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January Call For Questions (Patreon)

Published:
2022-01-07 00:15:20
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Happy New Year, Patrons! 

First of all—Threshold patrons, there was a problem with the link to the audio file of session nine; that's been fixed and you should have access to the file now. Beyond that: as I've said before, 2021 came with a lot of personal challenges. Frontiers of Eberron has been on hold for the last few months for this reason. It will be released this year, but most likely not until summer; I'll be continuing to playtest elements of the book in the Threshold sessions. In the meantime, I'm working on a project codenamed Chronicle, which  collects and expands on the best of the content I've written online over the last decade. 

For now, let's get to questions! For those who are new to this process...

Given the volume of questions I receive, I limit myself to answering one question per patron per month. You can ASK multiple questions, because it may be one is easier for me to answer than another—but if you ask seven questions, I'm only going to answer one of them.

If I can answer a question in 2-3 sentences, I will answer it here (as a reply to your comment). If I can answer a question in 2-3 paragraphs, it may be answered as an IFAQ article, but I only have time to post 1-3 IFAQs per month. If it would take 2-3 pages to answer the question, that's a Dragonshard article, and I generally can only write one of those in a month. So in short, the longer and more complicated the question, the lower the chance that I'll have time to answer it.

If I would have to do significant research to answer a question, that increases its effective size. It may be that the question only takes a few sentences to answer—but if I'd have to do two hours of research and contemplation to answer it, it's going to get passed over.

I do the best I can, but I can't answer every question, If you asked a question didn't get answered in a previous month, you're always welcome to ask it again, though consider how these guidelines apply! There's always good questions I just don't have time to answer.

As always, thanks for your support!

Comments

Jeremy Foote

So I'm working on a cold war space race campaign (following your Dragonmarks article last year), and I wanted to get your thoughts about some of the obstacles that an organization like the King's Observatory would face in sending a crewed ship up to the Ring of Siberys. What kind of hurdles would the Observatory need to overcome in YOUR Eberron, and how do you imagine they might go about solving those problems in your game world beyond 'building a better airship'? P.S. I wrote a short essay on the Eberron Reddit on how *I* would build a spaceship using Eberron's narrative tropes and some 5E rules, but I make a lot of assumptions about the nature of the obstacles and how I'd overcome them. Hence the question.

Dylan Ramsey

The Second Son (or 'Count of the Barren Marches') is an archfey mentioned in Exploring Eberron, but there's little information beyond him being a jealous would-be usurper whose schemes almost always fail. What are the "Barren Marches" he rules like? As marches, an obvious next question is what do they border? Who are the "siblings" who his lands are always inferior to--other archfey, or just characters in HIS story? What real-world fairy stories did you have in mind writing him?

Sunev

How would you use the Dreamspace (the strange dream and psionic power that those on Riedra can harness despite the influence of the Inspired and the habalani altas) in Your Eberron? Alternatively, what do you think it is?

SirApetus

I really loved your post on the Astral Plane, I am now curious about your take on the Ethereal Plane! So my question is, can you offer any insight into the Ethereal Plane at all in your Eberron?

MajorTotoro

Hi! If the previous instances of Eberron, like the famous Githberron, were all instances of the material plane (as Gith have survived by hiding in other planes), does that mean that inhabitants of the planes remember this previous Eberrons? Besides both Gith cultures, where would the best places be to understand/learn about this?

Parker Wimberly

What would happen in your Eberron if Haruuc Shaarat'kor was killed or died with no heir

Will Buck

(Last month's question: I am aware there's some great third-party content out there about Starilaskur, but I am still curious about your take!) There hasn’t been much written about the city of Starilaskur, despite it being the third largest city in Breland. We know it holds the Martial Temple of Dol Arrah as well as an Order of the Broken Blade monastery, and we know there’s a large Cannith enclave there headed by a viceroy rumored to be a vampire (Haldon). But I believe that’s mostly all we know. Could you tell us a little more about it? Followup: Dylan Ramsey's "Crossroads of Destiny: Starilaskur" suggests the city is sitting on a manifest zone to Thelanis, specifically to the Assembly barony. Any thoughts on that?

Carter Sprogis

The adventure idea about Aundair wanting to repopulate Desolate with Cyran refugees (ECS 163) struck me as a perfect jumping-off point for a West Marches-inspired campaign, which is right up my alley. What's something interesting, useful, or unexpected about Desolate and the surrounding peninsula that isn't already mentioned in canon sources?

