Rating: 
Summary: A Very Exciting Campaign Setting
Review: A good campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons should do three things:
1. Be a useful resource to the Dungeon Master.
2. Stay within the boundaries of D&D, yet be different from what has already been published.
3. Get the players excited about their characters and the DM excited about the world.
Eberron does all of these things. The book is well laid out and contains much useful information. The only part lacking is that there is not a poster map of the world included. There is one available in Dungeon magazine #113, but it lacks detail.
The adventures in Eberron are typical D&D, with expeditions of groups of adventurers to ancient ruins, combats with monsters, and finding treasure and magic. But there are twists. Eberron adventures feature intrigue and swashbuckling adventure. This is accomplished mostly through two things: Magic, and the style of the organizations featured in the book. A system of action points also help make Eberron adventures more cinematic.
Magic is more pervasive on Eberron in the areas of transportation, communication, and other goods and services. That is not to say that it is overabundant; you won't see every first level fighter with a magic sword. But you might use the lightning rail to travel across country, then receive a message from a telegraph-like magical service, and finally ride out to a dungeon on a magebred horse. Magic on Eberron enhances adventuring by getting you to where the action is more quickly, speeding up the pace of adventuring.
Organizations on Eberron add to the go include the Dragonmarked Houses and many secret or at least deceptive societies, and several nations who until recently were at war for many years. The Houses are not loyal to any particular nation, and are basically family based corporations. The nations each have very different cultures and conflicting goals. The atmosphere is similar to the 1920's or 30's; you get the feeling that you are between two world wars.
Players and DM's have a lot of new material to inspire them. There are several new races in Eberron, including the shapeshifting changelings, the descendants of were-creatures called shifters, the psionically gifted kalashtar, and the mechanical warforged. Psionics are integrated into the setting, but not emphasized on the main continent, so they are easily included or ignored as the DM wishes. There is also a well written new class, the artificer, who can craft items better than anyone and use infusions to enhance items on the fly. New feats, prestige classes, equipment, spells, and monsters all help make the world unique.
A decent adventure in the back can help get your campaign started.
The book is well written, well illustrated, and full of great ideas. I highly recommend it for all D&D players and DM's, even if you don't choose to run an Eberron campaign.
Rating: 
Summary: An acquired taste
Review: Eberron is a finely-crafted fantasy milieu, with lots of evocative settings, races, and potential for mystery. (The artificer, for example, may well find a way into 3.5 canon due to its fun factor and quality.) But the big question for any DM is: Is this the setting for you?That depends. Eberron is the pinnacle of what I call the "anime movement" in WotC-era D&D. If you like exotic PC races, overpowered PCs, crunchy tactical powergaming, anachronistic touches, pulp action (in which PCs beat the odds with cinematic flourishes), and high magic, you'll love this setting. It was built for you. It has elements of steampunk, noir, and what I call "John Carterism" that you'll find very fun. If, on the other hand, you prefer traditional races (for a Greyhawk or Tolkien-inspired feel), balanced PCs who fear death, storytelling on an equal level with combat feats, a medieval-level setting, gritty action, and low magic, this is not for you. To you I would recommend MERP, Greyhawk, the upcoming C&C, and perhaps Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. Each reader will have their own preconceived bias. I, for one, love Dinotopia, China Mieville, Castle Falkenstein, Earthdawn, and all the rest, but prefer my D&D to be about solemn magi and knights in shining armor. If you want traditionalist fare, run far, far away. But if you want your D&D spiced with that pulp/anime style that seems to fuse M:TG to the D&D chassis, this is the finest setting out there.
