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December Q&A Mailbag (Patreon)

Published:
2025-12-02 23:40:09
Edited:
2025-12-03 02:44:48
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hello Everyone!

I'm juggling a lot of different things at the moment, some of which I can discuss and some of which I can't. My company Twogether Studios just launched a new dice game. Wheels are turning with our Daggerheart project, and I should hopefully be able to talk about that in January. I've been traveling a lot for work and family, and that makes it hard to write. The upshot of this is that I am still working on House Sivis; hopefully, you'll see the next piece posted tomorrow. When I'm done with House Sivis I'll move on to House Kundarak. But realistically—with the holidays and other things going on—Kundarak will also roll over into January. The flip side is that I'm working on a bunch of things that I'm going to share with you all in the future, and I'm excited to talk about that later in the month.

In the meantime, the November Q&A recording should be posted later this week, and I have two live streams planned for this month.

Wednesday, December 10th at 6 PM Pacific—Deep Dive: Forge of the Artificer.

Saturday, December 27th at 10 AM Pacific: Mailbag Miscellany. As usual, this will be where I'll answer questions on any topic from you. And with that in mind...

POST QUESTIONS HERE. You can ask questions about anything: Eberron, my other games, game design in general, what I'm reading at the moment, or anything else. If I can answer a question in a few minutes, I might answer it here. Otherwise, I’ll answer the most interesting questions when I do the Mailbag Miscellany Q&A. As a general rule, I will only answer a maximum of one question per patron per month, so if you ask a lot of questions I'll only answer one of them, but you can always pose unanswered questions again next month!

Thanks for your support! And feel free to post questions related to Forge of the Artificer here as well—I'll work those into the Deep Dive!

Files

Comments

Micaerys

You got it, Keith! And don't worry, a good finder must have patience so House Tharashk can wait until January XD And my question... I was reading a while ago in an article about the Dreadhold about how a kinda weak grandson of Galifar I gave the place to House Kundarak. Now, the only grandson of Galifar I we know for sure is Galifar the Dark, which was an efficient king for what I remember... But a different magazine article mentions YET ANOTHER GALIFAR, Galifar III, whose only known merit was to complete the Sentinel Marshal project that the first Galifar started. This is one of those things that don't matter that much because they happened a millennium ago, but would you say this Galifar III is that weak grandson who dealt with the Kundaraks? Perhaps a younger brother of Galifar the Dark who honored him by taking the same regnal name as his successor?

小绵羊海兔

After reading the previous Ghallanda article, as a Chinese person, I'm curious if Eberron features any East Asian-style cuisines—like Japanese sushi, Chinese mapo tofu, or Vietnamese pho. If so, how are these dishes prepared?

Matthew Kaczmarek

Hi! Thanks for all you do, hope you have a good holiday and rest. Out of curiosity, I was wondering how you view Psionics as a type of magic? Divine and Arcane magic all have a clear presence in DnD and Eberron and how they function and while Primordial / Nature magic has a very lovely written up article on this website (thanks again), I'd love to know how you would explain Psionics in relation to Sarlona being a "Wide Psionic" society as well as how it functions in comparison to Psionic Spellcasters (like the Psion) vs monsters or subclasses with innate Psionic abilities that dont usually function under spellcasting rules.

Harvey Clarke

Hey Keith! Enjoy the holidays—these articles on the houses have been a blast to read, thank you for exploring them <3 Question: you've mentioned previously elementals on airships needing docking towers as a means of healing levels of elemental exhaustion. Do the stations of the lightning rail/docks of elemental galleons provide a similar purpose, or do those elementals not tire as they do on an airship? Sorry if this has been asked before. Take care!

hyperewok1

Which Five Nations are especially politically close to which in the aftermath of the war and treaty?

Jeff H

No worries on holiday delays! This may be addressed in the Kundarak article, but I recall other, non-Kundarak banks being mentioned in the Sharn book (the Lorrean Bank in Redstone comes to mind). Are there a lot of independent banks? What is their reach? (For example is that Lorrean bank in Redstone the only one? Or are there Lorrean branches throughout Breland? Or are they all over the Five Nations?) Is there a reason to use them over Kundarak? How does House Kundarak view these other banks?