Micah Peltier

Have you any thoughts on how to tie the Lady in Shadow to the Emerald Claw/Erandis Vol? Many of my players have ties (directly or indirectly) to Lady Illmarrow - elf with the mark of death, a body-swapped Kaius III, and a couple others - but one has the Lady in Shadow as a minor patron and next to no tie to the EC/Lady Vol. I'd like to tie the whole party into the main story, which is pretty clearly shaping up to be in the EC/Vol line, but I'm not sure how to rope in the player tied to Thelanis. Is there any crossover between Lady Illmarrow and the Lady in Shadow? Or anything I can fabricate to tie the two together?

Matthew Johnson

I've been facinated by the Giantforged/ quorforged and had plans to utitlize them in my Eberron campaign. Did the Giants create these specifically for Quori to inhabit? Was it an accident? Were there other experiments to house other planar manifestations into artifical constructs?

Earth Seraph Edna

Who are some notable figures in the actual Undying Court itself? There is a dearth of information on important deathless, especially ascendant councilors. There is a mention of a Lady Jhaelian in 5e Eberron: Rising from the Last War, an undying councilor named Cial Jhaelian is the High Warden of the Deathguard in the 3.5 Player's Guide to Eberron, and the deathless Saerdun Taral rules an insane city in the Vale of the Inner Sun, but I cannot find much more.

SirApetus

I am looking to get a personalize License plate. Maybe you could help me find a word for it since I want it related to Eberron. Rules being : Max 6 characters, minimum 2. The letters "I," "O," "Q," and "U" can ONLY be used as part of a word that is clearly defined and correctly spelled. For example, "LQQK" would not be an acceptable registration number because it is not a correctly spelled word. Currently some suggestions from discord are : THRANE, KHYBER, COUATL, AUREON. I am leaning towards AUREON, KHYBER, COUATL, SHARN, CYRE, OR PERHAPS KAIUS1 OR KAIUS3. Maybe CYRE13? Although I am less partial towards the Kaius ones.

Spike Hemphill

1. what are your ideas for a Quori that inspire greed? What could be their rank and function in the Dreaming Dark?( I really like your Lluora IFAQ) 2. What could possibly happen if all of Eberron's moons were destroyed? Would it only sever all of the planes and make all manifest zones inactive or could it even destroy all of the material plane? Even the Dragons step in when Giants tried to destroy a second moon. 3. Has anybody found a practical use of Risia manfiest zone or perhaps even built a settlement on one?

Syltorian

First of all, I hope you have a great 2022! Rising (page 144) mentions that Jaela Daran has resurrected one Cardinal Halidor after his assassination. There must be a deeper story here, since the Church is famously opposed to bringing back the dead except under truly exceptional circumstances, as they believe it weakens the Flame. What made his Eminency so exceptional that the Keeper was ready to resurrect him? Or is there a shift in attitude towards resurrection with the new Keeper? Also, if I may, I’d like to ask for including the topics of ‘large cities with manifest zones’ and ‘subfamilies of the Dragonmarked Houses’ to be included in any future poll about larger articles that might be on the horizon. They were on offer before and almost made it to the top, but I hope people would still be interested in them. Thanks a lot!

John Barleycorn

Quick question on the recent topic of Astral plane - in 5e, combining bags of holding (or any extradimensional items) will open gate to Astral plane and suck everybody in. Seems like pretty accessible way to travel (and/or trap someone powerful). With Kannith mass-producing bags of holding, gloves, haversacks it seems like a question of money. Is there a reason that those incidents aren't that common? Any suggestions on how you would handle it in your Eberron?

Xavier Parra Pérez

What could be a good set of in crescendo encounters against riedran characters in Xen’drik? I am running a “Destiny arms campaign” from the secrets of xen’drik book with players in the brelish military, and I want the set of adventures ending with some encounters against riedran forces and then a big battle against riedra, so I want the players to get a good feel of who their main antagonists are.

Micah Davis

You've said in the past that Thrane has more wide divine magic than the other countries - How does that look in practice? Is it more, "The bones of Belladonna Martyrs will break curses or cure diseases of worthy pilgrims" or more, "Through our understanding of the holy power of the flame, we're able to set up a Zone of Truth courthouse"

Mike Mateer

I found your most recent article on the Astral fascinating, as I have someone playing a Gith in my current Eberron campaign. Given the timeless nature of the plane, are all the gith "leftover" from previous incarnations of Eberron? And if not, how does gith society reproduce on a "timeless" plane -- if you don't age, do they have to take their children somewhere else to grow them into adulthood?

