Eberron Setting Document
I) What you Need To Know.
II) Khorvaire, the Five Nations, and the Last War
III) Races of Eberron
IV) Heroic Characteristics
V) Power Groups
VI) Appendix I: The Artificer
VII) Appendix II: PrCs of Eberron
VIII) Appendix III: House Rules, redux
I – What you need to know
This section is designed such that, if you don’t read anything else in this document, you at least get the understanding of what Eberron is about. It’s a comprehensive summary of the rest of this document, and you are responsible for knowing the information. I will assume, come showtime, that if you know anything at all about Eberron, it will be the information that’s located in this section.
1) Tone and Attitude. The tone of the Eberron setting is different than the tone of other campaign settings. Eberron is a blend of pulp, film noir, and medieval fantasy, and adventures in Eberron revolve around the elements of these genres. In a very real way, Eberron is far more about style than about anything else – an attitude that’s perfect for pulp gaming! One thing that’s important to this is that alignments are no longer hard and fast rules in Eberron; they’re more general guidelines. PCs can expect to be opposed by good aligned characters as well as evil aligned characters, and monsters can be of any alignment across the board.
2) Magic is Everywhere. Eberron is a world that has evolved through advances in magic, not technology. Magic has grown to be pervasive throughout the society of Eberron, and a class of working-class spellcasters known as magewrights keep the cities and towns of Eberron running in pace. Magic transports people in the form of the lightning rail or airships. And a small percentage of the Dragonborn races are infused with magic naturally, propping up an industry of spells and spellcasting that provide basic necessities such as communication and healthcare to the world of Eberron.
3) Low Power. Just because magic is everywhere doesn’t mean that magic is high powered. Eberron in a way is very low fantasy – while there are cities with soaring towers that stretch off into the sky, and floating citadels of ancient mysteries, the people living in Eberron hold more societal power than personal might. A king might be a 5th level Noble – he’ll be easy to defeat in combat, but such an event would bring catastrophic disaster upon the assassin. Which is a roundabout way of saying: if you want to make the most powerful character to cross Eberron’s threshold, congratulations you’ve succeed. But you’ve totally missed the point.
4) Adventure. Eberron is a world of adventure – the continent of Khorvaire has a vast history that spreads back thousands of years. Adventuring in Eberron is a way of life, and most groups find themselves attached to a number of benefactors who agree to support the group and provide job leads and supplies for a cut of the profits. Whether it be recovering artifacts for the museums of Morgrave University or furthering the schemes of the Dragonmarked Houses, adventures in Eberron will take characters from the jungles of forgotten Xen’drik to the blasted landscapes of the Demon Wastes.
5) Shadows of the Last War. The Last War – so named because it was believed to be the conflict to end all conflicts – ended two years ago with the Treaty of Thronehold, at least on a military scale. The nations of Khorvaire now struggle for economic and social supremacy as nobles scheme for control of the land and power they desire, or to free the people of Khorvaire from the tyranny of other’s dictations. What exists is less a bridling peace than it is a tenuous truce – too war weary for open conflict, but not weary enough to lay down arms and accept their former enemies as welcome neighbors.
6) The World. The world of Eberron is divided into five continents – Khorvaire, where the main action of the game takes place; Aerenal, the island-nation of the elves; Xen’drik, a forgotten jungle continent to the south of Khorvaire; Sarlonna, a land ruled by the mysterious quori; and Argonessen, the land of the mighty dragons. Eberron is also the name of one of the three Great Dragons responsible for the creation of the world: Syberis, the Dragon Above, is the name of the asteroid ring that surrounds the planet; Khyber, the Dragon Below is the name of the depths of the world of Eberron where dark creatures are said to be imprisoned. Khorvaire is divided into eleven countries, but once it was a single Kingdom of Galifar. The Kingdom was divided into the Five Nations of Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Karrnath and Thrane, setting off the 102 year old conflict that was the Last War. Just prior to the ending of the war, the nation of Cyre was destroyed in a magical holocaust that turned it into a desert wasteland.