Zachary Butler

For Forge of the Artificer: The art in the book takes several big departures from how some key setting elements have historically been depicted. I have mixed feelings on the warforged and airships, but I really like the more modern/art-deco feel of the architecture and fashion. Do you have any opinions about how Eberron is presented visually in FoTA, or in official content more broadly? For Miscellany: Are there any examples of democracies or republics in Eberron, either modern or historical, that the Brelish anti-monarchists might look to as an example? Something akin to how ancient Athens and the Roman Republic inspired the founding fathers of the United States. Is the Brelish Parliament the first of its kind?

Felix Shafir

Hi Keith, happy holidays, thanks for the great articles about the Dragonmarked houses! As for my question: According to the Five Nations sourcebook, Shadowlock Keep in southwestern Breland, by the southern tip of the Graywall Mountains, stands guard against incursions from Droaam. Is there a major pass in those mountains between southern Droaam and Breland (for example, from Shaarat Kol)? Most of the discussions of conflicts between Droaam and Breland seem to involve the area around the northern Graywall Mountains, and I’m curious if there’s a similar history of conflict in the south that led to the construction of Shadowlock Keep.

Evan Sageser

Back during your deep dive on the Lhazaar Sea I believe there was some mention that while the Dwarven and Orcish cultures that make up the Cloud Reavers and presumably other communities in the Principalities had their origins from the Mror and Jhorash'tar cultures to the West, they had diverged significantly since then, having been there since presumably well before humans were, are there any details you could provide on them? On the surface it certainly seems significant that compared to how often the Dwarves and Orcs of the Mror Holds are at each others throats, the Cloud Reavers seem to be essentially an integrated society, which feels reminiscent to how Orc and Human tribes of the Shadow Marches came together. Is Devourer worship also a common factor for Lhazaar Dwarves and Orcs generally, or is that specifically a Cloud Reaver faith?

Sharon Woodward

Hi Keith. I am relatively new to the world of Eberron, and my players are now level 9. I am loving the pages on the Houses. Question: do you have any info or Lore on the Khyber and Syberis crystals? Where they are mined/found/located? Do any of the nations or Houses own the rights to these locations? Also, more Lore about the crystals themselves, for instance which is used for what purpose (binding elementals or for protection spells)?

Chris A. Barney

I’m excited about the Daggerheart project! I know you can’t talk about it yet, and I imagine that doing work both for a WotC owned property and a Derrington Press property is complex .I know there can probably never legally be a Eberron port to Daggerheart (and I kind of don’t think there should be, I’m looking forward to a new setting by you). But… you have talked a lot about ways that the mechanics of different editions of D&D can be reskinned to serve needed roles in Eberron, like psionics. So I am hoping that the Daggerheart setting will include the mechanics ‘technology’ to let us run Eberron games there. We already have a warforged analogue… so things we can reskin to be dragonmarks, changelings, shifters, kalishtar, artificers, inquisitive, etc. You have done so much great work on the setting over the years and it would be great to have a new way to use it in another system :)

The Bard Himself

It has been mentioned quite a few times that more druidic circles exist in eldeen than the 5 detailed in Faiths of Eberron, there are of course The Moonspeakers, as well as the unnamed Centaur order in your Roots of the Reaches article. I have been working on a project to expand the druidic sects of eldeen to 12 (with a secret 13th), and we've included Druids tied to The Byeshk Mountains, Lake Galifar, and even expanded the mentioned Centaur order. If you were to add another druidic sect to Eldeen, what might they be like? Or could you give advice for writing additional sects?

Sergei Lakissov

I'm interested to know how Goblin language figures into the Tower of Babel story from your Sivis article. If Dhakaani Empire started to fall apart, linguistically, and Sivis helped to create the Common Tongue from newly appearing languages, then where does that leave the Goblin language? Do the Dhakaani in the vaults still speak the same language as those before the Daelkyr? What language do the goblinoids across Khorvaire speak? What languages are spoken in Darguun and Droaam - the same Goblin as in the vaults or not? And if it is the same, then why didn't it get corrupted the same way as it did for the rest of the continent?

