Eberron Campaign Setting

by Keith Baker

An entirely new campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragonsreg; roleplaying game. During the spring and summer of 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc., put out a request to the gaming community for proposals for a new D&D game setting. 11,000 proposals and two years of development later, the Eberron Campaign Setting is the result of that search. This brand-new setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is an avenue for any D&D fan to experience...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786932740
• ISBN13: 9780786932740
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 2.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.5" x 11.1"

Customer Reviews

The World is Ours for the Taking!

I am really excited about this new fantasy world called Eberron. I was one of the many writers that took part in the contest that heralded this work of works, and I'm glad they didn't pick my idea. Keith Baker has given us a new world, unique in many aspects, presented nicely by Wizards in a 320 page package. I would like to say first that Eberron excites me most by opening up new avenues for more writers to reach the limelight. I am crossing my fingers that in the near future we will see Eberron versions of great writers like Salvatore, Greenwood (is Baker up to the task?), Kemp, Cunningham, Baker and others. I love the Forgotten Realms and hope that maybe one day this campaign I have been with since the start could amount to such grandeur. Now, on to the book itself. I think I will try to disect the book by parts, and examine it piece by piece (for the reader's ease and pleasure!) I. Background/Originality of the Campaign Eberron is, as all other fantasy worlds are, the result of years of fantasy/sci-fi evolution. The term 'it's all been done before' applies once again, but as Mr. Emerson once said,"Genius borrows nobly." I could go on about how all modern writers are just professional word thieves, but that is not the topic. The matter is that if I really wanted to play a golem as my character in D & D, I sure as hell would have. But I doubt it would have been half as well created as Mister Baker made it. The new races are a really nice addition, though expected of all new campaigns. My favorite little doohicky that Baker came up with is the Dragonmarks (I'm also a big fan of Sharn, but I'll get to that later). Dragonmarked characters almost force players to come up with a history for their heroes. Consider: "How did DelArimas, the 10th level mage get the greater Dragonmark of Scribing?" You will never hear: "Well . . . he took the feats." NO! It would be more like: "He is a high ranking and greatly respected member of House Sivis that has mediated in many wars of the past, where he has gained experience as a fighter . . ." and so on. It's fail-proof. If you look closer into the campaign you'll see what I'm talking about as far as 'borrowing'. Orcs, for example, are reminescent of that wonderful game Warcraft. All in all, the setting simply brings things that people like to play as to the forefront, while adding some nice little twists. II. Playability Has anyone noticed the convinient timing of the release of Eberron in relation to the supplement "Heroes of Battle". Hmm. Wizards obviously has plans to build on the focuses of Eberron, this war-torn, action-packed world. I'm not to big on how they are making things almost comic-bookish. I don't read comics, I play D & D. The art is cool and all, but I don't know about the whole gameplay aspect. Action Points? Meh. If you say so. The bottom line on playability is basically new opportunities. New places, and new scenarios, as all supplements and campaigns strive to create. Eberron works nicel

A Very Exciting Campaign Setting

A good campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons should do three things: 1. Be a useful resource to the Dungeon Master. 2. Stay within the boundaries of D & D, yet be different from what has already been published. 3. Get the players excited about their characters and the DM excited about the world. Eberron does all of these things. The book is well laid out and contains much useful information. The only part lacking is that there is not a poster map of the world included. There is one available in Dungeon magazine #113, but it lacks detail. The adventures in Eberron are typical D & D, with expeditions of groups of adventurers to ancient ruins, combats with monsters, and finding treasure and magic. But there are twists. Eberron adventures feature intrigue and swashbuckling adventure. This is accomplished mostly through two things: Magic, and the style of the organizations featured in the book. A system of action points also help make Eberron adventures more cinematic. Magic is more pervasive on Eberron in the areas of transportation, communication, and other goods and services. That is not to say that it is overabundant; you won't see every first level fighter with a magic sword. But you might use the lightning rail to travel across country, then receive a message from a telegraph-like magical service, and finally ride out to a dungeon on a magebred horse. Magic on Eberron enhances adventuring by getting you to where the action is more quickly, speeding up the pace of adventuring. Organizations on Eberron add to the go include the Dragonmarked Houses and many secret or at least deceptive societies, and several nations who until recently were at war for many years. The Houses are not loyal to any particular nation, and are basically family based corporations. The nations each have very different cultures and conflicting goals. The atmosphere is similar to the 1920's or 30's; you get the feeling that you are between two world wars. Players and DM's have a lot of new material to inspire them. There are several new races in Eberron, including the shapeshifting changelings, the descendants of were-creatures called shifters, the psionically gifted kalashtar, and the mechanical warforged. Psionics are integrated into the setting, but not emphasized on the main continent, so they are easily included or ignored as the DM wishes. There is also a well written new class, the artificer, who can craft items better than anyone and use infusions to enhance items on the fly. New feats, prestige classes, equipment, spells, and monsters all help make the world unique. A decent adventure in the back can help get your campaign started. The book is well written, well illustrated, and full of great ideas. I highly recommend it for all D & D players and DM's, even if you don't choose to run an Eberron campaign.

