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The Breland Ledger

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Sunday, January 30, 2005

Official Site Update

The Official Site has posted a map gallery for the Grasp of the Emerald Claw adventure.

Eberron Bestairy Updated

The Eberron Bestairy has been updated with a new creature, the Aberrant.

A shadowed, lone humanoid figure approaches. As it nears, you notice its flesh rapidly shifting from one form to the next, never settling for more than a few seconds.

The Mournlands are home to some terrible creatures, some created by the cursed lands, others cursed in the Mourning itself. The aberrant were created from unfortunate changelings living in Cyre at the time of the Mourning. As magical energy surged across the land, it sent some changelings over the edge. The power augmented their shapeshifting, but at a price. The cursed changelings forever lost control of their abilities, and as they shifted from friend to foe and back again in a matter of seconds, it broke the changelings' mind.Now, the aberrant wander the barren wastelands ofthe Mournlands, laying waste to all they see in an effort to focus and regain their sanity and their shape.

Korranberg Chronical Issue 12

The Korranberg Chronical has been updated with Issue 12. You can download the current issue here.

The Chronical has also made notice that previous issues are being edited and updated.

Finally, a resounding thankyou to the Chronical for linking our forums.

One Last Word on Races Cover

James Wyatt made a pretty big post on Page 7 of the Races of Eberron Cover thread at the WOTC Official Forum. In the intrest of saving space I've simply linked directly to the post as opposed to copying it below.

While at Winter Fantasy I asked Charles Ryan about the book cover and he said that the book was always intended to be a Races of Book. A True high resolution Eberron Cover was never created and what was posted in the catalog previously was simpy a short measure place holder. A special release Eberron slip cover, or binding sticker was joked about though I doubt we'll see such a thing.

The Petition seems to have maxed out at around 300 signatures. I'll wait till Friday before sending it too custserv at WOTC. Though the cover many not change, as loyal fans we do have a responsibility to submit feedback.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Keith Baker speaks on Races Cover

Keith Baker has had something to add to the discussions about the book covers. Over at Enworld he has had the following to say...

Keith Baker:
I think that some people are jumping to conclusions based on a picture and a marketing blurb, which let's face it, wasn't written by any of the authors of the book. If you're remotely interested in Eberron or any of the races, pick it up and look at it in a store if you have the chance. I think you'll find that it's not chock full of reprinted material, that it expands upon Eberron, but that it also presents interesting races that can be adapted to other settings.

As I've said on other boards: Any new race requires adaptation. Take goliaths. Their culture is described. Their religion is described. They don't fit into ANY setting: if you want to use them, you'll need to decide where to place them, how to fit them into the history of your world, and what to do with things like their religion, which may not mesh with your cosmology.

Races of Eberron is the same thing, except that the races DO already fit one setting: Eberron. Their history, religion, culture, legends, etc provide information that automatically fits into and expands an Eberron campaign. If you're going to use them in another setting, there will be things that you'll either have to ignore or adapt: but you'll still be able to use the central idea of the race, its mechanics, and you'll have an insight into culture, traditions, and behavior. The lycanthropic purge is an event in Eberron that has had some impact on Shifter culture, and RoE addresses that. But it hasn't had SUCH a major impact that you can't choose to ignore it. We discuss folklore, famous shifters who fought in the purge on one side or the other - as a non-Eberron DM, you can decide to ignore this or to adapt the idea of the purge to your game. The warforged chapter discusses the history of the warforged, and that means the Last War and House Cannith. If you want to use the warforged in a different setting, you'll either need to adapt that to a new war or just ignore their history - but the book will still give you all the rules you need to use them and ideas about their psychology and traditions.

It's not generic material. It's based in Eberron, and adds more depth to the world (for example, shedding far more light on the kalashtar than you get in the ECS). But with some adaptation, it can be used outside of Eberron - just as with some adaptation, goliaths and illumians can be used IN Eberron.

