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Here are some things to keep in mind about the world
1) The majority of the world has been wrapped up in a war for the past 100 years. The game starts less then two years after the war has “ended”. The war has touched every part of the content of Khorvaire. The boarders between countries are devastated and a whole country is now a barren waste called the Mournland.
2) Magic is everywhere! Many of our technological conveniences have a magical equivalent in Eberron. There are brooms that sweep the floor for you, fans with a small bit of elemental air in them to cool off a whole room, cook pots with elemental fire that will maintain a steady temperature for a long time. Flying ships, Constructs that think and feel, Lighting Trains, Magical telegraphs….you get the picture.
3) “Action points separate player characters from the masses. Aside from player characters, only the greatest villains and most important NPCs possess action points. Looking to a novel or movie, fortune often seems to favor the main characters, and this is the purpose of action points: to allow the party to shine even when facing opponents of equivalent power.”
4) “Player characters are also distinguished by their PC classes. Most nobles are aristocrats, not fighters and wizards. The typical soldier uses warrior levels, and a common priest is an expert or adept, not a cleric. The PC classes are more versatile and powerful than NPC classes: a wizard is far superior to a magewright, and a cleric outstrips an adept both in battle and in the ability to use divine magic. As a result, even a low-level character with a PC class is a remarkable individual. This does not mean that the characters are the only fighters and wizards in the world.”
5) The tag line is that, “Everything in D&D has a place in Eberron.” That is all fine and dandy for a tag line. I don’t have the money to buy all the books, or the time to read them all. You may use things from books I don’t have as long as they are WOC published and either generic D&D (Grayhawk) or Eberron. To do so I need you to provide me with a photocopy of the portion that pertains to your character and bring the book to each game session. If you want to buy copies of any books for the group, feel free!
6) Even though divine magic exists, gods in Eberron (if they truly exist) are very hands off. “While many of the deities are portrayed with anthropomorphic icons, they do not walk the mortal world or even the known planes. If they exist at all, deities inhabit a higher plane of existence -- a realm that cannot be reached with planar travel.” You can deny the existence of the gods and there will be no blue bolt from the heavens. Skeptics and philosophers abound with theories about how and why divine magic works and does it even come from gods or from the magic inherent in the planes. Just because you don’t believe, does not protect you from divine magic. Nonbelievers can be healed or harmed just as easily as a believer can, if you can find a willing cleric. Most temples are staffed by adapts or experts. Clerics take on the role of adventure/wandering teacher/warrior priest and do not deal with the administration of the machine that is the church.
7) “Skilled spellcasters in Eberron are uncommon, and a temple with a spellcaster capable of performing serious healing magic isn't likely to hire that person out to anyone with enough gold. While in a typical D&D campaign you can trust the church of Pelor or Ilmater to provide healing (for a fee or donation) to anyone in need, in Eberron even benign churches such as the Silver Flame or the Sovereign Host aren't willing to expend their precious divine spells on nonbelievers. Not even adventurers are exempt from this; if a person can't prove that she is a believer, she is not going to get any valuable magic cast on her behalf. Temples fortunate enough to have spellcasting priests (whether advanced adepts or crusading clerics), normally expect payment from adventurers in services rather than money (while any merchant or noble can cough up gold or simple favors, adventurers are exceptional people capable of exceptional deeds, and the churches want to take advantage of these extraordinary talents).”
8) Demographics- Most nations are hereditary monarchies with elements of feudalism. The farmers of many nations are serfs but some, many of whom fought in The Last War, were given land or made manor lords for their service. The Dragonmarked houses are the merchant elite and like the churches are not controlled by any nation yet exists in them all. Urban dwellers are almost always freemen but indentured servants exist in many wealthy households. 1 in ten is poor living on handouts with no personal wealth, 6 in 10 are serfs or unskilled labor with no more then 40-50 silver at any time, 3 of ten are wealthy merchants or low level adventures with 100’s of gold on hand. Less then 1% are the elite with 1000’s of gold on hand and worth much more.
9) “One of the major changes in the Eberron Campaign Setting is that a cleric's (a Paladin still must be LG) alignment does not have to match that of his deity. A lawful evil cleric can worship a chaotic good god, and he will still receive spells and granted powers. The main question is what this divergent alignment means. It may be that the priest is betraying the ideals of his church. It is equally possible that the priest fervently believes in the principles of his religion but approaches them in an unusual manner. For example, an inquisitor of the Silver Flame may be lawful evil. He is willing to torture and kill in the interest of what he views as "the greater good," and he truly believes that he is carrying out the wishes of the Flame when he does so. Good-aligned members of the church may find his methods abhorrent, but the question is whether his results serve the goals of the church. In the minds of the people, questions of good and evil are far broader than "what can be detected by detect evil?" When the Silver Flame began its crusade against lycanthropy, the soldiers knew that there were individual lycanthropes that were not evil. But lycanthropy itself -- a curse that could corrupt the body and soul of anyone it touched -- was seen as evil, and the sacrifice of innocents was necessary to purge the greater darkness.”
10) An evil act is not always seen as evil, like in the real world things are put into perspective. What the Silver Flame did at its base was evil. It was seen by most as a good act because the end justified the means. In Eberron, alignment is not black and white. It's important to remember alignment is "a tool... not a straitjacket" behavior can vary from day to day. Alignment provides insight into how you see the world. Are you a true hero, a cynic who's just trying to get through the day, or a power-hungry manipulator with pawns instead of friends? If you’re going to play an evil character, play it smart. Your alignment (good or evil) will not give you the right to kill whoever you wish whenever you wish.
11) NPCs are a lower level and there are less NPCs with PC class levels. This adds up to the fact that the highest level cleric around may be in your party. Death is a very real thing in Eberron. You can’t just pop down to the local temple and hand the high priest a few thousand gold and poof back from the dead. I am going to say that I hate killing characters. It is for a purely selfish reason, it can kill a storyline. A few house rules should help you stave off the specter of death and maybe keep a few of my storylines intact for a while. If at anytime you take enough damage to go past -9 you may spend an action point and you will only go to -9. You will need to spend a second action point to stabilize. If you spend an action point to keep from dying you will not gain action points, for your next level. You have emptied your karma bank. If you have a prestige class or feet that grants you action points beyond what your level grants you will still gain that action point(s).
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