Product Review

Above this review we have the blurb on the back of the book, which if we're honest is really is a bit boring. Which is a shame as Eberron is one of the better D&D settings I have seen. Part of the reason behind this is that it's a new setting and it hasn’t had a multitude of sourcebooks, novels and computer games based on it, that the designers expect you to have read or seen (a problem I had with the new edition of Dragonlance CS).

Rather than just run through each chapter in the book I will try and give a sense of the system.

The main focus of the world is the continent of Khorvaire, a land of diverse cultures and terrain. It is a land recovering from a one hundred year war that started over succession rites to the throne of the Five Nations, which once controlled the continent. During this war regions fractured, so now there are sixteen very distinctly flavored areas.

We have the Talenta Plains with the dinosaur mounted Halfling nomads (…so cool) roaming over the rugged grasslands. Then there’s Zilargo, the homeland of the Gnomes who are masters of elemental binding. Allowing them to create some seriously cool devices like the Lightning Rail (a magical version of trains) or airships powered by bond Air elementals.

These two forms of transport along with a few other details draw me back to the Final Fantasy series of computer games. It’s the blend of traditional magic and technology created by magic, which I find so cool. There are several human dominated kingdoms, some nice and cosmopolitan, others strict theocracies and even one which uses undead in its army along side its human troops.

This setting differs from most D&D settings on a few major points one being the availability of magic. It’s not that every other inn keeper is a 20th level wizard, but there is a NPC class of Mage Wrights who have very limited magic that can be used to help create better versions of mundane items. There is also the new Player Character Class: The Artificer who gains all the item creation feats as bonus feats and a strange ability that allows them to mimic the required spell during item creation, so they can create any magic item they like. But don’t worry, they also have a few very useful abilities alongside the above skills that help stop them just being seen as magic item factories.

We also have the Dragonmarked Houses, a highly powerful merchant-caste with mystical tattoos that allow for a wide range of powers, ranging from Cure Light Wounds and Mage Armor to Teleport and Globe of Invulnerability. These marks are inherited from the family blood but do not always appear in every family member, so the unmarked family members work on behalf of the house in more mundane roles. For example House Jorasco bears the Mark of Healing and is made up entirely of Halflings. The marked ones have spell like abilities that let them cast Cure Light Wounds, Lesser Restoration or a few others but the rest of the house is trained in the Heal skill. So as a house they can treat anyone who comes to one of their compounds, and due to this have replaced the Temples in first choice of where to go when injured.

The other key point where this system differs is alignment, both for creatures and clerics. No longer can you think it’s an Orc he must be evil (EDIT: as it should be, all hail Games Workshop – Jon), in Eberron they have as differing alignments as Humans. In fact it was Orc Druids (I know very strange) that saved the world from an interdimensional invasion, but that’s another story. The other is for Clerics as the gods are more distant in this setting, so the Lawful Good deity can be served by a Lawful Evil high priest who covets the power his position gives. This gives a very nice sense of grayness, to all things ethical.

But even without the very well constructed world and its rich history, Eberron scores a massive high in my books on the new races, prestige classes and feats too.

One of the biggest new additions are the Warforged, an intelligent construct created for the Last War. They have some wicked abilities like immunity to various effects and a natural armor class. But to balance this they have no natural healing, are prohibited from wearing armor (but can have self enchanted stuff) and receive a general mistrust from normal folk.

At first level the player of a Warforged must decide what level of natural armor he wants, at the cost of his first level feat he can have Full Plate with damage reduction 2/adamantine (… very useful). They have put a lot of thought into this new race and I feel it is tragic sense of not belonging which is particularly interesting for these constructs.

The Warforged also have their very own prestige class, the Juggernaut. A class that lets your character become more construct-like, at the expense of the living characteristics. By the time your character completes these five levels he is no longer susceptible to Mind effects, death effects or non-lethal and extra damage. Which could make you ultimate Undead or Aberration hunter, but this comes at the cost of your empathy, as you turn into the mindless hulk the masses already think you are.

The other very cool new race are the Shifters, descended from humans and natural Lycanthropes. While they are unable to change form they can tap into their bestial nature which depending on tribe could mean growing large claws or fangs, gaining a thick hide or increased speed. The other races also look down on this race. A position that the Shifters don’t really mind, as they prefer a more outdoor life style, leading them to make excellent Barbarians, Rangers and Druids

Along with all of the above newness is the introduction of Action Points, something I think has been missing from D&D for a long time. These Action Points allow you to do several things, such as adding a d6 to any d20 check you make, automatically passing a stabilization check, extra uses of class abilities, swapping of prepared spells and lots of other handy things. All round a good addition in my opinion.

Only the players really have action points, as they are really aimed at giving them a little something to help the rise above the ‘normal’ people. Which neatly brings me back to another point, this is a world with out a cast of epic level good guys. No longer do you need to ask why are we fighting this villain who is causing us problems, when Elminster could come deal with him in one round, or Drist and his gang ending every major threat. But don’t think there aren’t some really nasty villains out there. There are several groups you could be fighting from 1st level all the way up to 20th, as the major players are very well thought out and a lot of design has gone into them and how they can antagonicze your players.

So, all in all this is a 320-page book packed with a well-designed world, some great options for characters and hundreds of ideas for adventures. One final thing that also needs to be praised is the fabulous artwork. Right from the front pages it is all top notch and goes straight in with an adventuring group being attacked by some construct as they flee with the hard won treasure. Some of my favorite pieces of artwork are the starts of each chapter, which are done in the format of a comic, with a few frames and text blocks.

Eberron scores high with both me and my group. A winner for D20 and RPG in general.

Reviewed By Martin Dye