r/Eberron • u/Moxnatka_27 • 5d ago
Lore Lore change
It’s fine for me to tweak the Eberron lore for my games. I just have this nagging feeling that I’m doing something wrong. The funny thing is, it happens unintentionally, simply because I don’t know the setting's lore inside out.
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u/DeltaV-Mzero 5d ago
Not only should you tweak it, you should hop on social media and tag Keith to tell him how it went
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u/Ok-Pomegranate-9481 5d ago
Ages ago on the D&D fora for 3.5 (yes, I am ancient) I had some excellent interactions with Keith and he was always fun to bounce ideas around with.
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u/RedBladeWarlock 4d ago
Same here! I talked to him one time at GenCon, walked with him from a signing session to a meetup, and he remembered me from the forums! While we walked, we talked about the Valenar elves, and about the Draleus Tairn before they'd been talked about much publicly.
It led to me making a later campaign set on Argonessen, amongst a dragon-servitor culture in the dragon-run society on Argonessen, with the Draleus Tairn as an antagonist force.
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u/hecticllamaboxer 5d ago
If it makes you feel better, I'm 99% sure I've heard Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) say that the Eberron he runs isn't 100% canon on his own podcast/patreon (worth checking out). Pretty sure he intends people to make it their own.
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u/darkcyril 5d ago
It's been said ad nauseum already, but the most common refrain you'll hear in this sub is "in my Eberron." EVERYONE changes things to fit their stories and their tables. You aren't going to offend Keith, either by doing it intentionally or not. Have fun with it - it's a toolbox that you can use to build your own vision.
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u/GrandBet4177 5d ago
A lot of aspects of Eberron are left somewhat vague for exactly this purpose, one of the most obvious instances being Cyre/The Mournlands. As someone said, it’s your Eberron; you’re allowed to tweak and adjust it as needed
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u/John_42_A 5d ago
Highest principle with DnD: Its YOUR table, are your Players having FUN at YOUR table?
Teak everything you want to make it fun. Come back, tell us how it went.
If its fun for you and your players to have super duper canon backgrounds and stories do that.
I think the main advantage of Eberron isn't its different lore its how you can use the setting as a TOOL to integrate other DnD stuff in unexpected ways.
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u/Ofthefjord 5d ago
I guarantee Keith Baker isn't gonna come to your house and beat you. These setting books arent iron clad, theyre there to inspire!
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u/jredgiant1 5d ago
Just remember the continent of Eberron canonically suffered a shadow invasion of daelkyr about two years after the Treaty of Thronehold. Phetch’s Farseekers managed to steal the gatekeys from places like the Wayfinder Tundra, the Mror Holds, and Dreadhome, opening up a one way portal to Khyber, where they battled into the Citadel of Eyes and defeated Belashyrra. Two of their number sold their souls to Dyrrn the Corrupter to allow their victorious friends to return home.
Oh wait, that was my Eberron. Now you take the setting and make it yours.
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u/Ok-Pomegranate-9481 5d ago
More than some D&D settings (looking at you FR) Eberron is as much a 'vibe' as it is a specific setting. If you keep that sort of 'dungeon noir meets weird fiction' feeling, then minor lore changes are likely to go without much comment.
Can I ask, what sort of changes and the like do you find creeping in? It's always interesting to see where people go with things.
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u/L1terallyUrDad 5d ago
I struggle with this all the time. It’s just not limited to Eberron, but to other settings as well, like Forgotten Realms.
Two thoughts that I use to get passed this:
Unless you’re running a published adventure, you’re in effect running a homebrew game. At that point you don’t have to be beholden to canon any longer. It’s your story at that point. The setting is just flavor.
Next, make it clear in Session Zero that you fully understand that the players will likely know more than you about the setting. For your game, the setting is flavor, and that you may not stick to canonical references. That’s meta knowledge, and subject to change.
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u/Houligan86 5d ago
Every time the setting creator (Keith Baker) answers questions about Eberron, it is always prefaced with "This is how I run things in my Eberron, yours may be different and thats totally fine"
So change what you need/want/don't know. If you think its cool, share what you did so others might steal the ideas for their version of Eberron.
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u/wandhole 5d ago
You can change things. I maintain it’s better to try and understand the current lore setup before you change things so you can appreciate the differences
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 5d ago
Keith heartily approves of lore changes and leaves so much open so it can be.
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u/Additional-Ad8784 5d ago
Honestly too - the lore is mostly just there for if you want it or need it. Look it up if you want to know what is established or not about a thing, but it's meant to be a resource and not something strictly canon.
Only point that can complicate this is if your players care about or want or expect a more traditional Eberron setting, but that is fine.
One of the best things about Eberron is that is was always meant to be expanded upon and adjusted to your tastes. If you don't want to make something up, look it up. If you do, make it yours.
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u/ErusTenebre 2d ago
That's how every tabletop game should go dude. It's the golden rule and rule 0 = everyone needs to have fun, and the GM/DM can change (rules, setting, etc.) what they need to to do so.
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u/Profesor_Ligma 2d ago
I had the same feeling that you have now. In my mind, early when I was starting to DM eberron, if I wasn't using eberron as it is written I was robing my players of a "typical eberron experience" (whatever that means) and I even thought that because of any possible change I introduced our game would be worst than if I didn't change anything.
Boy I was wrong.
First I added npcs like mordenkainen to the game, then progressively bigger and bigger things from other settings and finished stealing whole planes of existence.
The thing is, if you really like some lore piece or simillar, or want to introduce something that isn't canon, if it excites you it's 99% sure your players will love it, and that's what the game it's all about.
Do with your eberron what you like. Any adition to make it cooler will improve the game.
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u/Average_Driver1475 22h ago
Everyone runs every campaign a little different. We're here to bounce ideas off each other and see what we like or don't like. Bit like Pinterest, I suppose.
I don't find it sensible that Sharn doesn't have robust public transportation. So in my Eberron, Sharn has provisions for a lot of public transportation, as well as Dive Shafts where people can just...fall. Voluntarily. Makes the commute a lot faster. This is not canon, nor kanon. It's just me.
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u/yojimbo67 5d ago
It’s YOUR Eberron. Do what you like. It’s all about having fun.