Rating:
Summary: worth it
Review: Eberron, when advertised, claimed it would bring something new to the D&D world. Surprisingly, it has delivered and done so with style and grace. The first thing to remember is that Eberron is a campaign setting, not the new face of D&D that negates what came before. Eberron is an option, a world that actually feels modern while staying true to the roots of magic. In Eberron, there are constructs (magic powered robots) who have become sentient known as warforged. This "race" is rather young, or at least this incarnation of it--its possible they are in fact 1000 or more years old. There's also Sharn, the city where magic has given birth to technology meaning there's a lightning powered train, air ships like in anime, and many more surprises. There is even a class dedicated to making magical constructs and items known as an artificer. Eberron continues this "modern" take with a loosening of the alignment system, making it less defined and once again more akin to our real world politics. Now, why does this matter--because going through the campaign you suddenly start thinking about how great it would be to run your favorite anime, or a story like Bladerunner in Eberron, or Indiana Jones. You could even take the Star Wars series and fit it in with a few adjustments. As skeptical as I was, I can pleasantly admit that I was wrong about this setting which gives you a world where Moorcock and Cthullu can be mixed with Dick Tracy without seeming stupid.
Rating:
Summary: This is it! This is the One!
Review: I didn't want to pay attention to all the hype surrounding this new campaign setting. I figured that it would not be what Dragon magazine made it up to be. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
I have perused the book at leisure checking it out. Leisure turned into an all night reading session. The one thing they gave in this book that I was working on implementing into my campaign was the airship. I wanted the airship due to some other books I've been reading. And the new races. Kick-(expletive). Right along with the dragonmark concept, new feats, and everything else that just throws the average D&D players and DM's for a loop.
The organization of this book is very well organized as well. Can't even complain about it not having a map either. Paizo publishing graciously gave a map with the first Dungeon printed Eberron adventure. I plan on running the adventure included in the campaign book this weekend. I'm excited about it and my players are as well.Grand Kudos to WOTC for this one. Heck, I may even like it more than I like Forgotten Realms.
Rating: 
Summary: Stylish, but not exactly original.
Review: I like the Eberron setting a lot. It does have a few problems, most notably some of the art isn't particularly well drawn, and there's no poster map of the entire continent showing cities, roads, and lightning rail lines. I can live with this though, as this setting combines quazi-techno magic, ridiculous action, and political intrigue, which is my cup-o-tea. To clarify the title of my review, I don't take issue with the book itself; I love this type of game. However, Wizards of the Coast's marketing strategy for Eberron, hyping it as "fresh and original" is somewhat deceiving. I found very few things in this book that I hadn't already done in freeform RP years ago, or seen in another game. This didn't turn me off to the idea of the setting though; I've been waiting for a well-developed setting in this style for a very long time, and I thought I'd give the book a chance before I passed judgment. I must say that aside from Ravenloft, this will probably be the only setting I ever use again. As far as whether or not you, reader, will enjoy it, I advise you to browse through it at your local game/bookshop, or borrow it from a friend and see for yourself. Don't put too much stock into the opinions of people that were upset that their idea wasn't chosen for the open call, or are upset that Eberron's brain child had previous game design experience; it was an OPEN CALL, and even Wizards employees submitted their ideas. The only type of gamer I wouldn't recommend at least a read-thru to would be those that are in love with Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and the like. Eberron is a radically different setting from those worlds, and the style of play is more anime-ish. If it's not your bag, then just don't buy Eberron, but don't go shouting about how it's inferior to your favorites. Not everybody has the same tastes.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliance in a Bound Cover
Review: I should start by saying that Eberron did not save D&D for me, but it rather breathed a new, healthy interest into the hobby for myself. I waited for months like many others, listening to the naysayers who were so convinced that it was going to bomb royally, and picked up the book without reading any reviews by others who bought it. It was everything that I expected, and more. Ranking in at 320 pages, the book is not going to set any records, but the existing detail that was packed into the space is amazing. The Introduction sets the tone of Eberron nicely, and gives a list of 'Ten Things That You Need To Know About Eberron'. It also gives a list of pulp and film-noir movies like the Maltese Falcon that fit the mood of Eberron nicely. Chapter One deals with character races, introducing the Changeling (human with a doppelganger ancestor that has the ability to alter