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October Questions Thread (Patreon)

Published:
2023-10-03 12:13:00
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Greetings!

September turned out to be busier that I expected, but I'm hoping October will give me more time for articles and the next Frontiers session. In the meantime, let's answer some questions! 

As always, I will not be able to answer every question; simple questions are the best questions. If I can answer a question in five minutes here, I'll probably answer it. If it would take significant research or an hour of work to answer a question, I probably can't. Feel free to ask questions that didn't get answered in a previous month, just know that I won't be able to get to them all... and if there's a question I've skipped over a few times it means that I need focus to answer it and I haven't had that focus. In addition, I will only answer one question per patron. You can ASK more than one, because one may be easier for me to answer than another, but I'll only answer one.

Thanks again for your support! 

Files

Comments

Nedgehog

We know there's a significant population of ogres, gargoyles and other "monstrous" races in Sharn, but what about other places? I assume they are more uncommon the further away you go from Droaam, but are there minotaurs in Aundair, for example?

Mariamow

Repost from July thread: I was wondering if the Cannith factions were to split into three houses, what would you potentially call these houses (e.g. the names of the human lines like the elven lines Thuranni, Phiarlan and Paelion.)

Zac Luchette

What's your favorite bit of Halloween-themed lore, adventure, etc in Eberron?

Jarrod Taylor

Does the night hag Jabra (or Sora Kell and/or her Daughters) have a favored familiar that they call upon?

Eric Smith

This is a follow up to my Daelkyr/Prophecy question from last time but about Syrania. I assume there would be Dominions or Thrones tracking the Prophecy but who do not interfere? This is partially about giving a character Celestial for a language and what might have been written in that language on the subject.

Thomas Brøgger

On the lightning rail route from Wroat to Starilaskur there is a place where the route splits into a route heading for eastern Breland and one heading for Thrane. I found out that there is a hamlet called Nowhere there. Is there anything interesting about rhis place besides it being a lightning rail junction?

Synergist-Grell

Howdy Keith. Leading with the fact that the night hags generally were more independent from the Overlords compared to the Rakshasa: my question is if, hypothetically, Sora Kell was going to work with one of the Overlords, which one would such a powerful night hag be most likely to cooperate with? My own assumption is Sul Khatesh, but I was curious if you had a different view of Kell (or really, power night hags in broad strokes).

hyperewok1

What sort of government does the Swords of Liberty want to build? What kind of conceptualization do people in the Five Nations have of democracy, and what does revolutionary politics look like for them? (Not to imply that particular conflict is merely Good Democracy vs. Bad Monarchy, of course)

Jakub Zachnik

Why, apart from Gatewatchers, other actors on Eberron don't fear and try to prevent Daelkyr from escaping, even thought Daelkyr are the reason a previous ruling empire and civilisation fell? Wouldn't at least the historians be really on edge considering those historical events?

Cabur Skirata

Related to something fun I want to do the end of this month, who/what do you see as the person who took over Cyre 1313 the day of the Mourning, forcing it to become a Domain of Dread as seen in Vanrichten's Guide to Ravenloft?

Leslie Mactir

Given your statements about not liking the way Forge of War depicts the actions of Thrane, how would you have had the Theocracy or the church in general behave? Would you have them organised differently than portrayed in canon? Are they more papal states or teutonic ordenstadt?

Earth Seraph Edna

How would you use the "It could be that the il-altas truly exist, unbeknownst to the Inspired" plot hook from 3.5 Secrets of Sarlona, p. 50? Alternatively, "the spirit of Riedra itself, if such a thing exists," from p. 74? The noosphere of the Riedran populace creating egregore-like entities, maybe?

Zachary Butler

When thinking of the history of Eberron's different ancient cultures, how closely do you think they map onto real-world human advancement? For example, if Lhazzar made her voyage 3,000 years before an approximate 1900, it would have taken place with bronze age technology in the equivalent period of the Trojan War/Odyssey.

Samantha Flynn

Why was Shae Tirias Tolai the City of *Silver* and Bone? Bone is relatively self evident, but was there a reason silver was chosen as the other "theme"?