I can't convince you that it's a worthwhile purchase. But I know what's inside, and that goes beyond a marketing blurb and a cover image. If you've ever been interested in the book and are now turning away because of the cover, I hope you'll still take a look and give the content a chance to speak for itself.


On a related note the petition has reached 234 signatures.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Breland Ledger at Winter Fantasy

I'm currently at Winter Fantasy and I'll be running 7 slots this weekend.

If you're gonna be attending and would like to play in one of the slots I'm running then here is a list of what I'm running and when.

Slot 1:
Thursday 1pm - EMH-2 Pirate's Bounty and the Isle of Fire
Slot 2:
Thursday 6pm - EMH-2 Pirate's Bounty and the Isle of Fire
Slot 4:
Friday 1pm - EMH-2 Pirate's Bounty and the Isle of Fire
Slot 5:
Friday 6pm - EMH-2 Pirate's Bounty and the Isle of Fire
Slot 7:
Saturday 1pm - EMH-1 Reflections of the Multiverse
Slot 8:
Saturday 6pm - Mark of Heroes Open Fiesta (Customized Forgotten Forge)
Slot 9:
Sunday 8am - EMH-1 Reflections of the Multiverse

Monday, January 24, 2005

Races of Eberron Petition

Some of the Breland Ledger Staff have gotten together and started a petition to change the cover art of Races of Eberron.

http://www.petitiononline.com/roeca/petition.html

Races of Eberron Cover Art

Apparently Wizards of the Coast has decided to change the cover art on Races of Eberron to match the trade dress of the other Races Books.

The Original -


The New -


I spoke with Keith Baker on the issue and he had the following to say...

Keith Baker: To the best of my knowledge, it has always been considered a "Races of" book and the formatting is keeping in line with those books. It doesn't reflect a change in the material that it contains. (That is, of course, to the best of my knowledge. But it was always considered to be part of the Races of series, but still contains Eberron specific information.)

Keith has also commented on the Official Boards where a thread is in progress discussing this issue.

Additional discussion is also happening in our chatroom. Come join us to discuss the issue!

Official Site Updates

The Offical Site has been updated!

Dragonshards: House Phiarlan, Part One
A first in a series of articles covering the Dragonmarked Houses. Keith Baker tells us about House Phiarlan, the house of shadows.


Sharn Inquisitive:
Issue 3 News for Far, Zarantyr 6th, 998: Researchers Crack Code of Vvaraak
Looks like the Code of Vvaraak has been cracked, what secrets does it hold?

Eberron Bestiary Update

The Eberron Bestiary has some new updates for you hungry fans!

Visylin

A tiny, faintly glowing insect flies slowly before your eyes. A multitude of gossamer wings just out from its worm-like body.

The visylin are tiny insect-like outsiders found in the twilight forests of the Faerie Court. These creatures are only of animal intelligence, and so have few goals outsider securing the serenity and tranquility of the groves of the fey and eladrin.
The visylin drift through the forests in a pattern that can only be described as a dance, slowly dodging between trees, plants and other creatures with perfect precision. Occasionally, a visylin will drift right through another creature, sending it inot a state of euphoria as its wisdom is drained from its mind.

New Artwork:
Warforged Maelstrom and Arythis

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Official Eberron Updates in the Last Week

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the Breland Ledger Staff has been caught up in some real life issues as of late. Without further delay the latest official updates.

Sharn Inquisitive
A new Web Article series at the official site, the Sharn Inquisitve give us a number of in character news articles from Sharn with the latest gossip. Perfect for plot twists.

Issue 1 News for Far, Zarantyr 6th, 998 : Tower Collapse Was Sabotage, Watch Says

Issue 2 News for Far, Zarantyr 6th, 998: Crown Names ir'Saldivar to Dark Lantern Post

Small note, there appears to be a mistake on the date of the issue on the wotc site. Both articles, released a week apart claim to be from the same day.

Art Gallery:
The Art Gallery for Grasp of The Emerald Claw, the 3rd Eberron adventure, has been released.