House Sivis

If the leaders of the nations/Houses/groups/etc were Magic the Gathering cards, what colors and themes would they be? Would Merrix be cranking out Warforged Tokens? Would Aurala be the Commander in a blue/white control deck? Is Lady Illmarrow just a proxy for Liliyana Vess?

keithbaker
>>195661578

The Volaaganti were a regional threat that targeted what is now Zilargo and the Seawall Mountains. As such, Goblin remained the dominant tongue over the rest of the Empire. Meanwhile, the Dhakaani in the vaults maintained their connection to the Uul Dhakaan and sought to preserve Dhakaani culture; even if some were affected by the Volaaganti they would be able to relearn Goblin from the Uul Dhakaan. So Goblin remains a widespread language. There’s likely been some linguistic drift and the Heirs of Dhakaan are probably horrified by the accents used, but it is still the same language. What I’ve said elsewhere is that there are Ghaal’dar clans and other Dar cultures in Darguun that speak unique languages derived from the Volaaganti, but that their envious and merchants learn Goblin as a trade tongue.

keithbaker
>>195546495

Hello! If you have Eberron: Rising From The Last War, you can find the answers to most of these questions on page 275. Siberys crystals fall from the sky and their locations are unpredictable. This makes House Tharashk's ability to locate shards invaluable; it also helps them locate deposits of khyber shards, which are found underground. Again, Rising goes into more detail, but khyber shards are used for elemental binding and siberys shards are used for dragonmark focus items (among other things).

Spike Hemphill

For Forge. How do you feel about Campaign Arcs presented in book? Any standout examples in your opinion either good or bad? Do you think the Format is useful?

Herbert Helzer

Now that Least Dragonmarks have disappeared as player options, what do you think of still having them exist…exclusively on NPC House Magewrights?

keithbaker
>>195854349

What's in a name? The current system doesn't assign a Least or Lesser name to the base Dragonmark feat. There's a set of "Greater Dragonmark" feats, but these are available as early as 4th level and don't increase the power of the Mark the same way Greater Dragonmarks originally did. In 3.5 an Orien Heir with the Least Dragonmark could cast Dimension Leap (essentially, Misty Step) while one with the Greater Dragonmark could cast Teleport. The heir with a Greater Dragonmark fills a very different role in House Orien, one an heir with the Least Mark can't fill. By contrast, the Greater Dragonmark of Passage feat in Forge of the Artificer allows you to move two more people when you cast Misty Step* That's just not comparable to the 3.5 Greater Dragonmark and is essentially meaningless in terms of the services the heir can provide within the house business. The "Greater..." feats are fun, but I don't consider them to actually be giving you the Greater Dragonmark as it has previously been presented; they just reflect having a greater degree of SKILL with the use of your mark. So if having the "Greater Dragonmark" feat from FotA doesn't give you a Greater Dragonmark, what does? In my opinion, the shift in mechanics hasn't changed the WORLD, and Least, Lesser, and Greater Dragonmarks still exist. In my Dragonmarked House articles I base this on the highest level Spell of the Mark a marked character can produce, whether using Spellcasting or something like the Potent Dragonmark feat. If a character can produce a 1st or 2nd level Spell of the Mark, they have the Least Mark. If they can cast a 3rd or 4th level Spell of the Mark, it's Lesser, and if they can cast a 5th level Spell of the Mark, they have a Greater Dragonmark. The point is that this upholds the CONCEPT of Least/Lesser/Greater as it existed in 3.5 -- that an Orien heir with the Greater Mark can cast Teleportation Circle, for example, thus upholding the economic role they've been assigned in the past. And it reflects the idea that Dragonmarks start small and grow with the character. So, in my opinion Least, Lesser, and Greater Dragonmarks still exist, but you don't get a Greater Dragonmark by getting the Greater Dragonmark feat; despite the name, it reflects greater skill with your mark, not a change in the size of the Mark itself.

MikeZ

I have a question about the warforged during the Last War — were they produced exclusively on commission for the Five Nations, or were they also made for other entities, such as dragonmarked houses, organizations, or maybe even wealthy individuals? If so, what happened to them after the Treaty of Thronehold?

Ben

Riedra never seems to get much detailing on vehicles beyond ships and mundane transportation, and past editions never really gave many psionic vehicles—do you see Riedra having any psionic equivalents to vehicles and siege weapons? For instance, does the Harmonious Sail maintain war galleons fueled by the psychic power of the crew and armed with the sentira lense equivalent of the siege staff? Or would psionic powers letting them fly, teleport, merge with astral constructs, and push ships along mean they didn’t develop many psionic vehicles like Khorvaire did with arcane magic?

