Eberron coming soon? (KEEP IT CIVIL, DAGNABBIT!)

[Arkhios]

DISCLAIMER: I don't want to see anyone degrading or slandering someone over their personal preferences regarding the setting, be they negative or positive. I will report them immediately. If you don't like Eberron or its fans talking about Eberron, it's better to say nothing and leave, rather than to cause drama for a ridiculous reason.

Unfortunately things got sour (hence the disclaimer above) in the previous thread I started. For one, I'm still excited about the possibility of an Eberron Campaign Setting for 5th edition being released in a very near future.

I'd like to point out though, that this is still very much speculative and nothing has been confirmed by the WotC staff (as of now, AFAIK), but judging from how the staff is sporadically spreading teasing news throughout the internet (mostly in Twitter, where this one came up as well).

Spoiler: For those who can't or won't use twitter, here's the related teasing picture from Nathan Stewart, Sr. Director of D&D

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PS. I'm aware that Spelljammer is confirmed(-ish) to be released. However, I'd like to note that neither one of these (possible) products prevent the other from being released as well.
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In light of the recent revelations, it seems that Spelljammer isn't coming as soon as people would have hoped, BUT EBERRON IS HERE! (even if only in online pdf format for now). That said, I believe it's probable that Spelljammer will be coming anyway, as it was already confirmed. Most likely the July 23rd news was only to cover the two other products that are out sooner.

[ZenBear]

Hey! Dagnabbit was always civil! Just cuz he’s dead doesn’t mean you have to shout!

I’m looking forward to Eberron’s official 5e debut. It’s a fantastic setting with limitless political intrigue and some of my favorite D&D fiction! I need to reread Thieves of Blood.

[Arkhios]

Hey! Dagnabbit was always civil! Just cuz he’s dead doesn’t mean you have to shout!

...Oh, god! R.A.Salvatore, now you did it! (Facepalm)

Funny, I had totally forgotten that one. Or maybe the name was lost in translation as I didn't read the series in original language?

[JoeJ]

I only recently glanced at some Eberron stuff. The setting looked pretty interesting, although I'm not a fan of that style of art (which is found throughout 3.x, not just Eberron). I'd definitely like to see what they do with it in 5e.

[Arkhios]

I'm not a fan of that style of art (which is found throughout 3.x, not just Eberron).

You must be referring to the Wayne Reynolds' (WAR^©) art. I, on the other hand absolutely love his style, but I know it divides opinions, and I respect that.

[Astofel]

Unless I'm running a module, I only tend to run games in my own setting, so this probably won't be useful to me as a setting book. I'll still read it, though, because I'm sure it'll introduce some cool concepts for me to steal. My setting does already include warforged, after all (they were constructed from wood by deep forest-dwelling drow in order to fight a war against the forces of the god of war).

[Regitnui]

I would like to reiterate that I am not officially on the hype train until the 23rd. 12 more days to go. No, I'm not counting down.

[Arkhios]

I would like to reiterate that I am not officially on the hype train until the 23rd. 12 more days to go. No, I'm not counting down.

Of course not. Neither am I trying to kill time while waiting, since most of my workdays during this holiday season are boring as heck.

[MrStabby]

Not really the setting for me, so I am not excited about the prospect at all. Not super thrilled about spelljammer either - more a fan of broad high fantasy.

Still, a setting builder with some additional content is always nice - I am never one to say no to new content. Something like the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide but for Eberron - I know a few people who would like it.

[Beechgnome]

I hope to see an improved artificer. I would prefer one that was a half arcane caster instead of the one-third caster we got in UA. The Alchemist also needed some work to be competitive (or at least more interesting). And more subclasses - a machinist, for example, would be nice. And if they are going to do all that, they better reprint the Xanathar's spells that work for them...particularly Tiny Servant.

[jaappleton]

I am fairly setting neutral.

I do want official support for settings that fans want, so they can happily run their games with more content.

What I love most about new material is the ability to pilfer stuff from it for my own game. Specifically any magic items, player options, spells, etc.

So that said, bring in Eberron and it’s Artificers!

[Millstone85]

I really love the idea of D&D in a steampunk/magitek setting, though I would probably go for Eberron-like worlds in Spelljammer.