her appearence at will), Kalashtar (psionic race, long backgound that I'll have to skip here), Shifter (humans with lycanthrope ancestors, extremely well done), and the Warforged (constructs powered by magic that have souls and intelligence, they were built as elite units during the Last War). The chapter also gives descriptions of the existing races and how they fit into Eberron. Some, like the elves and gnomes, go through a major reenvisioning that I think is definetely for the better. Chapter Two deals with Character Classes, introducing the Artificer (a type of mage who infuses items with magic, kind of like limited use staves or scrolls, and is very big with crafting items) and giving example characters and backgrounds for each of the other classes. The Artificer is very unique and well-thought out, and fits in well with a party that has a warforged 'tank'. Chapter Three deals with Heroic Characteristics, describing Action Points (a similar system is found in the SW RPG with Force Points and d20 Modern) and the 70-odd new feats. Chapter Four introduces us to 8 new prestige classes, actually 12, because one, the Eldeen Ranger is actually five-in-one (its' abilities are adjusted depending on which druidic sect you choose). My personal favorite is the Master Inquisitive, a 5 level prestige class perfectly suited for pulp detectives and some bounty hunters. Chapter Five deals with Magic and the Planes of Eberron. The beginning of the chapter summarizes nicely what role the magewrights (a new working NPC class of mages, fulfill the low-level industrial uses of magic, like lighting continual flame lanterns in the streets) and the Dragonmarked houses fulfill in everyday life. It also introduces a new concept of 'manifest zones' for the planes. Every so often, one of the planes will stray close to Eberron (all of them are on an 'orbit', remiscent of the planets of our solar system around the sun) and in the area that is affected, certain spells may be extended or maximized for example, and others may be impeded. The chapter ends with numerous new domains and spells, many devoted to aiding or injuring constucts. Chapter Six details Adventuring Equipment, mainly exotic weapons, weapon/armor materials, and identification documents that most of the upper-class uses while traveling. Chapter Seven, Life in the World, in easily the longest section at 96 pages. It describes each of the nations of Khorvaire in detail, as well as Aerrnal and the other continents in Ebberon (Xen'Drik, Argonnessen, and Sarlona in case you were wondering). It ends with a timeline of the World, the first dated entry being a whopping 10,000,000 years ago! Chapter Eight describes the various Organizations of Eberron, along with example characters. I can't say too much without giving some brilliant stuff away, but many of the evil forces in the world have their sticky hands in some high places, to say the least. Chapter Nine gives you advice on how to Run an Eberron Campaign, ranging from how to get the party together to pulp-noir mission types. Chapter Ten deals with Magic Items, the most notable being the three types of Dragonshards that make late 1800's-eque technology available in a pulp-fantasy setting. Two new concepts include elemental bound items (which are exactly what they sound like, items that have an elemental bound inside them, giving various bonuses) and warforged components, items that specifically take up slots meant only for the warforged. A mystery surrounds some, since some are tens of thousands of years old and function only on the warforged (who were first produced 30-odd years ago). Chapter Eleven gives statistics and decriptions for new types of monsters in Eberron, as well as information on how to fit existing ones into your campaign. The book ends with an example adventure meant for four 1st level characters in the city of Sharn. I don't plan on running it myself, but the overall tone of it looks quite suited for a pulp campaign. The artwork in the book IMO is well-done, although not all may approve of the new comic book style of some pieces, mainly traditionalists. Some of the artwork, like the overview of the Aundairian countyside on page 140 is awe inspiring, while others like the warforged wizard on 112 I could live without. I believe that this is best setting sourcebook that I have ever bought for D&D, and would recommend it to anyone that wants to try out a different style of campaign then the straight out genocide of the orcs and goblinoids. My only drawback about the book is that there is no fold out map. Fortunately, some resourceful people online made one of their own, complete with towns and places of interest. Keep an open mind while reading this friends, this is brilliance in a bound cover here. Au revoir
Rating:
Summary: Brilliance in a Bound Cover
