Eberron:Introduction

Eberron is an alternate campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons that has existed since 2002. Since it is using the DnD rules, there is a lot of ready-made content that our glorious DM can adapt for our horrific purposes. The Wayfinders Guide to Eberron (WGtE) is the official DnD 5E update. The mechanics remain in playtest status, but the books from previous editions of DnD have a lot of additional lore.

Introduction to Eberron

Eberron is a world where magic is a science. With enough theory and the right materials, anyone can produce an effect with magic. Following this through to its logical conclusion: why does anyone need to invent a gun if a wooden stick and a few words can pop off a Fireball?

Magic is an integral part of everything in Eberron: the economy is built around the trading of magical services. Instead of telephones, the Speakers Guild sends messages. If you need to travel, your options are a magebred horse, the Lightning Rail, or an airship powered by bound elementals.

The Dragonmarked Houses play a huge role in this: family lines who carry magical Dragonmarks have formed cartels and monopolized parts of the magical economy. At the same time, these people are wrapped up in the Draconic Prophecies and games played between the Dragons and several "big bads" than span millennia. Giving a coin to a random beggar in the street could make you an unwitting pawn in a six-thousand-year-long chess game.

Eberron campaigns begin two years after the Last War. One hundred years of a bitter civil war ended in terror as the nation of Cyre was inexplicably consumed by a magical explosion on the Day of Mourning. No explanation has been found, and it remains a toxic wasteland. If any nation unlocks the mystery of the Mourning, the war would begin anew.

Everything in the DnD 5E source books has a place in Eberron. Goblins, orcs, and other traditionally "evil" races have civilizations. Morality is shades of grey instead of black-and-white; one hundred years of atrocities have made sure of that. A lot of your favorite races are wildly different from your bog-standard Tolkien fantasy setting. Review the Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron before committing to anything!

Character Creation

Compared to Starfinder, creating & leveling up a character is significantly easier.

If you are using DnD Beyond, get the link from the Eberron discord channel to join the campaign, then create a character. On the settings screen, you should:

• Sources
  • Enable 'Homebrew Content'
  • Enable 'Playtest Content' (anything in playtest should be marked 'Unearthed Arcana' or 'UA' & is subject to DM approval)
  • Disable 'Magic: The Gathering Content'
• Stat Allocation should be (random, point buy, std allocation)? DM pls save us

Otherwise, instructions can be found in the DnD 5E Player's Handbook.

Sourcebooks & Tools

Warning: This section has not been approved by the DM. Please wait for DM approval before utilizing these sourcebooks.

These are the books you can draw from. At minimum, you should read the Wayfinders Guide to Eberron (WGtE). If you do not have experience with DnD 5E, read the player's handbook as well. The other sources are not critical, but may have some cool options for you!

Sourcebooks

• Player's Handbook (Trove, DnD Beyond)
• Wayfinder's guide to Eberron (Trove, DnD Beyond)
• The Artificer Class was created for Eberron & 5E has a playtest going for it (WoTC Unearthed Arcana, DnD Beyond)
• Xanathar's Guide to Everything has some additional subclass options (Trove, DnD Beyond)

Tools

• DnD Beyond has the best 5E character sheet
  • See the Discord #eberron channel for the URL to join & get the DLCs shared for your character
  • You still have to copy stuff to Roll20 though
• Nothing else (Roll20, ForgedAnvil) has the WGtE content because it is still in playtest :-(

Further Reading

• Manifest Zone is a podcast exploring the Eberron setting
• Eberron Books from DnD 3E provide more lore than WGtE
• DND Eberron OneNote is an organized reference guide