Sims

Congratulations on the new dice game! The “COSMic” threw me off as I continue my Brandon Sanderson COSMere journey, haha. Onto the questions. 1.) Skimming thru the Faerun adventures and read through the Icewind Dale section which is framed very much towards the isolationist horror settings (especially with the addition(?) of Zlan) in the 5.5e. Obviously, the most obvious comparison is Frostfell, but unlike Icewind Dale, Frostfell is not settled. How might you convert or run a horror setting there? Would Ebe-Zlan be a series of cultists to the Winter Heart from the Age of Demons? Would you run a “John Carpenter’s The Thing” esque story with the Star Emissary? Who are the protagonists/faction? The Wayfinders? Morgrave? Aundair? 2.) How might you run Blights in Eberron? The obvious answer is that they are Avaash’s domain, but they are typically dark and necrotic. Would you run them as results of Manar Manifest Zones? Necromancers? Or the Daelkyr? Would an Avaash “Guthias Blight” replace necrotic stats with psychic? 3.) What is one Wyrnan Royal you’d like to touch more on? In power or not? 4.) What are the names of Boranel’s children? 5.) Are there Daanvian tieflings? Daanvi notably has the Iron Ward, filled with Devils, but Frontiers stated that Daanvi and Thelanis and somewhere else doesn’t have tieflings, but I always assumed this was an oversight

Squire Zed

If you were interested in doing so, how would you incorporate crossing into/from Domains of Dread like Ravenloft into the setting of Eberron? I know you typically see Eberron as a discrete world with less connection to other planes, but I feel like what I've seen in existing media around Eberron is quite varied, from DDO's "there's just a mist gate in House Jorasco's enclave now" (which is probably a video game mechanic more than an intentional lore decision) to the Wayfinder's Guide's idea of treating the Ring of Siberys as a "weakened" shield against interplanar travel that hid it from the multiverse. However, I was more wondering if there's a phenomena or situation you could see serving as a catalyst that would feel more specifically grounded.

House Sivis

Coming in with a new question on top of my MTG question... Keith, why do Bugbears have fur? In your Eberron, that is.

keithbaker
>>196388371

That’s a topic that’s been hotly debated at the Library of Korranberg for CENTURIES. In The Manual Maleficent, Dorius Alyre ir’Korran asserts that bugbears are descended from hobgoblins infected with lycanthropy, which is also the source of what he describes as their “Sly and predatory nature.” He adds “Though they are commonly called Bugbears, a more accurate name would be Bugrat, for their treacherous and cunning instincts are most clearly reminiscent of the wererat and not the noble bear.” Centuries later, Casta Dal Dalian challenged this account, dismissing ir’Korran’s “inaccurate generalizations about the character of the Guul’dar”. Dal Dalian was the first to propose that the modern dar were purposely magebred from a currently unknown species. She suggests that the bugbear was magebred for strength and endurance, and that it was indeed possible that this was drawn from the essence of the bear… and that their fur is a lingering sign of this heritage.

Ender Darkos
>>196355589

The Ravenloft article on the blog and Exploring Eberron suggest using Mabar as Ravenloft, more specifically the Hinterlands, where go the regions Mabar hasn't yet digested!

Patrik Malý

Hi Keith, I've always loved your articles and books set in Eberron; it's my favorite setting to play D&D in. I often like to take the story of a book and think about what could go wrong and how the story could fit PCs in. Recently, I finished your Thorn of Breland series. I actually read it twice in a row—after finishing the series, everything in the earlier books made more sense with the additional context. I found Sarmondelaryx and Drego especially fascinating, because it's easy to imagine an entire campaign built around these two characters. There are a couple of things that I believe would help me flesh the campaign out, and I would be extremely grateful for answers to any of the following questions: For the purpose of statting, is Sarmondelaryx an ancient dragon or a greatwyrm (using the 3.5e ruleset, as you recommended for the dragons of Argonessen in your article)? How did her relationship with Drego begin and function? She seems to view demons as lesser beings, so it's hard to imagine her loving him—then again, he IS charming and funny, and love can be blind. And finally, something that piqued my curiosity: in The Fading Dream, what did Sarmondelaryx mean when she said “…and shatter every fragment of my father.”? Thank you, and happy holidays!