Spike Hemphill

1. Would you recommend long campaign set in Dal Quor? I am afraid the dream logic would become stale after while. Any suggestions? 2. I thought of great name for Dal Quor location " Last Dream of Siberys" but I am not sure what to put there. Any advice?

chuck finley

Here's 2 to chose from, thanks! How common is it really that ships are sank in the Principalities? The amount of ships in the fleets are frightfully low - 20 being the highest, 8-10 & 12 for the cloudreavers and diresharks, and most fleets only have < 3 ships. There really doesn't seem to be very many boats in that sea despite the area being massive. The sinking of just 1 ship would be huge news and can't possibly happen frequently, right? (cloudreavers, chaos fleet, kraken, farlnen's undead patrol beasties, tempest strait, etc are all gunning to scuttle ships) What were Aundair's losses to Breland during the war? We know of their loss of the eldeen reaches, and a number of cities to Thrane, but Breland and Karrnath are called out as the clear leaders in the war effort. Obviously Breland took losses like Droaam, but over 100 years of war, Breland had to have fought Aundair (their neighbor) in direct warfare and land conquering. So i wondered what were those lands taken? Come to think of it, doesn't seem like Breland came away with much when they definitely should have given their resources. After all, logistics win wars

dirDav3

Hi Keith, happy October! 1) The silver flame is the combined force of couatl soul energy, basically. Let's say Illmarrow helped do the Mourning. Her job was to produce an effect that kills everyone it touches by wrenching the soul free of the body. Let's then say she collected each and every soul killed by the mist in this manner. I know her 3 primary goals are to regain her mark, become the new queen of death over Dolurrh, and take vengeance on aeranal and the dragons. What do you think she could do with this Silver Flame-like collection of souls? 2) If gnomes originated from Thelanis from Pylas Pyrial as called out in Chronicles, wouldn't they not dream either, like elves and warforged? For that matter, why do elves (and by extension gnomes, following my logic) even have souls that would go to Dolurrh? I would think that if you were inherently disconnected from 1 plane like Dal Quor, that you'd also be disconnected to all of them, Dolurrh included. 3) What changes to the Mastermaker from Dread Metrol would you make if it were symbiont themed instead of construct themed? I'm enjoying the book!

Not Mordakhesh

Shan Doresh as a Warlock patron. I ended my campaign (but my player wants the story to continue) with my Archfey Warlock becoming the servant of Shan Doresh in return for the Fading Dream breaking their neutrality and helping defeat Tirashana in the final battle. What use might Shan Doresh have for a warlock? What kinds of tasks might he need to have done? Evil or good, doesn't matter. I just can't think of anything.

Zed Bundershot

"In my/your Eberron" has enough common understanding to exist as an acronym, and your references to your own Eberron describe stand-alone campaigns.., are they? That is, do you start all your Eberron campaigns from the same baseline starting date and run them isolated from each other or, do they all exist within the same concurrent Eberron differing only by geography & chonology, yet influencing each other at a distance? I guess my real question is: what's the furthest narrative departure from Eberron's common starting point you've played or run? Have you participated in any permanent answers to the default unknowns? Hope the change of seasons finds you well!

Will Thibault

Just finished the last Q&A video, great stuff. It reminded me of the Seren Dragonshards article from the old Wizards website; it was marked as Part 1 but Part 2 was never released. Do you have any notes on Part 2, or remember any ideas that might have gone into it? More generally, I'd love a newer look at them in an article if you ever get the itch - notable Serens, what Khorvaire knows about them, interactions with other civilizations like the Elves or the Dragonborn, that sort of thing. I love the Dinotopia meets Dragon-Worshipper vibes I get from them, and given that most of the Argonessen entry in the 3.5 ECS was actually about Serens, they always felt to me like they should have had more text spent on them than they've gotten. Also prompted by the Q&A video, I quite enjoyed hearing about the Aberrant Marks content cut from S:CoT. I recognize you can't just flat release any notes you have, but could you supply a sort of executive summary, sans mechanics, of each of the aberrant paths? I'd love to see what you were thinking for those, and maybe where you'd make different decisions if writing it today. Thanks!

James McAtamney

Is there anything noteworthy about Passage that marks it as the home of House Orien (a prototype subway or tram system based on the lightning rail, say), beyond the extra-large lightning rail station? If not, any ideas for something cool or interesting that might make it stand out?

Earth Seraph Edna

What happens when a possessed Inspired is killed with a Keeper's Fang?

Earth Seraph Edna

Venerable Thatari is an 18th-level kalashtar psion in 3.5 Secrets of Sarlona, and you have written a magewright 19/warrior 1 as a showcase, Golan Dol. Certainly, there could be a psionic equivalent of Golan Dol over in Adar. That aside, thank you for your response. Could I please take a screen capture of this exchange?

Jimmy Kedge

How did the Galifarian tax system work

yh park

Hello Keith, I'm interested in the design of the flags/symbols that represent the other nations, not just the flags the five nations have. For example, how would the newer factions like Darguun, Droaam, and Eldeen Reach represent themselves as a flag? I haven't found any official material that addresses this. I would like to seek your ideas on this, or can you give of any examples? I want to create emblems for my player characters to represent their faction.

craigrkennedy

Hi Keith, I have a warlock player whos patron is inspired by Native American Coyote and other 'trickster' myths. Are there any c/kanonical trickster Archfey or stories? If nothing existing, any thoughts/ideas?

