Wizards have been putting a lot of work into Eberron and releasing a lot of new content; either for the Eberron world setting itself, or directly related to it. Likewise, they have not been publishing very much content for Toril, Faerûn or the Sword Coast.
Do you think that this focus on Eberron is indictive of Wizards moving away from the current default settings, towards Eberron being the default?
I'm curious what you all think
Thanks
Foxes
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
What do you mean they haven't published anything for the Sword Coast? The previous book was Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. A massive chunk of the book is dedicated to Baldur's Gate.
WotC hasn't put any more focus on Eberron than they have on any other product, it's the same standard of quality as Descent, Guildmaster's Guide or Ghosts of Saltmarsh. But that wouldn't suggest they're going to change the default setting to Avernus, Ravnica or Greyhawk
Forgotten Realms is the default setting basically because it is familiar and accessible. Eberron will never be the default setting because it essentially goes out of its way to turn the familiar on its head.
The reason they are putting so much work into Eberron is that they are releasing a setting book for it. i expect that after this season, they will not do anything for eberron outside of dmsguild.
No, it won't be the default setting. WotC has still put out a lot of Forgotten Realms content recently (Waterdeep in Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate in Avernus) plus the early books (SCAG, SKT, Tyranny of Dragons) covered most of what goes on in the Sword Coast.
The pace of book releases is MUCH slower than 3.5 was, which is why it feels different, but I think that is a good thing.
Eberron is only a setting because it was the winner of a contest Wizards had to launch a new setting. Out of hundreds of entries Eberron won. It's a good setting, but it's a niche within the niche. Forgotten Realms has been around a very long time, and has been very popular that entire time. Aside from the name brand value associated with certain elements within (Drizzt, Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate specifically), it fills the function of being a traditional fantasy kitchen sink setting. Eberron is just too weird. The suggestion isn't impossible, maybe in 6th edition or later, our collective nerd culture will have shifted more to the elements in Eberron, but I don't see that happening. The Tolkien vibes are too important to D&D I think.
And for what its worth, I think there was an active effort to make Eberron the primary setting back when it was new in 3.5. The hardback sourcebook was pretty impressive, I'd say better quality than the Forgotten Realms book. There was also the D&D Online MMO that came out which used Eberron, which was still new. That was pretty surprising.
Off topic, but it makes me wonder why Wizards resisted embracing Forgotten Realms for so long. I wonder if Greenwood had more influence over it than they were comfortable with, because Forgotten Realms pretty much became the face of D&D after the first Baldur's Gate.
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Hi, everyone
Wizards have been putting a lot of work into Eberron and releasing a lot of new content; either for the Eberron world setting itself, or directly related to it. Likewise, they have not been publishing very much content for Toril, Faerûn or the Sword Coast.
Do you think that this focus on Eberron is indictive of Wizards moving away from the current default settings, towards Eberron being the default?
I'm curious what you all think
Thanks
Foxes
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
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What do you mean they haven't published anything for the Sword Coast? The previous book was Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. A massive chunk of the book is dedicated to Baldur's Gate.
WotC hasn't put any more focus on Eberron than they have on any other product, it's the same standard of quality as Descent, Guildmaster's Guide or Ghosts of Saltmarsh. But that wouldn't suggest they're going to change the default setting to Avernus, Ravnica or Greyhawk
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Forgotten Realms is the default setting basically because it is familiar and accessible. Eberron will never be the default setting because it essentially goes out of its way to turn the familiar on its head.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
The reason they are putting so much work into Eberron is that they are releasing a setting book for it. i expect that after this season, they will not do anything for eberron outside of dmsguild.
No, it won't be the default setting. WotC has still put out a lot of Forgotten Realms content recently (Waterdeep in Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate in Avernus) plus the early books (SCAG, SKT, Tyranny of Dragons) covered most of what goes on in the Sword Coast.
The pace of book releases is MUCH slower than 3.5 was, which is why it feels different, but I think that is a good thing.
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No chance in hell.
Eberron is only a setting because it was the winner of a contest Wizards had to launch a new setting. Out of hundreds of entries Eberron won. It's a good setting, but it's a niche within the niche. Forgotten Realms has been around a very long time, and has been very popular that entire time. Aside from the name brand value associated with certain elements within (Drizzt, Sword Coast, Baldur's Gate specifically), it fills the function of being a traditional fantasy kitchen sink setting. Eberron is just too weird. The suggestion isn't impossible, maybe in 6th edition or later, our collective nerd culture will have shifted more to the elements in Eberron, but I don't see that happening. The Tolkien vibes are too important to D&D I think.
And for what its worth, I think there was an active effort to make Eberron the primary setting back when it was new in 3.5. The hardback sourcebook was pretty impressive, I'd say better quality than the Forgotten Realms book. There was also the D&D Online MMO that came out which used Eberron, which was still new. That was pretty surprising.
Off topic, but it makes me wonder why Wizards resisted embracing Forgotten Realms for so long. I wonder if Greenwood had more influence over it than they were comfortable with, because Forgotten Realms pretty much became the face of D&D after the first Baldur's Gate.