Earth Seraph Edna

How do you feel about the sample campaign arcs in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer? I find it weird how it tries to convince DMs that every campaign premise, even just "wipe out this one criminal gang in this one city," needs to be a 20-level epic saga. Consider Sharn's Boromar Clan. In 3.5, their leader, Saidan, is a rogue 8. In the 4e adventure "Dead for a Spell," at level 7 (in a 30-level system), the PCs get to kill Saidan in a side encounter only tangentially related to the wider adventure. Back in 2021, I ran an Eberron game. There, at level 5, during a side encounter unrelated to the wider plot arc, I let the PCs wipe out Saidan and his inner circle. The players found it entertaining enough. Forge of the Artificer has other ideas on how fighting Sharn's Boromar Clan should play out. Specifically, it proposes that such should be a 20-level epic saga: > Levels 1–4. The characters investigate petty crimes—pickpocketing, burglary, blackmail, and such—and help bring several Boromar Clan members to justice. The inquisitives find the Sharn Watch unhelpful in dealing with these criminals, though, and some legitimate businesses and law-abiding citizens start shunning or insulting the characters, angry at their interference with the "hometown heroes" of the Boromar Clan. > Levels 5–10. Ostensibly trying to mend the poor relationship between the Sharn Watch and the inquisitives, a Watch officer recruits the characters to bring a Daask gang to justice. The Watch helps, and the characters catch several Daask criminals. However, the characters' Watch allies don't seem concerned about whether any Daask members are hurt or killed in the final confrontation. Indeed, it turns out that the Boromar Clan arranged the operation to remove a dangerous group of rivals. > Levels 11–16. Boromar leaders try to recruit the characters to their side, offering exorbitant fees and extravagant gifts as payment for simple jobs. If bribery doesn't work, the gang tries to coerce the characters into helping them, using friends, family members, or contacts as leverage. Along the way, the characters learn that a trusted NPC ally is firmly in the pocket of the Boromar Clan. > Levels 17–20. Assuming the characters haven't joined the Boromars, the clan leadership tries to eliminate them. The Boromars can't muster a physical threat to challenge characters of this level, so they wield their political power instead. Under pressure from Boromar leaders, the city council declares the adventurers a threat to Sharn's safety and security. Officials revoke their inquisitive agency's operations permit and ask the characters to leave Sharn. (Oh no, the level 20 demigods have been asked to leave the city. How did it even reach this point, as opposed to the PCs just completely demolishing the Boromar Clan much earlier, at tier 2 or thereabouts?) Same goes for Daask, another criminal gang. Daask is composed of monsters, but said monsters are not that much stronger than the Boromars. I do not see why "down with Daask" needs to be a 20-level epic saga, either: > Levels 1–4. The characters investigate crimes perpetrated by Daask against businesses they eventually discover are affiliated with the Boromar Clan. The Sharn Watch might hire the characters to help bring a Daask gang to justice, but the inquisitives eventually learn that the Boromar Clan seeks to use the Watch and the characters to strike back at Daask. > Levels 5–10. What seems like a routine case of a wealthy noble disappearing into a drug den while looking for thrills leads the characters to dig into Daask's trade in dragon's blood, a mysterious and dangerous new drug. The investigation drives the characters into conflict with increasingly powerful monsters affiliated with the gang. > Levels 11–16. Daask operatives kidnap a prominent figure in Sharn, but the freed "victim" turns out to be a doppelganger. The characters are hired to retrieve the real victim, who is undergoing a ritual that will eventually transform them into a hag. > Levels 17–20. While Daask stirs up riots in the Cogs and Malleon's Gate, the characters discover that the gang has also planted arcane explosives across the city. The characters must find the explosives before Sharn is thrown into utter chaos. Even if we assume that the characters are actually tackling multiple such arcs concurrently, it seems weird to suggest that a DM should let the PCs vanquish some criminal gang in a city only at tier 4. What makes suggestions like the above stranger is that the exact same book is capable of laying out campaign arcs that more justifiably go up to tier 4, like this one: > Levels 5–10. A few strange and apparently unconnected events mark the characters' adventures during these levels. A demon flies into a rage at the sight of a dragonmarked character and attacks only that character. A mysterious figure in disguise tries to hire the characters to carry out a bizarre mission in a very specific way. The characters find their path through a dungeon cleared out ahead of them, with mangled monster corpses left in the wake of whatever horror preceded them—but the ancient relic they seek there is undisturbed. > Levels 11–16. The Lords of Dust try to manipulate the characters to use the ancient relic to kill a dragon, prominent dragonmarked individual, or political figure. The Lords believe that the characters using the relic in this way will fulfill part of the Draconic Prophecy and serve as an important step toward the overlords' release. At some point, an evil dragon (an agent of the Chamber) warns the characters against this manipulation, explaining the nature and goals of the Lords of Dust to them. If the characters refuse to cooperate with the lords, powerful Fiends attack them to claim the relic and place it in the hands of more pliable adventurers. > Levels 17–20. Apparently by coincidence, the adventurers' latest expedition—the crowning achievement of their careers—leads to the discovery of an Underdark site where an overlord lies imprisoned. A horde of demons appears and attacks, each one throwing itself on the overlord's prison when it is slain. As each creature's ichor spills over the prison, cracks appear in the stone surface. Can the adventurers fend off the demons and the ever-increasing manifestations of evil without freeing the overlord and unleashing destruction on the world? Though even this seems like it could be compressed into a much smaller number of levels. What do you personally think of this idea of "every campaign premise needs to be able to go up to level 20"? I find it unrealistically optimistic.

