[Darius]

Has anyone got the new Eberron setting from WOTC yet , Ive had a quick look at it and Im thinking about getting it But I though I would ask here first and see If anyone has it and has any opinions on it.

D

[Dusk]

Got it last week and I'm loving it; it's inspired me in a way no published D&D setting has since Planescape.

I'm actually not a fan of either D&D or the d20 system, but the setting gets it pretty much right, in terms of what I think is fun. It puts enough of a twist on the standard race/class thing to make it interesting to someone (like myself) who is burned out on standard "D&D-isms", but not so different that it'll really alienate those who like that sort of thing.

It does take just a bit of a "kitchen-sink" approach to design - it's been made to easily incorporate the vast amount of "stuff" out there.

Things I personally like:

1)loose approach to alignment - not nearly as straightjacketing as in other published settings.

2)Twists on racial culture: Elvish ancestor-worshippers, dwarves as banker cartels, dinosaur(!) riding halflings. Goblinoids once were the most powerful civilization on the main continent, and still can be more than simply random encounters.

3) Magic actually effects life/civilization. It's not like FR where it's just psuedo-medieval life with spells - magic actually does influence and have an effect on society: magic transportation systems (airships and railways powered by elementals), cities lit at night by light spells, etc. It's not quite "magic-tech", but for once magic actually effects society in ways that make sense.

4)Neat new races. There's the Warforged: living constructs built for war, now coming to terms with peace; the Kalashtar: half human/half "outsider" psions; Shifters, descendents of (currently almost extinct) lycanthropes, with a more limited range of changes, etc.

Things I don't like:

1) Uses the d20 system. Tried to design a character, but just couldn't make it work the way I wanted to. I would have been able to using any of the systems I like, maybe even would have been under one of the more flexible d20 iterations (like perhaps M&M). Just couldn't do so using the rigid and confining d20 system.

2) Um, that's pretty much it. Well, it actually covers some of the themes I was working on in my homebrewed GURPS/HERO game, but that's just great minds thinking alike.

When I have so few complaints about a book, it's going to end up in my collection. Heck, I may even consider running it using a different rules set. As it is, this now joins Spycraft and the Drunken Blades D&D campaign on the short list of "The only d20 games I'm willing to play"

[dragonhand777]

Oh, wow!.. Man!.. Oh, wow!.. I ordered it yestarday (the 28th) around 1:00 pm. It arrived today around the same time in the afternoon. Talk about service! I ordered it from Amazon, and since it was $27 it took advantage of the Free S&H (for orders over $25).

Well besides the things Dusk mentioned, there is also a section with new monsters and monster templates. As an example, Horrid Animal: "Horrid animals are dire animals that have been reshaped and bred for battle." As examples the book has a Horrid ape and a Horrid rat detailed out. Some monsters listed here are totaly new though.

I probably won't be running a campaign in Eberron itself, but I'll definately be using a lot of the the ideas and info. presented in the book.

Eberron has it's own pantheon of course. I might not be using any of the deities from it, but it has made me re-think the pantheon for my own world/campaign setting. Which is cool!

There are a couple PrC that look preety cool.

All in all, it was definately worth the $27 I spent. Also, in my opinion, it was just what D&D needed as far as published campaign settings go.

[dragonhand777]

There are also many new spells. While a few wouldn't be of much use in a campaign setting where you weren't using some other things from Eberron, the majority would be a new and cool addition to any setting.

[PlaneTouchedOne]

Does it have many monsters or creatures built towards a cold envirorment?

[Darius]

Ive look through it a bit more and I reckon I'll pick it up in the next couple of week's ,I definately like some of the idea's that Ive seen so far.

D

[dragonhand777]

PlaneTouchedOne, on Jun 29 2004, 06:46 PM, said:

Does it have many monsters or creatures built towards a cold envirorment?

Not really.

But with the Horrid teplate you could create one. Like Dire versions of elk or reindeer that were bred for battle.-Ok, that may seem like a silly idea, but any way....

[Darius]

haven't you ever used "Battle Moose"(tm and patent pending).
a friend of mine had a Barbarian that rode to war on a Battle Moose

D

[Shadowborn]

Haven't seen anything about it except for occasional blurbs in Dragon magazine, and those are few because I cancelled my subscription. Next time I'm at the gaming store I'll probably flip through it, but I doubt I'll purchase it unless it knocks my socks off.

[PlaneTouchedOne]

dragonhand777, on Jun 30 2004, 04:59 PM, said:

PlaneTouchedOne, on Jun 29 2004, 06:46 PM, said:

Does it have many monsters or creatures built towards a cold envirorment?

Not really.

But with the Horrid teplate you could create one. Like Dire versions of elk or reindeer that were bred for battle.-Ok, that may seem like a silly idea, but any way....

ack...i think i'll stick to polar bears then.

[corellon]

has anyone ever played this campiagn...i recently bought it and i think it is great....it is a fun and new world concept...though reminds me a little of the arcanum world(comp game..great)...anyway if u have ever heard of it or played please give me your opinions....

[Tolarus]

I LOVE Eberron! The super high-magic setting is great, the new races are awesome, and the feel of everything is a lot darker than other stuff.

The shifters are my favorite race in Eberron, followed by the warforged. I'm thinking about how to add new shifter forms and warforged components.

The setting itself allows for a lot more plot possibilities, especially the fueding houses and the eldritch machines. The eldritch machines allow you to bend the rules when describing what they do, and are usually the subjects of entire campaigns.

The artificer class is pretty cool; it's a good alternative to a wizard specializing in crafting items.

The airships and lightningrail are great ways of getting around, so you can really expand your campaigns to cover the entire map if you want.

The dragonmarks allow most races to have a spell-like ability. They're like intricate birthmarks which grant their bearer an ability depending on what the mark is.

Overall, Eberron is definitely worth whatever you pay for it. My only complaint is that there's no fold-out map with it. Even so, everyone should at least incorporate ideas from it into their campaigns, no matter what setting it is.

[corellon]

my favorite class in it is also the shifter...warforged are sweet...a freind of mine played a ex-general warforged that currently lived in cyre...i have created a super large campiagn for it...15+hours....currently playyed 7 hours of it....

[Rintaran]

Hey. Just letting you all know that I just merged the two Eberron topics, since they're both asking about what people think of the new setting. I haven't tried it myself, but from what I've heard, I won't be touching it. High magic is just not my thing.

[corellon]

'its not in the way that you hold me...its not the way you set me freeee...' oh sorry just singing Hold the Line by Toto..great song....anyway didn't see this topic.....