Ten Things to Know About Eberron

What is Eberron? Here are the key things to know:

1. The Last War Has Ended...Sort Of. A continent-spanning civil war, dubbed the Last War, engulfed the continent of Khorvaire more than a century ago, shattering the Five Nations that made up the Kingdom of Galifar. The war ground to a halt just a few years ago with the apocalyptic cataclysm known as the Day of Mourning that transferred the once vibrant nation of Cyre into a haunted wasteland known as the Mournland. The Treaty of Thronehold was signed a short time later and with this agreement came the establishment of twelve recog­nized nations and a tenuous peace. The conflicts, the anger, and the pain of the long war remain, however, and the new nations seek every advantage as they continue to wage a quietly wage a cold war while they pre­pare for the next war to break out on the continent.
2. Lands of lntrigue. The war is over, and the nations of Khorvaire now try to build a new age of peace and prosperity. Ancient threats linger, however, and the world needs heroes to take up the cause. Nations compete on many levels-over economic dominance, political influence, territory, magical power, and more-each looking to maintain or improve its status by any means short of all-out war. National identities are often stronger bonds than racial ties in Khorvaire. Dragonmarked houses, churches both pure and corrupt, crime lords, monster gangs, psionic spies, arcane universities, secret societies, sinister masterminds, dragons, and a multitude of organizations and factions join the struggle for position and power in the aftermath of the Last War.
3. A World Industrialized With Magic. The world of Eberron technologically advanced through the mastery of magic rather than through the advancement of science. The widespread use of magic pervades life in the cities and towns. Airships and rail transport make rapid travel across the continent possible. A working class of minor mages, called magewrights, uses spells to provide energy and other necessities. Advances in magic item creation have led to everything from self-propelled farming implements to sentient, free-willed beings created in artificers' forges. With the aid of rare crystals called dragonshards, dragonmarks can be made more powerful, el­ementals can be controlled and harnessed through elemental binding, and magic items can be crafted and shaped.
4. Dragonmarked Dynasties: The great dragonmarked families are the barons of industry and commerce throughout Khorvaire and beyond. Their influence transcends political boundaries, and they remained mostly neutral during the Last War. Not technically citizens of any nation, the matriarchs and patriarchs of each house live in splendor within their enclaves and emporiums located throughout Khorvaire. These dynastic houses of commerce derive their power from dragonmarks – hereditary arcane sigils that manifest on certain individuals within the family, granting them limited but useful magical abilities associated with the trade guilds each family controls.
5. A Continent of Adventure. From the jungles of Q'Barra to the blasted hills and valleys of the Demon Wastes, from the skyscrapers of Sharn to the dino­saur-filled Talenta Plains, Eberron is a world of ad­venture. Adventures can draw heroes from one exotic location to another across the continent of Khorvaire. The quest for the Mirror of the Seventh Moon might take the heroes from a hidden mountain shrine in Darguun to a ruined castle in the Shadow Marches and finally to a dungeon deep below the Library of Korranberg. Through the use of magical transportation, heroes can reach a wide range of environments over the course of an adventure, and thus deal with a diverse assortment of monsters and other challenges.
6. A World of Religious Diversity and Faith. Unlike other worlds, the gods of Eberron do not actively involve themselves in the world. The gods are distant – if they exist at all. And yet the faithful gain their spells from their own faith, not from divine intervention. The faiths that can be found throughout Eberron are quite diverse as well. The predominate faith of Khorvaire are the pantheon-venerating Vassals of the Sovereign Host and Dark Six. The Purified monotheists who venerate the Silver Flame rule the nation of Thrane as a theocracy. The Seekers of the Blood of Vol have a strong following in the nation of Karrnath, although their search for the Divinity Within is much maligned and often misunderstood by outsiders to the faith. The western Eldeen Reaches have given birth to a host of druid sects over the millennia, each with their own practices, dogmas, and ways of being in the world. Foreign faiths have begun to be more common on Khorvaire, such as the far eastern Path of Light and the ancestor worship of the Undying Court.
7. A Cosmologically Infused World. Eberron is not an island of existence, devoid of contact with the broader cosmology. Rather the thirteen planes of the wider cosmology regularly influence the world of Eberron. Sometimes this influence waxes and wains with the orbits of the thirteen Moons of Eberron, while the influence of a given plane is quite permanent in some discrete locations throughout the world. These permanent planar-infused regions are called manifest zones and they are 'thin spots' in the fabric of the cosmos where the influence of a specific plane can be felt discretely. Occasionally, the monstrous inhabitants of these foreign realms will invade Eberron, such as was seen in the Daelkyr War millenia ago. Regardless, the influence and impact of the broader cosmology is a felt reality by the inhabitants of Eberron.
8. New Races. In addition to the common player charac­ter races found in the Player's Handbook, players can choose to play orc or goblinoid characters in Eberron. Or they can choose one of four new races: Changling, Kalashtar, Shifter, and Warforged. Changelings have minor shapechanging abilities similar to those of doppelgangers. Kalashtar are planar entities merged with human hosts, giving them telepathic abilities. Shifters developed from the mixing of hu­mans and lycanthropes, a union that grants them lim­ited bestial abilities and feral instincts. The warforged are a constructed race created during the Last War, seeking to find its place in a post-war world.
9. A World of Pulp Action and Dark Adventure: Eberron combines traditional medieval D&D fantasy with a strong emphasis on swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, noir-like mystery, with a dash of steampunk aesthetic, drawing inspiration from early 20th century pulp fiction, pirate stories, and action-packed adventure films, often featuring daring heroes, nefarious villains, and high-stakes situations with a focus on gadgets, technology, and magical intrigue intertwined with real-world industrial settings.
10. D&D with a Twist. Every race, monster, spell, and magic item in the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual has a place somewhere in Eberron, but it might not be the place you expect. Eberron has a unique spot in the D&D multiverse, and many familiar elements of the game play different roles in the world. In particular, mortal creatures are products of culture and circumstances, rather than the direct influence of the gods. As a result, you can't assume that a gold dragon is good or a beholder is evil; only in the case of celestials, fiends, and certain other creatures whose identity and world­ view are shaped by magic (such as the curse of lycan­thropy) is alignment a given.