Review: I should start by saying that Eberron did not save D&D for me, but it rather breathed a new, healthy interest into the hobby for myself. I waited for months like many others, listening to the naysayers who were so convinced that it was going to bomb royally, and picked up the book without reading any reviews by others who bought it. It was everything that I expected, and more. Ranking in at 320 pages, the book is not going to set any records, but the existing detail that was packed into the space is amazing. The Introduction sets the tone of Eberron nicely, and gives a list of 'Ten Things That You Need To Know About Eberron'. It also gives a list of pulp and film-noir movies like the Maltese Falcon that fit the mood of Eberron nicely. Chapter One deals with character races, introducing the Changeling (human with a doppelganger ancestor that has the ability to alter her appearence at will), Kalashtar (psionic race, long backgound that I'll have to skip here), Shifter (humans with lycanthrope ancestors, extremely well done), and the Warforged (constructs powered by magic that have souls and intelligence, they were built as elite units during the Last War). The chapter also gives descriptions of the existing races and how they fit into Eberron. Some, like the elves and gnomes, go through a major reenvisioning that I think is definetely for the better. Chapter Two deals with Character Classes, introducing the Artificer (a type of mage who infuses items with magic, kind of like limited use staves or scrolls, and is very big with crafting items) and giving example characters and backgrounds for each of the other classes. The Artificer is very unique and well-thought out, and fits in well with a party that has a warforged 'tank'. Chapter Three deals with Heroic Characteristics, describing Action Points (a similar system is found in the SW RPG with Force Points and d20 Modern) and the 70-odd new feats. Chapter Four introduces us to 8 new prestige classes, actually 12, because one, the Eldeen Ranger is actually five-in-one (its' abilities are adjusted depending on which druidic sect you choose). My personal favorite is the Master Inquisitive, a 5 level prestige class perfectly suited for pulp detectives and some bounty hunters. Chapter Five deals with Magic and the Planes of Eberron. The beginning of the chapter summarizes nicely what role the magewrights (a new working NPC class of mages, fulfill the low-level industrial uses of magic, like lighting continual flame lanterns in the streets) and the Dragonmarked houses fulfill in everyday life. It also introduces a new concept of 'manifest zones' for the planes. Every so often, one of the planes will stray close to Eberron (all of them are on an 'orbit', remiscent of the planets of our solar system around the sun) and in the area that is affected, certain spells may be extended or maximized for example, and others may be impeded. The chapter ends with numerous new domains and spells, many devoted to aiding or injuring constucts. Chapter Six details Adventuring Equipment, mainly exotic weapons, weapon/armor materials, and identification documents that most of the upper-class uses while traveling. Chapter Seven, Life in the World, in easily the longest section at 96 pages. It describes each of the nations of Khorvaire in detail, as well as Aerrnal and the other continents in Ebberon (Xen'Drik, Argonnessen, and Sarlona in case you were wondering). It ends with a timeline of the World, the first dated entry being a whopping 10,000,000 years ago! Chapter Eight describes the various Organizations of Eberron, along with example characters. I can't say too much without giving some brilliant stuff away, but many of the evil forces in the world have their sticky hands in some high places, to say the least. Chapter Nine gives you advice on how to Run an Eberron Campaign, ranging from how to get the party together to pulp-noir mission types. Chapter Ten deals with Magic Items, the most notable being the three types of Dragonshards that make late 1800's-eque technology available in a pulp-fantasy setting. Two new concepts include elemental bound items (which are exactly what they sound like, items that have an elemental bound inside them, giving various bonuses) and warforged components, items that specifically take up slots meant only for the warforged. A mystery surrounds some, since some are tens of thousands of years old and function only on the warforged (who were first produced 30-odd years ago). Chapter Eleven gives statistics and decriptions for new types of monsters in Eberron, as well as information on how to fit existing ones into your campaign. The book ends with an example adventure meant for four 1st level characters in the city of Sharn. I don't plan on running it myself, but the overall tone of it looks quite suited for a pulp campaign. The artwork in the book IMO is well-done, although not all may approve of the new comic book style of some pieces, mainly traditionalists. Some of the artwork, like the overview of the Aundairian countyside on page 140 is awe inspiring, while others like the warforged wizard on 112 I could live without. I believe that this is best setting sourcebook that I have ever bought for D&D, and would recommend it to anyone that wants to try out a different style of campaign then the straight out genocide of the orcs and goblinoids. My only drawback about the book is that there is no fold out map. Fortunately, some resourceful people online made one of their own, complete with towns and places of interest. Keep an open mind while reading this friends, this is brilliance in a bound cover here. Au revoir
Rating:
Summary: D&D's best step since The Forgotten Realms in '87
Review: Keith Baker's Eberron is Dungeons and Dragons' freshest campaign in literally decades. Eberron combines elements of pulp, noir, steampunk, and high fantasy into a world that is run on magic and populated by people and organizations that have a flavor and depth that is often lacking from roleplaying games. Fans of Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and even Dashiell Hammett kind find something to enjoy here.