[DanyBallon]

Not really the setting for me, so I am not excited about the prospect at all. Not super thrilled about spelljammer either - more a fan of broad high fantasy.

Still, a setting builder with some additional content is always nice - I am never one to say no to new content. Something like the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide but for Eberron - I know a few people who would like it.

I'm not a fan of Eberron either, but a SCAG style Eberron setting book, I'll definitely buy it! Heck I wasn't a fan of FR either and the SCAG convinced me of running our games in it! I might just do the same with Eberron

[Sigreid]

To me all setting books have value ad fodder for cannibalism for my own worlds.

[KorvinStarmast]

My setting does already include warforged, after all (they were constructed from wood by deep forest-dwelling drow in order to fight a war against the forces of the god of war).

That sounds cool. (Are they vulnerable to fire or did you choose not to go there?)

I really love the idea of D&D in a steampunk/magitek setting, though I would probably go for Eberron-like worlds in Spelljammer.

I blame Warcraft II for the D&D steampunk trope, but I suspect that it arose earlier than that. I think Phil Foglio was doing a mixture of steampunk and fantasy at one point ... but if I go back even farther, there was a neat swords/sorcery/SF fusion series by Robert Adams, the Horseclans series. (I read all of them, but I don't still have all of them). That kind of tech/genre fusion isn't all that new, I guess.

[JackPhoenix]

That sounds cool. (Are they vulnerable to fire or did you choose not to go there?)

I blame Warcraft II for the D&D steampunk trope, but I suspect that it arose earlier than that. I think Phil Foglio was doing a mixture of steampunk and fantasy at one point ... but if I go back even farther, there was a neat swords/sorcery/SF fusion series by Robert Adams, the Horseclans series. (I read all of them, but I don't still have all of them). That kind of tech/genre fusion isn't all that new, I guess.

Warhammer predates Warcraft, so I'd look there. And D&D had spaceships, cowboys and what not even earlier.

And Eberron is not steampunk in any way. At least not until the fire and water elementals get loose.

[Arkhios]

Warhammer predates Warcraft, so I'd look there. And D&D had spaceships, cowboys and what not even earlier.

And Eberron is not steampunk in any way. At least not until the fire and water elementals get loose.

I guess it's more like magepunk, really.

[mgshamster]

I really like the idea someone brought up in the Spelljammer thread: that the next setting book will be a collection of settings: Ebberon, Spelljammer, Planescape, Darksun, etc...

I think that would be really cool to see.

[KorvinStarmast]

And Eberron is not steampunk in any way. At least not until the fire and water elementals get loose.

OK, I was trying to express the steampunk/magic fusion, but it was unclear. I like the way you put that better.

[Sception]

I'm reasonably excited for a 5e version of Eberron.

When the campaign first came out it did a number of things I really liked, in particular the magi-punk, pulp-noire, late 1800s to early 1900s type tone, and it's handling of 'monstrous' humanoids. I certainly understand people who didn't like these things, but they were big selling points for me. I like the City of Towers, I liked the less concrete take on the setting religions - in particular that Eberron didn't make a canonical stand on whether deities actually exist at all. Eberron in general felt very distinct and modern to me, and in a way that deliberately catered to fun, serialized adventure, perfectly suited to D&D campaigns.

I am a little worried about the recent apparent pushes to give all of D&D a unified underpinning, and how that might mess with some of the aspects I liked about the setting, in particular the unique histories and personalities of the traditional D&D races in Eberron, as well as the deliberate decision to leave open the question of whether the deities exist.

But mostly I'm excited. In particular, it would be cool to see updated rules for the artificer, Eberron races, airships, etc. I mostly only run homebrew settings in recent years, but if the re-introduction of Eberron is handled well, the next game I run might end up there.

[ciarannihill]

I've never played or run Eberron, but given the love I see from people for it I'm very interested and excited to see a modern incarnation of it that I can sink my teeth into a bit.

[Naanomi]

Not my favorite setting, but a setting that had enough unique races/classes/etc that it really does need at least one good mechanics-oriented book to do it justice; so I’ll be happy to see that added to the milieu when it does come about

[Anon von Zilch]

Man, do I loathe the term "magipunk." It's such a lazy construction, as it just means "vaguely steampunk aesthetic but with magic instead of steam power," completely ignoring the other half of steampunk: Punk.