Simon

How would you recreate the Story, Characters with regard to theme of Baldurs Gate 3 in Eberron?

Dan Smith

Where does bladesinging fit in Eberrron? More specifically, what cultures pioneered the art of bladesinging in Eberron? Are there ancient traditions reaching back to pre-sundering Sarlona, the Giant Empires, etc; or is it something modern nations like Aundair (or others like Cyre) developed?

MajorTotoro

Hi Keith, hope everything is going well. This might be too specific, but I'm running a game where a faction longs for a return to a Golden Age of the Kingdom of Galifar, and would like to know: Would you say Galifar, in Eberron current times, is an idolized ideal King? How much is he remembered? Or would you come up with another ruler during the Kingdom's millenia to have been the ruler of an idealized period?

Jamie Gardiner

Hi Keith! Question number one and the most important.... is how the fuck are *you* doing? You've had a rough and busy year so far and so many of us are here because we support *you* as the creator and voice of the world we run in. So yeah I have an Eberron question this month and I would love your input but I also want to check it on you as a person! So you first and then....: I'm chucking a group into the whitehearth facility soon, at level 8. do you recommend any personal changes or upticks to enemies (group of 7, already done some CR upgrades to what they face but would love your input) just to make the place a more balanced challege!

Jessie Harris

What are dueling laws like in the five nations and Khorvaire as a whole. Some form of dueling is legal in at least Aundair considering the dueling societies and Passage Dueling crossbows, but what are the laws and societal rules surrounding these?

Micah Peltier

How much of the culture/disposition/behavior of the different colors of dragons do you use? Since Eberron abandons the idea that all chromatic dragons are evil and all metallic dragons are good, it seems difficult to use much of the lore as it’s presented in the MM / other settings. Take black dragons, for example, they “stand apart for their sadistic nature” and “live to watch [their] prey beg for mercy, and will often offer the illusion of respite or escape before finishing off [their] enemies.” Their regional effects putrefy water sources, cause entangling undergrowth, and fill creatures near their lair with “listless despair.” None of these things seem good (especially compared with metallic regional effects). But if we fully blanch the culture / attitudes / flavor text from chromatic dragons 1) do we do the same to metallic dragons, and 2) why do we bother having a distinction between chromatic and metallic dragons? Is there a salient reason to use a particular color of dragon over another (other than what damage type I’d like their breath weapon to be)?

Will Buck

Hi, I'm reposting "IFAQ-level" questions from previous months, with appropriately-set expectations around their ease of answering! I'm curious to learn about any of the following topics: 1) Chivalric orders of the Five Nations. 2) Any thoughts or details about Starilaskur. 3) Additional information about Karrnath's Ministry of the Dead. 4) Additional information about the Nine Brothers of Night, or any other of the archfey of the Moonlit Vale. And then, for a question that requires less research: I'll be running a game soon in which the party will be chasing a band of brigands into King's Forest, and I'd like them to encounter a fiery dryad inside a Fernian manifest zone. The brigands have done something here (chopped down all the firepine?) that has thrown off the balance of nature, and now the energies of Fernia threaten to engulf the whole region in flames. Could you help me brainstorm ideas about what this dryad's fey "story" is, and some ways she might suggest that the party could help restore the balance? (There are no druids in the party.)

Trinity Vaughan

What are some common phrases Seekers use in conversation?

Inquisitor Thomas

What was the enrollment policy for Arcanix during the Last War? Did it limit enrollment to Aundairians and maybe the Nations that were officially neutral like Zilargo and New Galifar, or did they still have limited enrollment of Students from the other 5 Nations because "They're still technically Galifarians."

DesnaPilled

If someone were to be a cleric of a being such as the Queen of the Dead, how would that effect their take on resurrection magic? Would they view it as unimportant, or as a disruption of the balance of life and death? In that vein, how do other religions view such a practice?

Parker Wimberly

Hi Keith. With the Last War over and the five nations moving into a Cold War stance, what is Thrane’s political/geopolitical goals? Do the council of cardinals still want the keeper/ really themselves ruling over the continent in place of a monarch of reunited Galifar. I’m just trying to figure out what is driving thrane’s temporal concerns that don’t deal with fighting supernatural threats.