7) Religion and the Planes. Unlike standard D&D worlds, Eberron’s afterlife is all spent in the same place – Dollurh, a gray wasteland of the dead. People do not worship individual gods, but instead are members of churches which in turn worship entire pantheons.
8) Dragonmarks. Across the dragonmarked races (humans, elves, dwarves, Halflings, and orcs), a special few born in the right bloodlines bear dragonmarks, birthmarks of great power that allow the bearer access to magical effects. The dragonmarked bloodlines have gathered into controlled family units called Houses, and these Houses have in turn spurred industrious guilds which have more or less monopolized a number of industries across Khorvaire. No one is sure why the dragonmarks have appeared, though it is well known that only since settling in the dragonshard rich continent of Khorvaire have dragonmarks appeared.
9) Dragonshards. Dragonshards are powerful, naturally-occurring minerals which allow the races of Khorvaire access to powerful magical effects. Siberys shards are used to enhance magical power; Eberron shards amplify and work with the power of the dragonmarks; and Khyber shards allow spellcasters to bind elementals and outsiders to harness their powers.
10) New Races. Eberron offers a number of new races for player characters to enjoy. Changelings are humanoids long descended from doppelgangers, capable of mimicking others. Kalashtar are humans from the mysterious lands of Sarlonna, beings who share a dual soul with one of the Quori. Shifters are the descendants of lycanthropes, now nearly extinct across Khorvaire thanks to the predations of the Church of the Silver Flame. And finally Warforged are a race of constructs created as cheap labor and expendable soldiers during the Last War.
II – Khorvaire, the Five Nations, and the Last War
This section is meant to teach you the general geography of the main continent of Eberron, where you will have the bulk of your adventures.
Thousands of years ago, Khorvaire was home to a vast goblinoid empire which stretched throughout the continent. By the time the first human settlers arrived from Argonessen 3,000 years ago, however, the goblin empire had been defeated. Its ruins still litter the continent, filled with ancient traps and treasures for the claiming.
The humans settled in what became known as the Five Nations. Dragonmarks began to appear and the dragonmarked developed into mercantile houses as time went on. Humans interacted with the races they encountered – trading and forming partnerships with the dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, and conflicting with and driving off goblinoids and other monsters. In time, humans and their allied races controlled the central region of the continent. The Kingdom of Galifar arose.
For almost nine hundred years, the Kingdom of Galifar peacefully stood, expanding the magical knowledge of the world. Human lands expanded. Wondrous cities were built. The kingdom was legendary, even during its own peak. The kingdom covered from sea to sea – nominally, at least. Practically, some regions were left to their own devices, sending only taxes to maintain their independence. The monstrous races that migrated to the farther extremes of the continent formed a wild frontier for the kingdom.
But it was not to last. In 894 Y.K. (Year of the Kingdom), King Jarot, the last king of Galifar, died. With his death, the kingdom was thrown into civil war, as his five heirs refused to abide by ages-long tradition. Instead of ceding the throne to the eldest, the five siblings each claimed ascendancy to the throne, pitting the world into a hundred years of conflict. The conflict became known as the Last War thanks to the headlines of the Korranberg Chronicles. When it ended, the makeup of the continent was changed forever. The recognized nations who signed the Treaty of Thronehold were Aundair, Breland, Darguun, the Eldeen Reaches, Karrnath, the Lhazaar Principalities, the Mror Holds, Q’barra, the Talenta Plains, Thrane, Valenar, and Zilargo. Regions formed during the war but not yet recognized as sovereign include Droaam, the Shadow Marches, the Demon Wastes, and the Mournland. Though the original Five Nations have been reduced to four, the common usage remains: “By the Five Nations” continues to be the pledge (or curse) of choice.
Aundair: A scholarly nation to the north of Khorvaire, Aundair is the breadbasket of much of the Five Nations area. Its cities are centers of culture and erudition, while the rest of its fertile land is dedicated to farming and other rural activities. The University of Wynarn, the first institution of higher learning ever established in the Five Nations, sits in the capital city of Fairhaven. Similarly, the Arcanix, overlooking Lake Galifar, is a floating citadel of magical learning and experimentation.