keithbaker
>>196463925

I discussed this point in the recent Deep Dive. I think the suggested arcs are fine as ARCS. But I don’t see them as logically using the suggested character levels, and I wouldn’t expect 20th level adventurers to still be working as street-level inquisitives. If you took the same story ideas but tied them to levels 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 I think they’d be fine.

Ender Darkos

Hi Keith! Hoping you're doing well! The Eberron Campaign Setting describes goblin civilization as starting out around the border between Breland and Darguun. In ExE, you say that Droaam is thought to be the birthplace of goblinkind, by the amount of Dhakaani ruins. I always assumed this means that Darguun is where the Dar were created/got out of Khyber while Droaam is where the six Kings met to become the Six Kings. And so, I was wondering: What was the importance of modern Darguun at the time of Dhakaan? There are quite a lot of Kech vaults in Darguun, implying the region was quite important back then. But you also described South Cyre as a backwater state, in the days of Galifar.

keithbaker
>>196455620

I’m glad you enjoyed the Thorn books! I originally thought it was going to be a five book series, so things were rushed in The Fading Dream as I wanted to tie up some of the loose ends. Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read the Thorn of Breland novels! Q: For purposes of stats, is Sarmondelaryx an ancient dragon or a greatwyrm? A: She’s a greatwyrm. She says “I’ve laid waste to nations and scattered armies. I didn’t realize just how organized (the Chamber had) become or guessed that they could hold me even for a moment.” She’s very confident in her power, and the Chamber hoped to harness that power rather than destroying her. Q: How did her relationship with Drego begin and function? A: Sar is more powerful than Drego. But they are kindred spirits, neither one fitting in with their powerful kin. Sar felt that Drego was the only being who understood her — even though by necessity and nature, they walked different paths. The third question I’m leaving a mystery for now… I’d still love to finish the story sometime!

Ben Lohr

In your Eberron, how true is Ryger's last name "ir'Wynarn?" If he is a true Wynarn, how close (or far) is his relationship to his Five Nations cousins? If it's a scam, how did he come to take it? Or, maybe more interestingly, how did he get the rest of the Five Nations to believe him?

Patrick Reupert

Thanks for answering my previous question in the Q&A, very much appreciate to get fulfilling answers from you. New Question for December: How rare or common are dinosaurs outside of the Talenta Plains? Are they on a level where a Lamannian Totem or a shifter totem would be unlikely, or are they still plentiful enough in some areas? And if so, what areas would have them? Especially thinking about how diverse species of dinosaurs and sauropods exist