Omnificer

Hi Keith! With the Blood of Vol being relatively decentralized and also unconcerned with heresies, do you have examples of "variations" that really distinguish themselves from other sects? On top of what ExE has: Bloodsails, Emerald Claw, standard Seekers, and Thieves of Life. Basically, do you see sects in local communities borrowing from the faiths of their neighbors (e.g. a variant sect that thinks people reincarnate and that is a kosher way of eventually achieving the Divinity Within or a sect that incorporates rituals associated with Dol Dorn, but without the worship of Dol Dorn) and/or do you see sects being differentiated by their preferred method of seeking Immortality/Apotheosis? (e.g Thief of Life vs monks who believe physical and mental perfection will do the trick.)

Max Lichtenstein

I loved the Astral article, and i have a few kalashtar in my current group. Could there be remnants of Quori armies in the Astral Plane from before Dal Quor was torn from the material plane, or would being cut off from the Dreaming Dark be fatal? And in a similar vein, Quori from il Lashtavar's prior incarnations?

Zed Bundershot

My current understanding is the Mror Holds is prevented from reclaiming Sol Udar by their stalemate against Dyrrn the Corrupter, with each clan somewhere on the spectrum of how much use to make of aberrant resources. How would you respond to a party trying to leverage one daelkyr against another; using Belashyrra's gifts to spot hidden Dyrrn acolytes, Orlassk's gifts to construct impenetrable barricades etc.? What kind of side deals might a daelkyr or free-thinking aberrant make?

Castier GM and Actor

In regards to firearms (both arcane and nonmagical) are these tied to the classes puely thematically or are there special arcane firearms that use ammunition? Asking because in my home game set just a bit into the future I have made arcane ammunition and different firearms a thing. And on that what level of technology would mundane firearms be in Eberron? Is there or could there be perhaps clockwork modernish rifles? Palm pistols, revolvers etc?

Kevin Macku

How would you incorporate the alternative half-dragon origins from Fizban's chapter 3? Would that change how you present Dragonborn?

Jamie Bernstein

Are there any members of The Grim of Farlnen that might have notable influence outside the island, in the same vein as Illmarrow?

Eric Smith

How common would what I am calling "Occultists" be? By that, I mean a person with Arcana and Ritual Caster. Would they mostly be academics and researchers? Is there enough odd stuff in Eberron for there to be occult investigators?

Eric Smith

How do Fiends and the Daelkyr interact? Would a Fiend want to direct mortals to oppose them as part of a long term plan?

Scott W

Could you elementally bind a Quori inside a Dream matrix like elementals are bound in matrices to power devices?

Jason PB

Hi Keith! I was wondering if the various faiths of Eberron have saints or Saint-like figures as common knowledge? Or are the religions too decentralized? I know the Blood of Vol has undead martyrs in a more physical sense and the Church of the Silver Flame has Keepers and cardinals of the past still sometimes revered, but is it widespread in those faiths or the Sovereign Host or even the druidic faiths? Thanks Keith!

Sierra

How do Moonstone Dragons, which as presented in Fizban's are tied to both the fey and to dreams, fit into your Eberron?

Aureus Fulgens

So I know that Syrania has an established practice of throwing out celestials who commit a very specific crime - that of desiring (or becoming addicted to) mortal worship. Do you think there are other examples of this practice in Syrania or other planes? i.e. are fallen immortals being thrown into the Material (or somewhere else) a broader phenomenon, or is there a reason that it only happens in this one specific case?

叔叔六十四 (Uncle64)

Not sure if it's been asked before, but I recall reading about Giant Kingdom of Xendrik being founded by Titans. I was curios what was (or what you feel) the catalyst from this change from Titans to giants? Like was it just a gradual change over time or did something like the war with the Quori or elves cause it?

Beoric

If the Sovereigns are relevant to all aspects of everyday life, who is the Sovereign of Sleep and Dreams?

Thomas Brøgger

In the next session of my campaign the party are going to Zarash’ak in the Shadow Marches. Apart from being a city on stilts and being ruled by House Tharashk, what interesting details are there about the city? What exciting stuff could be going on?

Tim Edwards

The Gnolls of the Znir Pact have sworn that none shall have dominion over them. Meanwhile, the Blood of Vol teaches that if Gods exist, they are cruel, and encourages people to build their communities and find their inner divinity. While this isn't the same, I can definitely see some parallels. With Znir Pact Gnolls spending time in Sharn in Daask, and hiring out as mercenaries via House Tharashk, it's likely they are going to encounter each other at some point soon. Do you have any thoughts about how the two belief systems might react to each other? Might some Znir Pact become Seekers? What sort of reactions or complications might arise if the Blood of Vol decided to try and send some missionaries into Droaam, seeing them as kindred spirits / possible recruits?

