a trip to Eberron for the first time...

[quiet1mi]

me and a few other people are going to try Eberron as a campaign setting for the first time...

is there any advice for running Eberron and any advice for playing in an Eberron campaign..

[Colmarr]

I was once a player in a very noir Eberron Campaign, and the setting seems to fit the genre very well with all the "magical technology" running around.

If you're interested in that sort of campaign, Eberron handles it very well.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm talking about a Maltese Falcon/Casablanca/Road to Perdition style of campaign. Grim and gritty with overarching themes of greed, betrayal and honour.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Eberron can be anything you want it to be, but it does cater to certain styles of play with ease.

The pulpy, 'rule of cool' school of gaming works well with Eberron. Keep intrigue heavy, combat brutal and over-the-top, and the stakes high. If you aren't crashing an airship, exploding a tower in Sharn, or discovering an ancient evil artifact every session, you're doing something wrong.

Eberron also does wartime campaigns well. Urban/social intrigue games can be fun in the mega cities laced with magic. Down in the jungles and ruins, Indiana Jones style adventuring is just as possible.

Perhaps the coolest thing about Eberron is that you can combine all of these adventures/playstyles. Travel the globe, go on crazy adventures, and take nothing at face value.

Most importantly, have fun! Eberron can be dark and gritty, but it can also be over-the-top fun. Think Pirates of the Caribbean, Soul Calibur, Devil May Cry sort of madness.

[Venerable]

Eberron is great if you like to play characters with complex histories. The setting offers tons of story hooks. If you need suggestions, skim chapter seven of the Eberron Campaign Setting book. Each section ends with adventuring ideas, many of which can be adapted to character hooks.

One thing I've learned from a recent Eberron campaign is the importance of avoiding conflict within your party. Everyone in Eberron has their own personal agenda. Trust is a precious commodity, and in a pinch can spell the difference between life and death. Being able to trust your fellow adventurers is crucial.

[Example: a late-joining player in the recent campaign chose to play a warforged. Up to that point the other characters had had very bad experiences with warforged, so they didn't trust the one that had joined them. When a party member received a suggestion from the BBEG to kill the warforged, she didn't hesitate. If she'd liked and trusted the warforged, we might have avoided the near-TPK that followed.]

But that's just my experience. If your group likes intercharacter conflict, there's oodles of opportunity for it.

Edit: the DM should read Eberron Campaign Setting, of course. Of the other Eberron books, I'd recommend Magic of Eberron next. Players should skim either ECS or the Player's Guide to Eberron.

[ArmorArmadillo]

People tend to forget the importance of the Last War. People are used to everything happening "In Times of Ages of Histories Past" that they forget that the Last War ended 2 years ago; most of the world should still barely be recovering.

Also, remember that all this magical technology powered the war machines that ripped Khorvaire apart...it's not all free light sources.

Read up on the industrial revolution, that's the best parallel I can see to Eberron's general history.


Going to Xen'Drik can be fun, but I think it's an overused thing in Eberron campaigns, there's a lot do to without leaving Khorvaire.