Chance

So on a surface level, Aundair seems like the weakest of the remaining four great nations of Galifar. Smallest population, presumed smallest mundane military and presumed smallest economy given its loss of Thaliost and the Eldeen Reaches all seem to point to that picture. On the other hand, I can't find any substantial signs of political disunity such as that faced by the other three nations, or major external threats like that faced by Breland and Karrnaath. In fact, Aundair appears to be the politically united to a greater extend than any other nation on the continent with the possible exception of Zilargo. I have leaned into both aspects of this in my Eberron. But I was wondering if this was done on purpose and why, or if I'm just seeing things?

Patrick Reupert

Hey there! I know the Dhakaani were basically on the atheist side of things. However, the Silver Flame feels like something that could be close at heart. Maybe even in combination with an integration of Phoenix Dawn Command as you did before. Much of that lore feels suitable. So my question would be how a Kech or other society tied to a type of the Silver Flame, possibly in a more active version than just faith, would work

EllieSF

So, I've been wanting to ask something about Silver Flame Templars, as I've recently realized, their job is literally to kill innocent people. Allow me to explain. I have a character, an Aasimar of Justice Command (And believes this to be Dol Arrah herself), who is a Silver Flame Templar. I've built his philosophy around the idea of the hierarchy of evil, and how the lower you go on the hierarchy of evil, the more choice you have in being evil. Therefore, a lycanthrope has no choice in their actions, and therefore deserves pity. Yet a "cleric" who uses tithes as a means to steal from the poor, deserves no mercy. His philosophy on lycanthropes, and mabar-touched (aka Dhampir PCs) is what led me to the thought... The average Silver Flame Templar, depending on how much they actually consider their job, is likely pretty damn depressed. Their job is to kill innocents, that have been cursed against their will. How much does that affect the average SF Templar? Are there high depression rates among the templars? Or are they more preoccupied with protecting their loved ones to consider such? I don't know why I find the likely sad and dark existence of a lone SF Templar so interesting, but I do.

Iris

Were the names of the dragons that inspired the Sovereigns and the Six ever stated in certain? Especially in the way that the Dragonborn of Q'Barra or the Church of the Wyrm Ascendant worship the sovereigns. Ourelonastrix, Dulazurak and Dolaranakh are the ones I have been able to find on my individual research, but failed to find any information on the heroes that inspired the remaining Sovereigns (or became them, if the faith of Thir is to be believed) Among those groups compared to the Pyrinean creed, how does the mythos/story and the certain values a deity depicts change if at all?

WebbRosson

When an overlord is released, or on the verge of being released, how does a party with no connections to the silver flame rebind it? Are there other forces in eberron strong enough to put the demon toothpaste back in the tube, or will they need to somehow utilize the flame, whether they believe in it or not?

Daelkyr Devon

The Blood of Vol is such an interesting religion, with the implications of the complexity of faith-based magic and how that relates to the "Divinity Within", I'm curious if there could be any inverse, as in a demonic/hellish variation. Is there any explanation/example/equivalent of the "Infernal Within"? Or would you consider "Divinity" to be more of a "neutral" concept?

Jabez Phommarath Fontaine

How does Sharn, or any city for that matter, heat their buildings? We know Sharn has plumbing and sewers, but do they use natural gas, some sort of arcane furnace, or sigils and glyphs, etc.

Jabez Phommarath Fontaine

What was the cost of a Warforged? They were sold for both military and civilian use, but I’m curious if you’ve ever thought about how much they generally sold for.

House Sivis Echoer Station

I would love to know your interpretations of each of the Five Nations 's crown Jewels, or if you have any other historical regalia in mind such as Cyre's "Mantle of Cyre" that would also be a wonderful help!

SamJaz

With Warforged being made of stone, metal and whorlwood, how do you think they would interact with Dyrnn the Corruptor's Corruption abilities to warp flesh? Would they be uniquely immune to his effects or does Dyrnn's corruption warp the shape of the soul and then the body, similar to what you might find in other works like Jujutsu Kaisen?

Jason PB

This NYE, we’re running the classic emerald claw train heist for a high level party as a oneshot for our friends new to the setting. What sorts of monsters would the Emerald Claw employ on a train against high-powered heroes?

Joseph Meehan

It's been a bit since I've submitted a question - have you had a chance to look at MCDM's "The Talent and Psionics"? It kinda pitches psionics as fantasy superheroes, which made me think of the Sovereign Swords. If you've had a chance to peruse it, anything inspire you?

Jarrod Taylor

Late submission, and I can resubmit to November just posting it here so I don't forget. In https://keith-baker.com/ifaq-oargevs-suitors/ you mention the ir'Soras family, is this another family with possible hag ties like Lady Greykell ir'Ryc or was this just an off-the-cuff name?