Elmer Tucker

Are there any particular variations of Siberys shards that are specific to Xen'Drik? Similar to how there are Dawn and Dusk Eberron shards in Q'Barra, I imagine there are varietals or differences geographically - were there any that were particularly prized by the giants or quori?

WebbRosson

In the Dreaming Dark trilogy, Lei is able is use her dragonmark to magically dismantle warforged. Is this something that is book canon, or an artistic interpretation of an in-game mechanic? I am currently reading The Shattered Land, so if this is explained later on in the series feel free to just tell me to keep reading haha.

Ian Hart

Are there any RPG systems you'd recommend for social conflict/intrigue besides D&D? Or modifications to make it more fun in D&D, if that is your #1 recommendation.

Blinky

Something I've always struggled with regarding Sharn is how the manifestation of Syrania seems to have impacted gravity far more than it has impacted mood in the city. Why is there so much conflict in Sharn if the manifest zone of Syrania there is so strong? Is it a case of "there would be even more conflict in a city this large if not for the influence of Syrania," or "this is why so much of the criminal activity happens down low, in the Cogs and one of the perks of the more expensive housing in the Skyway is the uncanny sense of peace from Syrania?" And, related to this, how do such planar energies effect the attitudes of non-mortals? Does an angel of Shavarath, if dislocated into Syrania, chill out? Or do they keep the inherent martial energies of their home plane within them, as a manifestation of that plane? Or is there some internal conflict (heh) between the two forces more dramatic than a mortal might feel?

Dan Smith

When it comes to other worlds Exploring Eberron says, “But the other rat is still out there—forgotten and lost, huddled in a corner, but still alive.” What would it be like on a world no longer progressing through the maze? Since it isn't actively traveling the maze anymore is the world paused and everything frozen? What arcane, supernatural, and otherworldly phenomena would occur on a world no longer progressing through the maze?

John_Doe_142857

Is there in Eberron an equivalent of household appliances, like a freezer, a microwave oven or a washing machine? maybe a Cannith or gnome invention?

David Stanley

Is there a name for Half-orcs in Eberron, similar to what half-elves have?

Federico Crivellin

Hello Keith! Here my question : in your Eberron, what type of spells / magical abilities has Olian? Could you describe a little bit this important NPC (I mean his manners, if and when he want to interact with the other druids, if he is able to move in the territory of the Eldeen.. ) Thanks a lot!

Skyler Moucha

What would you call a person from Sharn? Like "New Yorker," for a real-world example. I'm partial to "Sharnite" myself, but I'm interested in other opinions. Or any other cities where the residents are called something fun? It's a minor linguistic break, but I would want to call people from Passage "Passengers."

Parker Wimberly

So I know this is probably too late but I’m going to ask anyway. Do you think karrnath would spend the resources fortifying it’s southern board and populating it now that the Last War is over or would that not be lightly because of low population and being hard hit economically from the last way. I’m think it could be a frontier area that a western themed game could be played with undead and raiding elves. I ask because I feel like Karrnath is under developed in terms of most of its land in the east and south both in terms of lore and my impression of it’s in world development.

Not Mordakhesh

Can you explain a bit more about the orb that Lakashtai brought to Dal Quor from the tower of Karultash? Why did she need to bring it to Dal Quor when Lei had already fixed it? It's a good McGuffin, but I know my players will have questions. Did it come from Dal Quor, as in; did the Quori make it? Was it solely responsible for the connection between Dal Quor and the prime material plane? Did the giants destroy it?

Peter S.

In the context of a Dreaming Dark Tier 1-4 campaign, what would be an interesting story arc for Tier3 characters? Which types of villainous objectives and scheming of the Dark can bring interesting situations for these PCs? Tiers 1-2 story arcs could focus on folding the mundane plans of inspired and humanoid vessels of the quori. Tier 4 could be about finding a way to Dal Quor and bringing the fight there, but I am uncertain about Tier 3.

anth

I don't know if this has ever been asked, but could a changeling vampire change their form?

Joana

You gave the idea that Gem dragons could possibly come from Githeberron, if so, how would the dragons of Argonessen react if some of them wanted to come live in Argonessen? would they accept them as part of their society, would they face hardships, like a lower class of their society, or they would be forbidden of entering like other mortal species?

Reighndragon

Ik know I'm a bit late, but still have a question. My party are members of the Royal Eyes of Aundair. In their last mission, some decorated NPC members of the Royal Eyes died. Would they receive a special funeral in Aundair, and how would you describe a funeral in Aundair?