keithbaker
>>195720970

I mention this in another comment. I think the IDEA is good, but I think the FORMAT is flawed. Every campaign arc I’ve seen runs from 1st - 20th level tied to the same core idea. First of all, I don’t believe that every campaign has to be designed to run to 20th level. Some concepts work better at lower levels! If my vision of the story is “Inquisitives in Callestan” I don’t actually WANT those characters to go past 10th level, because the stories don’t really fit what high level characters are capable of. Sherlock Holmes doesn’t teleports across the world in the blink of an eye. When I’m running this sort of campaign I often choose to slow character advancement. Consider Quickstone — that campaign ran for 24 sessions, but the characters only went from 4th - 8th level, because I didn’t WANT them to become to powerful. So for example, I like the idea of the Boromar Clan arc, but I’d change the levels associated with the four stages to 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. When I DO plan a campaign to go to 20th level, I plan for the story to evolve with the adventurers. As I’ve said before, I typically choose an initial threat that is immediately obvious and appropriate for low level characters — a cult of the Dragon Below, the Emerald Claw, the Boromar Clan, the Aurum — while laying the seeds of the BIGGER story, which may involve the Lords of Dust, Chamber, Daelkyr, or Dreaming Dark. You see this happening in Thorn of Breland, where at the end it’s setting up a future conflict with the Chamber and Lords of Dust. So the characters may START investigating crimes in Callestan, but I know the end game will have them dealing with ancient fiends, not just mortal crime lords. Now, in such a story, I’ll probably LINK the two; in the Boromar story, the adventurers would eventually discover that Saiden’s advisor is a rakshasa and that the early Boromar schemes they were fighting were all tied to the Prophetic schemes of the Lords of Dust. So those early adventures would still MATTER — but by level 20 you’d be dealing with Mordakhesh and Ashtakala as opposed to the Lord Mayor of Sharn. So again, I think the arcs contain good ideas, but they mostly feel like 1-10 arcs to me as opposed to 1-20 arcs.

sin1024

(Repost/tweaked little from November question) To the early House Phiarlan elves, the civil war and the deed of line of vol carried a heavy significance. So I assume someone from House Phiarlan had produced a tragedy based on that history. But it was popular enough to be recognized even in modern times ? And how sympathetic was the work toward Vol ? (I imagine past Phiarlans were at least not antagonistic toward Vol, but the work that delves too deeply into the dark history of their home could negatively impact the audience's feelings toward Phiarlan themselves.)

Matt Dance

Totally understand the Sivis and Kundarak delays! You have had a lot to tackle over the past couple months. These articles on the Houses have all been amazing. As a huge fan of Kundarak (and dwarves), I will be grateful for your work when it comes! As we near our IRL solstice, I have a lighthearted related question: Does Eberron have auroras?

Alex Franklin

So. We all know Eberron is the world with the magic trains. But are they CHOO-CHOO trains? They're powered by lightning elementals rather than steam pistons, so I have to assume they don't go chugga chugga. But if I wanted them to make some similar iconic rhythmic sound when they rev up and depart, what would it sound like?

MajorTotoro

Hi Keith, just curious, if you are a Thuranni or Phiarlann spy on assignment, would you say they use Sivis stations for communication or do they have their own ways of messaging spy stuff? Up to what point do Houses and Governments trust the Sivis technique of not retaining the content of the messages?

Dragonback Lancer

Are there any magical methods for same-sex and/or polyamorous couples to have biological children in Khorvaire? It's something I've been thinking about, since Exploring Eberron lists changing your sex as one of the options for cosmetic surgery, and I think it would have fairly big implications in terms of culture for at least the Dragonmarked Houses, since passing on the mark is so important there

Inquisitor Thomas

So how much do the Nations of Khorvaire track their Changeling population, on one hand you want to respect this unique group’s culture, on the other hand Changeling also seems like any tax collector and census taker’s worst nightmare.

Zuruve

Exploring Eberron states that the dominions of Syrania have very specific fields of study and that they can have unique powers related to their specialties, giving the example of a dominion of War who knows everything about swords and can't be harmed by them. So I'm wondering: what kinds of powers could a dominion who studies the Draconic Prophecy have? What revelations could they give to dragonmarked player characters who interact with them?

Carlton Anderson

IYE, what sort of inducements or bargain chips would a PC or group of PCs need to bring to bear for Shan Doresh and/or his servants to treat with the characters, provide them with valuable intelligence about the Dreaming Dark (including its existence and methods), and allow them to leave without violence or (direct) interference by the fae in question? Given the overall vibe of Taer Lian Doresh in general, I suspect that’s a fairly tall order, but I can imagine Santyriana, The Paranymph, or perhaps one of the Knights of Terror being more willing to come to such an arrangement and more interested in doing so.

Jesse

Considering the 2024 PHB places Drow as part of the overall Elf Species instead of their own distinct species, is there any reason why a Drow couldn't manifest the Mark of Shadow (disregarding the rules update about Dragonmarks on non traditional Species from Forge of the Artificer)?

MikeZ

Hey! Do you have an estimate of when we can expect the Q&A recording to be uploaded? Thanks so much in advance!