Breland: The most powerful of the remaining Five Nations, Breland is an industrial juggernaut, a land of freedom and opportunity, where a drive to succeed can overcome societal and economic boundaries. Breland’s cities are among the largest in all of Khorvaire, with its greatest metropolis – Sharn, the City of Towers – being a wonder of magical engineering itself.
Darguun: Unified under the hobgoblin leader Lesh Haruuc Shara’kor, Darguun is the first of the monstrous nations to be recognized by the Five Nations. Darguun is a volatile place, where three warring goblinoid tribes hold ground depending on where one is geographically located. The leaders of all of the tribes currently pledge loyalty, at least nominally, to Haruuc, but the hobgoblin is coming to the end of his years, and no one is certain what will happen after his death.
The Demon Wastes: A land of barbarians, the Demon Wastes are the last vestiges of an empire ruled by Demons when the world was still young. Human and orc tribes run amidst the ruins of these ancient structures, no longer recognizable for the cities they once were. Within the Demon Wastes, rakshasa scheme and plot to bring forth the ancient demons trapped within Khyber and once more cover Eberron in a new Age of Demons.
Droaam: A monstrous region to the west of Breland, Droaam was once Brelish land, but had to be abandoned to the creatures that lived there when the Hag Sisters of Sora Kell rose to power. Now, the hags have formed a crude system of governance across the land, and the monstrous races have begun to ship mercenaries across the Five Nations to help supplement their armies. While this has formed a relatively stable economy, Droaam remains a land where the rule of the strong is the rule of the day.
The Eldeen Reaches: The Eldeen Reaches, until recently a part of Aundair, contain some of the most fertile lands across all of Khorvaire. The ancient wisdom of the druids of the Eldeen Reaches allows the nation’s farmers to prosper and produce vast amounts of foodstuffs that they use to support their economy.
Karrnath: The most militarily inclined of the Five Nations, Karrnath has a strong, proud military heritage. It was also, ironically, one of the first nations to push for peace during the Last War, thanks to the politicking of King Kaius ir’Wynarn III. Many consider Karrnathi sensibilities to be rather odd, especially considering that Karrnathi mages would regularly bolster the regular ranks of the nation’s military with shambling hordes of specially crafted undead. The premier military training facility across all of Khorvaire, the Military Academy of Rekkenmark, stands proudly in Karrnath.
Lhazaar Principalities: A nation of pirates and sea merchants, the Lhazaar Principalities have stood for almost as long as Galifar has been around. During the heyday of the Kingdom, the Principalities were brought under Galifar’s nominal control, paying a small sum to maintain as much independence as possible while still bowing to Galifar as ultimate liege. After the Last War erupted, however, the Lhazar Principalities have returned to their seafaring, mercantile ways, fighting to control the seaways of Khorvaire.
The Mournland: The Mournland is what remains of Cyre after an unexplained magical holocaust devastated the nation. Nothing survived the holocaust – at least, survived the same – and now only Cyre expatriates are all that remain of the once great nation at the heart of Khorvaire. Nowadays, the Mournland is surrounded by a wall of thick magical mist, a remainder of the magical pollution that ripped through the area. Beyond the mist is a deadland of junk and ruin. Within this junkyard, a mysterious warforged known as the Lord of Blades gathers minions to form a nation entirely dedicated to warforged supremacy.
The Mror Holds: The Mror Holds are the homes of the great dwarven clans on Khorvaire. For thousands of years, the barbaric dwarves fought the savage orcs for control of the mountain, until they were approached by Galifar forces. Unable to fight a war on two fronts, the dwarves agreed to become Karrnathi subjects, and began to build a civilization. This civilization allowed them to prosper against the orcs and take over the Mror Holds. When the Last War broke out, the dwarf lords declared their independence from Karrnath, and have managed to leverage their economic might against that of the Five Nations to gain recognition as an independent nation.