This has even spread to the term "dungeonpunk," which is used on TV Tropes to mean the same thing as magipunk, using Eberron as a specific example. It actually means the aesthetic of early 3rd Edition D&D, which had nothing to do with steampunk.

In summary: Words actually mean things, people!

EDIT: Oh, and yay for maybe 5Eberron!

EDIT 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: My preferred term for the Eberron aesthetic is, in case anyone cares, "industrial magic" (light optional).

[CharonsHelper]

I'm actually a bit dubious.

I like Eberron. My first campaign I ran was in Eberron, and my buddies and I still talk about the switcheroo I pulled on them with it (they were on the job proving that a teenage serving girl wasn't the murderer before she was executed at the end of the week - which led into all sorts of political intrigue since the victim was the assistant of a powerful politician etc.).

However - I'm not 100% on how well it will translate into 5e. I like 5e pretty well, but Eberron's whole sctick is tied pretty heavily into the 3.5 idea of magic items being everywhere and being their equivalent of technology - which 5e intentionally took a large step away from.

I like Eberron - but I'm a bigger fan of a system's mechanics and the setting vibe meshing properly. And frankly - I'm not sure if 5e meshes well with Eberron.

Man, do I loathe the term "magipunk." It's such a lazy construction, as it just means "vaguely steampunk aesthetic but with magic instead of steam power," completely ignoring the other half of steampunk: Punk.

This has even spread to the term "dungeonpunk," which is used on TV Tropes to mean the same thing as magipunk, using Eberron as a specific example. It actually means the aesthetic of early 3rd Edition D&D, which had nothing to do with steampunk.

In summary: Words actually mean things, people!

EDIT: Oh, and yay for maybe 5Eberron!

EDIT 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: My preferred term for the Eberron aesthetic is, in case anyone cares, "industrial magic" (light optional).

I prefer "magitech". Maybe "swashbuckling magitek"? And frankly - steampunk settings without any magic are generally a hot mess. I like their vibe, but if you look under the hood at all they fall apart. They need some magic to hold it together as a reason that the Victorian era steam-tech is around.

The only one without magic I know of that doesn't 100% fall apart is Genius Girl - which has super-geniuses who don't really even understand how their own tech works. (Which is sort of using the 'a wizard did it' excuse only without magic.) It only works as well as it does due to being a tongue-in-cheek comic strip.

[Morty]

5e runs on the idea of magic items being scarce and declares that "monstrous" races not being universally vile has no place in fantasy. The latter is easy enough for a setting book to get rid of, but the first? I wonder what they'll do if Eberron does get the 5e treatment.

[Millstone85]

And Eberron is not steampunk in any way. At least not until the fire and water elementals get loose.

I guess it's more like magepunk, really.

If you tell me magepunk, I will expect grim magitek, but I will still wonder if the aesthetic will ressemble that of cyberpunk, dieselpunk, steampunk, clockpunk or what.

OK, I was trying to express the steampunk/magic fusion, but it was unclear. I like the way you put that better.

You quoted JackPhoenix with my name.

[Alderic78]

I kinda like Eberron, and it also means an official release of psionics is going to happen, which is even better ^_^

[hamishspence]

5e runs on the idea of magic items being scarce and declares that "monstrous" races not being universally vile has no place in fantasy. The latter is easy enough for a setting book to get rid of, but the first? I wonder what they'll do if Eberron does get the 5e treatment.

EDIT: I missed the "not".

Eberron runs on "monstrous races are not nearly as Always Evil as usual", it's true.

One of the biggest complaints I've seen about 5e was that monsters in general are more "universally vile" than previous editions portrayed them as. Especially gnolls - even the production of new gnolls is now different - instead of regular reproduction, they're created when a hyena eats something slain by Yeenoghu, who regularly rampages across the world.

[Beelzebubba]

I missed the Eberron train in 3.x, so I'll enjoy using it to add some funky stuff to my home-brew setting.

[Cybren]

I don't like Eberron but I think it has some cool iconography and material that can be stolen for other purposes, so it would be nice if an upcoming book was an Eberron manual. Though to be honest, another setting search contest would be fun... provided they didn't allow freelancers who they already have a professional relationship with to enter. That always felt weird.