[RPG]: Eberron Campaign Setting, reviewed by C.W.Richeson (5/5)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11991.phtml

Christopher W. Richeson's Summary:

A setting built with the roleplayer in mind, Eberron is filled with adventure hooks and interesting ideas. No matter what game system you prefer, Eberron is worth a look.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Dan Davenport]

Thanks for the review, Christopher!

I've been curious about this setting for a while now, and I liked your approach in reviewing it from the perspective of someone who might not be a fan of d20.

[jamesh]

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

I liked your approach in reviewing it from the perspective of someone who might not be a fan of d20.

I liked that, too, but it failed to take into account how much space in the product is dedicated to very system-specific content that is ultimately of little or no interest to somebody who doesn't play D&D 3x and/or a feasibly compatible game (C&C, Blue Rose, et al). I've owned Eberron, but I wouldn't recommend it to people who use non-d20/OGL game systems, not beacuse it isn't a wonderful setting, but because the amount of non-system specific detail that it offers (approximately 1/3 of the book) isn't worth the cover price.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by jamesh

I liked that, too, but it failed to take into account how much space in the product is dedicated to very system-specific content that is ultimately of little or no interest to somebody who doesn't play D&D 3x and/or a feasibly compatible game (C&C, Blue Rose, et al). I've owned Eberron, but I wouldn't recommend it to people who use non-d20/OGL game systems, not beacuse it isn't a wonderful setting, but because the amount of non-system specific detail that it offers (approximately 1/3 of the book) isn't worth the cover price.

I'm not sure i'd go so far as to say that 2/3 of the book is composed of game mechanics. The regional geography alone is a third of the book, and it's pure setting material. I'd say you get at least 200 pages of setting here, and the mechanics support the setting in such a way as to make them useful as well.

I also find the Eberron specific mechanics generally useful for running the game with other systems. Say I want to build race packages for HERO, GURPS, Tri-Stat, Savage Worlds, whatever. With a very simple understanding of the very basics of d20 I can see that Warforged are tough and resilient, Changelings have limited shapeshifting powers, certain types of artifice are common to the world, etc.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

Thanks for the review, Christopher!

I've been curious about this setting for a while now, and I liked your approach in reviewing it from the perspective of someone who might not be a fan of d20.

Thanks again for the positive feedback, it really encourages me to write more reviews.

[Asmodai]

Originally Posted by C.W.Richeson

I'm not sure i'd go so far as to say that 2/3 of the book is composed of game mechanics. The regional geography alone is a third of the book, and it's pure setting material. I'd say you get at least 200 pages of setting here, and the mechanics support the setting in such a way as to make them useful as well.

I'd be almost more tempted to just recommend The Five Nations for the geography part. Of course then you're missing the section of Religion.

[jamesh]

Originally Posted by C.W.Richeson

I'm not sure i'd go so far as to say that 2/3 of the book is composed of game mechanics. The regional geography alone is a third of the book, and it's pure setting material. I'd say you get at least 200 pages of setting here, and the mechanics support the setting in such a way as to make them useful as well.

I also find the Eberron specific mechanics generally useful for running the game with other systems. Say I want to build race packages for HERO, GURPS, Tri-Stat, Savage Worlds, whatever. With a very simple understanding of the very basics of d20 I can see that Warforged are tough and resilient, Changelings have limited shapeshifting powers, certain types of artifice are common to the world, etc.

That's still a tough sell for me - the first six chapters and the last three are largely D&D 3x-specific. If somebody can find a copy second hand (or otherwise discounted), I think it might be worth a look, but I'd still be very hesitant to suggest that a non-D&D 3x player purchase a new copy at full cover price.

[Nihtgenga]

Good review Christopher. In many ways I got more out of it than the reviews that focused on it as a D&D setting.
Having said that, I am curious about it being a basic D&D setting with no alignment. How do Paladins and the like cope with a lot of their abilities being tied to being able to see 'evil' rubber stamped on people's foreheads?
For that matter, there are a lot of alignment specific spells in D&D? Do they become redundant in the setting?

[Gary Thomas]

Anyone with a playtest review gets an atta boy from me. Thank you for that. That you actually used this product, as opposed to just read it, makes this review more valuable in my opinion.

Considered from a non-d20 angle, it would be interesting to compare it to the FR main book (or Midnight, or any other main setting book for d20) to see which has a higher ratio of system specific crunch. I get the impression that Eberron is pretty light on the system stuff.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by Nihtgenga

Good review Christopher. In many ways I got more out of it than the reviews that focused on it as a D&D setting.
Having said that, I am curious about it being a basic D&D setting with no alignment. How do Paladins and the like cope with a lot of their abilities being tied to being able to see 'evil' rubber stamped on people's foreheads?
For that matter, there are a lot of alignment specific spells in D&D? Do they become redundant in the setting?

Hi Nihtgenga,

Keith Baker, the creator of Eberron, discusses alignment in Eberron among other topics in this thread. He posts as Hellcow, and you'll have to scroll down a bit on the page. That part of the discussion of mechanics based, as certain things in D&D give off auras of good and evil. Basically he says that a person can be good and worship an evil god, and the level of their dedication to that god might influence whether they seem to be good or evil.

It's not so much that Eberron throws out the alignment system. It keeps that, as many spells and abilities in Dungeons and Dragons are based on alignment. Protection from Evil, for example.

What Eberron does is it throws out assumptions about alignment. Gold Dragons can be evil. Red Dragons can be Lawful Good and dedicate themselves to fighting evil. This is something we've seen at times before in other settings, but never as strongly embraced as it is in Eberron. Now when your character is exploring ancient ruins and encounters a Hideous Monster there's good reason to talk with it and no reason to assume that it's there just to kill you. It tones down the "hack and slash" aspect of the game a bit, I think, and helps to facilitate those players who like to view monsters and such as just other people who make good or evil decisions based on their own beliefs and values.

So, i'd say Paladins (especially of the Silver Flame) still have an important role. Paladins have a problem in any game where the DM lets the character Detect Evil / Kill. The fact of the matter is that the Paladin might be answering to an evil member of the clergy, and while the Paladin may sense that the person doesn't have a good heart the Paladin can't just swing his blade to resolve problems. Laws are important in Eberron. I can't imagine a more fun situation than a Paladin who *knows* there is corruption in the church he's working for, but can't confront it directly. How do you prove it? Most folk don't have adventuring classes, Paladins are rare, and how could another person know that you know that the priest's heart is corrupt? Once again Eberron throws out an irritating D&Dism and injects more believable situations that lead to fun and interesting roleplaying.