Dragonshards:
According to Keith Baker the Dragonshards series of articles will be scaled back to once every two weeks. Here is a direct quote.

For the moment, WotC web is scaling back the Dragonshards to every other week. This is due to a combination of factors, including my schedule and WotC RPG's resources – as the Dragonshards are official material, they need to be approved by WotC RPG before they go live, and this can involve some back and forth. So there will be one next week, but at least for the near future, it's going to be every other week from this point forward.


The quote can be found here at the official forums.
Thanks too Walt Robillard for the scoop.

Monday, January 10, 2005

Eberron Beastiary Updated

The Eberron Beastiary has been updated with a new monster and some new artwork.

Ithal Quor

Before you stands the animated corpse of a decaying Sarlonan, its eyes glowing with an eerie light. The hazy image of some foul creature from another world hangs over the body, its long pincer reaching out and its many eyes staring in all directions.

The curse of undeath is found across Eberron, from the wild jungles of Xen'drik to the mysterious continent of Argonessen. The ithal quor are found in Sarlona and even among immigrants in Khorvaire.
When hosts of a quori spirit such as the Inspired and kalashtar are killed in sudden magical and psionic outbursts, a portion of the spirit can remain bound within the corpse as the quori is ripped away. Though the host is dead, part of the possessing spirit remains, re-animating the corpse as an ithal quor.
The schism is mentally and physically straining for the quori, and if the process doesn't kill it, it is neither fully on Dal Quor nor fully on Eberron, coexisting on both planes. The distress and agony felt by the quori and often leads it to harming other creatures it encounters. Both the effect on the quori and the lack of subtlety of the ithal quor leads both the Inspired and kalashtar to hunt down and destroy these cursed beings as soon as possible.
At least one ithal quor is known to exist by the Inspired deep within the Mournlands. A Dreaming Dark agent's death at the hands of the Mourning created the creature, and the Inpired have yet the track down the cursed body.


Also, the Chillis has been given new artwork.

Official Site Updates

Wow, been pretty slow latly. If any of you fans out there see something, let us know! Here are the latest updates...

Under the Glass: Healing, Sean K Reynods discusses the diffrent temperment Eberron has in regards to magical healing.

Dragonshards: Blades of the Quori, Keith Baker tells us about the preferred fighting styles and classes of the Inspired and Kalshatar, plus a bit about their combat traditions.

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Updates Galore in the New Year

Happy New Year from the Breland Ledger Eberron fans!
With the new year come a number of updates!

Eberron Chat Update:
On December 28th Keith Baker visited us in the chatroom for a live chat to discuss with us Sharn: City of Towers, here is a log of that chat, posted on the WOTC Boards.

Sharn: City of Towers IRC Live Chat Log

Remember folks, the chatroom is located at chat.psionics.net in #eberron and is open 24/7 for eberron chat and game organization. The chatroom is also supported by the Korranberg Chronical, The Eberron Beastiary and Siberys!

Sharn Index Update:
On New Years Eve, Ellen Baker, aka Honeycakes, notified us that Bossythecow.com has been updated with the latest Sharn Index page. Sharn Index: Locations.
There is also a homepage for the Sharn Index, check it out!

Eberron Beastiary Update:
The Eberron Beastiary was also updated with the Warforged Maelstrom and Arythis.

Lots of good Eberron Updates!
I know its 2 days late, but we were off partying the nights away. I just crawled out of Sharn alleyway myself. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year from all of us at the Breland Ledger/Eberron Journal.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

With Fiends Like These...

To kick off the new year, the Eberron Journal has updated with a new article! "With Fiends Like These..." provides three new options for DMs who wish to create fiend-oriented campaigns. The bharaivya is a lynx-like foot soldier of the rakshasas, the half-fiend (native) template creates "half-rakshasas" with improved spell resistance and limited shapeshifting abilities, and Thrall Items provide an interesting new treasure option. Check it out!