]

What's a splat book?

[Matthew Morris]

Jas wrote:

What's a splat book?

It's a book that deals with a specific area or subtopic.

the term 'splat' comes from the * symbol. Think Races of *, Complete * etc, with the 'splat' being wild, stone, adventurer, psionic, etc.

So for Eberron, Secrets of Sarlona, Xen'drik, etc. are splatbooks.

[Larry Latourneau]

Next Excerpt: The Mournland & Monsters

The same coverage as the other geographical areas so far, with DC knowledge checks for lore.

The Monster section details a couple things:

Foulspawn (Dolgrim, Dolgaunt, Dolgarr) with the stats block for the Dolgaunt Monk. Cool tentacle grab.

Belashyrra, Lord of Eyes: One of the daelkyr. No Stats...just some fluff

[Seldriss]

Matthew Morris wrote:

Jas wrote:

What's a splat book?

It's a book that deals with a specific area or subtopic.

the term 'splat' comes from the * symbol. Think Races of *, Complete * etc, with the 'splat' being wild, stone, adventurer, psionic, etc.
So for Eberron, Secrets of Sarlona, Xen'drik, etc. are splatbooks.

Although i was using the term splatbook, i actually didn't know the actual origin.

I learned something today.
Thank you Matthew :)

[Matthew Morris]

Ok, thumbing through the player's guide (thank you Columbus Public Library!) Some things jumped out at me.

All the races shoved in the PG. Yeah I know 3.x had the Players Guide to Eberron where they shoved everything (and I mean everything) into the world. It bothered me there, but I could ignore it, being in a splatbook.

Paragon/Epic Paths. These 'replace' 3.x prestige classes, yes? I see a lot of the prestige classes in them. I'm not sure about the Cyran champion thingy. Are they saying that this path can restore the mournland one small section at a time? It wasn't clear to me.

Dragonmarks, my pet peeve. I don't like that they're no longer house specific. I preferred it and the aberrant for everyone else. (I also don't like the aberrant marks, but that's a mechanics issue).

Now before everyone says i'm poopooing 4.x I'm talking about changes to the setting, and there are things I do like.

The Mournland is still the dangerous place from heck. There are hints that it is even nastier than the 3.x version (mourning plague?). I like this. When I ran an Eberron game the players were terrified of the mourning.

The Eladrin seem to have been fitted in without being really disruptive.

The national tension and intrigue is still there. Don't know how mechanics handle it, but at least the flavour is there.

Now just to wait for the CS to be bought by the library.

[Matthew Koelbl]

Matthew Morris wrote:

All the races shoved in the PG. Yeah I know 3.x had the Players Guide to Eberron where they shoved everything (and I mean everything) into the world. It bothered me there, but I could ignore it, being in a splatbook.

The question really becomes whether they found a good way to fit those races in the setting or not - given that Eberron already had a legacy of having a lot of 'civilized' versions of classic monster races, I think there is room for more additions. For myself, I thought the Dragonborn were handled well (though that was partly due to experiencing their addition via the novels), and thought that tying the Goliaths to the Giants (and their history in Eberron) was a good way to go about it. But I'm sure mileage will vary - and I definitely do want many of these races to remain in the background for the occasional PC, rather than becoming as populous as the 'classic' Eberron races (Warforged, Shifters, etc).

Matthew Morris wrote:

Paragon/Epic Paths. These 'replace' 3.x prestige classes, yes? I see a lot of the prestige classes in them. I'm not sure about the Cyran champion thingy. Are they saying that this path can restore the mournland one small section at a time? It wasn't clear to me.

Paragon Paths are basically the replacement for Presige Classes, with the idea that everyone gets one, while still advancing in their main class. (So you can find the RP appropriate Path, without having to give up your core concept.)

Epic Destinies, on the other hand, are a bit beyond that. They are designed to present some form of 'final fate' for the character (assuming they live to reach it.) But the Epic Destinies only really present guidelines for this, since that sort of thing is so tied to the story that the full details are supposed to be worked out between player and DM. One character might ascend to being a Demigod, standing at the right hand of their chosen deity; another might give their life to cleanse the Mournland of its taint.

It might seem like a big thing to allow a player to accomplish, changing a fundamental feature of the setting like that! But the thing is, an Eberron campaign that reaches epic levels is likely either planar hopping and has left Eberron behind entirely (and thus is unlikely to have anyone taking that Epic Destiny)... or is tied into an Epic Campaign set in Eberron, that is almost certainly focused around shaking the world to its core. And even then, again, the actual 'cleansing' of the Mournland is something the player and the DM need to come to settlement upon - if the DM doesn't want the Mournland gone entirely, perhaps the player only sets the seeds in place for its eventual recovery, or cleanses one area that can be reclaimed as Cyran, or even sets things in motion that can be the focus of a future campaign!