Brilliance in a Bound Cover

I should start by saying that Eberron did not save D & D for me, but it rather breathed a new, healthy interest into the hobby for myself. I waited for months like many others, listening to the naysayers who were so convinced that it was going to bomb royally, and picked up the book without reading any reviews by others who bought it.It was everything that I expected, and more. Ranking in at 320 pages, the book is not going to set any records, but the existing detail that was packed into the space is amazing.The Introduction sets the tone of Eberron nicely, and gives a list of 'Ten Things That You Need To Know About Eberron'. It also gives a list of pulp and film-noir movies like the Maltese Falcon that fit the mood of Eberron nicely.Chapter One deals with character races, introducing the Changeling (human with a doppelganger ancestor that has the ability to alter her appearence at will), Kalashtar (psionic race, long backgound that I'll have to skip here), Shifter (humans with lycanthrope ancestors, extremely well done), and the Warforged (constructs powered by magic that have souls and intelligence, they were built as elite units during the Last War). The chapter also gives descriptions of the existing races and how they fit into Eberron. Some, like the elves and gnomes, go through a major reenvisioning that I think is definetely for the better.Chapter Two deals with Character Classes, introducing the Artificer (a type of mage who infuses items with magic, kind of like limited use staves or scrolls, and is very big with crafting items) and giving example characters and backgrounds for each of the other classes. The Artificer is very unique and well-thought out, and fits in well with a party that has a warforged 'tank'.Chapter Three deals with Heroic Characteristics, describing Action Points (a similar system is found in the SW RPG with Force Points and d20 Modern) and the 70-odd new feats.Chapter Four introduces us to 8 new prestige classes, actually 12, because one, the Eldeen Ranger is actually five-in-one (its' abilities are adjusted depending on which druidic sect you choose). My personal favorite is the Master Inquisitive, a 5 level prestige class perfectly suited for pulp detectives and some bounty hunters.Chapter Five deals with Magic and the Planes of Eberron. The beginning of the chapter summarizes nicely what role the magewrights (a new working NPC class of mages, fulfill the low-level industrial uses of magic, like lighting continual flame lanterns in the streets) and the Dragonmarked houses fulfill in everyday life. It also introduces a new concept of 'manifest zones' for the planes. Every so often, one of the planes will stray close to Eberron (all of them are on an 'orbit', remiscent of the planets of our solar system around the sun) and in the area that is affected, certain spells may be extended or maximized for example, and others may be impeded. The chapter ends with numerous new domains and spells, many devoted to aiding or i

worth it

Eberron, when advertised, claimed it would bring something new to the D & D world. Surprisingly, it has delivered and done so with style and grace.The first thing to remember is that Eberron is a campaign setting, not the new face of D & D that negates what came before. Eberron is an option, a world that actually feels modern while staying true to the roots of magic. In Eberron, there are constructs (magic powered robots) who have become sentient known as warforged. This "race" is rather young, or at least this incarnation of it--its possible they are in fact 1000 or more years old. There's also Sharn, the city where magic has given birth to technology meaning there's a lightning powered train, air ships like in anime, and many more surprises. There is even a class dedicated to making magical constructs and items known as an artificer. Eberron continues this "modern" take with a loosening of the alignment system, making it less defined and once again more akin to our real world politics. Now, why does this matter--because going through the campaign you suddenly start thinking about how great it would be to run your favorite anime, or a story like Bladerunner in Eberron, or Indiana Jones. You could even take the Star Wars series and fit it in with a few adjustments. As skeptical as I was, I can pleasantly admit that I was wrong about this setting which gives you a world where Moorcock and Cthullu can be mixed with Dick Tracy without seeming stupid.

Worth the Hype! Well done Wizards of the Coast and Mr. Baker

Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) scores big with the new Eberron Campaign Setting, this is more than a setting; it is a completely fresh way for D & D aficionados to play the game. I do not want to include too many spoilers because in no way can I give this volume any justice.The Illustrations are done very well and enhance the entire book. The artwork is part of what makes this book so fresh. The artwork really portrays the "feel" of this campaign setting, each piece of art fits into the written material very well and throughout most of the book enhance or explain the written material.Eberron itself is laid out much like the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. It starts with the Introduction, races, classes, equipment, and ends with magic, history background and an introductory adventure. Additionally interlaced amongst the pages of stats and game mechanics are short snippets that detail life in Eberron.The Introduction is done very well and captures the feel of the entire setting. I can only describe it as Indiana Jones meets Camelot, and that doesn't do it justice.There are many new races and one new class. The races are well balanced compared to the core books and no ECLs. Of course, it has all the old standards and the book does a great job of developing them separately from the core rulebooks. They are statistically the same but their flavor and backgrounds are much different.In Eberron a race of "changelings", live amongst the rest of the world. They are able to alter their appearance at will. The "shifters" are a group of animal-people hybrids that walk the world. Each sub-type can manifest an animal quality for a limited number of times in order to enhance their abilities. This is balanced in a way that is much like the Barbarians rage ability. The other groups have been written about on the message boards and on the WOTC website so I will not speak of them here other than that it is worth checking them out.One new class presents itself and that is the Artificer. They are mages that can't cast magic per say, but enhance mundane items with magical abilities and craft constructs and magic items with much more efficiency then a Wizard or Sorcerer. Also, througout the chapter on characters it gives some examples of some of the personalities that inhabit this world. This is not only a great asset to the DM but also to the reader as it gives many insights into organizations, religion, and the geography. There are several new prestige classes but I only have 1000 words so I hesitate to detail all of them.The skills and feats section are what really makes an Eberron Character stand out. All of the skills from the Core Rules are present but some have a new twist to them. As an example, Search can now be used as "investigate". It allows the Investigator to pick up and analyze clues in order to progress the story. There is even a Prestige Class called a Master Inquisitor that is a Private Detective type character.The new feats are very well d