Rating:
Summary: It's exceedingly fun to read
Review: Okay, a confession: like a lot of D&D players, I wrote up a setting for the WOTC setting search that led to the creation of Eberron. And like all but one, my idea wasn't picked.
Well, there's a good reason for that: my idea wasn't this good.
Now, being a professional writer, that could really bug me if I let it, and sure I have my excuses for it. But all that aside, it's a simple fact: Eberron is a damn fine setting for D&D, specifically for D&D: its engineered for the implications of the three core books. Magic is plentiful at low levels and exotic at higher: it's not approached like technology, but it is applied to the various issues and problems of daily life. The whole 'pulp/noir' feel is actually integrated into the setting history. Having just endured the Last War, the continent of Khorvaire is in a breathing period between conflicts, as the surviving kingdoms that contested for the place that was once held by the nation of Galifar now lick their wounds and try and understand the order that's been created out of the chaos of that war. Warforged, a race of sapient, living golem-like entities, now try and find a place in the world that isn't the war they were made for. The gods are distant and religion itself is complicated: one can be corrupt and still serve a lawful good god.
It's not perfect, exactly: I would have preferred more information on the other continents of Eberron and more information on Khorvaire itself. A friend of mine objected to how tame the Daelkyr are, who are supposed to be invading entities from a realm of absolute alienation and madness, and I see his point: beautiful humanoids with symbiotic armor and weapons aren't really as strange and insane as I'd hope them to be. (This is where my copy of Call of Cthulu d20 would be coming into play, I think.) Eberron does to some degree suffer from 'everything and the kitchen sink' syndrome. It tries very hard to be THE D&D setting, to have room in it for everything you could possibly cram in from any of the Core D&D products.
It comes really close. And it does so while maintaining its own atmosphere and feel: equal parts Fritz Lieber, Phillip Wylie, and Gardner Fox. (You could list another ten authors in there from Weird Tales like Howard and Clark Ashton Smith and Seabury Quinn and C.L. Moore.) The pulp/noir feel even allows for expressionistic stuff like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to be an influence... you could run a game based off of the alienation of the Lost Generation authors in Eberron easily, if you wanted.
It's not perfect, but it's really good.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome Addition
Review: Perhaps I'm not as well-rounded (or jaded) as some other reviewers, but I think the Eberron setting is the most original thing to come along since the old-school Realms stuff. The dragon marks are a clever plot device, and I like the idea of orcs as druidic woodstock holistic hippies. the artificer class is interesting, the warforged likewise...the shifter and...what's the other race, the half-dopplegangers? Regardless, yeah they are pretty much filler.
This is the happiest I've been with a Wizards product in quite some time.
Only four stars because some people are just:
1. Married to the Realms
2. Deep into their own campaign.
3. Don't care, just let me dungeon crawl.
and the price is stiff for any of the above three.
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