Introduction to Ebberon

[El'the Ellie]

Hello DM's and players!

I've been playing and DM'ing 3.5 for some years now, but my groups have always made our own settings. I want to get familiar with the typical Ebberon setting, but I don't really know where to start. Google searches show me there's a whole slew of novels, campaigns, and websites that help look up things, but that really doesn't help someone starting from scratch. Is there perhaps a single setting book, or a well-known jumping off point that folks could point me to? Sorry if it's obvious and I missed it: working with established campaign settings isn't exactly my forte yet.

Also as a DM using a set world, how kosher is it to add in our own towns/history/houses? Would players generally find that annoying and not really the setting we said it was, or is it expected of a DM? I've mostly only played Tabletop D&D, so I'm not sure if the players on these boards are more loyal to campaign settings exactly as written.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[IcarusWulfe]

Yes there is a setting book known simply as Ebberon Campaign Setting. It's got everything you need to know from maps and info on each nation to history to a sample adventure.

[Chronikoce]

I've read through the eberron campaign setting book and used it for ideas.

But I've also never run a campaign in a pre-made world before.

[Prime32]

Also as a DM using a set world, how kosher is it to add in our own towns/history/houses? Would players generally find that annoying and not really the setting we said it was, or is it expected of a DM? I've mostly only played Tabletop D&D, so I'm not sure if the players on these boards are more loyal to campaign settings exactly as written.Eberron was intentionally written with a lot of ambiguous elements to give the DM room for interpretation, and to ensure things don't get stale. E.g. it's never explained what caused the Day of Mourning, so that you can provide a different explanation each time. Cardinal Krozen has some shady dealings away from the eyes of Jaela Daran, but it's left up to the DM whether he's drunk on power or just doesn't want to foist necessary evils onto a child.

As part of this, note that the novels are non-canon, even with each other. Each is set in the author's interpretation of Eberron, which is no more or less valid than any DM's campaign.

Adding in new dragonmarked houses is a bad idea since that's such a major part of the setting (down to the "13 minus 1" motif), but most organizations in Eberron have a lot of factions and internal feuding. I believe the Eberron Campaign Setting even says something like "today's friends can be tomorrow's enemies, and vice versa". Other kinds of nobility wouldn't usually present much issue.


Anyway, relevant books:
The basics:
Eberron Campaign Setting (3.5e version)

For more info:

Five Nations
Faiths of Eberron
Player's Guide to Eberron

And more niche stuff:
Dragonmarked (deals with the dragonmarked houses, provides lots of extra options for PCs with dragonmarks)
The Forge of War (deals with the weapons and tactics of the Last War, as well as its fallout on the modern world)
Magic of Eberron
Races of Eberron (extra resources for changelings, shifters, kalashtar and warforged)
Secrets of Sarlona (for characters and NPCs with ties to the "psychic dystopia" continent)
Secrets of Xen'drik (for characters and NPCs with ties to the "Indiana Jones jungle" continent)

Even more niche stuff, focusing on a single location:
City of Stormreach
Sharn: City of Towers

And two books which are usually regarded as not very good:
Dragons of Eberron
Explorer's Handbook

Finally, some web articles for playing campaigns in Eberron
Dragonshards (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archeb/ds) (extra detail on different aspects of the setting, written by its creator)
Eberron Expanded (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archeb/ee) (using material from other books in Eberron)
Sharn Inquisitive (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archeb/si) (in-universe newspaper stories for use as plot hooks)

There were some articles in Dungeon magazine, a few paragraphs in unrelated books on where a particular monster or class fits into Eberron, and a line of published adventures, but apart from that I think that's just about everything that's been written on the setting.

[Gildedragon]

Also as a DM using a set world, how kosher is it to add in our own towns/history/houses? Noble Houses: Knock yourself out
DM Houses: less good. You could have aberrant dragonmarked trying to form one or more houses as a mirror for the official houses; with their destructive powers they might be looking to maybe corner the mining or demolition market...
Towns: By ALL means
History: Yeah. There are a lot of gaps. The particulars of the last war are mostly left up for speculation

[frost890]

I think that with all the settings you are not "meant" to go strictly by the book. Part of the role playing experience it to change the world you are in, both in big ways and small. They are tools for you to use not a script you have to follow. If you feel you want to introduce them to the elements of the world but are not comfortable with the world yet take pieces in to your home brew world. A high magic city may have artificers. a wizard guild me make creatures like the Warforged. It sounds like you are more at home with custom worlds anyway.

[Inevitability]

On dragonmarked houses: remember it is entirely possible for a new dragonmark to surface. It took over two millennia for all current dragonmarks to appear: another one would be unusual, but not impossible.

[El'the Ellie]

Oh would you look at that, there is literally a Eberron Setting Handbook. I have no idea how I missed that.

Thanks for your input everyone!

[phlidwsn]

There's also a fan document floating around: The Grand History of Eberron that can serve as an index to a particular topic that may have its info spread across the various books. Don't try to sit and consume it from front to back though, its a massive document.

[TheBrassDuke]

There's also a fan document floating around: The Grand History of Eberron that can serve as an index to a particular topic that may have its info spread across the various books. Don't try to sit and consume it from front to back though, its a massive document.

As an Eberron fanatic, I would like to see this document. :3

[phlidwsn]

As an Eberron fanatic, I would like to see this document. :3

I believe I've found its home on the Dragon Above (http://www.dragon-above.com/index.php?p=features#grandhistory)

[weckar]

I've always described Eberron as "High-Fantasy pulp fiction", which is well supported by the Action Point system it pushed. I find this a healthy thought to keep in mind while reading any source material; bonus points for putting on the Indiana Jones soundtrack in the background.

[ekarney]

Sorry for posting something kind of irrelevant but whilst we're talking about kosherness of adding things to campaign settings, how do you find the distance between towns, specifically in FRCS?