The full cleansing itself - whatever form it takes - happens at or near the conclusion of the campaign. At the levels leading up to that (levels 21+), the character is indeed cleaning up the Mournland step by step. I was actually impressed by how the mechanics supported this, since they have the daily power to render an area free of all outside influences, from curses to illusions to twisted magic. I can see such a character, step by step, establishing a sanctuary within the confines of the Mournland - and eventually finding a way to heal the entire country, if it is in the cards.

[Larry Latourneau]

Next Excerpt: Thrane & Dragonmarks

The usual Lore of Thrane, with both common knowledge and the required Knowledge checks to determine more specialized knowledge.

The Dragonmark part of the article deals with the general History of Dragonmarks, History of the Houses and there is a small blurb about House Cannith and includes the stats block for a House Cannith Magewright.

[Larry Latourneau]

Missed a couple of articles on my week off :)

Xen'drik and Religion

The lore of Xen'drik, the Blood of Vol (basic tenets, core doctrine) and the lore and stats of Lady Vol herself

Droaam & a Sample Encounter

The lore of Droaam and Encounter 1 from the 1st-level adventure presented in the Campaign Guide.

The "July and Beyond" article is supposed to contain the next encounter, but the link does not work yet.

[Larry Latourneau]

Last Excerpt:

Q'barra and Table of Contents

The usual with regards to Q'barra (Brief blurb plus relevant Lore checks) and a link to the TOC for the upcoming ECG

Chapter 1: Adventures (pg. 6-49)
Chapter 2: The City of Towers(pg. 50-63)
Chapter 3: The Five Nations (pg. 64-107)
Chapter 4: Greater Khorvaire (pg. 108-171)
Chapter 5: Beyond Khorvaire (pg. 172-205)
Chapter 6: Dragonmarks (pg. 206-237)
Chapter 7: Gods and Cosmology (pg. 238-263)
Appendix: The Mark of the Prophecy (Adventure) (pg. 264-285)
New Monsters (pg. 287-???)

Things that look interesting:

Under the Mournland: Ikar's Salvage and Mournland Magebred
Under the Demon Wastes: Carrion Tribes (probably because I just finished the Dragon Forge book :) )

Things I wish were there:

Dreadhold (love the concept of this place :) )

[Matthew Koelbl]

Larry Latourneau wrote:

Under the Demon Wastes: Carrion Tribes (probably because I just finished the Dragon Forge book :) )

Things I wish were there:

Dreadhold (love the concept of this place :) )

I have to say, while I enjoyed the Dragon Forge book (and the rest of the series it is in), the story itself only half-interested me, but I thought it did an absolutely brilliant job of getting me interested in a lot of diverse elements of Eberron. (The Demon Wastes, Argonesson, etc...)

[Larry Latourneau]

Matthew Koelbl wrote:

Larry Latourneau wrote:

Under the Demon Wastes: Carrion Tribes (probably because I just finished the Dragon Forge book :) )

Things I wish were there:

Dreadhold (love the concept of this place :) )

I have to say, while I enjoyed the Dragon Forge book (and the rest of the series it is in), the story itself only half-interested me, but I thought it did an absolutely brilliant job of getting me interested in a lot of diverse elements of Eberron. (The Demon Wastes, Argonesson, etc...)

I agree...I don't really find myself liking the characters in the book all that much (Cart probably the most, followed by the Changeling...Gaven I could care less about), they really have delved into a lot of areas not covered in the rest of the books.

[Matthew Morris]

Larry Latourneau wrote:

Last Excerpt:

Q'barra and Table of Contents

The usual with regards to Q'barra (Brief blurb plus relevant Lore checks) and a link to the TOC for the upcoming ECG

Chapter 1: Adventures (pg. 6-49)
Chapter 2: The City of Towers(pg. 50-63)
Chapter 3: The Five Nations (pg. 64-107)
Chapter 4: Greater Khorvaire (pg. 108-171)
Chapter 5: Beyond Khorvaire (pg. 172-205)
Chapter 6: Dragonmarks (pg. 206-237)
Chapter 7: Gods and Cosmology (pg. 238-263)
Appendix: The Mark of the Prophecy (Adventure) (pg. 264-285)
New Monsters (pg. 287-???)

Things that look interesting:

Under the Mournland: Ikar's Salvage and Mournland Magebred
Under the Demon Wastes: Carrion Tribes (probably because I just finished the Dragon Forge book :) )

Things I wish were there:

Dreadhold (love the concept of this place :) )

There was a Dragon (I think it was Dragon) Article that fleshed it out.

So far my favourite series have been Don Bassingwait (sp) trillogy and Matt Foebeck's Mark of death.

Ugh, I hope that the Mark of Prophecy is not a new dragonmark line.

[Larry Latourneau]

Matthew Morris wrote:

Ugh, I hope that the Mark of Prophecy is not a new dragonmark line.

I don't think it is...The Mark of the Prophecy is the 1st level adventure at teh back of the book...I am sure it covers a lot of the things the make the world Eberron...a Dragonmark, some of teh aberrations (Dolgrims, etc), Lightning Rail, the Emerald Claw...all the usual.