Eberron 101

The world of Eberron is ravaged by centuries of war that have only recently ended. Enemy nations that fought each other to a standstill over countless, bloody battlefields now turn to subtler methods of conflict. The assassin's dagger replaces the warrior's sword, and the conspirator's whisper speaks more loudly than the general's bellow.

While nations scheme and merchants bicker, priceless secrets from the past lie buried and lost in the devastation, waiting to be tracked down by intrepid scholars and rediscovered by audacious adventurers.

Magic pervades the world of Eberron. It creates wonders of engineering and architecture that rival the boldest dreamscapes. Magic transforms life into bizarre shapes and creates artifacts in intricate patterns for purposes that are lost in time.

It also leaves its mark -- the coveted Dragonmark -- on members of a gifted aristocracy. Some use their gifts to rule wisely and well, but too many rule with ruthless greed, seeking only to expand their own dominance.

The heroes of Eberron come in every size and shape. They are set apart by boldness and a drive to succeed. Power in Eberron comes in many forms beyond swords and spells. Money and influence are as mighty as armies. In a world teetering on an upturned blade separating war and peace, anyone can become great who possesses the strength and courage to walk that knife's edge.

War-torn Nations
The continent of Khorvaire, within which most of Eberron's adventures take place, has just seen the end of nearly a century of warfare. The nations which once formed a kingdom that spanned the continent were embroiled in a bitter struggle for succession in which there was, in the end, no victor. Now these nations are independent sovereign territories who have held an uneasy peace with each other since the Last War ended two years ago. New nations have sprung up in the course of the Last War, and others have lost territory or been obliterated entirely, so tensions still run high, and nobody truly knows if peace wll last.

New Races
Four new races are featured in the Eberron Campaign Setting, each balanced to have no level adjustment, so they can be taken by first level characters. Changelings are the descendents of humans and doppelgangers, and have the ability to alter their appearance at will, as though using a Disguise Self spell. Shifters are descended from humans and lycanthropes, and are able to manifest certain bestial traits in a form similar to a barbarian's Rage. These traits may be enhanced via a selection of feats, or by taking the Weretouched Master Prestige Class. Kalashtar are naturally psionic beings who are adept at the use of psionic powers. Warforged are living constructs, built by magical Creation Forges to do battle in the Last War. Now that the war is over, the Creation Forges have been decommissioned and the Warforged given the status of citizens. They must find their place in a world that has turned its back on the purpose they were built for.

New faces for old races
All the standard D&D races are present in Eberron, but few of them are exactly as you'd expect. The gnomes of Zilargo are scribes and scholars, but they are also expert shipwrights and have a culture in which intrigue, espionage and blackmail are elevated to art forms. Elves are divided into two nations - the afterlife-obssessed Aereni, who practice a very literal form of ancestor-veneration, and the Valenar, whose breakaway culture is aggressively martial. Half-Elves outnumber Elves on the mainland, and are a true-breeding race with their own well-respected culture. Halflings live in most civilised lands, but trace their origins to the Talenta Plains, where the majority of the Halfling race still live as barbarian tribes, riding and herding the dinosaurs of the plains. Orcs are a spiritual people whose ancestors were the first and most powerful practitioners of Druidic magic, whilst goblinoids once ruled the continent in an empire that exceeded the more recent human empire in almost every respect. Reduced to scattered remnants in the aftermath of the extraplanar invasion which shattered their empire, some of them still keep their once-proud culture alive and dream of returning to power.

Magic as industry
In most settings, magic is treated as strange and unknown, given a mystique quite at odds with the high availability of both magic and spellcasters that the standard D&D rules presume. Eberron starts from the premise that magic is available and widely-studied, and builds its societies on that basis. Magic is prevalent in the everyday lives of practically everyone in the setting, from everbright lanterns (lamps with continual flame cast upon them) lighting the streets, to elemental-powered carriages and airships for long-distance travel. Low-level magic is commonplace and ordinary, but high-level magic is still rare and mysterious.

Dragonmarked Houses
The economy of Khorvaire is based upon the influences of thirteen distinct Great Houses, each overseeing a different aspect of trade and commerce. These Dragonmarked Houses are so-called because of the unique hereditary markings borne by the members of each one's controlling family. Known as Dragonmarks, these tattoo-like symbols provide each family with unique abilities upon which their trade is based. For instance, the half-elves of House Lyrandar, who control much of the shipping in the seas around Khorvaire, and more recently the airships that ply the continent's skies, bear the Mark of Storm, which grants its bearers powers over wind and weather.